Open House is September 7th at 6:30

Click here for the Open House Flyer/Schedule. Pep Rally at Hawk Stadium following the Open House. Please bring a copy of student schedule to follow the evening format.

Schedule for Talon 20 Days Slightly Modified

Based on feedback from students and teachers, we've modified the bell schedule by a few minutes on Tuesdays and Wednesdays (Talon 20 Days). Please click here for a link. Actual modifications are in yellow and supporting notes are in pink.

Hawk Athletics: School Week #1

It was a great week to be a Hawk. Coaches Carrie Moreira, Doug Harrigan, Caitlin LaMarca, and Barbra Roberson led HHS Volleyball to an 8th place finish out of 32 teams at the Leander tournament this past weekend. The girls tore through 3 teams on Friday before finishing the weekend with a strong placement in the bracket.

Hawk Tennis is 3-4 and begins district play on Tuesday. Good luck to the Hawks and Coaches Holman and Melvin-Young as they lead a talented group of athletes. Hawk Cross Country also had a strong showing at the Burnet Relays as Boys A took 2nd, Boys B took 3rd, Girls A took 1st and Girls B took 3rd.

Hawk Football won the first game of the year in an exciting game, 28-26 over Vista Ridge. Here is an image from the game and a great performance from the Hawk Band at halftime.

The Hawks travel to Lake Travis this weekend for another away game. The first home game is the 3rd week of the season against Leander. As you may know, the games here get sold out quickly. Here are some reminders about attending football games at HHS:

• Pre-game ticket prices: $6 Adults & $3 Students Monday-Wednesdays (1:00-4:30) in the HHS Field House and on Thursdays during the lunch periods in the cafeteria. Call 594-1150 for times when tickets will be sold in the cafeteria. Tickets at the game are $7 (Kindergarten through 12th grade) and tickets for a reserved seat are $8.
  


• The District will sell the number of tickets that the stadium stands will hold. When capacity is reached on the home side (total advance and gate sales), fans wishing to enter the stadium will be directed to the visitor side.



• Once the home side is full, only fans that purchased advance tickets still are allowed in on the home side. Anyone who leaves the stadium for any reason must pay to re-enter; this includes season ticket holders, students, and volunteers.
  


• Please park only in designated areas, keep aisles and walkways clear, leaving umbrellas, skateboards, footballs, and backpacks at home and follow directions of faculty, staff and law enforcement on site. No outside food or drink may be brought into the stadium.



• As a reminder, PISD students of the host school and the middle school students SHOWING PROPER ID in its feeder pattern are the only students allowed on the “home side”. Reserved tickets ($40) and reserved parking ($25) are available by calling 594-1150.
  

Attendance Counts

Since high schools are on block schedule, missing a day of instruction is like missing two days of that class due to the content being covered each day. More than ever, each day of attendance matters for students at HHS and all Pflugerville schools. Here are some FYIs for your family regarding attendance.

• Missing 10% of classes (5 days) in a semester will result in potential denial of course credit, except in the case of medically excused absences and extenuating circumstances.
  


• Being in school daily is a key to student achievement. Students who attend school regularly tend to make better grades than those who have frequent absences.
  


• In Texas, school funding is based on the daily attendance of students. In PISD, a 1% increase in attendance would increase the District's state funding by over $1.2 million.
  


• If your child is sick they should stay home. This helps get them well and keeps other students and staff members from getting sick.
  


• If your student is absent, call the school and let us know, and send a note when your student returns.
  


• Schedule vacations when students are already on holiday from school. When students have an unexcused absence, not only do they miss instructional time, but any assignments due during that time are subject to a grade penalty.

Yearbooks: Plan Ahead!

Online ordering is already available for the 2011-2012 yearbook. Go to www.smart-pay.com to take adavantage of Back-to-School pricing. The book is selling for $67.00 through midnight on September 9th. The price will be increased to $70 after that time.

Senior Parents--it's not too early to reserve your space for a Senior ad in the yearbook. Space is limited and prices increase throughout the year. Contact kari.riemer@pflugervilleisd.net for more information.

2012 Commencement Ceremonies at Erwin Center

Hendrickson's Class of 2012 will walk the stage at 11:00 AM on Saturday, June 2nd at the Frank Erwin Center, located on the University of Texas campus.

What is the Talon 20?

The Talon 20 is a new program we've built at HHS to address multiple needs. Last year and this summer, HHS staff asked the questions:

- How can we make sure that all students have access to teacher help?
- How can we create opportunities to reward highly self-motivated students?
- How can we provide groups/organizations extra time to meet?
- How can we do all of the above while competing with normal teenage fatigue, hunger, and before/after school obligations?

To answer these questions, we decided to carve out 20 minutes at the start of the day. We felt 20 minutes was an ample amount of time that minimized the impact on actual instructional time. As you can see from our bell schedule, classes are nearly all 90 minutes.

We are also going to provide students opportunities to change their Talon 20 assignment based on met criteria. This means that over the course of the first 9 weeks, the placement of students may change for that period.

While this time period is not a finished product as of 8.24.11, we're confident we can use this time to meet the needs of our students. Feel free to contact Devin Padavil with any questions.

1st Day at HHS

It was a good 1st Day at HHS. We had just north of 2200 students experience their first 1/2 of classes today. Periods 5-8 are tomorrow on what we call "B" day.

In case our students misplaced any documents, you can find them on the HHS website. However, here's a link to the bell schedule and here's another for a year long A-B designation calendar (including more helpful info).

The students were truly excellent today and we had positive feedback from teachers. I know some of our students will voice concern that the lunch lines were too long. However, I can assure you that this is normal for this time of year. As students learn the lunchtime routine, where they want to sit, and which lines serve the food they like, this process will go much faster.

Also, new students that ride the bus aren't prepared for the fleet of busses that appear on our back loop. Here is a list of bus routes and numbers to reference for our bus riders.

Additionally, PISD has migrated to a new email system for students. Here are directions for our students to set up their school email.

Thanks to the teachers, staff, and many parent volunteers that made today such a smooth start for the Hawks.

Freshmen Camp: TAKE FLIGHT!

We held a freshmen camp at HHS on Friday and had the highest attendance ever. We had about 315 pre-register and had nearly 500 walk in the doors on Friday morning. While the start was a test of agility, the camp went incredibly smoothly through the end at 1:30. Here is a picture of teacher Tom Lucas talking about academics in one of the breakout sessions.


Here is another of some upperclassmen led by teacher Jessica Gaston helping freshmen learn dress code in a skit called "What Not to Wear."

Lastly, here is a scene from some small group discussions in the band hall led by upperclassmen and HHS Social Worker Lori Carl.

Perhaps the greatest part of the experience was how many people were truly involved. Over 200 current HHS students, staff, and parent volunteers helped make this a great day for our incoming freshmen. 9th grade students had questions answered, received schedules and lockers, and met their teachers. I am truly thankful for the team effort.

4 Quick Before School Updates

FRESHMEN: TAKE FLIGHT and Proof of Residency:
Our Freshmen camp begins Friday at 9:00 AM. Please see the HHS website if you need more information or have not registered. We ask Freshmen to bring proof of residency (Examples: lease agreement, mortgage agreement, utility bill) to TAKE Flight. Those that don't bring it will be asked to provide proof of residency by the first week of school. Freshmen will arrive at the HHS Performing Arts Center and leave in the afternoon from the HHS Gymnasium exit.

ALL STUDENTS: Student Email Password Change
The district has changed student passwords on the district email system. Effective immediately, the password is now their six-digit student ID#, followed by Pf! Ex: 532105Pf! (uppercase P, lowercase f, exclamation)

ALL STUDENTS: Can't Make it to Schedule Pickup or TAKE FLIGHT?
Not to worry. On Tuesday the 23rd (The First Day of School), rosters will be posted in the hallways and cafeteria to direct all students to the appropriate first class of the day. From that location, students will be provided their official schedule. Students may also get textbooks and a locker during lunches, before school (after the 1st day), and after school.

ALL STUDENTS: Textbook Shortage During First Few Weeks
Recent legislation passed by the 82nd Texas Legislature resulted in changes and delays to the Texas Education Agency's (TEA) online textbook ordering system, which will mean many new textbooks won't arrive to districts by the start of the school year. High School subjects that may fall short include Chemistry, AP Economics, Pre-calculus, AP English, AP US History, and French.

Student Schedules: Pick up Dates and Tips

As the excitement of a new year builds, picking up schedules is an event that brings anticipation and anxiety. Many students want a sneak peek at this year's schedule ahead of the designated pickup time to verify classes, check for errors, find out if they have classes with friends, and discover their teachers (not necessarily in that order).

HHS counselors are working each day to balance classes and accommodate student needs. For this reason, student schedules change significantly as counselors manipulate the scheduling software. This process occurs up to the official time we print schedules for the pickup sessions. Advanced viewings can be misleading.

At schedule pickup times for each grade level, counselors are available to receive students with schedule errors. This is the best way to verify/adjust schedules. Any requests outside of designated times may get delayed response by comparison. In general, rare outright errors ("I need AP classes instead of non-AP, I am missing a class") get top priority. Changes based on student preference ("I'd rather have Elective X than Elective Y") are addressed on a "space available" basis and take lower priority to "outright errors."

Please click to see the HHS Website for Schedule Pickup Times.

Once the year begins, changes will be limited to errors, credit need, and those approved by the HHS schedule change committee. All schedule changes need to be made the 1st week of school. We look forward to seeing you very soon as school is almost ready to begin.

Notable Scholarship for HHS Grads

HHS 2011 Grads Thomas Suh, Amber Vargas, Julie Issleib, and Kimberly Jaimes were honored by St. David's at the Four Seasons Hotel as winners of the Neal Kocurek Scholarship. Of the 35 regional winners, HHS was the 2nd most represented school. Kudos to College and Career Counselor Terry Sheneman for helping carve the path to this honor for our students.

Volleyball Season Begins

Hawk Volleyball started the season against PHS. A fired up Varsity team fell short against the Panthers, but showed plenty of promise for a strong season. We look forward to a strong season led by Coach Carrie Moreira and Assistant Coaches Harrigan, LaMarca, and Roberson.


- Posted by DP using BlogPress

2012 Block Bell Schedule

This school year, every day consists of 4 class periods, each lasting about 90 minutes. The first four sections (periods 1-4) occur on "A" day. The last four sections (periods 5-8) occur on "B" day. However, on Tuesdays and Wednesdays the day begins with the "Talon 20." This time is set aside to provide enrichment and activity opportunities to students. Here's a link to the bell schedule.

As you can see, 1st lunch begins before 11:00. With block schedule, we must tie the three lunches to either 2nd or 3rd period. If we choose 3rd period, students eat around 2:00. Choosing 2nd period, students eat before 11:00. For this year, we chose an earlier lunch instead of a later lunch.

We're making every effort to make this format work effectively for students. Upon schedule pickup and the first few days, we'll strive to help our students understand every aspect of the changes.

Registration and Schedule Pickup

It's almost that time. Find registration and schedule pickup information at this link. All obligations must be paid to pick up a schedule and parent must be present with required docs for new student registration. See you soon...

TAKE FLIGHT: Freshmen and Upperclassmen Volunteers

TAKE FLIGHT, our 1 day camp to help new Hawks learn about HHS and feel ready for their school year is on the 19th. If you're in the Freshmen ranks, make sure you are registered. Over 300 students are signed up already. If you are an upperclassman that volunteered for this day, thank you for your service to HHS and we look forward to a great day. Click on the link for more details.

Freshmen will also be able to bring residency verification to TAKE FLIGHT when they enroll. Verification of Residency is a requirement of all 9th graders in Pflugerville ISD this year. Students that don't bring these in will be required to submit verification during the first week of school.

Hawk Day is August 13!

Join us on August 13th at the Hawk Football Field to watch the first scrimmage, take part in cool events, and meet the players and coaches. Cheerleader, PALS, ROTC, and AVID students will also be participating. We hope to see you there! Click here for more details.