Update from the Director

Dear HCSS Stakeholder,

September has been an exceptional month at HCSS, filled with remarkable achievements and milestones. Although the month has flown by, we’ve witnessed many impressive displays of excellence from our students and staff.

A few highlights include:

Completion of the New Wellness Building: The new HCSS Wellness Building is nearing completion and will soon be available to support both academic and wellness needs during the school day.
Board Leadership Updates: We are pleased to welcome Jordan Beddies to the HC Board of Education. Additionally, we are excited to have Jill Coker and Russ Orr rejoining the Board for another term.
Strengthening Partnerships with DSCC: Our collaboration with Dyersburg State Community College continues to thrive, with deeper partnerships expanding the use of DSCC instructors on our campus.
New Band Uniforms for HCHS: Our talented HCHS Band now has brand-new uniforms! In addition to their musical skill, they look sharp at games and competitions alike.

We invite you to read this month's newsletter, where you’ll find more details about the exciting developments happening within HCSS.

Thank you for your continued support of our outstanding school system. Together, we are shaping a bright future for our students!

Warm regards,
Leah Watkins, Director of Schools

Our CKH Process Champions are getting "RECHARGED!" In HCSS, we want to "Capture Kids' Hearts" every day!

We must keep these buses running safely for our students and drivers. Annual inspections are being done by our team and the Tennessee Highway Patrol.

Patriot Playschool/PreK

Our early learners are experiencing new things every day! Grove's Patriot Playschool and HCHS's Patriot Pre-K visited their school libraries where they were able to listen to the librarian read them a story, learn about the library, and participate in fun activities. Literacy skills begin early!

harrelson — Science Learning Center Play
Harrelson School students

hchs — Patriot PreK - HCHS
Learning to Cut Center Play

henry — Henry School PreK
Learning about Circles

Elementary Education

Team Read volunteers are incredible! Second graders are thrilled to have a volunteer come and assist them with their reading.

Engaging young students in reading and writing is crucial for developing lifelong learners. HCSS educators, use every opportunity to ignite their passion for reading and expression.

Middle Education

Owl Pellets — Curious young scientists! Our 3rd graders dive into hands-on exploration, dissecting owl pellets to uncover the mysteries of what owls eat!

Science Class — Future astronomers at work! Mrs. Lisa William's 5th grade scientists sketch out their ideas on how the sun, moon, and earth interact in an exciting space exploration lesson!

Thermal Energy — Hands-on discovery! Students explore thermal energy using a radiometer, uncovering the secrets of heat and motion!

9-12 Education

Students in College and Career Readiness Class collect data for a science lesson.

CTE and Work-Based Learning

Employers are encouraged to nominate their outstanding student employees for the Patriots RISE Award. One student will be selected monthly to be recognized by the Paris-Henry County Industrial Committee and the Henry County Board Of Education

K-12 Fine Arts

HCMP

Henry County High School Marching Band brought home a number of awards after their first marching contest at South Gibson High School.

Out of 23 bands the HCMP were 6th Place in Overall Performance.

2nd Overall-Drum Majors

3rd Overall- Percussion

3rd Overall -Visual

Tied for 5th Overall- Music

6th Overall- Color Guard

The band placed 2nd in Class 6 and drum majors placed 1st!

Beginning Strings

Our beginning strings class is focusing on an essential skill for young musicians: the proper bow hold. Our 3rd and 4th graders are engaging in hands-on learning that sets the stage for their musical development.

Special Education - Day of Champions at the Henry County Fair!

Lakewood Student enjoying the Day of Champions

Henry Student showing of her robbon for showing her sheep at the Day of Champions.

Elementary School

Henry Student enjoying the Day of Champions

HCHS student showing a goat at the Day of Champions

High School

ESL

Kindergarten students work on completing patterns.

A kindergartener uses her English vocabulary notebook to label the classroom scene.

School Nutrition

Henry County School Nutrition Facebook

Our dedicated staff makes sure that students have plenty of fruit options available at each meal service.

Elementary School

Lakewood Elementary School was awarded over $80,000 to purchase a new serving line which is used to serve the new Grab & Go lunch option.

Fruit & Yogurt Parfaits are one of the many delicious breakfast options.

Boxed salads are offered at most schools 3 days per week with homemade ranch!

We've brought back the old school favorite - SQUARE PIZZA!

High School

HC Athletics

Congratulations to our these ladies and Coach Welp for a great season!

Middle Grades

Congratulations to our HCMS Lady Soccer Players as the move forward into post-season play!

High School

Hawk News Anchors

Hawk News is an important part of our day at Harrelson. Our Hawk News Team starts the day with the Pledge, the Hawk Pledge, and a moment of silence, followed by good information, good routine, and good news! We love it and love the time and effort they put into doing it right!

Dorothy Noble Harrelson

We're excited to announce that our basketball teams have been adopted! Both squads had faculty and staff adopt them as their "biggest fan" for the season. We just finished up the introductions this week and the athletes have loved it ALMOST as much as the faculty and staff! We look forward to honoring these dynamic duos at our home games this season! #proud2beaHawk

2nd grade had a blast making habitat dioramas. We learned how an animal's habitat must meet its needs in order for it to survive and used our best resources and creativity to replicate these habitats.

Fifth grade has read over 1,000,000 words this year! We celebrated by eating lunch outside. In addition, we've already had a few students who have met their September goal. They were rewarded with a pizza coupon from Nonni's Pizza.

Over 305 students and guests gathered for Henry School's Grandparent's Day breakfast on September 23! Families were served sausage and biscuit, fruit cup, and milk or juice. The fruit cup, filled with fresh straberries and blackberries, was a favorite for our students!

Henry

Henry School has been busy in September with a focus on family and community engagement. Parent lunches began in September; families are invited to eat lunch in our cafeteria on Fridays, and so far this has been a great success! We also welcomed grandparents for Grandparent's Day Breakfast and invited families to shop at our Scholastic Book Fair!

Retired Henry County educator and basketball coach, Mike Greer, spoke to Art I students about the importance of learning the basics of art and design to take their art to the next level. Coach Greer is a cartoonist and caricature artist and he draws editorial cartoons for the Paris PI. Students looked through Coach Greer's collections and viewed his more popular drawings including Tupac and the pope. Students learned various techniques including drawing facial features, hands, arms, and legs.

Henry Pirate Cheerleaders led students and staff in chants and greetings of appreciation for our bus drivers in September. Bus drivers were presented with bags, decorated by students, which contained a variety of snacks and goodies!

Lots of Henry Pirates have been earning Pirate Praise for going above and beyond the expectations for GOLD behavior! When rewarded with Pirate Praise, students have the opportunity to select a prize from the book vending machine and choose from popular titles like "Magic Tree House" and "Who Would Win?"

As our Kindergarten and First Grade students made their way to the fun run, our 4th Grade students were there to cheer them on with enthusiasm and encouragement. Lining the playground, they offered high fives, smiles, and words of support, boosting the younger students' confidence as they headed into the event. It was a heartwarming display of school spirit and community, showing how our older students step up as positive role models, supporting their younger peers with kindness and encouragement.

Lakewood

Our UTrust Appreciation Team recognized our wonderful bus drivers with a goodie bag, water, posters, cards, and a poem. We appreciate all they do to keep our students safe.

Our Apex fundraiser this month was enjoyed by all. They eagerly ran their laps, danced, sang, and celebrated together, creating a fun and memorable experience for everyone involved. We’re thrilled to see how much joy they had while earning prizes and learning valuable leadership lessons along the way. It was a fantastic event that combined fitness, fun, and personal growth, and we couldn’t be prouder of their hard work and enthusiasm!

This month, we hosted our First Annual Stuffy Sleepaway Camp, and it was a huge hit! Students were invited to bring their favorite stuffed animals or dolls, and their furry friends got to "stay" at the school for the entire weekend. When students returned on Monday, they were thrilled to see all the fun and mischief their stuffed companions had gotten into during their school adventure. From exploring classrooms to playful surprises, the photos captured it all! It was a fun, imaginative experience that brought smiles to everyone’s faces and added a little extra magic to the school week!

This month, we proudly recognized our Empathy Character Champions—students who consistently demonstrate empathy and compassion towards their classmates. These outstanding individuals were celebrated for their kindness and understanding, qualities that make a big difference in creating a positive school environment. In addition to the recognition at school, selected students from each grade level received a special postcard in the mail, adding a personal touch to their well-deserved honor. We're so proud of these students for embodying the values of empathy and making our school a better place!

Students in Mrs. Cox’s creative writing class participated in Speed Dating with Books that have unique points of view with Dr. Davis, the librarian. This is part of the unit they’re doing; ultimately they’ll write their own stories with unique perspectives!

Ms. Wood's class enjoyed popsicles for scoring the highest on their unit test covering linear functions, determining reasonable domains, and using function notation to evaluate functions.

The preschool class at Patriot Playschool is learning about Community Helpers. A few of Grove's own community helpers were invited to share how they work to help our school.

Nurse Donna shared how she works to keep the students at Grove healthy. She brought her stethoscope to show off and allow everyone to take turns listening to their own heartbeat.

Sgt. Powell shared that as the SRO in our school, it is his job to protect us and everyone that enters the building.