Middle School State Testing
Dear Parent or Guardian:
From April 7 to May 2, students in grades 6-8 will take the state assessment in (a) English Language Arts and (b) Mathematics. Students in grade (tested grades) will take the state assessment in (c) Science. The purpose of this letter is to help in your understanding of the assessment, as well as providing a few ideas for improving your child’s preparedness.
The assessments measure student achievement of our state’s standards in the areas of English Language Arts, Mathematics, and Science. In addition, score reports will provide information on student performance in the following areas:
o English: Reading, writing, listening, & research
o Math: Concepts and procedures; problem-solving and modeling/data analysis; & communicating reasoning
o Science: physical science, life science, and earth & space science
The assessments are given through an online computer application and are unique in the way they adapt to a student’s question responses. This is important as it provides questions that are appropriate for your child’s level of learning. As a result, each student has the same opportunity to succeed and maintain a positive attitude towards testing. These assessments are not timed; however, we provide the following times as estimates of assessment duration: (a) English – 3.5 hours, (b) Math – 3 hours and (c) Science – 1.5 hours.
Student grades will not be impacted by their performance on this assessment, however the assessment does serve as a way for the school to analyze how well we are helping students meet the standards. Shortly after the testing period is complete, you will receive a report showing your child’s scores.
There is no need to study in preparation for the assessments. We do, however, ask that students try their best and get plenty of rest the night before testing. It is important for students to come to school on test days. Assessment are required, therefore making up a missed assessment leads to less instructional time and a loss of important learning opportunities. Please make sure your student has corded headphones and their computer charger.
This testing is very important for your child, Hot Springs Middle School and the Hot Springs School District Thank you for supporting your child and our school during this assessment period. Please contact us if you have any questions. We know that Hot Springs Middle School’s students will help us to understand the great strides our students have taken in meeting our school and state standards in learning!
Sincerely,
Eric Reynolds
Assistant Principal
11th Grade State testing
Dear Parent or Guardian:
From April 7 to May 2, students in grade 11 will take the state assessment in (a) English Language Arts, (b) Mathematics, and (c) Science. The purpose of this letter is to help in your understanding of the assessment, as well as providing a few ideas for improving your child’s preparedness.
The assessments measure student achievement in relation to our state standards in the areas of English Language Arts, Mathematics, and Science. In addition, score reports will provide information on student performance in the following areas:
o English: reading, writing, listening, & research
o Math: concepts and procedures; problem solving and modeling/data analysis; & communicating reasoning
o Science: physical science, life science, and earth & space science
The assessments are given through an online computer application and are unique in the way they adapt to a student’s question responses. This is important as it provides questions that are appropriate for your child’s level of learning. As a result, each student has the same opportunity to succeed and maintain a positive attitude towards testing. These assessments are not timed; however, we provide the following times as estimates of assessment duration: (a) English – 4 hours, (b) Math – 3.5 hours, (c) Science – 1 hour.
Student grades will not be impacted by their performance on this assessment, however the assessment does serve as a way for the school to analyze how well we are helping students meet the standards.
There is no need for students to study in preparation for the assessments. We do, however, ask that students try their best and get plenty of rest the night before testing. It is important for students to come to school on test days. Assessments are required, therefore making up a missed assessment leads to less instructional time and a loss of important learning opportunities. Please make sure students have corded headphones and their computer charger.
This testing is very important for your child, Hot Springs High School, and the Hot Springs School District. Thank you for supporting your child and our school during this assessment period. Please contact us if you have any questions. We know that Hot Springs High School students will help us to understand the great strides our students have taken in meeting our school and state standards in learning!
Sincerely,
Eric Reynolds
Assistant Principal
Congratulations to our 4.0 Honor Roll students.
The Hot Springs Legion Family came to school today and delivered a check that will pay off ALL outstanding lunch balances, regardless of income and current enrollment status. We thank the Legion Family for making today ZERO day.... where all lunch balances are zero.
A reminder for our invitation tonight (Tuesday, April 1st) to celebrate our students who achieved a 4.0 GPA third quarter. This event will begin at 6:00pm In The Case and is open to family, friends, and the community. We will be recognizing 63 of our middle and high schoolers.
Kiwanis Club of Hot Springs is sponsoring a Family Movie Night this Thursday.
April is Month of the Military Child
The Hot Springs School District will take part in this recognition on Thursday, April 10th.
Are you interested in the teaching profession, the BEST profession around? 😊 We are looking for current sophomores and juniors that are interested in exploring what it means to be a classroom teacher. In partnership with several grants, we have started our own Educator Rising Chapter. We will continue this into next year and hope to attend the state conference as a Chapter. The program’s funding allows for reimbursement of the dual enrollment Teacher Pathway Certificate which includes two education classes, one communications class, and one history class. If you are interested in this dual enrollment opportunity, please email Ms. Foshee (amber.foshee@k12.sd.us) and/or Dr. Cumbow (Kyley.cumbow@k12.sd.us) no later than May 1, 2025.
STEAM Camp available for our elementary students.
What some of our students were doing today. 2nd place for both the Elementary and Middle School archers at state.
Our 7th & 8th grade band students walked down to the Black Hills Special Services Center on March 25 to have our 8th grade band students perform their contest solos for the clients. The clients enjoyed hearing and seeing the students perform. The students were scared and nervous, but they powered through their fears and anxiety to perform in front of an audience once again. A standard of the performing arts curriculum. Great job Bison musicians!!
Thank you Mrs. Vande Stroet for providing this opportunity for our students. It is a win -win.
The Hot Springs Kiwanis Club will be hosting a free family movie night for our families with elementary aged students. Please see the flyer and make plans for family time next Thursday, April 3rd.
2025 All Class Reunion Info
Please support our PTA who always goes above and beyond for our staff and students.
Seniors: New scholarship opportunity
theexchangesd.com/apply-now-for-sdta-scholarships/
Is anyone questioning the number of school buses parked on Lincoln Ave? We are hosting the District 5 FFA CDE contest. Roughly 270 middle school and high school students are our guests today for this contest. . Good luck to all students, but a extra plug for all of our Hot Springs students.
The US Attorney’s Office-SD will be hosting its 2nd (now annual) Summer Law Camp in Sioux Falls this June 23-25. Attached is the press release for the camp last summer, the application, and the link for more information.
Please check it out using the link below for more information.
https://www.justice.gov/usao-sd/usao-academy-summer-law-camp
On Thursday, March 27, students in the 8th, 9th, 10th, and 11th grade will receive their course selection form for the 2025-2026 school year. It will be sent through their school email. They will select the classes that they would like to take for next school year. They may edit their response until Monday, April 7, at which time the forms will be locked. We encourage parents/guardians to discuss this process with their students. Please consider graduation requirements, courses already taken, and student aspirations after graduation when making selections. School administrators are available for any discussions that need to take place. Please note that course selection does not guarantee placement. Numbers and teacher schedules will ultimately determine a student's schedule.
National Guard Experience
Congratulations to these middle schoolers for earning Honor Roll of Excellence (3.5-3.99) and Honor Roll of Merit (3.0-3.49):
Middle School Roll of Excellence (3.5-3.99)
Hazel Adams 6
Isaac Ambuul 6
Lyric Busch 6
Eva Erickson 6
Junibelle Gilbert 6
Emmett Givler 6
Sophie Heidebrink 6
Caroline Hoffman 6
Casen Humbracht 6
Giovannina Mazzocchio 6
Eliza Nadeem 6
Lily Perez-Nitsche 6
Lyla Perez-Nitsche 6
Tate White 6
Brody Briese 7
Kaelyn Burchfield 7
Farrah Champine 7
Joshua Cristofano 7
Taven Crowley 7
Avery Davis 7
Tylee Fish 7
Bentley Hughes 7
Dalton Hunter 7
Tehlia Lucey 7
Whitten Luper 7
Gunner Parisien 7
Savannah Red Owl 7
Reagan Schultes 7
Elliott Sherrard 7
Lily Sigafoos 7
Colette Ambuul 8
Emmie Baker 8
Ella Haskvitz 8
Reona Kindred 8
Johnathon Mazzocchio 8
Dean Nathan 8
Lilly Parker 8
Gaige Sides 8
Abby Simons 8
Carter Walz 8
Ryder Weiss 8
Keenan White 8
Ashton Wilaby 8
Middle School Roll of Merit (3.0-3.49)
Nathanael Anderson 6
Zoren Aspinall 6
Tritiyan Boyd 6
Jasmin Crowley 6
Lukas Cupsa 6
Talyn Dodd 6
Evren Elliott 6
Talac Evans 6
Stanley Felder 6
Tynlee Fish 6
Louden Greenfield 6
Lauren Hawkins 6
Kye Kutz 6
Brylee Mello 6
Alivia Nathan 6
Tanner Naze 6
Peter Noteboom 6
Presley Ohrmund 6
Astrid Orback 6
Porter Orback 6
Leon Palyan 6
Zoe Schaffner 6
Jaidyn Schuh 6
Ryker Sides 6
Ian Thornton 6
Danielle White 6
Richard Anderson 7
Brylee Bilges 7
Sean Campbell 7
Jazmin Contreras 7
Amelia Decker 7
Kiya Marshall 7
Charis Ngaira 7
Alexis Pattee 7
Haven Ross 7
Zoey Uehling-Mason 7
Tessa Hammel 8
Rubilyn Johns 8
Toryn Johnson 8
Elizabeth Lauing 8
Cylus Rapp 8
Mercedes Rasberry 8
Layton Ringstmeyer 8
Holten Rutz 8
Alexis Uehling Mason 8
