Dear POMS Families,

Thanks to the generosity of our community in support of the Pin Oak Middle School PTO, we have been able to purchase many new items for our school. 

For instance, we recently purchased a variety of things our various sports teams needed, including jerseys for the girls volleyball team and pop up tents for the cross country meets. This is just one area where your dollars count.

However, in order to keep helping ALL of our students, we need YOU!

Your financial support is sincerely appreciated. Remember, the money you give is used to make an impact RIGHT NOW. We are in the second six-weeks of the school year, and POMS already has additional needs and more are sure to surface.

Please give what you can - any amount helps. It’s all to benefit your student and their classmates in the 2022-2023 school year.

Click here to donate to the Charger Commitment Campaign now.

Please contact Katie or Francyne at commitment@pinoakpto.org with questions or to get involved with the campaign.

Sincerely,

Francyne Davis Jacobs and Katie Wylie

We will hold Boys Basketball Interest Meetings this week during Team Time:

• Monday, October 9th - 7th Grade Boys
• Tuesday, October 10th - 8th Grade Boys

Both meetings will take place in the main gym. For any questions, please contact Coach Carter or Coach Neal.

When? Tuesday, October 17, 9 - 10 AM

Where? Parents have two options to attend

• In person in the POMS library
• Via Microsoft Teams

If you plan to attend the meeting in person, please make sure to arrive at least 15-20 minutes ahead of time to get checked in at the front office with your driver's license.

Join us for our next POMS Spirit Night at Chick-fil-A, located at 5325 S. Rice Boulevard (S. Rice & Westpark), on Tuesday, October 17th, 5 - 8 PM.

Chick-fil-A will donate 10% of all collected sales back to Pin Oak. Please mention Pin Oak Middle School when placing your order!

Are you interested in your child being on the Pin Oak Swim Team?

Come to the Interest meeting in the Pin Oak Cafeteria on Tuesday, October 17 at 5:30 PM. 

Email Coach Hulbirt with any questions.

Pin Oak's annual Color Run is returning and your student will not want to be left out! 

Color Run is a fun run style event on Friday, November 3rd, where students can leave class to hang out, listen to music, visit the Kona Ice truck, run or walk around the track, and throw color on each other in the Post Run Color Party.

Look for more details in next week's Charger Chatter!

We have many fun activities planned for our 8th graders, including a dance and other events - please let us know if you'd like to be on the committee. The more helping hands we have, the better the year will be for our soon to be high schoolers!

Please reach out to POMS PTO 8th Grade Activities Chairs Tricia Onufer & Melissa Law at 8thgradeactivities@pinoakpto.org if you'd like to be involved!

Join the Pin Oak Middle School PTO and help the students, teachers, fine arts, athletics, and academic programs at our school.

Membership is just $10.

Membership must be renewed each year, as annual membership expires at the end of each school year on June 30.

If you have any questions, please email POMS PTO Membership Chair.

Pin Oak will be hosting tours for interested families on upcoming Thursdays. Spots are limited so click here to learn more and sign up.

We look forward to seeing you!!

Our first Academic UIL meet is on Saturday, October 14 at Carnegie Vanguard High School. The seven events are: Creative Writing, Editorial Writing, Modern Oratory, Impromptu Speaking, Number Sense, Ready Writing, and Spelling. Interested students can fill out the Google form (found here and on the POMS Student page on Canvas) by Monday night, October 2, so we can finalize the roster.

UIL Resources:

• POMS UIL Flyer
• State Page
• HISD Page
• Student Interest Form

Hi Pin Oak Parents and Students! 

Its that time of year to talk about the next travel opportunity. There will be a meeting in the Pin Oak Cafeteria Thursday, October 12, 2023@ 5:45 PM to discuss our trip to Italy in the Summer 2025. There are still a few spaces on the Greece trip this coming summer and I will briefly discuss that one as well.

Register for the meeting here or from the link in flyer and join us to hear all about the trips I have planned.

EF Tours does a great job of planning these trips and they are always fun yet educational. Learn more here.

Please contact Ms. Hulbirt with any questions.

Are you interested in having your student tested for Gifted and Talented identification? Applications are due December 8, 2023.

Applications are submitted through HISD Connect. Please see the linked directions to request testing. Once the application is submitted through HISD Connect, POMS will gather the teacher's recommendation.

Testing will be in Spring 2024. Stay tuned for exact dates.

Please contact Ms. Vining with any questions.

The POMS School Store is open during student lunches. Please refer below for full schedule:

• Monday, Wednesday and Friday - open for all lunches
• Tuesday - open until 1 PM (some Tuesdays we may be open for all lunches. Please contact the school store with any questions.)
• Thursday - open until 1 PM

The POMS Online School Store is open for business. ***Please note that online orders may take a few days to fulfill and you will be notified to have your student come pick up orders when they are ready.***

Please consider helping us purchase items on the Pin Oak Amazon Wish List. 

Thank you so much for your generosity!

This is your chance to volunteer and be in the middle of the action! It's a great way to meet other parents and interact with the students in the school store. 

Signups are for the 2023-2024 school year and we require at least 2 people in the store at all times. The school store is open during the students' lunch periods. Please sign up for the group (A or B)/day(s) that works best for you (shifts are every other week).

Please feel free to reach out to Jean Lee or Thuy Promubol at: schoolstore@pinoakpto.org with any questions or concerns. 

All school volunteers are required to be VIPS approved.

All volunteers in HISD must register to be VIPS approved. Please register at least two weeks before your scheduled volunteer shift, as it can take three to five business days to complete the background check. Even if you were previously VIPS approved, you will need to register again as your approval expires at the end of each school year.

VIPS Registration

VIPS Registration (Español)

Do you know a business who is looking for corporate sponsorship opportunities? 

Pin Oak offers a variety of sponsorship levels and benefits, including school-wide newsletter and website recognition, banner display in a prominent location on campus, marquee signage and much more! By partnering with businesses in our community, we raise funds for teacher, student, classroom and technology support, curriculum enrichment, staff appreciation, and facility enhancements. 

Contact POMS PTO Co-VP of Fundraising & Corporate Sponsors Chair Anu Hiremaglur for more details.

Log in to update your directory info or sign up for a new account if you're a new user. If you have used Membership Toolkit at another school, you may log in using your same account information.

The POMS PTO uses the Membership Toolkit platform across the board, so you'll need an account to receive the Charger Chatter, shop at the online School Store, join the PTO, and more! It can all be found at pinoakpto.org.

Also, be sure to download the free Membership Toolkit app on the App Store or Google Play, so you'll have the school directory and school calendar with you at all times on your mobile device! You can even sync the PTO calendar to your phone's calendar and opt to receive push notifications for important announcements!

If you have any issues signing up or logging in, please contact the POMSPTO VP of Communications Rebecca Grazier.

The Inertia Dance Company from Westside High School is excited to host our annual “Dance With Inertians” Holiday Workshop and Random Acts of Dance evening performance on December, 9th 2023. 

We have great facilities, an outstanding booster club and hardworking dancers that all help create a wonderful event. I wanted to personally invite you and your students to participate in our dance clinic which will take place at Westside from 11:00 AM – 3:00 PM or to perform in our Random Acts of Dance performance at 6:30 PM or BOTH. 

This clinic will help students of all ages be exposed to what the Inertia program has to offer. Boys and Girls will learn choreography, receive a t-shirt, snacks and perform in the opening piece for the Random Acts of Dance evening. I hope your students are able to attend this festive event and register for the early bird price (due 11/13/23)! Please also see the flyer here for details. 

Random Acts of Dance is an evening of works performed by local dance studios, dance companies, and other competitive performing arts studios within the Houston area. This performance will serve as a great platform to showcase your choreography before competition season begins. There is no fee for performing in the show. 

Tickets for audience members will be $15.00 (cash only ages 5 & up will require a ticket). Please see the links below to register for the clinic and evening showcase. Registration is now open for performers and participants under the "Events" tab at www.inertiadanceco.com. 

If you have any questions about our holiday event, please do not hesitate to reach out. We can't wait to share the stage with you! 

HISD Wraparound Services is here to help. Please see the following documents and complete a Student Assistance Form (SAF) found here.

Wraparound Services Contact Sheet

Wraparound Services Info Sheet English/Spanish

For more information, visit HISD Wraparound Services.