Originally delivered on 4/13/2025 6:49 pm

SUBJECT: Charger Chatter

April 13, 2025

Principal's Post

Dear Charger Parents and Families,

STAAR Testing on Wednesday, April 16:
All 8th grade students will take the STAAR Science Assessment on Wednesday, April 16. Please ensure your child gets a good night’s rest and arrives to school on time with a fully charged device.  

  • Remember there will be no lunch drop-offs during STAAR testing days.
  • Please avoid parent pickups during testing hours until after the testing is finished.
  • After testing, we will transition back to our modified block schedule, and instruction will resume, so we need students to remain on campus until the end of the school day.

HISD Spring Holiday: There will be no school on Friday, April 18.

Charger Cheerleaders Shine at Competition: 
Congratulations to our incredible Charger Cheerleaders who competed this weekend at Beach Bay United and won 1st Place in the Intermediate School Division. They also took home the title of Grand Champion WINNERS across all schools. 

Chess Team Continues Winning Streak:
Our Pin Oak Chess Team took 1st Place again at the TH Rogers Chess Tournament, marking our first back-to-back win. We had four individual 1st place winners, 11 player trophies, and 1 team trophy.

Orchestra Students Earn Top Honors:
Congratulations to our Advanced and Intermediate Orchestra students, who earned an incredible 28 gold medals at the Meyerland Performing and Visual Arts School Solo and Ensemble Competition.

Students were evaluated by Judge Sally Kirk, String Pedagogy Affiliate Artist at the University of Houston, based on tone, technique, pitch accuracy, rhythm, and musical expression. The judge praised our students’ artistry and noted that two performers played at a level approaching high school or college standards:

Outstanding Performers:

  • Ning Yang, violin  
  • Kelly Kim, violin  

Superior Ratings & Gold Medalists: 

Eleni Diehl, Maggie Heaton, Seoyoung Lee, Valentina Manrique, Benjamin Barnett, Annabelle Chung, Kelly Kim, Evelyn Faykus, Joude Khraibani, Ning Yang, Ulises Medina, Penelope Garcia, Henry Pan, Daniel Treviño, Thomas Barnett, Madison Ramsbourg, Olivia Ramsbourg, Carmen Prelle-Hofstetter, Adrianne Lee, Samuela Ashu, Vicky Shen, Danna Portillo, and Libby Wynne.

We are incredibly proud of all our Chargers for their excellence in academics, arts, and athletics.

We'll host a Book Fair April 24-26 at POMS and our Annual Charger Fest on Saturday, April 26! Please sign up to volunteer for both of these fun-filled events. See below for all the details.

Connecting with you is important to us and we are here for you: 

See you soon!

Lindsey Vela, Principal
HISD West Division Middle School Principal of the Year 


POMS Spirit Nights in April

We have two POMS Spirit Nights this month!!

  • Tuesday, April 22, from 3 - 8 PM at Betsy's at Evelyn's Park
  • Tuesday, April 29, from 3 - 8 PM at Skeeter's Mesquite Grill

    Betsy's and Skeeter's will donate 20% of sales back to POMS. Be sure to mention POMS at checkout or pick up so we receive credit for your purchase. Offer valid for online, dine in or carry out orders. 

Click to view flyers

Charger Fest on Saturday, April 26

POMS will host its annual Charger Fest on Saturday, April 26, from 12 to 4 PM and we would like to invite everyone from the Pin Oak community to join us.

Charger Fest is a fun-filled day of carnival games, inflatables, fine arts performances, food, sweets, and even school tours by our POMS student ambassadors. The School Store will be open to purchase uniform items.

What to Do Next: 

🎪 Be a booth sponsor or underwriter for the event 

🎢 Buy a wristband for kids to participate in inflatables/games

🍿 Donate to the Snack Fund or Sign up to Drop off Snacks

♥️ Volunteer to help at Charger Fest

😎 Have a great time!

🔴 chargerfest@pinoakpto.org

Parents and Students - We Need You!

We love hosting Charger Fest for our kids at Pin Oak, and it takes all of us to pitch in and make a school event like this successful.

Parents, if you haven't been able to volunteer during the school day this is your opportunity to get involved. We have lots of shifts available (Must be VIPS approved)

Parent volunteer sign up

Do you have a middle or high schooler who needs volunteer hours? Please have them sign up to be a student volunteer. 

Student volunteer sign up

🔵 For questions, email chargerfest@pinoakpto.org

Book Fair April 24-26 at POMS

Save the date for the best days of the school year! 
A portion of your purchases will support the POMS Library.

⏰ Book Fair is Open:
Thursday, April 24 and Friday, April 25 during all lunches

Saturday, April 26 during Charger Fest from 12-4 pm

📗 How to Purchase:
Cash, check, credit card, or by Scholastic e-wallet

❤️ We need VOLUNTEERS who are VIPS-approved to make this a great book fair for all our students. Sign up to help here.

🔵 For questions, email bookfair@pinoakpto.org

Calling All Incoming Chargers: Join Us for the POMS Incoming 6th Grade Social on Tuesday, May 27

Join incoming Chargers and their families to meet other Charger Families on Tuesday, May 27 from 5:30 - 7 PM at Evelyn's Park (4400 Bellaire Blvd). Meet Pin Oak PTO board members and chat about all things Pin Oak. Hope you can make it!

*Food and drinks available for purchase at Betsy's

Information for Incoming 6th Graders

Welcome to Pin Oak Middle School! We are thrilled for you to join our wonderful community of diverse students, caring teachers, involved parents, and active PTO volunteers! Have questions about next school year? Check out our Incoming 6th Grade Guide for new Chargers!

We Need 8th Grade Underwriters

We are hard at work planning all of the fun activities for our 8th graders to end their time at Pin Oak with lots of memories and good times! Last year the Class of 2024 had 82 underwriters and that allowed them to send their 8th graders off with a bang. So far our Class of 2025 has 71 underwriters and we are hoping we can get closer to last year's number. Please help by underwriting one of our 8th grade activities: 8th Grade Breakfast or 8th Grade Dance or 8th Grade Promotion Parade & Picnic. 

To support these efforts, parents, friends, and family can underwrite an event for $100. You can even underwrite more than one.

We'll recognize your name on a banner on the circle drive, the PTO website, and here in the Charger Chatter.

🎓 For questions, email 8thgradeactivities@pinoakpto.org

2025-2026 School Supplies on Sale Now

Buy your student's school supply pack today! Packs will be shipped to POMS and distributed prior to the first day of school. Be sure to order the pack for the grade your child will be in for the upcoming 2025-26 school year.

Purchase 1st Day School Supplies here.

🔵 For questions, email schoolsupplies@pinoakpto.org

Help us fill the Sunshine Snack Cart

The teacher snack carts are on the roll! Please help us purchase items for the carts on our Amazon Wish List

Prefer to purchase items locally? Please mark off the item(s) on the Amazon List, address the items to Wynne Erickson/PTO and bring them to the front office.

Order Your 2024-2025 Yearbook

Pin Oak is excited to partner with Jostens for our 2024-2025 yearbook. Order your copy today

Got great photos of your kids at Pin Oak sponsored activities?

Please share your best pictures with the Yearbook staff via the QR code or link here. (Please no pictures of personal family vacation, dinners etc.)

Shop POMS Gear Online

The school store is open for students to shop during lunch or you can shop the school store online. (You will be notified when your online order is ready and your student may pick up the items during lunch)

Want to be a store volunteer? Please sign up for the group (A or B)/day(s) that works best for you.  Shifts are every other week. All volunteers must be VIPS approved.

For more information, contact Jean Lee or Thuy Promubol.

Corporate Sponsorship Opportunities


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 e-newsletter and website recognition, banner display in a prominent location on campus, 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 Adriana Cune, VP of Sponsorship, for details.

Full Calendar
Wednesday, April 16
POMS STAAR Science (8)
Friday, April 18
POMS No School - Spring Holiday
Tuesday, April 22
3:00p POMS Spirit Night at Betsy's at Evelyn's Park (3 - 8 PM)
Wednesday, April 23
POMS STAAR US History (8)
Thursday, April 24
POMS Book Fair
Friday, April 25
POMS Book Fair
POMS Report Cards
Saturday, April 26
POMS Book Fair
12:00p POMS Charger Fest
Tuesday, April 29
POMS STAAR Math/Algebra (6-8)
3:00p POMS Spirit Night at Skeeter's Mesquite Grill (3 - 8 PM)
Friday, May 2
POMS No School - Staff Development Day
4:00p POMS Kona Ice Friday
Thursday, May 8
9:00a POMS PTO Executive Board Meeting
Thursday, May 15
9:00a POMS PTO General Meeting
Friday, May 16
6:45p POMS 8th Grade Semi-Formal Dance
We Appreciate Our Corporate Sponsors & Community Partners
AGENDA
CHARGER
THOROUGHBRED
RANGER
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