Yearbooks are still for sale after school this week and next week until we run out, so get your copy before it's too late! They will be sold in the front lobby from 3:00-4:00 pm.

Congratulations to the following winners of the World's Finest Chocolate fundraiser:

1st Place - Jacob N. (pictured with Mrs. Ermoian and Mrs. Varela)
2nd Place - Emilio M.
3rd Place - Carlos M., Dylan C., Jacob R., Issabella M.

Thank you for everyone who participated and for all of your hard work!

Logan R., one of our 5th graders, was announced DISTCO 2013 Grand Prize winner for the Digital Story Telling Contest. He participated in the contest with his " My Scouting Life" video. He won a mini iPad. He will be recognized next Friday at an awards ceremony in Houston. Congratulations to Logan on his success and hard work; we’re proud of you!You may view his video by clicking on the following link. read more . . .

Harmony’s Honor Societies are collecting clothes for some elderly victims of the West Tragedy. They are currently accepting clothing in sizes XL-3XL for both females and males. Please contact Ms. Cortez at tcortez@harmonytx.org for more information or to drop off items. Thank you for all of your support.

Pictures from HSA’s NHS/NJHS Induction Ceremony are available to view and purchase. Click here

Congratulations to all students who were inducted into the societies! Keep up the great work!
NJHS (6-9 grades) will be meeting on Monday, 5/6/13 in Ms. Cortez’s room at 4PM.
NHS (10-12 grades) will be meeting on Friday, 5/10/13 in Ms. Cortez’s room at 4PM.

Our Harmony Science Academy community is deeply saddened by the tragic events that took place in West, Texas on April 17.

We have been accepting cash donations from faculty, staff, and students this past Friday, April 19 and Monday, April 22 and are also donating all funds raised during our STAAR Spirit Week to West. In total, we have raised $2621. Thank you so much to all who donated.
All of the money collected during this time will be given to the West Fire Department and West ISD.

On April, 15th, Harmony Science Academy’s senior Elyse P., was recognized at the 33rd annual Youth Citizenship Award sponsored by the Rotary Club of Waco and the Waco Tribune Herald. Elyse was given top honors and the recipient of a $4,000 scholarship. Elyse competed against 25 students, each representing their own school in McLennan county and each boasting a list of their own accomplishments, awards and community efforts. These students are in the top of their class, earning scholarships to some of the top colleges, regional and state awards in academics, sports, the arts and for their service to the Waco community. While all of these were important achievements for these students, the determining factor for the Rotary Club award was “service above self.” The committee previously read the students’ essays and had the top 5 recipients visit the rotary club for an interview before deciding the winner. This was the first time that Harmony Science Academy has been represented, so it was an honor for our student to win the top award. We are proud of Elyse for her accomplishments and her dedication to make a difference in our school and community.

Congratulations to all 1st-5th grade students who participated in the Spelling Bee! All participants did a great job studying and competing. A special congratulations goes out to all of the winners. Pictured are the following Spelling Bee winners: Efren V., Jocelyn B., Cristina R., Melissa P., Daniela G., Vivianna R., Stephanie D., Jordyn Y., Avery T., Anjoli W., Raj S., Henry T., Saleem H., Susanna W., and Vincent P.

Congratulations to the Battle of the Books team (Jaece R., Mariela R., Paige N., D’Angelo S., and Daniel M.) and their coach, Mrs. McKeen-McGuire, for participating in the Battle of the Books competition on Friday, February 22 at University High School. They came in 6th out of 30 schools. Great job!

Senior E. Pravel took second place in Behavioral and Social Science category at regional science fair that was held at Texas State Technical College.She is now qualified to attend the statewide science fair in San Antonio.Congratulations E. Pravel!

The 2013 Texas STEM Conference joined about 500 educators and learned about the best STEM curriculum and instructional practices in order to encourage innovation and collaboration. In addition to educators, the Texas STEM Conference encourages STEM employers, business leaders, policymakers, parents, and non-profit organizations to attend this conference to learn how Texas can engage its stakeholders in this critical dialogue about STEM education and workforce readiness. This is the 7th Annual Texas STEM Conference.

Ms. Cortez from Harmony Science Academy Waco Presented "Engineering Hope with Robotics". She spoke about how to teach and organize a robotics team. It was a huge success with lots of positive feedback.

Thank you to everyone who helped to make the Book Fair a success! We had a wonderful week of literary events. A special thanks goes out to the PTO for organizing the fair.

Harmony Science Academy Waco's No Child Left Behind Report Card is now available. Please take a moment to look at these scores. read more . . .

Senior E. Pravel is featured in the January issue of Wacoan Magazine for her academic and extracurricular achievements at H.S.A. Waco. Congratulations, Elyse! read more . . .

The Waco Tribune Herald has written a piece spotlighting H.S.A. Waco and our growing program. read more . . .

Regardless of students being qualified for free/reduced/paid, or bringing their lunch, any additional milk or juice (at breakfast and lunch times) will be charged 50 cents for each item. Thank you for helping us follow this policy!

Our K-5, Choir, and Senior Drama students put on a wonderful show on Thursday, December 20th. The gym was full as H.S.A. students, staff, family, and friends enjoyed a wonderful show. A special thank you goes out to Mr. Porter for organizing and conducting the show.

Last week there was a truly incomprehensible act of violence committed against those that are most innocent in Newtown, CT.
Our hearts and thoughts are with the victims, their families and the survivors as well as the community. Tragic events such as this one serve as a reminder to continue our efforts to remain vigilant in emergency planning and safety procedures to protect our children at all times. Below are some of the procedures that we use to effectively monitor and gauge the security of our school.

-we currently update regularly and check security procedures and plans
-staff and students are trained in the event of an emergency or incident
-we have a 24 hour surveillance system covering all interior and exterior locations and all common areas within our school
-we have a secured entrance and exit that is monitored at all times by trained staff and no one is allowed past the main doors without checking in and given proper identification.

Our student's safety is our number one concern so we strive on ways to improve upon that. We hope that you as parents understand our need to strictly enforce these security procedures. If you have any concerns or questions please feel free to contact Mrs. Cleere or Mr. Ocampo. Please see below for links to resources for talking to your child about tragedies and how to help them cope with any feelings they may be experiencing. read more . . .

This past week our middle and high school Math Olympiad teams competed in the Central Texas Regional Math Olympiad and the State Math Olympiad. At the regional competition on Wednesday, both teams took first place! Competing in the State competition on Saturday, the H.S.A. Waco high school team took 2nd place and the middle school team took 6th place! Congratulations to both teams!

Student names:
Middle School (Regional and State):
Aislinn B.
Nicholas T.
Issac W.
Isbat S.
Daniel M.

High School (Regional):
Aamir A.
Elyse P.
Mackenzie L.
Renat A.
Cristian L.

High School (State):
Elyse P.
Mackenzie L.
Michael I.
Brandon K.
Cristian L.

We are so proud of our H.S.A. students and families--as a school, we raised 1942 pounds of food to support the Food for Families drive! Students in grades K-12 participated, making it a huge success. A special thanks goes out to our Student Council for advertising and organizing this event.

SING!, HSA's Elementary Choir, kicked off their Holiday Season on Friday. The choir traveled to three local nursing homes to sing Christmas carols for the residents and employees. The choir did a great job and had a lot of fun performing in public. They enjoyed meeting some of the residents and brightening their days. Mr. Porter would like to compliment the choir students on their behavior and the respect they showed while at the nursing homes.

This year, the second graders have teamed up with the fifth grade. They each have been paired up with a student from the other grade and once a month, they get to meet with their buddy. The first time, both grades got acquainted with one another. Now, they both love getting to meet with their buddies and do fun activities with them. This week, the second graders had fun decorating fall leaves with their 5th grade buddies.

Some of the middle school and high school volleyball players attended the Baylor vs. TCU volleyball game on Wednesday, October 17. The girls met Bruiser the Bear after the game and also met the Baylor volleyball team, who signed autographs for them. They all enjoyed cheering the Lady Bears on to a close victory!

On Wednesday, October 25th, we had crazy hair day to remember that "You would be crazy to do drugs"! Students and staff are doing a great job of raising drug awareness by participating in our Red Ribbon Week activities.

This year there is a trip to Washington D.C. for 8th – 12th graders. The date of the trip is June 2, 2013 – June 5, 2013. There will be interest meeting on Wednesday, October 24, 2012 at 6:00 p.m. for this great opportunity. If you have any questions please contact Mr. Meyers at mmeyers@harmonytx.org or by calling (254) 751-7878.

On October 13, 2012, the Harmony Cross Country Team participated in the Brazos Invitational, a meet hosted by Live Oak Classical School. Harmony runners raced well, staying competitive in their divisions and showing great sportsmanship to fellow athletes. Congratulations to B. Olvera, C. Smith, C. Leslie, S. Willis, J. Veracruz, K. Ward, S. Herrera, and L. Vallejo. Go Tigers!

Harmony’s B.E.S.T. Robotics team is looking for sponsors. We have several options available.
<$49 | Mars Sponsor|Sponsors will receive Certificate of Appreciation.
$50-$99 | Asteroid Sponsorship|receive above +name on banner
$100 - $249 | Yellow Star Sponsor|receive above + name on t-shirt
$250 - $499 | Haley’s Comet Sponsor|receive above + name & logo on t-shirt
$500-$999 | Earth Sponsor|receive above + name & logo on marketing materials
$1000 - $2499 | Milky Way Sponsor|receive above + a plaque
$2500+ | MAYHEM ACHIEVED! Sponsor|receive above + name & logo on robot

Please contact Ms. Cortez for more information at tcortez@harmonytx.org or (254)220-9262. Thank you for your supporting STEM Education at Harmony!

On Thursday, September 27, Captain Dean Michals came to speak with our students about his job as a pilot. Captain Michals told our students about the different pathways to becoming a pilot and his own experience moving from the Air Force to Delta Airlines. Students enjoyed learning about flying the friendly skies. Thank you, Captain Michals!

Newsweek has announced America's Best High Schools where seven Harmony schools have made into the list.

Harmony Science Academy - Bryan/College Station, Harmony School of Advancement (Houston), Harmony Science Academy Fort Worth, Harmony Science Academy (Houston), Harmony Science Academy El Paso, Harmony Science Academy Dallas, Harmony Science Academy-North Austin are the campuses that made into Newsweek's list.

Newsweek has also identified Top 25 Transformative High Schools in which four Harmony Schools are also featured.

HSA Bryan/College Station, HSA El Paso, HSA Houston, and HSA Dallas became America's 25 transformative schools who did the most with the least resources.

In 2011, two Harmony campuses were also named as the Miracle Schools by Newsweek.

Washington Post has announced its Most Challenging High Schools list of 2012. Four Harmony high schools made the Challenge Index and three of them in the top 100 out of 1900 schools in the list.

The Challenge Index of Washington Post ranks high schools since 1998 based on the student achievement on IB, AP, and college level tests (SAT, ACT, etc.) and graduation rates. The index score is the number of college-level tests given at a school in 2011 divided by the number of graduates that year. Also noted are the percentage of students who come from families that qualify for lunch subsidies (Subs. lunch) and the percentage of graduates who passed at least one college-level test during their high school career, called equity and excellence, (E&E). A (P) next to the school's name denotes a private school.

See the detailed list here.

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It is the policy of the Harmony Science Academy Charter School to locate and identify any child who contacts or enrolls in the Charter School who may have a disability and be in need of special education and related services, regardless of the severity of the disability, in accordance with its procedures as reflected in the CHILD FIND legal framework of the Legal Framework for the Child-Centered Special Education Process, located at: http://framework.esc18.net/. read more...