August 24th - August 28th

 

THE 2019-2020 SCHOOL YEAR CLOSES!

The final event of the 2019-20 school year took place on Wednesday morning with our annual Honors Assembly.  We were disappointed that we were not able to invite families on campus to celebrate the achievements of their students.  It was a wonderful morning honoring their many accomplishments!  Those receiving honors can be seen HERE.

NATIONAL JUNIOR HONOR SOCIETY

At the Honors Assembly we inducted a new class into the NJHS.  These students have demonstrated perseverance and commitment to the values of scholarship, service, leadership, character, and citizenship.  We great pleasure we welcome the following into the society: Annalee Huff, Sarah Mills Kearson, Phoebe Lynch, Jamison Beck, Lula Tollison, Hannah Burt, Madeline Oldfield, Lilly Gayle Helton, Liza Swan, Kate Barber, Sage Cahan, Marcos Simon, Louisa Coley, Lane Middleton, Feriby McCorkle, Duncan Manning, Jasmine DeWitt, Laney Berman, and Henry Montavon. Congratulations!

BACK TO SCHOOL NIGHT

The Middle School will hold its annual Back To School Night on Thursday, August 27th - sort of!  This year, each teacher will upload a 4 to 5 minute video about their class.  The video will be uploaded to the appropriate Google Classroom and will be available for viewing beginning at 5:00pm on Thursday.  Look for more details to follow!

LUNCH & MILK SIGN UPS - DEADLINE IS NEXT FRIDAY, AUGUST 28TH

Lunches will look a little different this year but WE ARE providing our lunch program to the students Monday through Friday. Lunch is VOLUNTARY so you DO NOT have to participate.  Lunches and Milk will begin Tuesday, September 8th. Due to COVID restrictions, all of our meals will be pre-packaged and distributed by one person and all utensils and condiments will be wrapped separately in plastic or in individual containers. Unfortunately, there can be no lunch volunteers until COVID restrictions have been removed. This year, we are going to order lunches on a MONTHLY basis through FACTS. This means that you must sign up EVERY MONTH if you want your child to receive school lunches.  Milk for the year is a one time fee of $155. You need to click on MILK on the September Calendar (it is shown on Monday, Sept. 7th) on the Lunch Order Form.  This will take care of your child getting milk for the entire school year. Sign up for lunch/milk by signing into your Family Portal and clicking Student Information > Lunch.

ASSESSMENTS CALENDAR

We are very excited to introduce a new easy way for parents and students to look at upcoming assessments.  THIS LINK leads to a Google Sheet that will have the next 2 weeks of assessments.  The link below will lead to the 6th grade assessments, but by using the tabs in the lower left corner (shown below), you can navigate to 7th grade and 8th grade assessments, as well.

Different subjects will appear in different colors:

History is black, Science is green, ELA is blue, Spanish is red, and Math is pink.

Please bear in mind that Middle School Assessments may be added, removed, or changed at any time.  This Sheet will always be up to date, however - once a teacher assigns or adjusts an assessment, this Sheet will reflect that change.

Each middle school student is required to complete ten hours of community service over the course of the school year.  Please remember to list hours worked on a daily basis, do not log the total sum of hours worked over an extended period of time.  See below for a few upcoming service opportunities.  Click HERE for a log form.

Welcome back to school!! This year in the LC Corner, I will be offering tips and strategies to support your work at school. Please reach out to me anytime you need assistance or have any questions. 

Tip #1: GO TO GOOGLE CLASSROOM EVERY DAY. The Classwork section will have your homework, long-term assignments, assessments, projects, and due dates. Teachers will also post announcements in the Stream. You may also reach out to your teachers or peers using comments. 

It is great to have everyone back in the building and the students are easily picking up new procedures!  Please feel free to reach out to me throughout the year with any social or emotional concerns regarding your student.  The best way to reach me is email at amaher@hancockdayschool.org.

ALGEBRA - MRS. SMOAK

Welcome to Algebra 1! I am so excited to have you in my class this year! Next week, we will be taking our pretest to see what you know and where we need to do some review. We will then embark on a self-guided review of the skills you will need to start Algebra 1. Have a great weekend!

GEOMETRY - MR. LANFEAR

Welcome back to another year at Hancock!  We are all very excited to be back on campus and to have the opportunity to work with all of you!  Next week in Geometry we will continue Chapter 1 in the textbook by learning the difference between postulates and theorems (1.2), the midpoint and distance formulas (1.3), and angles (1.4-1.5).  There will be a quiz covering sections 1.1-1.5 on Friday.

ELA - MRS. BOYER

Welcome! For the next few weeks we will be working through Fahrenheit 451 as we discuss themes such as censorship, the power of education, propaganda, etc. Students will be having class discussions through  DQs, a Socratic Seminar, writing assignments, class activities, etc. Students will have a test over F451 on September 11th, 2020. 

HIGH SCHOOL SPANISH - MRS. SALE

Hola...I hope you had a super ‘’fin de semana”!  This week we are going to be reviewing quite a bit.  We will begin with the ABC’s, basic conversation, articles (definite and indefinite), numbers (0-100). You will complete a couple of worksheets over the information.  On Friday, you will wrap things up with a quiz.  The quiz will cover the ABC’s, def. & indefinite articles, basic conversation and numbers 0-100.  We will then play a game afterwards.  Hpe you have a groovy week. :)  

PHYSICAL SCIENCE - MS. HOFFMAN

I am so excited to have everyone for science this year for their last year in Middle School.  We are going to have a great time and learn a lot about Chemistry and Physics. Textbooks went home on Tuesday and need to be covered by Monday 8/24 for a 100 homework grade.  Covers can be cloth, vinyl or paper (a paper grocery bag works great).  Students also received their workbooks which we will use throughout the school year to write in and complete various assignments.  This week we learned how to write our monthly Science in Comics assignment (students have a rubric and all the due dates for the school year with the next one due on 8/30/20), and started some information on measuring matter.  Next week we will work on lab safety and finish up measuring information.  We will also discuss the Engineering Process and work in partners to solve a fun engineering problem.  On Monday 8/31 we will discuss this year's Science Fair Projects and students will receive their packets.

US HISTORY - MRS. ROBINSON

Welcome back! I am thrilled to be back on campus with the students and so excited for their 8th grade year to start! Next week we will be working through our personal history unit. As a way to make history something that is easier to relate to, as opposed to something so distant from them, we start each year with an exploration of ourselves. This year, as the students are now 8th graders and leaders of the school, we will be focusing on the theme of legacy. Students will choose someone to study and understand their legacy and the impact it had on the world. We will work on and present those projects next week. We will then work on their own personal HDS legacy project where they will really decide what mark they want to leave on this place. I am looking forward to a great year with everyone!

ADVANCED SPANISH - MRS. SALE

Hola chicos and chicas!!! I hope you had a great weekend...we are going to start our week off by learning the Spanish alfabeto. This week ‘greetings & farewells” will be introduced.  Also, ‘’basic conversation’’ will be introduced to you. Two worksheets will be completed and on Friday you will have a quiz!  The quiz will cover the Spanish alphabet/vocabulary words.  We will then end Friday with a game of Lucita. Have a groovy semana.

ADVANCED SPANISH - MR. ALEXANDER

¡Hola queridos amigos! I’m excited that we are all back! This week we will be reviewing what we did last year and taking a pre-assessment quiz.  We have some fun activities planned to get us back into using Español!

ALGEBRA - MRS. SMOAK

Welcome to Algebra 1! I am so excited to have you in my class this year! Next week, we will be taking our pretest to see what you know and where we need to do some review. We will then embark on a self-guided review of the skills you will need to start Algebra 1. Have a great weekend!

PRE-ALGEBRA - MR. LANFEAR

Welcome back to another year at Hancock!  We are all very excited to be back on campus and to have the opportunity to work with all of you!  Next week in Pre-Algebra we will review some concepts from 5th grade such as exponents and order of operations.  Then we will begin Chapter 1 by learning how to evaluate expressions and variables (1.1), how to compare and order integers (1.4), and adding and subtraction integers (1.4-1.5).  There will be a short quiz covering sections 1.1-1.4 towards the end of the week.

ELA - MRS. BOYER

Welcome! For the next three weeks we will be working through a Writer’s Boot Camp! Students will be writing a summer reading themed four paragraph essay. We will be reviewing the S.R.E.S. writing foundation. There will be two weeks of writing during class (teacher conferences, peer editing, etc.) and then one week of independent/ at home work. Final Essays will be due on September 11th. 

Students will also be working through their first unit in the new Sadlier vocabulary books. There will be a vocabulary quiz on September 4th. 

ELA - MRS. SASSER 8/24-8/28

This week, students will review our SRES writing method and thesis statements. They’ll look at sample essays to refresh their memories on appropriate formatting, transition words, and in-text citations. They’ll have an SRES quiz on 9/2. Then, they’ll use one of their summer reading novels to write a brief character analysis essay. They’ll work on this mostly in class. Final drafts will be due Wednesday, September 2nd. 

LIFE SCIENCE - MRS. DURANT

Welcome back to school!  We had a wonderful first week and it’s been a joy getting to know your students and introducing them to the exciting world of Life Science.  This week, we will continue to discuss Lab Safety. Students will also learn the proper use and parts of the microscope. We will have an engaging Introduction to Microscopes Lab, where they will also learn how to write a lab report. Students will have a quiz on lab safety on Friday, August 28. 

US HISTORY - MRS. ROBINSON

Welcome back! I am thrilled to have your students back on campus and really looking forward to getting to teach them this year. Next week we will be working through our personal history unit. As a way to make history something that is easier to relate to, as opposed to something so distant from them, we start each year with an exploration of ourselves. More specific detail on this unit was emailed to you earlier this week. Next week students will be sharing their name story and their personal artifacts with the class. We will also begin work on our family history project where students will trace their family back three generations and do brief research on events throughout time that have had an affect on their family. Looking forward to a great year with everyone!

US HISTORY - MR. O’HAYER

Welcome back everyone. Next week we will begin our studies with What is History and Why do we study it. We will examine the different viewpoints that historians use to tell the story of US History. Also, students will dive into their own personal history which will help detail and relate historical perspectives of others and relate how they themselves create history everyday. 

ACCELERATED MATH - MR. CARGILE

It has been a great start to our new year! It is so exciting to be back on campus and to meet all of the new 6th graders! Next week in Accelerated Math 7 we will learn a little about how our brains work, and students will take a pre-test for Chapter 1, Number Sense, Patterns, and Algebraic Thinking. Our first module of the chapter will focus on patterns.

PRE-ALGEBRA - MR. LANFEAR

Welcome back to another year at Hancock!  We are all very excited to be back on campus and to have the opportunity to work with all of you!  Next week in Pre-Algebra we will review some concepts from 5th grade such as exponents and order of operations.  Then we will begin Chapter 1 by learning how to evaluate expressions and variables (1.1), how to compare and order integers (1.4), and adding and subtraction integers (1.4-1.5).  There will be a short quiz covering sections 1.1-1.4 towards the end of the week.

EARTH SCIENCE - MS. HOFFMAN

I am so glad to have everyone for science this year for their first year in Middle School.  We are going to have a great time and learn a lot about meteorology, geology, oceanography, astronomy and environmental science.  Textbooks went home on Tuesday and need to be covered by Monday 8/24 for a 100 homework grade.  Covers can be cloth, vinyl or paper (a paper grocery bag works great).  This week we also learned how to write our monthly Science in Comics assignment (students have a rubric and all the due dates for the school year with the next one due on 8/31/20), and started some information on measuring matter.  Next week we will work on lab safety and finish up measuring information.  We will also have an introduction lab and measurement lab to learn about mass, volume and density.

EARTH SCIENCE - MRS. DURANT

Welcome to Middle School!  It’s been a joy getting to know your students this past week and I’m excited to share the fascinating world of Earth Science with them this year. This week, we will continue to discuss lab safety and lab equipment commonly used in the  Earth Science lab. We will also conduct two engaging Measurement Labs. Students will have a quiz on Lab Safety on Friday, August 28. 

ELA - MRS. SASSER 8/24-8/28

We will begin this week by learning about the SRES writing method. Students will practice identifying SRES in sample paragraphs and then apply this method in their own writing. We will use various topics for both our discussion and writing. Students will also learn about best practices for how to best edit and revise their writing. Students will have a brief quiz over SRES on Tuesday, September 1st.

INTRO SPANISH - MR. ALEXANDER

¡Hola queridos amigos!  It’s great to be back!  We have outlined class expectations and procedures and discussed what we will be doing this year.  All students have received a syllabus and should at this point have a general understanding of what is expected.

This week we will discuss the importance of language learning, review the alphabet and pronunciation, take a pre-assessment quiz, and participate in some fun activities to get us warmed up and back to using Español.

Homework each night is 1) to review the day’s lesson / notes 2) study vocabulary 3) do IXL and/or Doulingo 4) do homework assigned that day.

Their vocabulary list can be found on google classroom and they should begin learning the vocabulary.

WORLD HISTORY - MR. O’HAYER

Welcome back everyone and welcome to Middle School!! Next week we will begin our studies with What is History and Why do we study it. Students will examine how points of view impacts historical perspective and how History is viewed through the eyes of the people who “lived it.”

We will also spend time during the week creating a plan/format for note-taking and how to create thorough outlines.  

ART - MRS. COOKSON

“One can have no smaller or greater mastery than mastery of oneself.” Leonardo da Vinci

Welcome to the new school year. Hopefully everyone had a relaxing and refreshing summer given the circumstances. Things will look a little different in the art room than usual. We will explore ways to create art without sharing tools or materials. Have no fear though, we will still be abuzz with creativity, exploration, and lots of fun. I am really looking forward to seeing everyone soon.

8th: Graffiti Art - Students will learn about graffiti and street art before beginning our project 

7th: Geometric Still Life - Students will begin with building on basic drawing skills with a study of geometric form and light

6th: Adjective, Adjective, Noun - Students will explore challenge creative thinking with imaginative drawings based on randomly selected parts of speech