August 28th - September 1st

 

Dear Parents, 

We look forward to seeing you at Parent’s Night, this coming Thursday, August 31st, from 5:00-6:30 PM, in the Middle School building. We will start our night at 5:00 PM in Hancock Hall with some brief remarks from Dr. Miller, Mr. Manly, and myself, and then you go to your child’s Homeroom class before traveling through their schedule of classes. Parent’s Night is a great opportunity for you to meet all of your child’s teachers, get a feel for each classroom, and learn a little about each teacher’s expectations and style. We look forward to seeing you Thursday night! 

Kind regards,

Jack Cargile

Head of Middle School

IMPORTANT: AFTERNOON CARPOOL
In order to make Afternoon Carpool more efficient and safe for everyone, we need your cooperation. With the high volume of cars in our parking lot during the Afternoon Carpool pick-up window, it is imperative that you arrive at the scheduled time for your pick-up zone. When you arrive at Afternoon Carpool before your designated pick-up time, it causes a disruption in the flow of traffic which slows down Carpool and makes everyone have to sit in their car longer. 

For Afternoon Carpool, it is important to adhere to the scheduled pick-up time for each Carpool zone when you are picking up your child:

Green Zone (PreK-2nd Grade) 2:45-3:00

Gold Zone (3rd-5th Grade) 3:00-3:15

White Zone (6th-8th Grade) 3:25-3:45: Arrive at 3:15 or after

When we all work together, Afternoon Carpool runs more smoothly and takes less time out of your day. We recognize that perfect timing is not always easy, and we thank you for your efforts to help streamline our system. 

CAMP MERRI-MAC REMINDERS

On the morning of Tuesday, September 26th, parents will drop-off their student/s at the Bed Bath and Beyond parking lot at 5:30 AM so that everyone can stow their baggage and get settled into their grade-level bus for our 6:00 AM departure. For our return trip, we will leave Merri-Mac prior to lunch on Friday, September 29th and expect to arrive between 4:30 PM and 5:30 PM at the Bed Bath and Beyond parking lot in Savannah. Parents will be notified after we’ve hit the road to get a more accurate return time. 

Payment of $615 for the trip is due by check made out to Hancock Day School on or before Friday, August 25th, and payment will be collected by Mrs. Mannarino starting the first day of school. In addition to remitting payment, it is important that you complete the following documents by Friday, August 25th:

• Respond to our Middle School Trip Information Survey

• Complete Camp Merri-Mac/Black Mountain Expeditions Liability Waiver Form

• Remit payment ($615) by check to Mrs. Mannarino in the middle school office

CHROMEBOOK CARE

Please review with your student the Chromebook Code of Conduct and Standards which all families signed.  It is important to understand that if a Chromebook is broken or fails to work properly, the family is responsible for its repair or replacement.  As stated in the Chromebook Code of Conduct and Standards:

Students’ families are financially responsible for the repair or replacement cost of a broken or damaged Chromebook, iPad, Computer bag, or any other technology accessory.

• Replacement Chromebook: $300

• Replacement iPad: $500

• Replacement Computer Bag: $20

• Replacement Headphones: $5

Using the protective case provided, carrying the Chromebook with care (closing it when moving, not holding it by the screen), and always leaving the Chromebook in a safe place (not simply left on the floor) are the most responsible steps students can take to ensure the life of their Chromebook.

TARDIES AND EARLY PICKUPS

Middle School begins at 8:10am. Starting on Monday, students arriving after 8:10am will need to be checked into the middle school office by an adult, and they will receive a tardy slip before heading to their class. 

If you plan to pick up your student(s) before regular carpool, please complete a carpool change. When you arrive at the school to pick up, please come inside and sign out your student(s) using the Chromebook in the middle school office.

6TH GRADE PARENT EDU: Making the Transition into 6th Grade

I hope to see all 6th grade parents in Hancock Hall at 6:00 pm on Wednesday, September 13th, for a look into 6th grade practices and procedures with helpful hints and information about making your child’s 6th grade year a success. 

If you have any questions, please reach out to me: tguggenheim@hancockdayschool.org

See you there!

Tricia Guggenheim

Learning Coach

 

Parents and students have an easy way to look at upcoming assessments and projects.  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. Click HERE for a log form or see Mrs. Mannarino in the office.

As Learning Coach, I work with students, parents, and teachers to offer support and strategies throughout the year. Please reach out to me if I can be of any assistance to you and your child/ren. I will share ideas and strategies often in this space. My email is: tguggenheim@hancockdayschool.org. My phone extension is 327. I look forward to working with you! Tricia Guggenheim

Tip #1: GO TO GOOGLE CLASSROOM EVERY DAY. 

• The Classwork section will have your homework, long-term assignments, assessments, projects, and due dates. 

• Please look in the Calendar for individual assignments. 

• Teachers will post announcements in the Stream. Also in the Stream on the list on the left is the To-Do tab which gives a list of upcoming assignments. You may also reach out to your teachers or peers using comments. 

• Lastly, parents receive the Blog in the Eagle’s Nest every Friday, and students receive it in an email from Mrs. Mannarino Friday’s as well. 

• The Blog announces grade-by-grade and subject-by-subject what is happening for the next week in each class. It also includes the link to the Assessment/Project Calendar which lists upcoming assessments and projects for the next two weeks. 

All of these tools are valuable for organizing, planning, and time management. 

ALGEBRA 1 - Mrs. Taylor

Students took their first quiz over 1.1-1.3 last Thursday. They will assess over the chapter Wednesday , 8/30. That will cover 1.1-1.4, 1.6-1.7. We will begin Chapter 2 Thursday.

ADVANCED ALGEBRA - Mr. Lanfear

Next week in Advanced Algebra, we will have the Chapter 9 test on Monday.  Then we will begin the first part of Chapter 10 by learning how to graph quadratic functions and parabolas (10.1-10.2).

GEOMETRY - Mr. Lanfear

Next week in Geometry, we will begin Chapter 2, which introduces us to logic laws and proofs.  We will start by learning about inductive and deductive reasoning (2.1), conditional and biconditional statements (2.2), and the laws of detachment and syllogism (2.3).  There will be a quiz covering 2.1-2.3 on Friday.

ELA - Mrs. Boyer

This week we will be working through our first in-class essay. Students have completed their brainstorms and are working on completing a paragraph each day.  With essays, each day a student will work on one paragraph, as they work, I conference with each student and check their work. Essentially, each student will receive anywhere from three to five edits. If students want more edits for whatever reason, they are responsible for emailing me ahead of time to get on ‘my list’. The earlier students email, the more likely they are to receive additional edits. For example, essays will be due Friday (9/1) for 8th grade. This means that they should email on Monday & Tuesday…maybe Wednesday for edits. Emailing on Thursday afternoon/evening may not result in edits due to the time constraint. Please plan accordingly. 

We will begin To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee on Tuesday, September 5th. It is critical that students stay current on their reading schedules and check their annotations against my personal novel. 

PHYSICAL SCIENCE - Ms. Hallman

The eighth graders have been SO amazing to have in class. They are working really hard on their experimental design papers as we learn APA formatting. I am excited to see the final products! Next week, we will be continuing to work on these papers and this will be their first major grade. The final paper is due Friday, September 1st. 

US HISTORY - Mr. Saviskas  

Hello again! This week we will be wrapping up our Causes of the Civil War lessons and preparing for a test this Friday, September 1st. As a part of this we will be doing a short writing assignment early on in the week before moving on to reading testimonials from the time period. Getting an understanding of the period through the eyes of those who lived it is invaluable to realizing how the Civil War began. For Friday’s test we will have a review for it on Wednesday and Thursday, with a study guide provided for ease of reference.

HIGH SCHOOL SPANISH  - Ms. Gonzalez

¡Hola! We have completed our first Spanish project - Introducing family and friends. The students presented their Google Slides, introducing themselves, a family member and a friend. Next week we will begin reviewing conjugating verbs!  

ADVANCED SPANISH - Ms. Brown and Ms. Gonzalez
For students enrolled in Ms. Brown’s class, please see the following bullets to know what we have on our agenda for the coming week!

• Our first test for the year on Unit One will be Monday, 8/28

• We will start a brand new unit called Regular & Irregular Verbs on Tuesday, 8/29

Take it away Ms. Gonzalez!

¡Hola! We have completed our first Spanish project - Introducing family and friends. The students presented their Google Slides, introducing themselves, a family member and a friend. Next week we will start our new unit: Regular & Irregular Verbs! We will be conjugating verbs!  

ALGEBRA 1 - Mrs. Taylor

Students took their first quiz over 1.1-1.3 last Thursday. They will assess over the chapter Wednesday , 8/30. That will cover 1.1-1.4, 1.6-1.7. We will begin Chapter 2 Thursday.

PRE-ALGEBRA - Mr. Lanfear

Next week in Pre-Algebra, we will complete Chapter 1 by learning how to multiply and divide integers (1.7) and plot points in a coordinate plane (1.8).  There will be a day of review on Thursday and the Chapter 1 test on Friday.

ELA - Ms. Ferkol and Mrs. Boyer

This week we are finishing our Idea Based Writing essays. Students have completed the brainstorming and thesis writing last week and will continue to develop one paragraph each day in class. Throughout the class period, students will be individually conferenced with and encouraged to peer edit. Ideally, your student will be met three to five times throughout the writing process. Should your students want more edits for whatever reason, they are responsible for emailing their teacher to get on “the list”--keep in mind, the earlier this is done, the more likely they will receive these additional edits! 

These essays will be due on () for Mrs. Boyer’s section and 9/1 for Ms. Ferkol’s section, so please encourage students not to wait until the last minute for these edits as this could likely result in their edits not being done due to the time constraint.

LIFE SCIENCE - Ms. Hallman and Ms. Insignares

It has been such a fun week! We have started our first unit with Chapter 1 investigating binomial nomenclature and what makes something living! Next week we will begin Chapter 11 looking at animal diversity and classifying vertebrates and invertebrates. Students will have a quiz over Chapter 1.1 and 1.2 on Tuesday, August 29th. This will be the first major grade so they should study hard! 

US HISTORY - Mr. Saviskas

Hello once again, we are elated to be in full swing of the semester! Last week we started the Age of Exploration and what led up to it. This included the reasons Europe went over, what they found and how this paved the way for future colonialization of the New World. This week we’ll talk more about the explorers who made it what it was. Along with this we’ll be doing a fun project which will involve the folks at home! More details will be given in class on Monday so look forward to that.

US HISTORY - Mr. O’Hayer

This week in American History we were introduced to the Age of Exploration. Students were exposed to the positives and negatives of this time period. Next week we will dive deep into How People Came to America and the Indigenous Peoples that were encountered. Finally, students will investigate the different regions in North America impacted by exploration.

ACCELERATED MATH - Mrs. Taylor

Students took their first quiz over 1.1-1.3 last Thursday. They will assess over the chapter Wednesday, 8/30. That will cover 1.1-1.6. We will begin Chapter 2 Thursday.

PRE-ALGEBRA - Mr. Lanfear

Next week in Pre-Algebra, we will complete Chapter 1 by learning how to multiply and divide integers (1.7) and plot points in a coordinate plane (1.8).  There will be a day of review on Thursday and the Chapter 1 test on Friday.

EARTH SCIENCE - Ms. Insignares

Hello! This week we focused on the Big Bang Theory and exploring the start of the universe as well as space objects and missions! We have reviewed vocabulary and even had our first lab! Next week we will dive into the planets and moon phases. We will also have a project on researching the planets! Our Astronomy chapter has been fun and engaging, and we are looking forward to continuing it next week!

ELA - Ms. Ferkol

This week, we began working with writing a thesis and laying the foundations for our first in-class essay. Thesis writing is so important as this sets the roadmap for the reader. It is within the thesis that a writer stakes their major claim and identifies how they will prove that claim. In this class, theses are written with a very structured format: “Throughout (Title of Piece), (The Author) (Action Verb: demonstrates, portrays, etc.) (Lens/Theme) as/by/through (Example 1), (Example 2), (Example 3).” An example thesis may sound like this: “Throughout The Day the Crayons Quit, Drew Daywalt demonstrates the importance of communication through the self-advocacy of the crayons, intentional word choice, and the acceptance of mistakes.” 

As we move into next week, students will build on this work to complete a full Idea-Based Essay on one of four text choices. These include Ida, Always by Caron Levis, Coffee, Rabbit, Snowdrop, Lost by Betina Birkjaer, Evelyn Del Rae is Moving Away by Meg Medina, and My First Day by Huynh Kim Liên and Phung Nguyen Quang. We will work on one section of the essay every day in class and I will be available throughout the period to individually confer and give suggestions. Should your student want more edits for any reason, it is their responsibility to communicate with me via email or Google Classroom to get on “my list”. Keep in mind, the earlier this communication happens, the more likely their edits will be completed–please encourage your student to NOT wait until the last minute as the time constraint may result in their edits not being completed! The final draft of this essay will be due on Monday, 9/4, so please plan accordingly!

INTRO SPANISH - Ms. Brown

The 6th graders have fallen comfortably into the rhythm of middle school and all of them seem to be enjoying their new classes in a new building with their familiar friends there to join them! I am so proud of the strong work ethic they have started the year off with. Please see the following bullets to know what we have on our agenda for next week!

• Our first test of the year will be on Tuesday, 8/29.

• We will be starting our first grammatical unit on Wednesday, 8/30.

Please feel free to contact me via email if you have any questions!

WORLD HISTORY - Mr. O’Hayer

This week in World History, students examined how to take notes in class, probed different sources of information, and learned how to identify important and relevant information. The student reader was introduced and students began learning about life in Ancient Greece. Next week we will dive into daily life in Greece and examine the different types of governments that developed in early City-States.