September 4th - September 8th
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 was due by check made out to Hancock Day School on Friday, August 25th. There are still 28 families that have not paid either: the full amount of $815 or the balance of $615. Please be sure to submit a check to Madison Mannarino in the middle school office ASAP. We also still need families to complete the two forms below.
Respond to our Middle School Trip Information Survey
Complete Camp Merri-Mac/Black Mountain Expeditions Liability Waiver Form
TARDIES AND EARLY PICKUPS
Middle School begins at 8:10am. 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
ATHLETICS: A note from Coach Bellairs
Hi all! We have a great week in athletics coming up next week. See the schedule below for upcoming dates and game times. The football game that was canceled Thursday (8/31) because of the storm will be rescheduled but that date and time is TBD. Come cheer on and support your Eagle!. If you have any questions, please contact me at bbellairs@hancock.dayschool.org.
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 #2: GO TO YOUR TEACHERS WHEN YOU NEED SUPPORT.
Your teachers are here to help you! Please see them in the morning before school (if it needs to be at 7:30, please email or speak to them the day before to make sure they will be available). You may also schedule a time with the teacher after school, at break, or during the study hall after lunch. Your teachers want to support you; all you need to do is ask :). If you need help scheduling a time to meet with a teacher, I’m happy to assist. It’s all about self-advocating...you can do it!
For middle school students and families, this is a busy time of the year. Juggling school obligations, after-school activities, and squeezing in some family time can be difficult, if not impossible at times. However, middle school is also a crucial time to reinforce virtues that will last a lifetime.
Kindness is our virtue of the month and takes both practice and intention. Being kind involves thinking beyond yourself, which is not necessarily aligned, developmentally, with the middle school brain.
While modeling virtuous behaviors is crucial, you can also help your student think ahead about situations that they will encounter. Find time to squeeze in “what-if” scenarios with your student while driving in the car or at dinnertime to help them visually practice kindness. Start with common situations like a student dropping items on the way to class or tripping in the hallway. Move up to situations that are more difficult such as a student who is sitting alone at lunch or appears to feel left out at recess. By having these conversations, your student will be more equipped and more likely to demonstrate acts of kindness.
Please feel free to reach out with any questions or concerns that you may have this year at amaher@hancockdayschool.org.
ALGEBRA 1 - Mrs. Taylor
Students took their first test Friday, 9/1. We begin Chapter 2 Tuesday. The next quiz will cover 2.1-2.4 on 9/12. Please be aware of the weekly challenge problems and the digital classwork assigned as formative assessments on the mathematical skills each.
ADVANCED ALGEBRA - Mr. Lanfear
Next week in Advanced Algebra, we will continue Chapter 10 by graphing quadratic functions and learning how to find the vertex and axis of symmetry (10.2). We will also learn how to solve equations by graphing (10.3).
GEOMETRY - Mr. Lanfear
Next week in Geometry, we will continue Chapter 2 by learning the laws of detachment and syllogism (2.3), how to use postulates and diagrams (2.4), and the structure of proofs. There will be a quiz covering 2.1-2.3 on Wednesday.
ELA - Mrs. Boyer
This week we will begin our first novel study of To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. The first few weeks will be focused on introducing the history behind the novel, the themes within the text, and the importance of the immense amount of characters.
During this week, your child will be reading 25-30 minutes a night. I highly suggest your child use Audible.com or Youtube readings. (When using Audible.com, your child can adjust the reading speed to their liking.)
With each night of reading and class, your child can expect Reading Checks multiple times throughout the week. Your child may use their book/annotations to help them. REMINDER: Students may come in and **check** their annotations against mine.
**It is incredibly important that your child stay on top of their reading. My room is open every day at 7:30 am for readers if they were unable to read in the evening. Please help your child by reading and discussing with them! :) **
PHYSICAL SCIENCE - Ms. Hallman
We are finishing up our papers this week! Those will officially be due Tuesday 9/5 with the storm postponing that due date. Next week, the real fun begins as we start the foundations of chemistry. They will have a quiz Friday (9/8) over the notes covered in class that week.
US HISTORY - Mr. Saviskas
Hello, I hope we all made it through the hurricane with few problems. Thanks to the storm we are pushing back our test to Thursday (9/7) next week to give us plenty of time to review, practice and study. It will be over the Causes of the Civil War notes and should be thought of as an expansion to last Friday’s quiz. I will be making a study guide and giving it out on Monday. Please go over it along with your notes and any other review material I had out.
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 test Friday, 9/1. We begin Chapter 2 Tuesday. The next quiz will cover 2.1-2.4 on 9/12. Please be aware of the weekly challenge problems and the digital classwork assigned as formative assessments on the mathematical skills each.
PRE-ALGEBRA - Mr. Lanfear
Next week in Pre-Algebra, we will complete Chapter 1 by having a day of review on Tuesday and the Chapter 1 test on Wednesday. We will then begin Chapter 2 by learning the commutative, associative, and identity properties of addition and multiplication (2.1).
ELA - Ms. Ferkol and Mrs. Boyer
This week we will be starting our first novel study, Posted by John David Anderson! We would highly suggest reading this text with your child; it is a fantastic read filled with life lessons! And we also love that the protagonists are a group of male and female friends!
When we begin novel studies, it is expected that your child will read for 20-25 minutes at home each night. This will be the majority of their homework. Some nights they may also have Reading Checks to go along with their reading; we will also be working on these Reading Checks in class. These Reading Checks will be CW/HW grades that will be averaged into one quiz grade. Students may always use their beautiful annotations to help with these reading quizzes.
Posted is filled with an immense amount of literary devices, world connections, and character development. These are topics which will allow for us to dive deep into our reading comprehension skill building.
Please stay on top of the assessment calendar and Google Classroom assignments.
LIFE SCIENCE - Ms. Hallman and Ms. Insignares
Another great week in the books! We have finished our study of taxonomy and are now moving into studying the diversity of animals. There will be a test over these two chapters (1 &11) on Friday (9/8). We will be doing some fun activities to classify animals and reinforce the information they have learned!
US HISTORY - Mr. Saviskas
Greetings! I hope the hurricane wasn’t so bad for all of us. Next week we will be starting an interview project where our students will be going home and interviewing their family members on historical events they lived through. The project instructions and rubric will be posted on Monday (9/4) for you to look at. It is unclear when the project will be due at this time, but currently we are planning on Friday (9/8). Should there be an issue this may be pushed back to the week after. I will keep you posted. Enjoy the three day weekend!
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 test Friday, 9/1. We begin Chapter 2 Tuesday. The next quiz will cover 2.1-2.2 on 9/8. Please be aware of the weekly challenge problems and the digital classwork assigned as formative assessments on the mathematical skills each.
PRE-ALGEBRA - Mr. Lanfear
Next week in Pre-Algebra, we will complete Chapter 1 by having a day of review on Tuesday and the Chapter 1 test on Wednesday. We will then begin Chapter 2 by learning the commutative, associative, and identity properties of addition and multiplication (2.1).
EARTH SCIENCE - Ms. Insignares
This week we took our first quiz! Students also started writing their own planet storybook! They researched all the planets and are using the information they gathered to bring them to life by creating a story and adding illustrations! Next week we will dive into Earth’s rotation and moon phases. I have a fun activity up my sleeve that involves learning AND a yummy treat (who doesn’t love that)?! Please make sure your child stays up to date with their assignments on Google Classroom! They should check it everyday.
This year my goal is to incorporate as many hands on activities as I can. I believe education is so much more than just a textbook and a sheet of paper, and learning can also be fun!
ELA - Ms. Ferkol
This week, we will finish up our first in-class essay and will have a unit test on Idea-Based Writing on Thursday, September 7.
On Friday, we will begin our first novel study of the year! We will be reading S.E. Hinton’s The Outsiders! This novel is an incredible coming of age story that captivates its readers with its raw emotions, character development, and exploration of themes. It has been a favorite of many throughout generations and am excited to bring its powerful messages to your students!
As we begin this transition into novel studies, students should expect to have nightly reading and assignments that should take about 20-30 minutes to complete. Throughout the unit, we will be working on developing comprehension skills as well as skills involving literary devices, poetry, and vocabulary. It is essential that students stay on top of their assignments each night as they will be critical to their ability to participate in the following day’s activities and conversations.
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.
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