October 23rd - October 27th

 

Dear Parents,

With this little cold front passing through, we have seen more students wearing sweatshirts to school. It is important for you to support the school dress code by helping your student wear the correct outerwear when you drop them off at school. Students are permitted to wear only Hancock-branded outerwear at school during the school day, and they are not permitted to wear any other sweatshirts, sweaters, etc. 

If your child needs a Hancock-branded outerwear top, you can find a great selection of quality tops online in our HDS Spirit Store. When the weather turns colder, students are permitted to wear an appropriate non-HDS branded coat or jacket when outside but are expected to put the coat or jacket into their locker once inside the school building.

School Uniforms serve as an illustration of the unity of our school community.  By adhering to the uniform policy, students and families embrace a collaborative sense of school pride and spirit.  HDS students are expected to wear the appropriate uniform throughout each school day. We have many lost-and-found sweatshirts in the Middle School that do not have names written inside, so we are unable to return them to their owners. 

Please take a few minutes to ensure that your student’s name is clearly printed on the inside of their outerwear so that if we find it lying around unattended, we can return it to the rightful owner! 

Kind regards,

Jack Cargile

Head of Middle School

Follow all the fun on our Middle School Instagram account!

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.

Congratulations to our Varsity Football team that finished their regular season in a tie for first. In the playoffs, they lost in an exciting game that ended 20-14 with Calvary winning. It was an amazing season! Congratulations also to our JV Football and Cross Country that had great seasons and show promise for the future. Volleyball will begin their tournaments next Monday and Tuesday. SPAL has yet to release the schedule and sites so we will have that to you ASAP. Special thanks to our coaches and players this fall and a special shout out to our cheer squad who has dutifully cheered on our teams to success! 

Looking ahead, basketball season is here! It looks like we will have ten teams so gym space will be limited. Player and parent meeting is October 19th at 7:30. Open gyms are strongly encouraged for players and potential coaches. Open gym will take place this Friday from 3:30-5:00 at Southside Baptist. 

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.

1. Below is a volunteer opportunity, organized by the PA, for our Middle Schoolers outside of school!

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C094CAFAB2BABF5C34-second

2. Coastal Pet Rescue - email Emily Piette (emilyp@coastalpetrescue.org) 

3. Savannah Camellia Planting Project (10/27/23  @ 11:30 am – cleanup)

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C094CAFAB2BABF5C34-44654115-savannah

Learn more https://savannahcamelliafestival.com/

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

8. Should We Skip Tough Homework Problems?

If you come to a homework question (or two or three) that you find confusing, highlight or circle it and move on. The more you dwell on something you don’t understand, the more anxious you will get. The more anxious you get, the less energy you have for the rest of your homework. Stick with what you can figure out. Take the hard problems to your teacher at the start of class and ask for help.

This month, we invite parents to partner with us in teaching our students about both responsibility and respect. Middle school is a crucial time to continue the development of virtuous behaviors. 

Here are some strategies that you can use to at home:

How to Teach Your Child to Be More Responsible

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 will complete the last two sections of Chapter 4. They will finish a basic project in class that defines the four aspects of slope in real life. They will watch a movie to relax ½ day Wednesday and all day Thursday with snacks they bring on Thursday. The final review for Chapter 4 test will be Friday (½ day) for the test Monday of the following week.

ADVANCED ALGEBRA - Mr. Lanfear

Next week in Advanced Algebra, we will continue the last chapter in the Algebra portion of our course - Chapter 11.  We will learn how to rationalize the denominator using conjugates (11.2).  We will have a quiz only on section 11.2 on Wednesday and review for the 11.1-11.2 test on Thursday.

GEOMETRY - Mr. Lanfear

Next week in Geometry, we will complete Chapter 4 by learning how to use the fact that corresponding parts of congruent triangles are congruent (CPCTC) in proofs (4.6-4.7).  We will also learn how to perform translations, reflections, and rotations in a coordinate plane (4.8).  We will have a day of review on Wednesday and the Chapter 4 test on Thursday.

ELA - Mrs. Boyer

We are finished with To Kill a Mockingbird! Yay! We will spend the week reviewing for our final Unit Test on 10/26/23. Students have completed multiple practice assessments; these have been corrected and are in their binders. 

We will begin Macbeth OFFICIALLY on November 2nd. We will be reading the week of November 6th and 13th. If your child misses a reading day, they will be responsible for reading on their own. They may come in and listen to the dramatic reading on my computer from 7:30-8:10 am. 

Your child will not have original reading to complete at home, but they will be asked to interact with the text after in-class reading. 

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

What a great week! While abbreviated due to mock trial and SCDS visit day, we were able to learn about the periodic table and prepare for the test on Monday, October 23rd. This test is only over Chapter 9 and 10. We have reviewed in class and created a study guide that students wrote down. After our test on Monday, we will venture into our 4th unit that deals with electrons, chemical bonds, and chemical reactions. Things are going to get a little more challenging as we are moving away from the foundations of chemistry and into more advanced concepts. Stay on top of it and I know you will succeed! 

US HISTORY - Mr. Saviskas  

Hello again! We will be returning to the Civil War next week, and what a week it’ll be. First, we will be assigning a food project. Students will be doing some research and then making foods popular during the 1860s. From the lovely vistas of old California to the battlefields of Virginia, the era had a wide variety of filling foods which students will make and bring to class next week. Throughout the week we’ll also be talking about the changes in technology, the shift in culture caused by the war and finally the escalation of the 1862 and 1863 campaigns.

HIGH SCHOOL SPANISH  - Ms. Gonzalez

¡Hola! Last week we completed our Unit 2 assessment and wrote current news summaries from online articles from Spanish speaking countries. Next week we will begin Unit 3 - School Days! Be ready for LOTS of new vocabulary! We will also  continue reviewing irregular verbs along with our next unit! ¡hasta luego!

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!

• There will be a quiz on Friday, Oct 27.

• Be mindful that we will have begun our 5th unit by then.

Take it away Ms. Gonzalez!

¡Hola! Last week we completed our Unit 2 assessment and wrote current news summaries from online articles from Spanish speaking countries. Next week we will begin Unit 3 - School Days! Be ready for LOTS of new vocabulary! We will also  continue reviewing irregular verbs along with our next unit! ¡hasta luego!

ALGEBRA 1 - Mrs. Taylor

Students will complete the last two sections of Chapter 4. They will finish a basic project in class that defines the four aspects of slope in real life. They will watch a movie to relax ½ day Wednesday and all day Thursday with snacks they bring on Thursday. The final review for Chapter 4 test will be Friday (½ day) for the test Monday of the following week.

PRE-ALGEBRA - Mr. Lanfear

Next week in Pre-Algebra, we will complete Chapter 3 by having a day of review on Monday and the Chapter 3 test on Tuesday.  We will then begin Chapter 4 by learning about prime numbers, composite numbers, and prime factorization (4.1).  We will also learn different methods to find the greatest common factor (GCF) of numbers (4.2).

ELA - Ms. Ferkol and Mrs. Boyer

We finished our first book! Woo hoo!!! :) This week we will be reviewing for the unit test, which will be in two parts and completed on Thursday, November 2nd and Friday, November 3rd. THIS IS A CHANGE in schedule! 

We will begin our third unit of the year on November 3rd: Voices of the World. This will be a Book Club Unit. Students will be asked to choose a book from the following list: Thirst, The Breadwinner, The Night Diary, The Only Road, Just a Drop of Water, and Amal Unbound. Within their Book Clubs, students will be asked to create a reading calendar, complete mini lessons, complete activities and assessments based on their books. 

As we continue with our 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. 

Please stay on top of the assessment calendar and Google Classroom assignments. 

LIFE SCIENCE - Ms. Hallman and Ms. Insignares

We have finished evolution and natural selection and are beginning to transition from ecology into cell biology. This begins with our “bridge” unit on bacteria and viruses. This next week, we will be culturing the bacteria that lives on our smart phones and learning about the beneficial and harmful bacteria. This will be the last unit before we move into the cell.  

US HISTORY - Mr. Saviskas

Greetings! We are moving into the foundations of our country, the American Revolution. In order to help students understand how things were progressing at the time, we will start the week with the “Build your own Colony,” project. This project will be done mostly in class and is geared towards getting a clearer picture of how the colonies formed and why they would later support or oppose revolution. Then we will be focusing on the pre-Revolutionary fervor brought about by the Seven Years War, more commonly known as the French and Indian War.

US HISTORY - Mr. O’Hayer

Next week we will beginour study of one of the major and impactful events in our country’s history: The American Revolution. Students will examine events that led the American Colonies to declare independence and commit to a war that would change the course of history in this country and also England and Europe. Students will also begin working n the next project: Building Your Colony.

ACCELERATED MATH - Mrs. Taylor

Students will complete the last two sections of Chapter 4. They will watch a movie to relax ½ day Wednesday and all day Thursday with snacks they bring on Thursday. The final review for Chapter 4 test will be Friday (½ day) for the test Monday of the following week.

PRE-ALGEBRA - Mr. Lanfear

Next week in Pre-Algebra, we will complete Chapter 3 by having a day of review on Monday and the Chapter 3 test on Tuesday.  We will then begin Chapter 4 by learning about prime numbers, composite numbers, and prime factorization (4.1).  We will also learn different methods to find the greatest common factor (GCF) of numbers (4.2).

EARTH SCIENCE - Ms. Insignares

Students will learn next week all about freshwater such as ice and glaciers in chapter 17. We will discuss how sea levels can affect these and how human activities are impacting them daily. We will also dive deeper into wetlands, lakes, streams and more! Freshwater is so important to our daily life, so this will be a fun topic! Students will have their final quiz for trimester 1 on 10/26 and final test on 11/3! 

ELA - Ms. Ferkol

This week we will be FINISHING our first book!! Students will work on their culminating project–a body biography of one of the main characters in the book THIS WILL BE DUE MONDAY, OCTOBER 30TH. Additionally, students will have their final unit test on this SAME DAY! (Please note that these dates are different than previously announced!!) A comprehensive study guide will be posted on the Google Classroom with activities and assignments to study. **To celebrate all of the learning we have done so far in ELA, we will be having an OUTSIDER’S PARTY!! On Friday, October 27th, students may dress down as a Soc or a Greaser as we watch the movie adaptation of this incredible novel and compare it to our reading! We will have a full-party with authentic snacks and decor (please be on the lookout for a sign-up genius, I would love to have your help to make this day extra special for your students!) Looking ahead, we are about to begin our first book club unit of the year–Dystopian Novels! This is a highly engaging unit with lots of amazing book series for your students to get excited about!

INTRO SPANISH - Ms. Brown

Please see below for details coming up!

• Project due on Thursday, Oct 26.

• Test on Unit Four on Friday, Oct 27 (this is also Grandparent’s Day so it is possible that this test be pushed back to Wednesday, Nov 1. This tentative change in scheduling will be made final this coming Monday (a change will be made to the assessment calendar and a reminder will be posted on students’ respective announcement boards of their Google Classroom). 

As always, if you have any questions, please feel free to email me.

WORLD HISTORY - Mr. O’Hayer

Next week in World History students will continue their examination of the Age of Philosophy in Ancient Greece. Next up will be our study of Plato and Aristotle. We will examine how these two great thinkers impacted Greek society and how their works still affect our thinking of government, natural rights, and individua freedoms.

These grand pumpkins profess & are heard in the great community of Conscious Eagles!