January 22nd - January 26th

 


Dear Parents,


Today we had a special treat in the Middle School, a screening of MOUNTAINFILM Movies that Matter 2024. What is MOUNTAINFILM and why do we do it?

  • MOUNTAINFILM on Tour travels around the globe featuring a collection of culturally rich, adventure-packed, and enlightening documentary short films selected from the best-loved films from the annual festival in Telluride. 

  • MOUNTAINFILM is hosted by a wide array of organizations, including schools and colleges, nonprofits, corporations, community groups, and theater operators. 

  • MOUNTAINFILM offers enriching film screenings for each location, reaching audiences around the world. 

  • MOUNTAINFILM believes that school-age children are the most important audience they can reach, so they share their inspiring mission with them because they may never otherwise experience it. 

  • MOUNTAINFILM Values: Embracing adventure; Preserving environments; Connecting cultures; Building community; Inspiring activism; Fostering storytellers; Promoting integrity; Gathering visionaries; Celebrating courage; Enlightening audiences.

If you are interested in seeing these great documentary short films, follow the link and use the password below. MOUNTAINFILM Movies that Matter is a showcase provided to public and private schools by the Telluride Film Festival for educational use only, so please do not share this link with anyone.

Note: We did not show The Ghost Rainforest during our screening of the film showcase. 

Kind regards.

Jack Cargile

Head of Middle School


8th Grade Washington, D.C. Trip Reminders
When purchasing 8th grade school lunches, do not sign up for the week of March 11th - March 15th.


We will have another DC meeting on Thursday, February 8th at 6:00pm in Hancock Hall. We will be talking specifics with baggage, behavior, dress-code, etc. Please complete this form prior to attending.


Attention 7th Grade Families 

It is a long-standing Hancock Day School tradition of having the 7th grade class help host the reception at 8th grade graduation in May. It's an exciting time for Hancock to send off our graduates with support from our community! In the past, families have set up decorations/flowers, brought in finger foods and desserts (homemade or store-bought), and provided beverages. Those interested in volunteering for this event can click here to learn more information and sign up. 


2024 Talent Show!

​​Our Talent Show Auditions and Performance is coming up soon! Please sign up by completing this form. Sign Ups will close on January 12th.


President's Volunteer Service Award (8th Grade)

If students in the 8th grade would like to receive a PVSA at this year’s Honors Assembly, all community service hours need to be completed and turned in to the middle school office no later than Monday, March 25. 

Bronze Level: 50 - 74 hours

Silver Level: 75 - 99 hours

Gold Level: 100+ hours


8th Grade Graduation

Time to start preparing for graduation! Please take some time to complete the graduation form (link below). This information will be used on the programs and diplomas. After the ceremony, we will have a brief reception, where a slideshow will be displayed with the graduates. We request families to submit 5 pictures for the slideshow. The pictures can be anything you would like (baby, siblings, family, friends, etc). The pictures should be submitted electronically to mmannarino@hancockdayschool.org. 


Graduation information and slideshow pictures are due Friday, May 3rd.


Junior Achievement of Georgia’s Upcoming Summer Camp
It’s going to be a fun week at their Discovery Center on the GSU Armstrong Campus. The camp is for 10-14 year old students, and it’s June 10-14th from 9AM-3PM. Here is a link for more information about the camp - JA Summer Camp and here’s a link to register - JA Summer Camp Registration (just click the “Get Tickets’ button). Discount code for $40 off if individuals register before the end of January – the code is EarlyBird





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.





  • HDS Basketball had a great night on Wednesday, with wins by 5B Girls, 8th Girls, 7th Boys, and 8th Boys. Job well done Eagles!


  • 5th - 8th grade Baseball Tryouts will be held on Sunday, February 4th.  Registration begins at 2 pm & tryouts start at 2:30 pm.

    •  Bazemore Field, 1 Bud Brown Dr. Garden City, 31408


  • There will be a Golf Kick-off Meeting for 5th - 8th graders interested in playing this Spring.  The meeting will be on Monday, January 22nd @ Bacon Park. 3:30 pm - 5:00 pm.  All athletes are encouraged to bring their own clubs.


  • Basketball games can be viewed on YouTube.  Go to YouTube and type in Hancock Day School basketball.


  • We had a great National Anthem performance by three of our 5th grade Eagles at Wednesday’s game.  HDS is looking for students to sing the National Anthem at our home Basketball and/or Soccer games. Please see Coach Bellairs if interested.




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


18. Talk about assignments with friends.

Discussing assignments with friends is another great way to study. This is very helpful when studying for novel tests. Friendly discussions about books help deepen understanding. Remember, time management and focus are key. Give yourselves 20 minutes to talk about the topic, and then set a timer for 5 minutes to chat and move around. Then get back to work.


With the start of 2024, our virtue of the month is commitment. This is a great time to renew procedures and routines that set up your student for success.  One of the best ways to stay on track with commitments is to set reasonable and achievable goals.  However, it is also just as important to be willing to assess and readjust goals as needed!


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 have taken two quizzes on this Chapter (6.1-6.3 and 6.4). They need to be sure they are good with those quizzes. We finish up 6.5-6.7 and take the Chapter 6 test Monday, 1/29.


ADVANCED ALGEBRA - Mr. Lanfear

Next week in Advanced Algebra, we will complete Chapter 8 by having the Chapter 8 test on Monday.  Then, we will begin Chapter 7 which is all about similar figures.  We will start by learning about similar polygons and scale factor (7.1-7.2) and then learn how to prove triangles are similar by Angle-Angle (AA) and Side-Side-Side (SSS) and Side-Angle-Side (SAS) (7.3-7.4).  We will also learn about the Triangle Proportionality Theorem (7.5).


GEOMETRY - Mr. Lanfear

Next week in Geometry, we will complete our unit on Trigonometry by having the test on Monday.  We will then begin Chapter 8 by learning about the Polygon Interior and Exterior Angles Theorems (8.1).  We will also learn about properties of parallelograms (8.2), how to prove a quadrilateral is a parallelogram (8.3), and properties of rhombuses, rectangles, and squares (8.4).


ELA - Mrs. Boyer

This next week we will be taking a BREAK!!! Students will be viewing the films: Freedom Writers Diary and The Secret Life of Bees with NO HOMEWORK. 🙂 Both films connect to books already read or will set up the next unit (the DC trip). 


Please sign up to be a snack helper during our BREAK Week. :) We will be starting our Holocaust Unit on the 26th. It is critical that your child work on their time management skills during this unit. Students will be able to choose their own text: I never saw another butterfly:children's drawings and poems from Terezin concentration camp, 1942-44, Night by Elie Weisel, The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak, The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom, and When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit by Judith Kerr. 


Students will be embarking on a journey of reflection and education, both literally and figuratively. This summer I traveled to Germany and Poland where I stepped foot in the hallowed grounds of three concentration camps: Suchsenhausen, Ravensbruck, and Auschwitz. I will be sharing my experience with my students so that they too…will never forget. 

All students will be participating in the Annual Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance) Art & Writing Contest sponsored by the Jewish Educational Alliance of Savannah. 


Dates, Information and Permission slips will be sent home soon. 


PHYSICAL SCIENCE - Ms. Hallman

While I understand this unit is challenging, students have been doing a great job! We did a hot wheels lab this week that has been very fun! We are beginning Chapter 2 which will begin our unit on Newtonian laws. Students need to ensure that they are using their class time wisely and lightly reviewing each night. If they have questions, I am available each morning for extra help. 


US HISTORY - Mr. Saviskas  

Hello again! We’re smack in the middle of the Gilded Age this week. I’m so excited to talk about this lesser known but critical part of American history. In class we will be covering early labor history, the Second Industrial Revolution and the prelude to World War I. To help students with understanding the conditions of Americans, I will be pulling excerpts from Upton Sinclair’s famous book, “The Jungle.” I plan on having a test on Friday, 1/26 over the chapter.


HIGH SCHOOL SPANISH  - Mr. De Cardenas

The students are showing great improvement. Every new lesson is quickly mastered and they are capable of using new content in a spontaneous conversation almost immediately. That is just awesome. Next week we will start learning how to describe people physically as part of Unit 3 in which they will also learn how to use the  conjunctions and prepositions to connect different statements in order to write paragraphs and even do it orally. Besides, we will expand our vocabulary, by learning the adjectives we can use in Spanish to describe physical characteristics and to name the parts of the human body as well as their pronunciation, writing and meaning. We will have a couple of lessons to revisit and practice this and other topics to make sure the kids totally master it and keep up improving their communicative and especially talkative skills.



ADVANCED SPANISH - Mr. De Cardenas
The students are showing great improvement. Every new lesson is quickly mastered and they are capable of using new content in a spontaneous conversation almost immediately. That is just awesome. Next week we will start learning how to describe people physically as part of Unit 3 in which they will also learn how to use the  conjunctions and prepositions to connect different statements in order to write paragraphs and even do it orally. Besides, we will expand our vocabulary, by learning the adjectives we can use in Spanish to describe physical characteristics and to name the parts of the human body as well as their pronunciation, writing and meaning. We will have a couple of lessons to revisit and practice this and other topics to make sure the kids totally master it and keep up improving their communicative and especially talkative skills.


Mrs. Brown (Mr. Jones)

In preparation of a class project on 24 January, we will continue to expand our conversational abilities by introducing new questions and vocabulary pertaining to family, possessive pronouns, and origin. Students will soon use recent and current material for the project in which they will select a famous individual of their choosing from their assigned Spanish speaking country to create a biographical presentation. 


ALGEBRA 1 - Mrs. Taylor

Students have taken two quizzes on this Chapter (6.1-6.3 and 6.4). They need to be sure they are good with those quizzes. We finish up 6.5-6.7 and take the Chapter 6 test Monday, 1/29.


PRE-ALGEBRA - Mr. Lanfear

Next week in Pre-Algebra, we will complete the first part of Chapter 6 by having the 6.1-6.6 test on Monday.  We will then complete the rest of Chapter 6 by learning about probability (6.7) and how to use the counting principle (6.8).  There will be a day of reviewing 6.7-6.8 on Thursday and the 6.7-6.8 quiz on Friday.


ELA - Ms. Ferkol and Mrs. Boyer

This week we will continue our  poetry project: “A Poem in Two Voices”! Students have truly stepped out of their ‘literal’ comfort zones to follow a more figurative pathway. We are excited to see what they dream up as we continue on this creative thinking/writing pathway. In addition to exploring themes and symbols using written word, students will have the opportunity to explore and interpret meaning through art! Students have been presented with an extra credit assignment in which they will make a 2-sided art piece that can accompany their written poem. This is a completely optional assignment; nevertheless, we are very excited to see what students come up with!


In preparation for ERBs, we will continue with our implementation of small group lessons and weekly IXL practice to help aid students with skills that include, but are not limited to, completing multipart questions and reading comprehension strategies. 


Following this project, students will be creating their own “Theme” Parks…stay tuned for more information in the coming weeks! 


At this point, ALL students have chosen their nonfiction books and should have started their reading. As they read, they should be completing THREE of the six optional activities posted in Google Classroom. After they read, they should write a 5 paragraph essay explaining the importance of their chosen book and why others should read it. Both portions of this project will be due Thursday, February 15!


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


LIFE SCIENCE - Ms. Hallman and Ms. Insignares

We are done with cells! We have are entering into our four month long large unit of exploring the body systems. We begin next week with the musculoskeletal system. They will have a quiz Wednesday 1/24 over the beginning of that unit and the organization of the body units. 


AMERICAN HISTORY - Mr. Saviskas

Greetings once again! We have started our mini-project on America’s political parties. Its a smaller research project focused on the history of America’s political movements. It covers party origins, beliefs, accomplishments and famous leaders. Students have had some class time to work on it already but any last material will need to be completed over the weekend or early next week. This project will be due on Wednesday, 1/24. Throughout the week we will be covering chapter 2 of our government book which discusses the Articles of Confederation and America’s earliest post revolution government. At the end of the week we will have a test over chapter 2 and any associated material.


AMERICAN HISTORY - Mr. O’Hayer

Next week in American History students will continue their study of how our system of government was created. We will dive into the Origins of the American Government and also we will begin our unit on the Constitution. Students will continue researching the history of Political Parties in the United States which will lead us into the bigger project of Creating a Political Party project.



ACCELERATED MATH - Mrs. Taylor

Students finished up Chapter 6 with a bang. Hold on….here comes Algebra. Students start off with expressions and combining like terms. They will move to solving one step equations for all operations. The first assessment will be the following week 7.1-7.4. (Possibly 1/29).


PRE-ALGEBRA - Mr. Lanfear

Next week in Pre-Algebra, we will complete the first part of Chapter 6 by having the 6.1-6.6 test on Monday.  We will then complete the rest of Chapter 6 by learning about probability (6.7) and how to use the counting principle (6.8).  There will be a day of reviewing 6.7-6.8 on Thursday and the 6.7-6.8 quiz on Friday.


EARTH SCIENCE - Ms. Insignares

This week we finished the Public Service Announcements and the students absolutely ROCKED it!! Next week we will finish our weather unit with climate patterns and cycles such as El Nino! We will quiz chapter 14 on Jan. 25th and conduct a STEM challenge on Friday!


ELA - Ms. Ferkol

We will be finishing our persuasive essays early on this week! Students have been very creative writing through this process and are coming up with some amazing work! We may have some future salesmen and women in our midst! On Thursday, 1/25, students will have the opportunity to present a mini-speech to their peers in other classes and truly get to see the fruit of their labor as those peers will vote on whether or not they would “join” the created societies! Students may dress “down” that day in their best professional attire! This presentation will be the culminating activity for our Dystopian Unit–bittersweet! On Friday, we will have an introductory class for our next book club unit involving books with developing character relationships.


Important Note: Dystopian Interactive Notebook Slides will be due on MONDAY, 1/22, for a test grade! Please ensure your student has looked over these slides and fully completed them to the best of their ability utilizing all of the information we have learned throughout this unit!


INTRO SPANISH - Ms. Brown (Mr. Jones)

In preparation of a class project on 24 January, we will continue to expand our conversational abilities by introducing new questions and vocabulary pertaining to family, possessive pronouns, and origin. Students will soon use recent and current material for the project in which they will select a famous individual of their choosing from their assigned Spanish speaking country to create a biographical presentation. This plan follows closely alongside the advanced Spanish agenda so as to prepare the students conversationally for the curriculum to come. 


WORLD HISTORY - Mr. O’Hayer

Next week in World History We will continue our study of The Enlightenment. Students will study and examine Rene Descartes and Thomas Hobbs. We will also introduce our next project: Teach A Lesson. Students will be assigned a section of the Unit and will actually get up in front of the class and teach the lesson. I have done this project for years and the kids love it. 




Studio days are super sweet as students develop skills in layering hues to create dimension, suggest light and apply details. Students think through objects in 2D to prepare for 3D work.

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