February 5th - February 9th
Dear Parents,
I trust this message finds you well and that the new month brings joy and positivity to your families. As we embark on another month of learning and growth, I am excited to share with you our HDS Virtue of the Month for February: Empathy.
Empathy is a cornerstone of a compassionate and understanding community, and it plays a pivotal role in shaping the character of our students. This month, we will focus on instilling the values of love, acceptance, positive intent, and the importance of being understanding.
Love: Encouraging our students to cultivate a loving and caring attitude towards others is essential. Whether it's a kind word, a thoughtful gesture, or simply showing appreciation, we want our students to understand the power of love in building meaningful connections.
Acceptance: Our community thrives when acceptance becomes second nature. By embracing differences and celebrating uniqueness, we foster an inclusive environment where everyone feels valued and respected for who they are.
Positive Intent: Teaching our students to assume positive intent in their interactions helps create a more harmonious atmosphere. When faced with challenges or misunderstandings, encouraging them to consider the best intentions behind others' actions promotes empathy and open-mindedness.
Understanding: Empathy involves putting oneself in another's shoes. This month, we will guide our students to be understanding of different perspectives, experiences, and emotions. Through open communication and active listening, they can build bridges of understanding that strengthen our school community.
As parents, we encourage you to engage in conversations with your children about the importance of empathy, share stories that exemplify these values, and encourage them to practice love, acceptance, positive intent, and understanding in their daily lives.
We look forward to witnessing the positive impact of our collective efforts as we nurture a culture of empathy within our school and the HDS community. Together, let's inspire our students to become compassionate and empathetic individuals who contribute to a more harmonious and understanding world.
Thank you for your continued partnership in shaping the future leaders of tomorrow.
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.
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)
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.
Reminder: HDS Baseball tryouts are February 4th. See coach Carucci for more details.
Bazemore Field, 1 Bud Brown Dr. Garden City, 31408
Parents and teachers, please come and volunteer at our home Basketball games. We are in need of help at the entry gate as well as the concessions. Students can earn community service hours in concessions. Here are the dates for the upcoming home games (see signupgenius for times):
2/7, 2/10, 2/12, 2/14, 2/17
Please go to SignUpGenius.com to sign up. https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C094CAFAB2BABF5C34-46393022-home
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.
If interested in volunteering, please email overthemoondb@gmail.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
20. Stay organized throughout the year.
Place your items in the correct folder. If you are using a three-ring binder to keep papers organized, take the time to open the metal prongs and place them securely in it. If someone helps you organize your papers, take the time to continue putting everything in its place. If your papers are not three-hole-punched, see Mrs. Guggenheim and borrow her three-hole puncher. Dating each handout and writing your name also helps to keep the papers in chronological order and helps when your paper is found by someone else.
“Empathy is at the heart of what it means to be human. It’s a foundation for acting ethically, for good relationships of many kinds, for loving well, and for professional successes. And it’s key to preventing bullying and many other forms of cruelty.” -Making Caring Common Project
Empathy is the HDS virtue of the month for February. The following article has some great tips to help your middle school student develop empathy.
5 Tips for Cultivating Emapthy
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
We are taking Systems of Equations and Inequalities very slow. We are slowing down, especially, for the word problems. Real life examples of these systems in play. They will have a quiz 7.1-7.2 Tuesday 2/6 which covers graphing the systems and mathematically solving those same systems using the substitution method. We will continue to 7.3-7.4 which involves solving these same systems but using the elimination method. The quiz on those two sections will be on 2/13.
ADVANCED ALGEBRA - Mr. Lanfear
Next week in Advanced Algebra, we will finish our unit on Trigonometry by having a short quiz on Monday, seeing how Trig is used in the real world, having a day of review on Tuesday, and the Trig test on Wednesday. We will then begin our short unit on angle relationships by learning about complementary, supplementary, and vertical angles (2.3-2.4) and about angles formed by parallel lines being cut by a transversal (3.3-3.4).
GEOMETRY - Mr. Lanfear
Next week in Geometry, we will complete Chapter 8 by having the Chapter 8 test on Monday. We will then begin Chapter 9 by learning about translations and vectors (9.1), how to add and subtract matrices (9.2), and how to perform reflections and rotations on a coordinate plane (9.3-9.4).
ELA - Mrs. Boyer
This next week we are finishing up our ‘travels’ and students will begin organizing their thoughts as we begin the Yom HaShoah research/brainstorm process.
Throughout this unit, It is critical that your child work on their time management skills. 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, or 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.
Written Response Quiz 2/9
PHYSICAL SCIENCE - Ms. Hallman
This week was an awesome experience getting outside and seeing demonstrations of each of Newton’s laws. Please see the email sent out to access photos of the students doing archery! It was so much fun and one of my favorite lessons of the year. We will be having a test on Friday, February 9th over Chapter 2 and our mini unit over simple machines that will take place next week.
US HISTORY - Mr. Saviskas
Hello again. Next week we will be finishing the political parties project and talking. This project will be half done in class and half done at home so don't forget! The progress check is due Wednesday, 2/7 while the final presentation is due next Friday, 2/9. In between we'll be talking about the US labor movement and the struggles workers went through to get us things like the 40 hour work week.
HIGH SCHOOL SPANISH - Mr. De Cardenas
The improvement in the students is impressive. They are working really hard while they are having fun learning a different language and using typical phrases from Spanish speaking countries. Next week we will see how to use all the emotional and physical traits we learned to describe people, to compose comparative statements in order to give another perspective in the intended description. Furthermore we will be using all the content of this topic in a more conversational form by creating hypothetical situations in which they will have to describe someone physically and emotionally. We will have a couple of lessons to revisit and also to practice all the topics to make sure the kids totally master them and to continue improving their communicative and especially talkative skills. We will have a project due on Friday where they will have to pick their favorite TV show and from it two of the characters to describe them as well to compare them to the others.
ADVANCED SPANISH - Mr. De Cardenas
The improvement in the students is impressive. They are working really hard while they are having fun learning a different language and using typical phrases from Spanish speaking countries. Next week we will see how to use all the emotional and physical traits we learned to describe people, to compose comparative statements in order to give another perspective in the intended description. Furthermore we will be using all the content of this topic in a more conversational form by creating hypothetical situations in which they will have to describe someone physically and emotionally. We will have a couple of lessons to revisit and also to practice all the topics to make sure the kids totally master them and to continue improving their communicative and especially talkative skills. We will have a project due on Friday where they will have to pick their favorite TV show and from it two of the characters to describe them as well to compare them to the others.
Mrs. Brown (Mr. Jones)
Using our vocabulary pertaining to family, possessive pronouns, and origin, students will finish working on and presenting their projects in class by Friday, 2 February. This project serves to reiterate previously learnt phrases in the 1st/2nd person while now exploring 3rd person variations. Beginning the next week, students will be provided with new vocabulary regarding professions and personal descriptions (physicality, personality, etc.). Lastly, we will delve into the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd person plural forms of our known verbs with a few new additions in relevant structures. 7th graders will be challenged in Advanced Spanish with additional structures/vocabulary with which to engage!
ALGEBRA 1 - Mrs. Taylor
We are taking Systems of Equations and Inequalities very slow. We are slowing down, especially, for the word problems. Real life examples of these systems in play. They will have a quiz 7.1-7.2 Tuesday 2/6 which covers graphing the systems and mathematically solving those same systems using the substitution method. We will continue to 7.3-7.4 which involves solving these same systems but using the elimination method. The quiz on those two sections will be on 2/13.
PRE-ALGEBRA - Mr. Lanfear
Next week in Pre-Algebra, we will almost complete Chapter 7 by learning how to use percents in the real world (7.6). We will also learn how banks and savings accounts work by accumulating/charging simple and compound interest (7.7). There will be a day of review on Friday to prepare for the Chapter 7 test the following Monday.
ELA - Ms. Ferkol and Mrs. Boyer
Students have done an incredible job drafting and outlining their “theme” park projects this past week! In the coming week, students will begin to work on their final draft of this project, creating a poster board complete with all information they have planned for in their blueprints and abstracts. Students should be using the posted rubrics and provided examples to help them as they work to ensure that they do not leave any important information out of their projects and receive a grade worthy of the time and effort they are putting into these wonderful projects! We are truly looking forward to seeing the amazing and creative work that these students will submit! This project will be due on February 12th for a TEST grade;
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
Big thanks to Dr. Iyer for coming to speak to the students this Friday about his experience in the ER to bring life to our unit on the musculoskeletal system and the digestive system. We will be continuing the digestive system next week with a test over both musculoskeletal system AND digestive system on Wednesday, February 7th.
AMERICAN HISTORY - Mr. Saviskas
We have just started our Political parties creation project and we will be continuing to work on it through the week. By Wednesday we will have a graded progress report to make sure students are on track for their presentations on Friday. In between working on the project we will continue discussing how the US government works and the philosophy behind its structure. It should be very exciting!
AMERICAN HISTORY - Mr. O’Hayer
Next week in American History students will continue their study of how our system of government was created. We now examine the Rights and Responsibilities contained within the Constitution. We will spend time studying the Bill of Rights and other impactful Amendments. Students will begin their Creating a Political Party Project. This project will be completed in class.
ACCELERATED MATH - Mrs. Taylor
Students are working well with one and two-step equations. They moved on to inequalities and learned “why” they flip the inequality sign. I love to explain the “why” and watch the light bulbs go off. They will switch to discover linear equations with tables and graphing. The final test for Chapter 7 will be Friday, March 6th. 7.1-7.8.
PRE-ALGEBRA - Mr. Lanfear
Next week in Pre-Algebra, we will almost complete Chapter 7 by learning how to use percents in the real world (7.6). We will also learn how banks and savings accounts work by accumulating/charging simple and compound interest (7.7). There will be a day of review on Friday to prepare for the Chapter 7 test the following Monday.
EARTH SCIENCE - Ms. Insignares
Next week we will begin learning about Earth’s layers, including its temperature, density, thickness, and composition. We will also have a fun activity on climate change! No assessments next week.
ELA - Ms. Ferkol
This past week we worked through new routines and pre-loading our brains with knowledge about the types of skills we will be diving into in the coming weeks. This coming week we will have our first book club meeting on Monday, followed by learning skills regarding characterization and building into a theme.
Throughout this unit, I will be modeling thinking routines and text features using the novel Ghost by Jason Reynolds. Students will need their novels every day as they will take the skills we learn about in class and work on them in their own stories during independent reading time. As we move forward it is imperative that students also bring their blue binders to every class as their interactive notebooks and activities will mostly be hard copy! There will be binder checks throughout this unit that will culminate in a quiz grade!
Our first quiz of this unit will be on Monday, February 12 and cover the skills learned this week and next week!
INTRO SPANISH - Ms. Brown (Mr. Jones)
Using our vocabulary pertaining to family, possessive pronouns, and origin, students will finish working on and presenting their projects in class by Friday, 2 February. This project serves to reiterate previously learnt phrases in the 1st/2nd person while now exploring 3rd person variations. Beginning the next week, students will be provided with new vocabulary regarding professions and personal descriptions (physicality, personality, etc.). Lastly, we will delve into the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd person plural forms of our known verbs with a few new additions in relevant structures.
WORLD HISTORY - Mr. O’Hayer
Next week in World History We will continue our study of The Enlightenment. Students will begin their examination of the Enlightenment in France and England. Students will study great thinkers like Montesquiue, Voltaire. We will also begin presenting our latest Project: Teach a Lesson
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