August 26th - August 30th

 

Middle School morning carpool runs 7:30 a.m. - 7:55 a.m.

Faculty and staff leave carpool posts at 7:55 a.m. Homeroom begins at 8:00 a.m. Students arriving after 8:00 a.m. will need to sign in at the Middle School office and they will be marked TARDY. 

Middle School afternoon carpool begins at 3:15 p.m. Please do not arrive on campus before 3:15 p.m.

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.

Football is ready for action! 

1st game is away on August 29th at Saint James 

• JV at 5:00pm 

• Varsity at 6:30pm 

Flag Football (3rd and 4th-grade Coed)

Starts Wednesday from 3:45pm - 5:00pm at BC/Hancock soccer field on the BC campus.

The volleyball schedule is still not rock-solid but Sept 4th is most likely the starting date.

• 5th and 6th grade tryouts finish this week and the girls will find out through email which squad they are on this weekend!

Cross-Country practice gets a little wet (see below)!

Tennis will start its season against Calvary at Bacon on Sept 17th at 4:00pm. What an amazing turnout with over 25 students participating in this year's program!

JV Cheer is still looking for a coach. Team practice started August 21st.

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

PLEASE NOTE DATE CHANGE

Dear 6th Grade Parents,

I hope to see all 6th grade parents in Hancock Hall at 6:00 pm on Tuesday, September 10th, 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

Please respond via email if you are attending. Thanks.

See you there!

This is an exciting time of year when we fall back into existing routines or develop new ones. As your family navigates going back to school, remember that it’s just as important to build in downtime into your schedule. Allow you and your student to have the time to reflect and rejuvenate!

Helping Kids Back Into the School Routine

Please feel free to reach out with any questions or concerns you may have this year. amaher@hancockdayschool.org

Each middle school student is required to complete ten hours of community service over the course of the school year.  Please remember to check this area of the blog for opportunities. Click HERE for a log form or see Mrs. Mannarino in the office.

Algebra I - Mr. Scordato

We will continue our study of Expressions, Equations, and Functions in Chapter 1. The students will have their first quiz of the year on sections 1.1 through 1.4 on Wednesday, August 28th.

Advanced Algebra - Mr. Lanfear

Next week in Advanced Algebra, we will complete Chapter 9 by learning how to factor and solve quadratic equations that have a leading coefficient greater than 1 (9.6).  We will have a day of review on Tuesday and the Chapter 9 test on Wednesday.  We will then begin the first part of Chapter 10 by learning how to graph quadratic functions (10.1).

Geometry - Mr. Lanfear

Next week in Geometry, we will complete Chapter 1 by having a day of review on Monday and the Chapter 1 test on Tuesday.  We will then begin Chapter 2 by learning about inductive reasoning (2.1) and conditional and biconditional statements (2.2).

Physical Science - Ms. G

Please click here to view our Weekly Overview as we work through Scientific Methodology & Writing and enter Foundations of Chemistry. Our first quiz of the year will be Thursday the 29th!

ELA - Ms. Hall

We’ve had a great first week back going over grammar concepts together! This next week, we’ll kick off with a grammar quiz Monday before we take what we’ve learned and apply it towards our first attempt at essay writing. Students will receive in-depth instruction about what is expected when writing an essay at their grade level.

US History - Mr. Saviskas

The first full week of school has gone swimmingly! We have covered professional email writing as well as an intro into the history of George Orwell’s Animal Farm. The coming week we’ll be continuing with our Animal Farm lecture and begin talking about the purpose of government.

High School Spanish - Mr. De Cardenas
We are having an amazing beginning of the year. The students are incredibly engaged in all the activities of the class, also excited to learn new things and apply what they already have mastered. Next week we will keep practicing how to use the Present Progressive Tense addressing our approach to strengthen the students' talkative skills by incorporating this new grammar tense to their conversational range which is growing more and more every week. We will be doing spoken exercises in class to ensure they can engage in advanced Spanish conversation spontaneously using the new content.

We will have a Test on Friday August 30th for the students to show their mastery of the Present Progressive Tense. 

Algebra I - Mr. Scordato

We will continue our study of Expressions, Equations, and Functions in Chapter 1. The students will have their first quiz of the year on sections 1.1 through 1.4 on Wednesday August 28th.

Pre-Algebra - Mr. Lanfear

Next week in Pre-Algebra, we will continue Chapter 1 by learning how to add integers (1.5), subtract integers (1.6), multiply and divide integers (1.7), and how to plot points on a coordinate plane (1.8).  This will prepare us to take the Chapter 1 test early the following week.

Life Science - Ms. G

Please click here to view our Weekly Overview as we learn about what makes something living and begin exploring microscopes. Our first quiz of the year will be Thursday the 29th!

Life Science - Mrs. Swanner

We had a wonderful first week in Life Science! We began with a study of the criteria needed to classify something as “living,” and next week we will begin learning about how to classify living things. We will also introduce proper microscope etiquette and begin looking at things under the microscope. There is a quiz next week on the 29th.

ELA - Ms. Ferkol

First full week, done!! The students did well this week as we refreshed our brains on the foundational pieces of writing well. Next week, we will have a short quiz covering this material on Monday, 8/26. Look for the study guide to be posted in Google Classroom. Following the quiz we are diving into our Evidence-Based Writing Unit (Idea-Based Writing rebranded)! Students will practice developing their thesis statement writing skills and get back into the process of digging deeper into the context of some familiar short stories. This unit, students will take notes and complete work in an interactive notebook; this notebook will be submitted at the end of the writing unit for a project grade, so it is important that students are intentional about participating in class and ensuring their notes are an accurate reflection of both their understanding and our discussions in class!

ELA - Ms. Hall

We’ve had a great first week back going over grammar concepts together. Next week, we’ll start off with a quiz reviewing the grammar items discussed before moving into Evidence-Based Writing Work. We’ll be learning and engaging this method through an interactive notebook. It’s all about growing our writing skills!

American History - Mr. O’Hayer

Next week in American History we will begin our study of The Age od Exploration and how it impacted North America. Students will examine the most significant explorers of the time by analyzing their routes, stories, and impacts. 

American History- Mr. Saviskas

Hello again! This first week has been great. The class really enjoyed the lecture on History. We were originally going to have a quiz this week on Friday, but to allow us to go over how I want students to study for this class, I am moving it to Monday of next week. After that we will be starting our unit on the Early Americas and the Age of Exploration.

Advanced Spanish - Mr. Jones 

Students have been reviewing fundamental concepts previously learned last year. August 23 covers such fundamental material. We will continue to do so as we begin to introduce new material this coming week. New students will be supported by the teacher and peers as we conduct pair/group/class exercises so as to practice and review.

X + 1 = Fluency

Advanced Spanish - Mr. De Cardenas 

We are having an amazing beginning of the year. The students are incredibly engaged in all the activities of the class, also excited to learn new things and apply what they already have mastered. Next week we will continue practicing how to use the Personal Pronouns and the verb to be specifically in the context of greetings to ask about someone's mood.  We will be doing spoken exercises in class to ensure they can engage in Spanish conversation spontaneously using the new content.

We will have a Test on Friday August 30th for the students to show their mastery of these grammar topics. 

Accelerated Math - Mr. Scordato

We will continue our study of Number Sense, Patterns, and Algebraic Thinking in Chapter 1. The students will have their first quiz of the year on sections 1.1 through 1.4 on Wednesday August 28th. 

Pre-Algebra - Mr. Lanfear
Next week in Pre-Algebra, we will continue Chapter 1 by learning how to add integers (1.5), subtract integers (1.6), multiply and divide integers (1.7), and how to plot points on a coordinate plane (1.8).  This will prepare us to take the Chapter 1 test early the following week.

Earth Science - Mrs. Swanner
We had a great first week in Earth Science! This week, we began with a study of Earth’s atmosphere, its layers, and how it was formed. Next week, we will delve deeper into our study of the atmosphere. Although we do not frequently use microscopes in Earth Science, we will also introduce proper microscope etiquette and begin looking at things under the microscope. There is a quiz next week on the 30th.

ELA - Ms. Ferkol
The first week was a success! The students have done a wonderful job getting into classroom routines and practicing foundational skills in grammar and writing. We will have our first short quiz of the year on Tuesday, 8/27 covering this material. Be on the lookout for a study guide posted in Google Classroom. After this, we are diving head first into the wonderful world of essay writing! We will practice thinking and writing critically about short stories to model thinking routines for larger, more complex novels. It is essential that students use this unit to be brave and take risks with these skills as we will continue to develop them all year long! 

World History - Mr. O’Hayer
What an amazing week we had in 6th grade! All the kids seem to be adjusting well to MS and seem happy and ready for the challenges that await them. Next week in WH we will begin our travels to Ancient Greece. Students will be exposed to this amazing civilization and all the incredible and lasting impacts it had on our world.

Intro to Spanish - Mr. Jones
Students are warming up to the manner in which our textbook operates. First vocabulary quiz will be on August 30 and will cover the commands found in the instructions throughout our textbook: do this, do that, write, copy, match, listen, speak, etc., albeit in Spanish! As of this weekend, Google Classroom will be updated with all homework expectations and English translations of instructions for parents who wish to assist (woohoo!).  

X + 1 = Fluency

Work in progress here!  Students have started to upload their work in Artsonia. Artsonia is our online student gallery that will notify you via email when they publish artwork.  Students log in with Student ID Hancock4 and Access code NNNY YPFY.  I will send each parent an email invite to join!  Next week we will continue our Elements of Art with shape & line with Eagle Spirit.