March 10th - March 14th

 

Deadline for PVSA Community Service Hours – Don't Miss Out!
If your 8th grader would like to receive a Presidential Volunteer Service Award (PVSA) at this year’s Honors Assembly on Monday, May 19th at 8:30 AM, please make sure all community service hours are completed and submitted to the middle school office by Monday, March 24th.

Here are the PVSA levels based on the number of hours completed:

  • Bronze Level: 50 – 74 hours

  • Silver Level: 75 – 99 hours

  • Gold Level: 100+ hours

We’re excited to recognize our students for their outstanding service to the community, so encourage your child to get their hours in on time! If you have any questions, feel free to reach out.






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.


Spring Sports Update

Baseball
The baseball season starts on March 11th against SCPS (A) due to a change in the SPAL schedule. HDS will have a bye week on April 4th. The first scrimmage is scheduled for Friday, March 5th.

Soccer
Both HDS soccer teams participated in scrimmages this past Tuesday:

  • Girls' Team: They won 2-1 against the visiting Savannah Homeschool team. The 5th-grade girls played great, supporting the varsity squad. Abby Waters (7th grade) and Taylor Mitchell (5th grade) scored for HDS.

  • Boys' Team: They lost 4-3 in a close match, played in rainy conditions. Coach Roberts gave playing time to many of the players to prepare for the upcoming season.

Track and Golf
Both teams are finishing up their final week of practice. Golf will hold qualifying matches to determine player positions. The track team has been practicing at BC when they cannot access SSU.

Fishing Tournament
A fishing tournament is planned for late April or early May. More details to come!

Fall Sports Sign-Up
Registration for fall sports will take place next week, March 10th to 14th, in the MS Office. I will be visiting 4th and 5th grade classes to collect the names of students who want to participate! The following fall sports are available:

  • Football

    • Junior Varsity for rising 5th and 6th graders

    • Varsity for rising 7th and 8th graders

  • Volleyball for rising 5th to 8th graders

  • Tennis for rising 5th to 8th graders

  • Cross Country for rising 5th to 8th graders


A Fun-Filled Sunday: Dads vs. Kids Basketball Game

This past Sunday afternoon was one for the books, as families came together for a friendly yet competitive Dads vs. Kids basketball game. It was an unforgettable bonding experience, leaving everyone with big smiles and cherished memories. While the game was all in good fun, the dads narrowly clinched victory by just one point. A huge thank you goes out to everyone who helped make the game a success. The event was the perfect way to wrap up an exciting basketball season!





#17 Executive Functioning Skills: Understanding Organizational Skills.

Organization skills are important abilities that help you keep your things, time, and tasks in order. Being organized can make your school life easier and more efficient. Here’s a breakdown of what organization skills involve:

  1. Time Management: This is about using your time wisely. For instance, if you have a homework assignment due next week, planning to work on it a little each day instead of cramming it all in one night is a great example of time management.

  2. Keeping Track of Materials: This means knowing where your school supplies and assignments are. For example, if you always keep your books and notes in the same backpack pocket, you can quickly find them when you need them.

  3. Prioritizing Tasks: This involves deciding which tasks are most important and should be done first. For example, if you have math homework, a science project, and a book report due, you might prioritize the science project if it’s due first.

  4. Setting Goals: Organization skills also help you set clear, achievable goals. For example, if you want to improve your grades, you can set a goal to study for at least 30 minutes each day.

  5. Creating Systems: This is about finding ways to stay organized. For instance, you might use a planner or a digital calendar to keep track of your assignments and deadlines.

Examples to Understand Organization Skills:

  • Example 1: Imagine you have a big project due in two weeks. Instead of waiting until the last minute, you break it down into smaller steps, like researching, writing, and creating a presentation. Each day, you focus on one step, which helps you stay organized and reduces stress.

  • Example 2: Think about your locker at school. If you keep it tidy and only put in the things you need, like your textbooks and notebooks, you can find what you need quickly instead of digging through a mess.

Analogies to Help Understand Organization Skills:

  1. Backpack Analogy: Think of organization skills like packing a backpack for a trip. If you just throw everything in without thinking, it will be hard to find what you need when you get there. But if you organize your items, like keeping clothes in one section and toiletries in another, you can easily find what you need when you arrive.

  2. Puzzle Analogy: Imagine putting together a puzzle. If you start with the edges and sort the pieces by color or shape, it becomes much easier to complete the puzzle. Organization skills work the same way; by sorting and planning, you can complete tasks more efficiently.

By developing strong organization skills, you can make your schoolwork more manageable and enjoyable!



The virtue for March is courage. This article has some great tips, two of my favorites are: 

  • When you define courage for your student, let them know that it often feels different inside than it looks on the outside. Courageous acts can often make you feel scared and anxious.

  • “Failure and rejection are often signs that we have done something brave.” 


How to Encourage Courage in Your Kids


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
Have an educational and enjoyable trip to Washington, D.C. - I will miss you!!!


Advanced Algebra - Mr. Lanfear
Next week in Advanced Algebra, we will be in Washington, D.C.!!


Geometry - Mr. Lanfear
Next week in Geometry, we will be in Washington, D.C.!!


Physical Science - Ms. Harmon
We will be on our DC Trip and then it is spring break! 😀


ELA - Ms. Hall

I am very excited for our 8th grade students to be traveling to Washington, D.C. to further educate themselves. I will be wishing them and all teachers involved very safe travels!


That being said, students are aware that when they return from D.C. and Spring Break, they will have several quick deadlines for our Yom HaShoah Project. The biggest deadlines are that their Contest Submission piece is due Thursday, March 27. The formal report for this project is due Friday, March 28. Be safe, and I look forward to hearing from everyone when they return!


US History - Mr. Saviskas
Hello again! Next week we will be in DC. I am so excited to be taking this group to our nation’s capital! On the week we return we will go back to our WWI unit. I plan to have a quiz on that Friday, March 28th. If it is clear that we need more time to prepare I will move it to that following Monday.


High School Spanish - Mr. De Cardenas

I hope this message finds you well. I wanted to take a moment to provide an update on what lies ahead in our Spanish class next week. Following the positive feedback we've received from students regarding our current unit, we are eager to maintain this momentum and continue making progress.

Next week, we will shift our focus slightly to place greater emphasis on developing speaking and listening comprehension skills. A range of activities will be introduced to provide students with more opportunities to practice their speaking and listening abilities in Spanish, fostering both fluency and confidence in conversation.

Additionally, we will continue our work with the future tense. Students will continue to learn to use the simple future tense to describe actions or events that are certain to occur in the future, also framing with time adverbs and expression for accuracy on when in the future the actions will happen. This provides an excellent opportunity for them to expand their grammatical understanding and practice using these structures in practical, everyday contexts. I believe this will be both a valuable challenge and an essential skill for their language development.

As always, if you have any questions or suggestions, please don't hesitate to reach out. I’m looking forward to another productive week of learning!

Please let me know if you would like to make any further adjustments.



Algebra I - Mr. Scordato
Next week, we will continue our work on solving equations using a method called Completing the Square. We will also spend some time with a detour again to the world of Probability.


Pre-Algebra - Mr. Lanfear
Next week in Pre-Algebra, we will work on a group project where groups have to design and draw a scale drawing of a playground.


Life Science - Ms. Harmon

Next week I will be on the DC trip with the 8th graders so I will have a substitute. Students are more than welcome to email me with questions or concerns. Please have your child check google classroom daily for updates.  They will begin our lesson on the Immune system. My email is charmon704@gmail.com


Life Science - Mrs. Swanner
Next week, we will begin our study of Human Body Systems, beginning with the Musculoskeletal System.


ELA - Ms. Ferkol

This week, we are diving into our next unit–Shakespeare!! We will be reading his famous work, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and exploring the exciting themes of magic, jealousy, transformation, and love (and just how confusing it can be!!). Students will be reading an abridged version of the original Shakespearean language and have access to a Layman’s terms version on Google Classroom; it is suggested that as we read portions of this amazing work in class, students are supporting their comprehension and understanding of the work with this online resource, for as we all know, “The course of true [knowledge] never did run smooth!” This is an incredibly interactive unit, with many opportunities for students to engage with the material in new and exciting ways, and we are hopeful that students are ready to “perform”! :)


First, we will dive into an intro lesson on Shakespeare himself through reading and annotating notes, interacting with an Interview with Shakespeare, and a T/F PowerPoint. Next, we will spend the week reading…after students have been assigned their characters! We will be reading the whole play in class! Each evening students will have check-ins to reinforce their learning. This is Shakespeare with a harness…not just a safety net! :) 



ELA - Ms. Hall

This week, we will be heading into our Creative Writing Unit that is centered around Shakespeare and his creative abilities. After an introduction to Shakespeare via notes and an interview with the poet, we’ll begin reading the play as a class. Students will get the opportunity to engage and perform, so we hope they take the opportunity to lean into their theatrical skills. Each evening of the unit, students will have various check-ins to reinforce what they’ve been learning in class so far. Though Shakespeare can be difficult to understand at times, students given the proper support will certainly succeed!


American History - Mr. O’Hayer

Next week in American History we will get back to our regular text and begin our study of the first 6 Presidents. The kids did a wonderful job on our Government lesson. They put great effort into creating their political parties. I can’t wait to see the finished products. 


American History - Mr. Saviskas

Next week I will be in DC with the 8th grade so my class will be covered by a sub. I have already started the kids on the Presidential Biography project, examining the lives of our earliest Presidents. That will be due next Wednesday. After that students will be finishing up notes and other small assignments before Spring break.


Advanced Spanish - Mr. Jones

 We will continue working with the past preterite to differentiate between that and the present tense in more conversation practice. Students will take a written quiz on Tuesday, 11 March and an oral test on Friday, 14 March.


X + 1 = Fluency

Advanced Spanish - Mr. De Cardenas 

 We will continue working with the past preterite to differentiate between that and the present tense in more conversation practice. Students will take a written quiz on Tuesday, 11 March, and an oral test on Friday, 14 March.




X + 1 = Fluency




Accelerated Math - Mr. Scordato

It’s a big week for 6th grade before Spring Break. They will have a unit test on Chapter 10 on Tuesday with a quiz on Sections 11.1 and 11.2 on Friday.


Pre-Algebra - Mr. Lanfear
Next week in Pre-Algebra, we will work on a group project where groups have to design and draw a scale drawing of a playground.


Earth Science - Mrs. Swanner
Next week, we finalize our review of Plate Tectonics, and there will be a Plate Tectonics test on March 11 (details in Google Classroom). Then we will begin our study of Earth Dynamics, which will segue (after Spring Break) into Earthquakes and Volcanoes. The “large” project for Trimester 3 will be building and erupting a “volcano.” Students will have a good deal of notice, but for this project, students will need to bring clay to build their volcano. I just want to make sure that you know in plenty of time.



ELA - Ms. Ferkol
Next week, we will continue reading and annotating our novels, so it is imperative students come ready with their novels and binders every day! Students will also be introduced to an at-home one-pager project asking them to identify 5 aspects of their novel in a creative and exciting way. 


*Throughout this unit, students will be assessed on vocabulary (4 mini quizzes average into 1 quiz grade) and novels will be checked for annotations (classwork grades) regularly. 



World History - Mr. O’Hayer


Next week in World History we will continue our examination of the great Thinkers of The Enlightenment. Coming up we will dive deep into the thoughts of the Great Thinksers of France: Montesquieu, Voltaire, and Rousseau. The kids have finished up their Songwriting Project. I didn't realize we have so many talented songwriters and video producers in the class. They did an amazing job with this project, super proud of them. The next project will allow the kids to be Teachers for the day. They will group up, prepare a lesson, and then Teach the Class!!! It’s always been a class favorite.



Spanish Fundamentals - Mr. Jones
Students will continue working with the past preterite and practicing its use alongside the present tense. We will have a written quiz on Tuesday, 11 March and will have an oral test on Thursday, 13 March covering the reflexive verbs in the present tense only and regular verbs in the past preterite. Students will add another page to their book project on Friday, 14 March. 





Good day!~Sixth Graders creative heads are still in the clouds!  Students select a destination and a skyscraper from that city. Architectural illustration uses the elements of design: scale, line, form, space and emphasis. 

Seventh graders are courageous in realistic drawing a split self-portrait shared with an endangered species, pet or creature of interest. Students use the grid method to scale up their google slide prep work of photography and reference photos head to head. 

8th Graders have been brainstorming for the Yom HaShoa project. Their sketches reveal thought, meaning and symbolic imagery. I look forward to assisting students after spring break with their projects beginning March 24th. Students may complete at home this week or start bringing in their projects Monday March 24th with a due date Friday March 28th. Craftsmanship for the final is our overarching for each medium in drawing, painting and sculpture. 

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