April 21st - April 25th
đź“Ś End of Year Details:
Field Day (Friday, May 2)
Drop-off: 8:00–8:30 AM at Ambuc Field
7230 Sallie Mood Dr, Savannah, GA 31406Pick-up: Between 11:30 AM – 12:00 PM
Honors Assembly (Monday, May 19)
Begins at 8:30 AM in the William Bell Gymnasium
Recognizing academic achievements
3rd Trimester Exams (May 20 & 21)
Arrive by 8:00 AM
Exams run 8:30 AM – 12:15 PM
Dismissal at 12:20 PM
No Middle School Extended Care Available
Students with extended time: Please park and wait — do not use the carpool line
8th Grade Graduation Events (Wednesday, May 21)
Practice: 12:45–1:45 PM @ IOHUMC Sanctuary (Transportation by parents)
Dinner: 6:00–7:30 PM in Hancock Hall
Parents: Join for pictures from 6:00–6:20 PM
Dance: 7:30–9:00 PM (Middle School students only)
8th Grade Graduation Ceremony (Thursday, May 22)
Arrive by 12:30 PM for pictures
Ceremony: 2:00–3:00 PM at IOHUMC Sanctuary
Reception: 3:00–4:00 PM in the Anchor Room
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.
A Personal Note
Before jumping into the athletics update, I want to share some personal news. Last week, I received a call from the superintendent of Scott County, Kentucky, offering me the position of High School Athletics Director (grades 9–12).
Rhonda and I have family there—including grandkids—so after much thought, I’ve decided to accept the role.
It’s been an incredible experience being part of the HDS community. My goal has always been to give students the chance to try new things and build confidence—whether through singing, fishing, or playing on the second team. I’m especially proud of our championships and near-championships—but most of all, the way we always honored The Hancock Way: Good Sportsmanship.
Thank you for making me feel so welcome.
I’ll still be running camps and lessons through the end of June and am committed to helping with a smooth transition.
SPAL Baseball
First Round Championship Game
Opponent: SCPS B
Date: Thursday
Time: 7:00 PM
Location: Paulson Field
Golf
Played this Wednesday (results pending)
Golf Championship:
Date: April 29
Location: Savannah Golf Club
Soccer
Girls Team:
No seniors, one standout 7th grader (Abby Waters)
Supported by a strong group of 6th graders
Promising talent coming from the 5th grade
Boys Team:
Playoff schedule depends on SPAL results this weekend
Semi-Finals: May 1
Finals: May 5
Track
Championship: April 17
Results will be shared the following week
Fishing Results
Bass Division
1st Place: Charlie Albert – 7.6 lbs
2nd Place: Whitt Marsh – 7.0 lbs
3rd Place (tie): Will Mayo & Henry West – 6.7 lbs
Catfish Division
Reaves Jue – 2.5 lbs
Girls Division
Cameron Howard – 2.2 lbs
A total of 42 students participated — a fantastic turnout.
Volleyball Clinic – Free
Hosted by Jordan Yantin and former pro volleyball players/coaches
Dates: April 22, 23, and 24
Location: HDS Gym
Open to all HDS girls in grades 1–8
Parents are encouraged to stay and watch.
A parent meeting will be held at 5:00 PM for all grades.
This is a great opportunity to meet the coaches who will be working at HDS next year.
Basketball Camp – Register Soon
Dates: June 4–6
Spots are filling quickly.
Open to HDS students and friends from other SPAL schools.
#19 Executive Functioning Skills: Understanding Working Memory
What is Working Memory? Working Memory is the ability to store information temporarily for immediate recall for a short time. This is important when children are trying to remember a story, complete math word problems, or follow multi-step directions, etc. We have two kinds of working memory: auditory memory and visual-spatial memory. Auditory memory records what we’re hearing, while visual-spatial memory captures what we’re seeing. Effective working memory is key to learning.
How Parents Can Support Working Memory
👨‍👩‍👧 For Parents
1. Use Visual Reminders at Home
Sticky notes, charts, and calendars are great memory helpers.
➡️ Try a homework station with a visible task list.
2. Give One or Two Instructions at a Time
Too many steps at once can overload working memory.
➡️ Ask your child to repeat back what they heard to check understanding.
3. Encourage Note-Taking and Organization
Help your child develop a routine for writing things down.
➡️ Support them in using a planner or digital calendar.
4. Build Memory Routines into Daily Life
Play memory games, or talk through the day’s plan in the morning.
➡️ Fun and routine strengthen memory without stress.
5. Model Patience and Encouragement
If your child forgets something, help them problem-solve instead of criticizing.
➡️ Confidence grows when kids feel safe to make mistakes.
6. Celebrate Progress
Notice and praise when your child remembers something or uses a strategy.
➡️ Positive feedback helps memory stick!
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
There will be a quiz on Sections 10.1 to 10.3 from the textbook, as well as graphing work that I have included in addition to textbook materials. This was moved from last week. We will also work on Projectile Motion problems.
Advanced Algebra - Mr. Lanfear
Next week in Advanced Algebra, we will finish our review of exponent rules and linear functions by having a day of review on Tuesday and the test on Wednesday. We will then begin reviewing solving systems of equations by learning how to solve systems by graphing and by substitution next week.
Geometry - Mr. Lanfear
Next week in Geometry, we will begin our final chapter of Geometry - Chapter 12. We will start by learning about solids, polyhedra, and prisms (12.1). Then, we will learn how to find the surface area of prisms/cylinders (12.2) and pyramids/cones (12.3).
Physical Science - Ms. Harmon
Next week we'll be wrapping up our lesson on electricity and starting our lesson on Magnets.
ELA - Ms. Hall
Students have spent the past week working on reading and understanding their vignette novels on a deeper level. Next week, they will have the chance to choose how they want to engage with their novel and the creative writing style before we have a quiz on Wednesday, April 23. This quiz will ask them to cite textual evidence from their book’s content, as well as identify a few aspects of vignette-style writing. Our aim is to be done with reading these novels by Friday, April 25, so that we can start their presentation projects.
US History - Mr. Saviskas
Hello everyone! I have returned from my trip and plan on diving right into the meat of WW2. But before that, we'll do a short review day on the Interwar period and have a quick quiz on Wednesday, April 23rd. During this week I will be sending out an email to parents asking permission for students to watch Saving Private Ryan. A true classic film that really captures the feeling and moment to moment reality of US soldiers during the war. If parents do not wish for your student to watch I have an alternative assignment prepared which will supplement the film's knowledge. I look forward to coming back!
High School Spanish - Mr. De Cardenas
I hope you're doing well! I wanted to take a moment to update you on what we have planned for next week in our Spanish class. After receiving positive feedback from students about our current unit, we’re excited to maintain this momentum and continue making progress.
Next week, we’ll focus on further developing speaking, listening, writing, and reading skills. We'll continue performing a range of activities that provide students with more opportunities to practice Spanish, helping them gain fluency and confidence in conversation.
In addition, we will begin studying the present perfect tense in Spanish. This will give students the tools to understand and effectively use this complex grammatical structure. Our goal is to equip them with the skills needed to handle situational communication confidently, as well as to refine their ability to use Spanish accurately and fluently in everyday contexts.
If you have any questions or suggestions, please don’t hesitate to reach out. I’m looking forward to another fantastic week of learning!
Algebra I - Mr. Scordato
There will be a quiz on Sections 10.1 to 10.3 from the textbook, as well as graphing work that I have included in addition to textbook materials. This was moved from last week. We will also work on Projectile Motion problems
Pre-Algebra - Mr. Lanfear
Next week in Pre-Algebra, we will continue Chapter 9 by learning how to simplify radical expressions with variables (9.2), the Pythagorean Theorem and its Converse (9.3), and how to compare and order real numbers (9.4). There will be a quiz covering 9.1-9.2 on Thursday.
Life Science - Ms. Harmon
Next week we will continue our lesson on Communities, food webs and Biomes. We will be presenting our Population Comparison Posters on Thursday.
Life Science - Mrs. Swanner
We will have a Ch 16 quiz on Wednesday, the 23rd, then we will begin our study of Populations, Communities, Biomes, and Ecosystems.
ELA - Ms. Ferkol
Students have been doing an incredible job throughout this unit, and they should be very proud of the hard work they have done so far! In the next week, we will work our way through Chapter 13 of the novel along with the guided questions. On Thursday, we will review the first 11 chapters in anticipation of their “half-way” test on Friday, April 25. The study guide is posted in Google Classroom and I am open for morning review sessions throughout the week.
ELA - Ms. Hall
It’s been a joy getting to watch students engage with the fantasy world of J.R.R. Tolkien so far! Next week, we’ll continue reading and completing the guided questions all the way through Chapter 13. On Thursday, we’ll review the first 11 chapters to prepare for their first test on Friday, April 25. A study guide will be posted on Google Classroom to help them prepare for this assessment.
American History - Mr. O’Hayer
Next week in American History, we continue our examination of the Civil War. Our focus next week will be on the environment of the nation leading up to the CW. We will look at how “growing pains” of an expanding nation influenced the rising divisions of the country. Students will also begin their next project: Creating an officer of the CW.
American History - Mr. Saviskas
Hello once again! I have returned from my trip and am ready to finish the rest of the year as strong as ever! For the next week I'm going to send an email to parents asking permission for your students to watch the film Harriet. The film follows the story of Harriet Tubman, former slave and later member of the Abolitionist Underground Railroad. I feel this is a very important film for students to watch as it better informs them of the life slaves lived through and just how difficult it was to escape slavery. If you do not want your child to see this film I have an alternate assignment prepared that they may work on instead. Please let me know if you have any questions.
After the film we will finish up our short unit on slavery and then dive straight into the Civil War! I'm so excited to see the students again and am so ready to get back to it!
Advanced Spanish - Mr. Jones
Students will continue to work with agreeing and disagreeing in Spanish, a structure that has proven to be quite tricky and confusing. More practice is needed to ensure confidence in spontaneous production and so next week will focus on exactly that! The verbs saber, conocer & poder will be implemented then as part of the practice.
X + 1 = Fluency
Advanced Spanish - Mr. De Cardenas
Students will continue to work with agreeing and disagreeing in Spanish, a structure that has proven to be quite tricky and confusing. More practice is needed to ensure confidence in spontaneous production and so next week will focus on exactly that! The verbs saber, conocer & poder will be implemented then as part of the practice.
X + 1 = Fluency
Accelerated Math - Mr. Scordato
Moving on to Chapter 12: Three-Dimensional Geometry. They will be doing “solid” work…the puns get worse as the year progresses.
Pre-Algebra - Mr. Lanfear
Next week in Pre-Algebra, we will continue Chapter 9 by learning how to simplify radical expressions with variables (9.2), the Pythagorean Theorem and its Converse (9.3), and how to compare and order real numbers (9.4). There will be a quiz covering 9.1-9.2 on Thursday.
Earth Science - Mrs. Swanner
Next week, we will erupt our volcanoes on Tuesday, so be sure to bring all “eruption” materials. Then, we will begin “Exploring Space.”
ELA - Ms. Ferkol
This week, students did some great work identifying key components of the dystopian genre and identifying the importance of flashbacks and foreshadowing! Next week, they will work on beginning to identify symbols within their novels and learn about foundational elements of persuasive writing in anticipation of their final paper of the year. They will have a short quiz on persuasive techniques on Friday, April 25th!
Students will utilize a digital interactive notebook for this unit, so please encourage them to charge their chromebooks nightly as these slides will be checked for classwork grades throughout the unit and a quiz grade at the end.
World History - Mr. O’Hayer
Next week in World History, students will dive deep into one of the most important periods in world history: The Industrial Revolution. This is one of my favorite topics to teach. Students learn about how/why this event happened and research all the amazing inventions that still impact our lives today. Our next project: I decided to postpone the Create an Invention project. Instead, we will begin our “Teach a lesson” project. We will start the Invention project after Easter Break..
Spanish Fundamentals - Mr. Jones
Upon return from the break, we’ll work with another short story while introducing several new verbs to our repertoire: conocer, saber, poder. We will review the use of these verbs in the short story to be read. Additional oral practice to agree and disagree in Spanish is also to be expected. Enjoy the break!
The Printmaking Unit is a three to four week process:
6th grade will continue Joseph Albers studies of color creating space and depth.
7th graders will design an interior product such as table ware or furniture using their grain illustration as the main motif.
8th graders Students will produce a final portrait using printed materials from the series.
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