6th Grade Parent Updates

Meals, Online Learning, and Eagle Reading Challenge

Teacher Appreciation Week Town Hall

Teacher Appreciation Week Town Hall

The 6th grade town hall happens every Thursday at 4:30!! 6th grade students and families are invited to share their good things and get updates from the 6th grade team. THIS WEEK, we will be celebrating our teachers on Teacher Appreciation Week. It has been a challenging year to be a teacher, and I know Neal's 6th grade team misses our students. Hop on the town hall to wish your teachers a Happy Teacher Appreciation. If you want to help out more with celebrating our teachers during this week, email me at matthew_hickson@dpsnc.net.


Zoom link for Town Hall: https://dpsnc.zoom.us/j/664457447

Teacher Appreciation Week Town Hall

Remote Learning & Your Student

Hello families! We now know that we will be out of school for the remainder of the school year. This means that school will end with online learning. We are excited that ALL TEAMS are doing online learning and holding weekly office hours. Additionally, students will receive report cards and a letter from our team in the mail in the next two weeks. Remember you can always join our WEEKLY 6th Grade Online Town Hall (Thursdays at 4:30) with announcements, games and fun. Make sure you click below to join our remind updates so you receive all updates.


As we close the year, we will begin putting year-end assignments on google classroom as well as start our EAGLE READING CHALLENGE (see below). We expect students will do the following:

  1. Work on either Google Classroom Assignments OR paper packets
  2. Participate in the Eagle Reading Challenge (below)
  3. Join our Zoom Town Hall on Thursday at 4:30 (when possible)


Notice that if students do not have computer access they do NOT have to complete Google

Classroom assignments and can instead work on the Eagle Reading Challenge and the packets they will receive. Students that are on Google Classroom do not have to work on the packet.


We want to support your student during this time, so connect with us. The work your child does is secondary, we want to make sure we support them in whatever way we can during this time. Thank you and keep reading for updates on free meal services and the Eagle Reading Challenge.

FREE Meal Distribution

Please CLICK HERE for the Durham FEAST Meal Sites. You can receive free meals for adults and children at over 20 sites across the county. You can come to the Holton Career Resource Center (401 N Driver Street) every Tuesday and Friday at 12:00 to see your Neal Teachers!

Eagle Reading Challenge

We know that READING is the MOST important thing to keep your child growing. STARTING NOW, we will reward students who log their reading. This is a simple challenge, your child will receive their reading log with their report card in the mail. They can pick anything they want to read. Audible.com has TONS of free audiobooks & teachers will post reading material on google classroom. You can also pick up books at Durham FEAST Meal sites. Look out for more information. Students should read as much as possible and log their reading to earn prizes. Students will get raffle tickets to a school year celebration in August and possibly even a surprise home delivery of prizes.

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Connect with Mr. Hickson

Connect with Mr. Hickson

Connect with Mr. Hickson
Hello families. I am your assistant principal for 6th grade at Neal Middle School. I love Neal, having worked here for six years as a teacher and assistant principal. I hold a bachelors degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in business entrepreneurship and hold my masters degree in school administration from the top-ranked Northeast Leadership Academy program at NC State. I look forward to working with your family.
matthew.hickson@dpsnc.net 7168307225 hickson.youcanbook.me/