Blue Team Weekly Update
Week of 2/24-2/28
A Note from the Principal
This past summer, I experienced my second heart attack. Unlike my first, this event was a bit more serious and life changing. During recovery, I was forced to examine many layers within my life, personally and professionally. In the end, I’ve come to accept that life is unpredictable and not within my control. This is a frightening revelation to accept for someone who likes to plan and likes a plan. What I did come to understand and realize was that knowing my why and purpose was within my control, therefore, important to live in each moment fully and follow my heart. For the past 21 years, serving kids has been my why and purpose. I can’t think of a better way to spend my days than in the company of middle school kids and teachers. I have been incredibly fortunate to walk alongside hundreds of kids at this place in their journey.
A couple of months ago, a professional opportunity presented itself pushing me to reflect. In the end, I’m following the personal lesson from the summer and following my heart. Next year, I will be starting the next leg of my journey as the principal of Brittany Woods Middle School in The University City School District. Leaving Hixson is bittersweet and not a decision I arrived at lightly. I am proud of my time spent in our community with amazing kids and teachers and look forward to watching my daughter attend Hixson one day. Thank you to each of you for the very warm welcome three years ago and the support while we evolved as a school community. I’m looking forward to continued growth and change for our kids because they do deserve the absolute best! I’m also looking forward to serving our district in the role of parent. My heart is full of gratitude and countless moments with truly awesome humans.
With gratitude,
Grace
Breaking News
- Today is the last day to order a yearbook! Yearbooks are $18.00. You can place your order online here.
- Wednesday, March 4th is the next Hixson PTO meeting at 7pm in the library with special guests: candidates running for school board.
- To help contribute to the PTO Conference Meal, please visit this link.
- To schedule a conference with your child(ren)’s teachers, please visit the link below.
- Next year students will be using the Oak Bend Branch of the St. Louis County Library as one of their main sources for library books. Each team will take a field trip to the Oak Bend Branch once a month with both their ELA teacher and Mrs. Tumminello. Please complete the application for a St. Louis County Library card and return it to your 7th Grade ELA teacher the library, or the front office as soon as possible. If you already have a SLCL card please send back the application with your child's card number so we can have it on file.
- We're looking for local businesses and professionals to partner with for our career fair on April 17th. The time commitment would be from 7:30am to 11am. We are hoping to find local businesses to speak to our kids about their career fields and professionals who are able to offer insight to our students about resume building, soft skills, and interviews.
If you are interested in volunteering, please contact Emily Bardot at bardot.emily@wgmail.org or 918-4655.
- The Middle School Math Program Evaluation Team is interested in parent feedback regarding MS Math. Please visit the following link to complete the survey: http://bit.ly/MSMathSurveyWG.
https://www.ptcfast.com/schools/Hixson_Middle_School_1
PLEASE NOTE:
Math and elective teachers will be meeting separately from team conferences. Please make sure to schedule an additional conference with these teachers.
Purple team will not be meeting as a team and will be holding individual conferences. If your child is on the Purple team, please schedule individual conferences with your child's ELA, Social Studies, and Science teachers.
7th grade team conferences are student-led conferences. Please sign up for a time when your child is able to join you.
- You can find the link for Remind messages here or text @hxblue to 81010
Upcoming Due Dates
Classroom Happenings
ELA: Mrs. Camden
This week we introduced the Poetry Anthology project that will be the summative assessment for the poetry unit. All students were given the requirements and scoring guide to use while they work through the project. We don’t have a set due date yet, but it will be due sometime prior to Spring Break.
Our root word this week was cap meaning head.
Just a reminder, students are required to read two books each month for the rest of the school year. These books count as summative grades. Remind your child that they must fill out a completed book form for their reading to count. Completed book forms are in the classroom next to the pencil sharpener.
I will be placing a Scholastic book order on March 15th for anyone who submits an order online.
Thanks so much to the families who have donated books to our classroom library!! We will be without a school library next year during construction, so classroom libraries are going to be important for student success next year. If you’d like to donate books to our classroom library, we have wish-lists on Scholastic and Amazon. Thanks!
Science: Mr. Vorel
This week in science we first learned about thermal conductors and insulators. Focusing on why certain materials are best for certain jobs. We then continued to practice using formulas to calculate temperature conversions. On Wednesday students took an open-notes quiz over the material we have learned thus far. Thursday, students were introduced to our next project which will be a research based project that looks at sources of energy.
Social Studies: Mr. McGinnis
We have finished our Personal Finance Unit with our test on Wednesday 2/26.
Students improved greatly from their pretest! Good Job!
This week on Thursday students from UMSL will teach 1 lesson a week on the Global Marketplace.
Next week we will do a brief lesson on the primary election for President.
Counselors will be in our classroom to finish their Missouri Connections lesson.
Friday 3/6 Global Marketplace lesson.
Field trip forms for our May 13th trip to Springfield will be going out.
See you at Conferences.
Mark Your Calendars
Wednesday, March 4: PTO Meeting 7-8:30pm in the library
Thursday, March 5: Firenza Pizza Fundraiser 4:30-8:30pm
Monday, March 9: Parent/Teacher Conferences 4-8pm
Wednesday, March 11: Early Dismissal at 12pm & Parent/Teacher Conferences 1-8pm
Friday, March 13: No School
Monday, March 16-March 20: No School/Spring Break
Contact Us
Mr. McGinnis: mcginnis.tim@wgmail.org
Mr. Vorel: vorel.adam@wgmail.org