Friday Memo - 4/16/21

Important dates

April 20 - 22 - MAP Testing for virtual students
April 16 - Hixson Summer Academy registration closes
April 19 - SLT meeting CANCELED
April 21 - Administrative professionals day
April 22 - BOE meeting; Orchestra Concert
April 26 - Character Committee meeting
May 3 - Faculty Meeting
May 3 - 7 - Teacher Appreciation week
May 26 - Virtual 8th grade Promotion Ceremony
May 27 - 8th grade celebration activities. More details to come!

May 28 - Last day of school!

*Because we need to take a Math, Library, French and ELA/SS candidates to the BOE on April 22, we need to use Monday for interviews. Therefore, SLT is canceled. 

Hiring update
We will be interviewing for four positions between now and next Wednesday. These four positions are listed below. Our intent is to finalize our selections and submit their names for BOE approval on Thursday, April 22, 2021. It is necessary to move quickly because as the candidate pool gets smaller the closer we get to summer. 

• Math
• 6th grade ELA & Social Studies
• 0.6 French
• 0.5 Library Media Specialist

MAP Information
Thank you for all of your support with MAP Testing for students in the responsive program this week! To our staff members who have never given MAP before, I want to send a special thank you to you for stepping up and helping us accomplish this task. I know it wasn't easy, but your support of our efforts to get MAP done quickly is much appreciated. Also, thank you to Hope Strasser and Jason Heisel for all of the hard work that you did to plan for MAP and make sure our technology was ready to go!

MAP Testing for virtual students will take place on April 20 - 22. I've include the MAP information that was shared with virtual parents below. Please let me know if you have any questions.

Letter to virtual families regarding MAP Testing

Virtual students who have opted out of MAP

DOMAIN 1: HIXSON & COVID-19

One way hallways
Thank you for your feedback on ending or keeping the one way hallways. We have decided NOT to end the one way hallways. Just remember that on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday of next week, the hallways will be two way near the cafeteria since there will be MAP testing in the gym.

Revised plan for supporting students who are quarantined
Click HERE to view our revised plan for supporting students who are quarantined. If you need to change your plan, please let me know as soon as possible so I can update the document. Be sure to let your students know about the change.

Protocol for teaching remotely 
Click HERE to access the protocol for teaching remotely.

Protocol for substitute teachers who will cover virtual classes
Click HERE to access the protocol for substitute teachers who will cover virtual classes.

DOMAIN 4: HIXSON & CONSTRUCTION

The Big Move!

·       What is the “Big Move”? The Big Move will take place on July 15, 2021. It is defined as the day that the district has hired a moving company to help teachers move into their new classrooms. Due to summer construction and cleaning, teachers cannot be in the building prior to this date. This is also the reason why we cannot hold summer school in our building.

·       Moving company – The moving company will provide plastic crates for teachers who are moving from Steger to Hixson and current Hixson teachers who are moving to classrooms in the new areas to use for packing sometime during the week of May 1, 2021. You will pack your belongings inside of those crates/boxes and put them outside of your current classroom by the end of the day on May 28, 2021 for current Steger teachers and  June 4, 2021 for current Hixson teachers. You will clearly label the crates/boxes with your name and new room number. On July 15, the movers will move those crates/boxes to your new classroom for you. The crates must be returned to the moving company sometime during the last week of August. Therefore, you will need to have the crates emptied and ready to return by August 27.

·       Labeling your belongings – You will receive a set of labels from the main office so that all labels are clear and easy to read.

·       Moving your own belongings – You are welcome to move your own belongings if you’d like. You will still need to abide by the aforementioned timeline and process.

Our furniture at the Service Center - Our furniture at the Service Center will remain there until we know more about social distancing for next year. If social distancing guidelines are relaxed, then we will bring our furniture back from the Service Center. If we can bring our furniture back from the Service Center, then that will add another layer onto our moving process.

No access to the building this between June 4 and July 14
The S. Elm parking lot is going to be completely demolished and redone this summer. If you are a current Hixson teacher and plan to do any packing between June 1 and June 4 (the building will be closed on May 31 due to Memorial Day), you will need to park on the Moss Field parking lot and enter the building through the Shop entrance. The construction workers will take up the majority if not all of the parking near and around the cafeteria entrance because the S. Elm lot will be gone.

Saturday hours
The Hixson administration is planning to offer Saturday hours for teachers to come up and pack their belongings if they choose. We will release those dates and times once we have had a chance to look at our calendars.