Friday Memo - 9/30/21

Important dates
October 1 - Mayes is out of the building
October 4 - Picture retake/make up day
October 4 - Mayes at District Admin Cabinet meeting 9:00 am until --
October 6 - Installation of coffee and water machine in faculty lounge
October 8 - Flu Shots + Atterberry out of the building
October 9 - Staff visit to EarthDance Farms
October 11 - Mayes at District Admin Cabinet meeting 9:00 am until --
October 13 - Panorama window opens
October 14 - PTO meeting, Hixson Library, 5:15 pm
October 15 - Vogt out of the building
October 18 - Mayes at District Admin Cabinet meeting 9:00 am until --
October 19 & 20 - Parent Teacher Conferences, 4pm - 8pm
October 21 - Parent Teacher Conferences - 9am - 4pm; NO SCHOOL for students
October 21 - Admin at DLT, 8:45 am - 9:45 am
October 21 - Mayes at New Admin meeting, 10:00 am - 11:00 am
October 22 - NO SCHOOL (comp day)
October 25 - Mayes at District Admin Cabinet meeting 9:00 am until --
November 1 - Hixson staff at Camp Wyman
November 8 - School Improvement Team meeting
November 24 - 26 - Thanksgiving Break

88th issue of Hixson Happenings
Click HERE to read the most recent Hixson Happenings!

The last normal school year...

I believe we will be dealing with the effects of the pandemic for several years. Currently, we are hearing how much our students are struggling with "how to do school", which includes but is not limited to organizational skills, study skills, appropriate school behaviors, social cues and prompts etc. The graphic below might help explain some of what we are seeing.

If you/your team/department is feeling the need to teach organizational skills to your students, please feel free to use time during your classes do so! If you/your team/department is feeling the need to set aside time to plan more targeted relationship building activities/learning experiences for your students (ie: restorative circles, team picnic, etc.), please feel free to do so! Remember, the core of our work as educators is about meeting the needs of students by doing what is best for them. Do not hesitate to set aside time for these important topics. The admin team will support you. This is what middle school is about.

Panorama

The window for the first Panorama survey will open on October 13 and close on October 20. The survey will be no more than ten questions and should be completed in one sitting during Statesman Time. You will receive a schedule and instructions sometime next week of when your Statesman Time should take the survey. The purpose of this is to avoid network issues or system overload. 

Principal's Council

Throughout the summer and into this school year, it has been on my mind to start a Principal's Council at Hixson. This will be a group of students who meet with me once per month to share ideas, discuss issues within the school, and give feedback on how to make our school an awesome place for all. This group would help to include student voice in important school matters, foster leadership skills and a sense of belonging in the students who participate. The administrators will be asking you to recommend students for Principal's Council. My goal is to work with a very diverse group of students to represent Hixson Middle School. Once I have names, I will distribute the invitations. My goal is to have the first meeting before the end of October, and then meet every month through April. We will meet during a different class each month to avoid students missing the same class repeatedly. Thank you in advance for recommending students for Principal's Council!

Care Team

Next week, a member of the care team will join your team meetings to re-introduce the care team process. A care team member will reach out to elective teachers to schedule a time to discuss care team with them at a different time. Here is a link to the form they will review when we meet. Please save a copy into your specific team folder so that it is available during team meetings to everyone.

Flu Shots - October 8, 7:15 am - 8:45 am
Flu vaccines are scheduled at Hixson for Friday, October 8 from 7:15 am to 8:45 am in the faculty lounge.

• WGSD staff insured by Anthem need to bring their insurance card so that the member ID can be documented on the consent form. 
• SSD staff insured by Coventry need to do the same.
• If you are pregnant, please let Amy Hensley know so they can bring the preservative free vaccine for you. 
• If you do not have the district health insurance, they will submit to your insurance.  However you will have to fill out some paperwork and you will need to bring a copy of the front and back of your insurance card along with a copy of your driver’s license.  Accepted insurances include Aetna, Cigna, Essence, Humana, HealthLink, Medicare and United HealthCare. 
• If you don’t have insurance the cost is $30 (cash or check payable to VNA) for the Quadrivalent shot, $32 for preservative free and $55 for the high dose (for persons 65 years and older).
• Just a reminder, there is no live flu virus in flu shots. FLU SHOTS CAN NOT GIVE YOU THE FLU.