Friday Memo - 1/21/22

Important dates
January 27 - NAEP Testing (small group of 8th graders only)
January 31 - NWEA Testing
February 1 - NWEA Testing
February 7 - Faculty Meeting, 3:35 pm
February 14 - School Improvement Team (SIT) meeting
February 16 - Orchestra Pops Concert, 6:30 pm
February 18 - No School
February 21 - No School; President's Day

100th issue of Hixson Happenings

WGSD Plan for School Closings due to Inclement Weather

List of 2nd Semester After School Activities

PTO Wish List
Please check the staff lounge for treats from the Hixson PTO!

PMIGA update
The Progress Monitoring, Intervention, Grading, and Assessment Committee of the School Improvement Team is examining current grading practices in the building in the efforts to create a universal grading policy at Hixson. Please take some time to complete the survey found at the link below by February 11th. You may choose to respond to this survey as an individual, CLT, or department.

https://forms.gle/vQyVUVXbhTCaW1Zh8

Summer School update
Please read the following note from Jessica Greenberg and Alka Woodard regarding summer school. Please note, we will post the summer school positions that we still need internally next week if we don't have enough Hixson teachers who have fully confirmed that they want to teach summer school. If we don't get enough teachers from internal postings, then we will post externally.  

As January is coming to an end, we are already looking to staff summer school. Alka Woodard and I (Jessica Greenberg) will be your summer school admin interns this year, and we are considering a STEAM focus or cluster of courses for our summer programming, amongst many others. We have brainstormed some possible classes to be taught but would love input from you on what you are interested in teaching. 

Some example course titles:

• “So This is Middle School”- an introduction to Hixson and the middle school model for incoming 6th graders. 

• The Voice- a singing competition 

• Fitness Frenzy-Outdoor/Indoor games and activities - let students get some energy out while working on teamwork skills.

• Top Chef- Cooking competition

• Poetry Slam!

• Backstage Bootcamp

• This is “Sew” Easy!-Sewing Class

• German

• Math in the Middle

• Reading for Pleasure and Purpose

• STEM Explorations

• Sustainability

• Personal Finance

Summer school will take place at Hixson Middle School, and it will run from June 6 to July 1, 2022. The hours will be 8:30 am to 12:45 pm. The rate of pay is $29 per hour. Retirement is deducted if certified summer school staff work more than 17 hours per week. Retirement is deducted if summer school support staff work more than 20 hours per week. 

Please email us by THIS FRIDAY 1/21 with your summer school class interest. As we receive responses, we will send out more detailed information regarding this summer.

Statesman Time updates
Click the link to access the parent feedback that I collected about Statesman Time prior to winter break. 

Click HERE to access the information about the Statesman Time PE rotations.

If you have a Statesman Time group assigned to you, you are required to engage them each day in the lessons that are provided, or in something else that you have planned that is in line with the purpose and goals of Statesman Time. Statesman Time can only be successful if we all work together to make it the best it can be.

For those of you who have Statesman Time groups that might be interested in mini service projects, we are compiling a list of Hixson-based and "outside of school" projects that are easy to do. If you have an idea, please add it to this list! We are trying to see how many we get, and then we will determine how to pursue these projects. 

IDEAS FOR MINI SERVICE PROJECTS 

Protocol for reporting COVID related absences
If you are experiencing COVID-like symptoms and therefore need to get tested, please send an email to Shenita Mayes and Human Resources (hrc@wgmail.org) explaining your situation, and enter the absence in Aesop as soon as possible. This same process applies if you need to care for a child or family member who has COVID or needs to get tested for COVID. I am trying to keep very close tabs on the progression of COVID in the building, and I need your prompt communication in order to do that. 

Generally speaking, the sooner you enter an absence into Aesop, the better, regardless of the reason. 

Essential information for when you have a substitute
Adding substitute accounts to a teacher's course

From Tim Brown--"If you need a substitute to open Zoom for students who are not present at school, then you will need to add the substitute account as a co-host to your Zoom session." Sarah Magruder will tell you which sub account to add. Tim Brown has created more sub accounts for us. Our sub accounts are listed below, along with the password, which is the same for each account.

hixsonsub1@wgcloud.org
hixsonsub2@wgcloud.org
hixsonsub3@wgcloud.org
hixsonsub4@wgcloud.org
hixsonsub5@wgcloud.org
hixsonsub6@wgcloud.org
hixsonsub7@wgcloud.org
hixsonsub8@wgcloud.org

Who is permitted to access live instruction via Zoom?
Here is the explanation for who is permitted to access live virtual instruction, and how you can respond to parents if they are choosing to keep their student home out of extra precaution, but NOT due to official quarantine or isolation.

I completely understand you choosing to have (child's name) stay home due to the rapid increase in COVID cases. It continues to be a challenging time for us all. (child's name) can access his/her/their assignments through my Canvas pages while he/she/they are absent. His/her/their attendance will be marked with a U (unexcused absence) for all class periods each day until he/she/they returns to school.

According to district policy that follows Missouri's Department of Education guidelines, students may only access live virtual instruction if they are quarantined (suspected COVID, close contact, awaiting test results) or isolated (positive for COVID). If either situation applies to your child, please contact our Nurse, Amy Hensley, to report the information. She will advise you on next steps and provide us/teachers with confirmation of your student's quarantine or isolation, if applicable.

I hope (child's name) and your family continue to stay safe and healthy.  Please reach out with any further questions.