Friday Memo - 4/29/22

Important dates
May 1 - School Principal's Day
May 2 - Faculty Meeting, 3:40 pm to 4:30 pm
May 2 - 6 - Teacher Appreciation Week
May 3 - 5 - 6 Bravery to Camp Wyman
May 5 - Jazz Concert, 6:30 pm
May 6 - Kona Ice visits Hixson during lunches
May 9 - 12 - MAP Testing
May 12 - Fine Arts Festival
May 9 - 13 - School Resource Officer Appreciation week
May 13 - 8th grade Six Flags Trip
May 16 - 20 - Panorama window #3
May 17 & 18 - NWEA Testing
May 23 - 8th grade Promotion Ceremony, Roberts Gym (WGHS), 7pm
May 25 - Regatta Races, 7 Unity & 7 Integrity; Band Pops Concert, 6pm
May 26 - Regatta Races, 7 Bravery
May 27 - Last day of school; Kona Ice visits Hixson; early dismissal at 12:32 pm, Faculty luncheon, 12:45 pm to 1:15 pm
August 9 - 6th grade Orientation
August 10 - 12 & 15 - 17: Teacher Work days
August 17 - Open House, 3pm - 7pm
August 22 - First day of school

112th issue of Hixson Happenings

Teacher Appreciation Week!
We are so excited to celebrate the amazing Hixson staff next week! Here's the schedule of events!

Monday, May 2 - Snack Attack Day! Snacks will be provided to you all day by Hixson Social Courtesy and PTO!

Tuesday, May 3 - Coffee, donuts, and fruit will be provided to you in the morning by Hixson administration!

Wednesday, May 4 - Roaming Hunger Food truck will visit during lunches. Courtesy of Hixson PTO!

Thursday, May 5 - Lunch catered by Hacienda provided by Hixson administration

Friday, May 6 - Every staff member will receive a mini herb plant from Roger's produce provided by Hixson administration. District administration will also be delivering desserts to each building.

Upcoming absences summary + high sub days

Monday, May 2 - 7 absences
Tuesday, May 3 - 7 absences 

Wednesday, May 4 - 1 unfilled absence
Thursday, May 5 - 7 absences (1 unfilled)
Friday, May 6 - 13 absences (5 unfilled)
Friday, May 13 - 11 absences (3 unfilled)

Staff updates
Last night, we recommended the following candidates for hire. They were approved by the BOE last night.

• Kathryn Marsh - 0.5 FACS
• Kelley Devine-Ramay - Office Secretary

The next positions we will work on hiring are ELA, Gifted Social Studies, 0.5 Library, and Clinic Aide. 

Hixson Parent University (HPU)

In an effort to improve our connection/outreach with Hixson families, we are exploring the creation of a community engagement event geared at providing pertinent information to new families surrounding the Hixson Middle School experience. The “Hixson Parent University (HPU)” would be largely geared towards our new 6th grade families, but also be open to any caregivers who would like to attend. We foresee this being an opportunity to provide information and guidance on topics such as (but not limited to, nor a conclusive list): how to navigate Canvas/SIS, how to assist students with homework/studying, PTO, Camp Wyman, how to navigate the social and emotional needs of adolescents, how arrival/lunch/dismissal works, effective monitoring of social media, etc. 

This would likely take place prior to the start of school on an evening in August and last for approximately 2 to 3 hours. If this is an event you would like to help with, in any capacity, please email Adam Vorel. This would not be a commitment to help at this time, only an expression of your interest. Also, please feel free to share ideas for topics you feel families could benefit from learning more about (this is also not a commitment to lead/develop any instruction around this topic). Please also email those ideas to Adam Vorel. Adam Vorel and Matt Geringer will be working with the administrative team, and interested staff, on this experience.

After School Activities - 22-23 SY We have had some AMAZING after school clubs and activities available to our students this year. Thank you to all of our wonderful sponsors for creating unique opportunities for Hixson students to connect to school. Here are some clubs/activities that we would REALLY like to see start/return next year.

• National Junior Honor Society (NJHS)
• Chess Club
• International Club (Hixson was on the verge of starting a partnership with Nahed Chapman New American Academy in St. Louis Public Schools prior to the pandemic)
• Student Council/Character Council
• Student Ambassadors (Counselors are working on this)
• Boys to Men and/or other mentoring programs
• other ideas?

If you have any interest in sponsoring any of these clubs/programs, please let Hixson admin know!

Transportation update
Please read the following transportation from Jason Mueller, Director of Facilities.

As many of you know this year has been especially challenging in regards to transportation due to a lack of staffing nationwide for qualified drivers. 

Because of this we have had to limit field trip travel times. For the remainder of the school year pickups for activities cannot occur prior to 8:30 am. Buses will need to have students back on campus by 2:45 pm, or if the event runs later they can pick up from a location after 4:30 pm for return to the school. This includes the district activity bus as it is used for covering routes when First Student has drivers that call out.

I appreciate your patience and assistance. Feel free to reach out to Beverly Brooks or myself with any questions.