Purple 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.

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.

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.
Purple Team Social Studies Driven Field Trip to Springfield, Illinois April 28th. Here is the form if you have not received one from your student. Field Trip Permission Slip.
This trip will take students to several historic sites on a coach bus; as well as a buffet pizza lunch at Pizza Ranch. Several chaperones are needed for the trip. Please read the form carefully to sign up to be a volunteer. This trip will be an all day trip leaving at 6:45 AM and returning around 6:00 PM. We look forward to spending the day with your students. Permission slips due in the office by March 27th.

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SLCL Library Card Application Hixson.pdf

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Upcoming Due Dates

Homework and due dates found here: https://www.webster.k12.mo.us/Page/19268

Classroom Happenings

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ELA- Mrs. Wells

For ELA with Mrs. Wells, students have explored multiple facets of poetry this week. Students studied the art and literature of the Harlem Renaissance with a focus on Langston Hughes. They have written a few poems as we continue to build the foundation for understanding a variety of forms. We ended the week with a part 1 of a poetry term test on Friday.

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Science- Mr. Hayes & Mr. Geringer

This week in science students wrapped up their exploration of thermal energy and its transfer. We went over the lab activities and the theories that we saw in practice.

Students then began working on a research project about different forms of energy that humans use in our day to day lives. These ranged from Fossil fuels to wind and solar energy. They will organize their research into a presentation and visual aid through the course of the next week.

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Social Studies- Dr. Rachal

In Dr. Rachal’s class this week students engaged in reserch to find a career interest, college/training for the career, and what life would be like after college practicing that career. Students pulled a “life Situation” from a cup to tell them if they have to plan for a spouse/partner and children. It is an exciting project. Ask your students about it!

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ELA- Mr. Gasparovic

In Mr. Gasparovic’s class, students have explored multiple facets of poetry as well as poets, ranging from allusion to Langston Hughes. Students have written responses to poetry, attempted their own poems, and have played review games to better learn poetry vocabulary terms.

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Social Studies- Mr. Gasparovic

In Mr. Gasparovic’s class, students reviewed for their Personal Finance test this week. Study guides were handed out and students completed them using the entire unit’s worth of work in addition to supplemental teacher materials. Also, students were assigned a synthesis question: a letter advising a friend in a hypothetical situation how to manage their newfound wealth using their materials and work from this unit.