Red 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.

The Middle School Math Program Evaluation Team is interested in parent feedback regarding MS Math. Please visit the following link to complete the parent survey: http://bit.ly/MSMathSurveyWG.
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.

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SLCL Library Card Application Hixson.pdf

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Upcoming Due Dates

Student led Conferences are March 9th and March 11th. Students MUST be present for these conferences.

Social Studies - Carthage questions are due Tuesday.

Classroom Happenings

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ELA- Mr. Jones

We have started our first two chapters for our book analysis (Companion Book) this week. By Monday of next week, students should have the chapter on Author’s Craft and the chapter on Characterization completed in their Graphic Organizer. We will then proceed with chapters on Symbolism and Theme next week.

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Science- Mrs. Creath

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Social Studies- Mrs. Pettid

As we began this week students explored the structure of the Roman Republic and compared it to other forms of government. Then we moved to looking at the Punic Wars from the point of view of the Carthaginians - the North African Empire that was the main competition to Rome. Next week, we will look at the transition from Republic to Empire. I will be asking students to question why a civilization would give up self-determination for an autocracy.