Hixson Happenings

97th Issue, December 17, 2021

Important Dates

December 21 - End of quarter 2

December 22 - January 3 - Winter Break

January 4 - Students return to school from Winter Break; semester 1 grades viewable in Tyler SIS; quarter 3/semester 2 begins

This will be the last Hixson Happenings for 2021. The Hixson Happenings will return on January 7, 2022!

Inappropriate Social Media & School Behaviors

It has definitely been a challenging week at Hixson. From the threat to our school on Tuesday morning, to an uptick in negative and disruptive student behaviors, to the recent TikTok threats of school shootings across the country, we are struggling to end the semester on a positive note. Additionally, administrators and staff are spending a significant amount of time responding to inappropriate student behaviors. I've suggested some specific actions that you can take as a parent to support us in addressing these behaviors.

Closely monitor your child's social media activity. Log in to your child's account(s). Check to see who they're following and who's following them. Is your child following fake Hixson pages? If so, require your child to report the page(s), then unfollow and block the page. Is your child the creator of fake Hixson pages? If so, delete those pages immediately. Read your child's comments and direct messages. What are they saying to other people? What are other people saying to them? If you see negativity, address it directly with your child and think about if this is the right time in your child's life to be involved in social media. It might be time to take a break or come off of social media completely.
Check your child's emails and text messages. If you see something negative or inappropriate, address it with your child right away. Then, restrict your child's usage, if needed.
Check to see if your child has blocked the school's number on your cell phone(s). We've discovered that some students have blocked the school's phone numbers on their parent's cell phones to prevent phone calls home about their behavior or other concerns. We encourage you to check the block list on your cell phone regularly for 918 and 963 phone numbers. If you find any of those numbers on your block list, call them to see if they ring to Hixson Middle School. If so, please unblock our phone numbers so we can call you. If you learn that your child blocked our phone numbers, please address this immediately.
Ask your child how they're treating other students in and out of school. Some Hixson students have been making racist and/or homophobic jokes/comments/insults towards other Hixson students at school and in public places such as Old Orchard and/or Old Webster. I have received calls from business owners for assistance with middle school students in these public places in the evenings. This behavior is unacceptable and needs to stop. It is hurtful and could potentially have a lasting effect on a child's self worth. No one deserves to be treated that way. If your child is engaging in this behavior, please address it directly as soon as possible.
Talk to your child about not participating in spreading rumors or false information about other students. Many conflicts between students are fueled by other students who spread false information, or make things sound worse than they actually are to get a rise out of others. This is problematic for many reasons. Please have a conversation with your student about appropriate ways to handle conflict.

Parents, we could really use your help with addressing these behaviors. If your child sees or hears anything concerning at all, or needs help working through a situation, please encourage them to talk to an adult at Hixson. By working together, we can make Hixson an awesome place! Thank you so much for your continued support of Hixson Middle School. It truly means a lot!

Dr. Mayes
Principal

The Heart of Hixson

On December 15, 2021, we held a ribbon cutting for our instructional courtyard and garden. The students in our Sustainability class and their teacher, Mr. Hayes, have officially named this outdoor space The Heart of Hixson! We are so proud of our students and Mr. Hayes for bringing this dream to a reality and working so hard to get our Sustainability programming up and running. We'd also like to thank the Webster Groves School District Foundation, who awarded the initial funding for the Hixson food pantry and the instructional courtyard and garden. Thank you to everyone in the community who supports us in our vision to provide experiential learning opportunities for our students that get them involved in their communities to ultimately change the world!

Statesman Time - Feedback Needed!

The Hixson staff has been reflecting on Statesman Time over the past several weeks. Specifically, we have been talking about how to improve the Statesman Time experience so that it better meets the academic and social emotional needs of our students. According to the Association for Middle Level Education (AMLE), successful middle schools work intentionally to build welcoming, inclusive, and affirming school environments for all, and they create opportunities for every student's academic and personal development to be guided by an adult advocate (Bishop & Harrison, 2020).

Two major topics that have come up in our Statesman Time conversations include eliminating "doubled up" Statesman Time groups (in some cases right now, two Statesman Time groups meet in one classroom) and determining if a multi-grade level (current model) or same grade level Statesman Time structure is best for our students and staff.

We would really appreciate it if you would give us some feedback on multi-grade level versus same grade level groupings. If you have a little bit of time on your hands, please click the link below to provide your feedback. We encourage you to ask your student to share their thoughts on Statesman Time first, if you haven't done so already, before completing the survey. This poll will close on Monday, December 20 at 4:00 pm.

https://forms.gle/6JFYZSfPmLmzg6p36

Thank you so much for your continued support of Hixson Middle School!
Dr. Mayes

Spirit Wear order update

We are in close communication with Sportsprint regarding spirit wear orders. They have communicated to us that they are working overtime to fulfill orders. We will keep you updated on the status of the orders when we receive new information.

PTO Wish List items for Hixson Teachers

We wanted to pass along a quick thank you to our parents for purchasing the Amazon wish list items. Our teachers LOVE this idea and they very much appreciate this kind gesture of support from you. Thank you!