April -

I am pleased to announce that we have selected Mr. Ben Flunker as our new Assistant Principal! He was approved by the BOE last night. Mr. Flunker will be the grade level principal for the 6th grade next year. Please read the brief introductory blurb below.

Mr. Flunker will come visit this afternoon around 2:30 pm for a tour, convo with our admin team, etc. If you are available for a few minutes after school today, please meet us in the Cafeteria for an informal meet and greet with you! Mr. Flunker will say hello to you and mingle with you before the weekend starts!

Ben Flunker is a St. Louis native that grew up in Florissant and Soulard. After earning a Bachelors of Science in Secondary Education and Spanish Linguistics from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, he started his educational career as a high school Spanish teacher. He has been a public school educator for 14 years and in that time, he has held the position of teacher, soccer coach, progress monitoring/data coach, and administrator. He has also taught in Spain as a high school English teacher. He received his Masters in Educational Administration from Missouri Baptist University and is currently working on his PhD at the University of Missouri St. Louis. In his spare time, he enjoys spending time with his wife Trista,11 month old daughter Addie, and dog Wesley. He loves cheering on the Cardinals and STL City FC, as well as many other hobbies. Ben is extremely excited to join the Hixson Middle school family, and he is looking forward to getting to know you and our students, and serving the Webster Groves community!

April 7 (we currently have 17 absences on this day)

The Spring Panorama survey windows are listed below. Please read the survey administration instructions below. I also linked the district Culture and Climate website below for your review.

Spring Survey Dates

Students and Families - March 27 - April 7, 2023

Teachers and Staff - March 27 - April 21, 2023

Culture and Climate website

Before you begin:

1. Decide which day you are going to administer the survey to your students during the survey window (March 27 - April 7). There are three short surveys and it will take approximately 15 minutes for students to complete. These are the exact same surveys that were administered in Fall 2022.

2. Check the OPT-OUT (it will be finalized on March 17th) list to see if any of your students have been opted out of the survey by their parents/caregiver. These students have been removed from the platform and will not be able to access the survey. If a student's family did opt them out of the survey, please make sure they have a chromebook during this time, so they do not feel excluded while other students are using a computer.

3. Write/post the survey website on the board/screen https://surveys.panoramaed.com/webstergroves

4. Tell students their access code is their WGSD full email address.

5. If a student is absent when you administer the survey, please work with your building leadership to schedule a time for the student to complete the surveys.

Read the following introduction to your students (do not veer from this script):

At Hixson, it is our goal to create a positive school community where all students feel safe, respected, and valued at school. In order to do this, we are asking for your feedback on your experience at Hixson. Please take a moment to respond to three short surveys through our Panorama survey platform. These are the same surveys you completed in the fall. Your responses to the equity and school climate surveys are anonymous. Your responses to the Social, Emotional, Learning survey are not anonymous because we want to be able to provide each student what they need to be successful and feel valued. If you need help with the surveys, then a counselor, teacher, and/or administrator can work with you - just let us know. All survey questions are optional and you may skip any question. We value your experiences and hope that you will answer all of the questions, but if there is a question that you do not want to answer, then you may skip that question. Your feedback is very important to us because we want to provide the safest, most inclusive environment for all students to thrive and feel welcomed. If you choose not to take the surveys, then please work on homework or read quietly until we are finished.

Instruct students to do the following:

1. Open Google Chrome on your Chromebook.

2. Go to https://surveys.panoramaed.com/webstergroves

3. Enter your access code. Your access code is your WGSD full email address

4. You will see three surveys. Begin with the first survey, answer the survey questions, and take the next two surveys. Please make sure to take all three surveys.

5. Review your answers, then hit submit.

6. If you have questions, please ask me and I will help you.

Would you like to spring into some SEL strategies with our Hixson Counselors? They will be tailoring a staff PD day for you on April 21 around SEL in the classroom. Optional sessions will be offered during each period of the day for you to attend. Please take a moment to complete this survey to let them know what you are looking for around this topic.

We will have Hacienda on Tuesday, March 14 and Panera Bread on Wednesday, March 15. Also, you can complete your conferences from home on March 15 since that is our virtual day.

We’re excited to invite you to our upcoming Scholastic Book Fair. Hosted by our librarian, Mrs. Haddock, this event is an opportunity for students of all ages to build their home libraries and further their love of reading. As always, all purchases benefit our school.

The Book Fair will take place from Monday, March 6 through Thursday, March 16 in the Hixson Library. Students will visit the book fair initially with their ELA teacher and then they can come back on pass.

Our Book Fair offers eWallet, a safe and secure alternative to cash. Simply create a free account to add funds and/or invite family and friends to contribute so your child can select their own books. Any unused funds can be spent at The Scholastic Store Online or to fund a future eWallet. You can watch a quick clip about eWallet below. Students can also make purchases with cash, check (made out to Hixson Middle School), Apple Pay, and credit card.

You can check out some cool book trailers of titles featured at this spring’s fair below.

If you can’t make it to the Fair, then shop at our school’s Online Book Fair. All orders ship directly to your home, and shipping is free for book orders over $25. Your online orders will also benefit our school.

We’re excited to celebrate our love of books together at the Book Fair. We look forward to seeing your child there! If you have any questions, please reach out to Mrs. Haddock at Haddock.Jordan@wgmail.org

Yearbook sales has been extended to March 28, 2023! They will be $20 each this year! Click the image to place your order!

BRIDGing our Stories (Building. Relationships. Inclusion. Diversity. Growth) is a community advocacy storytelling project that aims to empower WGSD 6-12th grade students and staff to advocate for their needs, embrace and appreciate our diversity, and help everyone feel valued and welcomed. Students and staff members can express themselves through art such as poetry, photography, music, dance, painting, etc. These creative expressions will be placed in a Community Gallery for the public to view, learn, and appreciate. In addition, the art will be used in a professional development session for staff to learn about the power of storytelling, relationship building, and building community. Supplies will be provided to students to complete their project. Students will be asked a year later to share how being a part of the project impacted their classroom experiences. This program is grant-funded by the WG Foundation and Lindenwood University.

We hope that you will participate and share this exciting opportunity with your students.

Participation forms will be available the week of March 27th in the Main Offices of Hixson and WGHS and a link will be sent via email. For additional information or questions, please contact Dr. Williamson at williamson.shane@wgmail.org.

Thanks,

Shane & Amy

Welcome back to second semester! Your PTO is continuing the "Getting to Know You" series on Facebook, and we need your help! We only have a few more posts before we will be out of information to share. These posts are typically some of the most loved posts by our parents! Can you please take a moment to answer some of the questions on the Google form so we can
create a post for you? Do not feel like you need to answer every question....just a few so that we can write a little biography about you. And send a picture because everyone loves putting a face to the names we hear about over the dinner table. Thank you so much!

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd-hPdR98I-mZHgtAN44dbc7Bi2v40FWzomG9o-TSpuAlO_4Q/viewform

Please read the budget timeline below. Please note, department purchasing will be closed in April. Contact Dr. Mayes with any questions.

If you are planning a field trip, please make sure that you are mindful of the building's field trip procedures. To minimize classroom disruptions, students should not be leaving and/or returning to classes in the middle of the class period.

We will begin the collection of the Chromebooks on May 11th and will finish up collections by May 19th. Below is the schedule for collection. This year's collection will take place during ELA classes. More detailed information will be rolled out closer to the time of collection. We wanted to share this information with you now so you can make plans for the second semester.

If you have a need for Chromebooks in your class after collection has begun please submit a technology request well before the month of May so Jason Heisel can plan accordingly. The request should have a minimum and max need.

Example: Need at least 3 Chromebooks and would love to have 15 Chromebooks available for the following dates: May 12-May 15th to allow learners to finish up submitting late work

Please keep in mind that a team of people worked to create this schedule based on feedback from last year and this year as well as working around major events that are on the calendar and testing schedules.

If you have any questions please let Jason P. Heisel, our building technology specialist, know via email.

Please see the information from Mrs. Hunter, our head custodian, for how to prepare your classroom for summer break.

• Please clear your teacher desk of everything, including drawers and surfaces.
• Remove all personal belongings from the classroom.
• Mark all things that are trash with a noticeable, legible sign.
• If your classroom has a tile floor, then the bookshelves have to be emptied. We will have boxes available. Please be mindful of how heavy you make the boxes. The saran wrap idea at the end of last year didn't work as well as I thought it would.
• We will be using the 6th grade wing for summer school.

Please don't hesitate to reach out should you have any questions.

Email: mayes.shenita@wgmail.org
Website: https://www.webster.k12.mo.us/Hixson
Location: 630 South Elm Avenue, St. Louis, MO, USA
Phone: 314-963-6450