8th Grade Newsletter
February 5 - 9, 2024
Embedded Files
Our Mission
Grace Snell Middle School provides a culture of excellence that prepares all students to reach their maximum potential today, tomorrow and beyond.
Our Week at a Glance
Important Notes from your 8th Grade Team
School Counseling Week
This week is National School Counseling Week, which seeks to focus public attention on the unique contribution of school counselors within U.S. school systems. We will be recognizing Miss Davis and all the hard work she does to support our students, our staff, and our school in addition to our other two wonderful counselors: Miss Mutcherson (6th grade) and Miss Bertie (7th grade).
As we celebrate this important week, we have three days we hope your students will participate in:
Monday is Twin Day! Wear matching clothes with a friend.
Wednesday is Positivity Day! We ask that students find creative ways to spread positivity today and all days.
Friday is Mental Health Awareness Day! Wear green to show your support for mental health care across our school.
Scoliosis Screening
As you may already know, we will be conducting scoliosis screening for all 8th graders on February 22nd. A letter went home with your students over the weekend explaining this process. If you would not like your student to be screened, please return the form at the bottom of that letter to your child's homeroom teacher. Thank you!
Milestones Testing Dates
It's hard to believe we are already at the point where we have to start talking about this, but we want to give you as much notice as possible. We have Georgia state milestone testing every day from April 22 to May 3. As you plan for that time, please be sure your students will be able to attend as these tests are very important!
What's Happening in our Classrooms
What's Happening in our Classrooms
8TH GRADE MATH
In math this week, students will begin Unit 5A: Integer Exponents & Scientific Notation. We will start by examining the different rules that exponents follow in mathematics, including the power of a product rule, power of a quotient rule, and power of a power rule. Then, students will discover how zero and negative exponents affect their bases.
ENHANCED MATH / ALGEBRA CONNECTIONS
In enhanced math this week, students will revisit the concept of average rate of change from earlier units and learn to apply it to exponential functions. Then, we will start exploring different methods to solve exponential functions in one variable.
LANGUAGE ARTS
In language arts this week, students will continue Unit 4: The Fight for Freedom. In this unit, students are reading about people who sacrificed for freedom, such as Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass.
PHYSICAL SCIENCE
In science this week, students will review what they have learned about atoms, atomic structure, the periodic table, fission, and fusion as they prepare for their unit assessment, which will be held on Friday.
SOCIAL STUDIES
In social studies this week, students will begin learning about Georgia's contributions to World War I and how the war affected Georgia's economy leading into the Great Depression.
CONNECTIONS
Monday: B
Tuesday: A
Wednesday: B
Thursday: A
Friday: B
important dates
important dates
February 15-19 - Winter Break (no school)
March 6-7 - Early Release and Parent/Teacher Conferences
March 15 - Digital Learning Day
April 1-5 - Spring Break (no school)
April 22 - May 3 - Milestone Testing (tentative)
School Calendars Approved for 2024-25 and 2025-26
Parents, as you make various personal plans for your family for the next two years, we wanted to make you aware that Gwinnett County Schools has released approved calendars for the next two academic school years. You may access the links to each calendar below:
your 8th grade team
your 8th grade team
Dr. Brown
Dr. Brown
From the desk of our assistant principal
From the desk of our assistant principal
Dr. Brown
Dr. Brown
Greetings, Comet Families!
As we kick off another amazing week of teaching and learning, I wanted to share a few reminders with you. I hope everyone participates in School Counseling Week. Our amazing counselors are our first line of support for our scholars and do so much more than many of us realize!
Attendance Goal
Remember that we are on a mission to continuously improve our students’ attendance! By March, we want to decrease our 8th grade absenteeism to 5% or less.
Junior Achievement (JA) Finance Park Field Trip Volunteers
Our 8th grade scholars will participate in the JA Finance Park field trip this week, January 24-26th. We are still in need of parent volunteers to help chaperone this trip. If you would like to serve as a parent volunteer, please contact Ms. Torsanya Davis, ASAP at Torsanya.Davis@gcpsk12.org.
Wednesday Morning Tutorials
Does your scholar need extra support in learning a standard? Does your scholar need to retake an assessment, or make-up an assignment? Your scholar’s teachers host tutorial sessions each Wednesday morning from 8:15 AM - 8:45 AM. Your child must make an appointment with his/her teacher in advance and obtain a Tutorial Pass in order to attend Wednesday Morning Tutorials. Please encourage your scholar to take advantage of this opportunity.
Criteria for 9th Grade Promotion
To earn promotion to the 9th grade, students are required to pass five out of six subjects EACH semester. Language Arts and Mathematics must be two of the five subjects passed.
Should a student not earn promotion to 9th grade, he or she may have the opportunity to attend summer school to learn the AKS standards not mastered during the school year. Students may attend summer school for no more than two semester-long classes.
In Georgia, 8th grade students also are required to achieve a reading status of Grade Level or Above on the English Language Arts Georgia Milestones End of Grade (EOG) Assessment and achieve the performance level of Developing or higher on the Mathematics Georgia Milestones EOG Assessment. Students who do not meet either of these state promotion requirements may be required to retest after summer school.
NOTE: For the 2023-24 school year, the Mathematics Georgia Milestones EOG Assessment will NOT be used to determine promotion as the state completes standards setting for the math assessment due to the introduction of new math standards.
A student’s grades in mathematics will be used to determine if students have met the mathematics promotion criteria for 8th grade.
Promotion for an English Learner (EL) or a student with Limited English Proficiency (LEP) is guided by the student’s English Learner Proficiency Plan.
portrait of a graduate
portrait of a graduate
Gearing up for
Gearing up for
Class of 2028
Class of 2028
Watch this video to get a snapshot of the competencies our scholars are developing at Grace Snell Middle School now, to prepare them to reach their maximum potential today, tomorrow and beyond!
Our 8th Grade Teams
Team G.O.A.T.
Team Blaze
Team Phoenix
Team I'So Elite
Team Trailblazers
State law requires that children between the ages of 7 - 16 attend school DAILY.
Students will be excused from school for the following legal absences:
Personal illness
Death in the immediate family
Recognized religious holidays observed by your faith
Absences mandated by governmental agencies
Service as Page in the Georgia General Assembly
Visit with parent or legal guardian prior to deployment or while parent is on leave (up to 5 days)
Instances where attendance would be hazardous
Students absent from school for legal reasons stated above, will be excused IF they bring a written excuse from a parent, guardian, or medical provider, stating the reason for the absence.
The written excuse must be given to the desk clerk in the front lobby on the day the student returns to school.
8th Grade Office
Dr. A. Brown, Assistant Principal
Ms. E. Davis, Counselor
School Hours
8:55 AM - 4:00 PM
No drop-offs before 8:50 AM
Early Dismissal
Early Dismissal
Missed instructional time is detrimental to a student’s performance.
Parents are urged to make dental, medical, and other appointments before or after school hours.
If it becomes necessary for a student to check out during the day, parents must report to the desk in the front lobby to sign out the student.
Parents will be required to show picture identification in order to check out their children.
No check-outs or transportation changes shall be made after 3:30 PM.
It is the expectation that students make up missed assignments whenever they are absent from school, or check-out early.
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