Unity (Williams, Finocchiaro, Pingel, McGuire) 

 Tuesday, September 23

 Wednesday, September 24

 Thursday, September 25

Bravery (O'Brien, Childress, Gulve, Lopez) 

 Tuesday, October 21

 Wednesday, October 22

 Thursday, October 23

Integrity (Kosieradzki, Mangrich, Gibson, Sbisa) 

 Tuesday, October 28

 Wednesday, October 29

 Thursday, October 30

I am happy to announce that this school year, you will be issued 2 additional Chromebooks + USB-C (flat chargers) in your classrooms to add to your loaner sets. @Jordan Haddock will be rolling this equipment out to your rooms and will also be scanning the other equipment in your room. The current plan is to roll this out during the first week of school.

PLEASE NOTE:

- This equipment is checked out to YOU 

- This equipment should stay in your class and not leave it

- The Chromebooks will be in cases and have name plate cards that should state LOANER DEVICE and your Last name

- The Chargers are marked with GREEN TAPE to indicate classroom loaner charger. (please write your last name on the chargers) (DO NOT put room numbers as your rooms may change in the future)

The purpose of this equipment is to assist you in supporting the learners in your room when they:

- Forgot to bring their Chromebook

- Forgot to charge their Chromebook

- Their Chromebook is in for repairs

(If you find you have a learner who is asking to use the loaner all the time, please feel free to check in with me and see if they have submitted a STUDENT TECH REQUEST) (You can use our Tech Request system to ask for this information)

All of these devices have some slight superficial damage to the devices which has been marked in FOLLETT (our library catalog system)

Please take care of this equipment. If something is in need of repair (that is not superficial damage) please turn the Chromebook into the library after submitting a Technology Request.

This equipment may be collected at the end of the school year for Summer School use (to be determined)

If you have any further questions, please let me know.

Special thanks to the teachers who helped pilot this last year to see if this would be supportive to the learning process. SHOUT OUT and huge THANK You to our sub team who assisted in getting this equipment together before school. Thank you to the admin team for supporting this endeavor as well and seeing the benefits of in class loaners.

Important Dates

August 4 - District New Teacher Orientation, March to the Middle: Parent Edition, 4pm - 8pm

August 5 - Building New teacher orientation @ Hixson, 8:30 am to 3:30 pm

August 6 - District New Teacher Orientation, March to the Middle: Student Edition, 8:00 am to 11:45 am

August 7 - Teacher work day (no scheduled meetings)

August 8 - Opening Day!

August 11 - Teacher work day

August 12 - Teacher work day

August 13 - Teacher work day

August 14 - Teacher work day, Open House 3:30 pm to 6:30 pm

August 15 - Teacher work day

August 18 - First day of school!

August 29 - 6th grade Picnic field trips

September 1 - Labor Day, no school

September 8 - Late Start Day

September 9 - After school activities begin

September 15 - Faculty meeting, 3:35 pm to 4:35 pm

September 19 - Hixson & WGHS Band performing during halftime during home football game, Moss Field

September 22 - Late Start Day, SIT Team meetings

September 29 - Department meetings

Here is a more specific breakdown of our professional development agenda for Friday. Please note, all times are approximate, but our professional development will conclude no later than 12:30 pm. The scheduled work day is from 8am to 4pm. Please bring a computer if you'd like to follow the data presentation on your own device. Otherwise, you will watch it on the large screen in the Cafeteria.

• 8:15 am: Come enjoy coffee and breakfast treats from Art of Entertainment in the Cafeteria and socialize with your colleagues!

• 8:45 am: Unified Sports Banner presentation

• 9:00 am: Hixson's Academic & SEB data led by Shenita Mayes

• 10:05 am: "Red Folder" mini flm + small group discussions led by Hixson student support team (Counselors, Alt Prog Splst)

• 10:40 am: Differentiated Adolescent Brain presentations led by Hixson student support team (Counselors, Alt Prog Splst)

• 11:15 am: Trauma Informed Care + Middle School Alt Programming explanation

• 12:00 pm: Conclude, lunch on your own

Hixson Nuts & Bolts - Required Form for All Staff

In an effort to keep our back to school meeting at a minimum, we have put much of the beginning of the year information you need in the Faculty Briefcase. Certified staff, please complete the following Google form acknowledging you have read specific documents prior to Open House on August 15th. This needs to be completed before Open House because there is one document that will help prepare you for Open House. Support staff, please complete this form by August 19th.

Certified Staff - https://forms.gle/ct51jY2wT5Pghjs7A

Support Staff - https://forms.gle/UMzfZSn1JWUp3Uwx7

Hello all,

This is a friendly reminder that there will not be any clubs or after school activities next week due to conferences and days out of school. Please remind your students. Additionally, clubs/activities will resume the following week but then again will be cancelled the week after that. For clarity, here is the schedule:

10/9 -  10/13 = clubs on 

10/16 - 10/20 = no clubs

10/23 - 10/27 = clubs on

10/30 - 11/03 = no clubs

Then, in addition, there will be no clubs the following:

Nov 21-23 due to Thanksgiving Break

Dec 19-Jan 4 due to Winter Break

Beginning on September 1, 2023, your school email account(wgmail.org) will require the use of multi-factor authentication or “MFA”. MFA is a technology safeguard to protect accounts from unauthorized access. Some other names for MFA are two-factor authentication (2FA) or 2-step verification (2SV). 

You may already be using this technology with your bank, insurance company, or other online services. One common implementation of MFA is to login with a username and password along with a text message code to authenticate access. You can enable MFA on your Google account at any time. Beginning September 1, you will not be able to login until MFA is enabled. You may already have MFA enabled, in which case no action is required on your part.

See attached documentation or the linked video on configuring your wgmail.org account to use MFA. Once you have signed on with MFA enabled, you may be periodically prompted to re-verify access. MFA re-verification is infrequent and not required daily. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me directly.

2FA Authentication with Google

Good morning,

As a follow-up to the data that I shared at our last faculty meeting, we will move forward with our focus on Tier 1 instruction, which is in line with our instructional focus for this year (and years to come). Therefore, some of your colleagues will offer 1 hour PD sessions that are in line with high-quality Tier 1 instruction during the faculty meeting on Monday. Click the link below to sign up for a session of your choice. You only need to sign up for one session. When it is time for the faculty meeting on Monday, you do not need to report to the Cafeteria. Please go straight to your session instead. When your session is over, you are free to go!

February Tier 1 Instruction Session sign up

If, after experiencing the sessions on Monday, you decide that you are interested in presenting in March, please let me know that you are interested so we can discuss your idea

Please fill out the following form by Tuesday, January 31st to help us plan our end of year celebration! 

Friday, May 19th after school!

The current plan is to rent a party bus that will pick us up from Hixson at 3:45 and we will depart for Paddle Stop Brewery (owned and operated by the wonderful Stacy Camden) by 4:00.  We will get to New Haven about 5pm and stay roughly three hours and board the bus back to Hixson at 8pm for a 9pm arrival. 

New Haven has lots of options for our visit: Paddle Stop Brewery, Pinckney Bend Distillery, Wolf & Ferry Wine Bar, Dos Bros Mexican Grill, etc.

I need to book the bus by next week. Thanks all!

Social Courtesy Committee 

NWEA TECH PREP

On Tuesday during Statesmen time, please do the following check on all of your learners School issued Chromebooks:

1. Have them log off of their School  account

2. When they are on the home screen look at the bottom left-hand corner of the screen for the word "APPS" (pictured below)

3. If they do not have APPs please send them to the library during ST

INFORMATION FOR BYOD NEEDED

If your learner is using their own personal device then they DO NOT need to do the above-mentioned steps, however, we do need to know that they are using their own devices.

Please enter their first name, last name, and grade level on this spreadsheet indicating that they are using their own device.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Vj3QNGTrmc78HzUxtkJF5a1Lx0hvWUj2uZWVHlbC0TM/edit?usp=sharing

BYOD + NWEA

Learners using their own devices for NWEA testing will need to follow these directions to access the test on their computers:

Students sign in: https://test.mapnwea.org  (make sure they do not have Pop-up blockers on otherwise they won't be able to access the test).

1. Students enter the session/password to log in that you give them from your dashboard. 

2. Students select their name. The test should already be in.  (Teachers/Proctors may want to walk around and check they have the correct name and test before #3.)

3. Students click YES to verify the information selected.

8. Select each student as they’re ready and click ‘Confirm Now’ 

*Click ‘Refresh Status’ as needed to view student status.

REMIND YOUR LEARNERS

Please remind your learners to bring their devices fully charged on Thursday and Friday.

Thank you for your help in ensuring all learner's devices are ready for testing this Thursday by completing the above steps during your Statesmentime classes. 

Hi everyone!

1.NWEA testing is this Thursday-26th and Friday-27th. 

2.Thursday is Reading and Friday is Math. 

*If your last name is not in the session name, you picked the wrong one!! Ex: rlastnamew23, mlastnamew23

3. If a student has chromebook trouble, try going through the website first (it's on the cheat sheet) and then send to the library if you need further assistance.

4. Stevison/Tokos-testing in their room. 

Grubb and Mahacek-testing in the cafeteria. 

Beth Nazemi's ST group-testing in Mattison's room-216

5. Makeups=Monday 1/30-6th, Tuesday 1/31-7th, Wednesday 2/1-8th

Makeups are in the library. I will send emails on those students after Friday.

6. Wifi info: see attachment below.

7. Some of you have already told me you will be out on Friday. Please, please try to be here both days. I know things happen, but having a sub give the test is not ideal. Subs have panicked before when they found out they had to give the test and the kids test a lot better when you are here. Thanks so much!

Updated schedule for two testing days:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1IDgTEv5VEpCVjwcUWiF7Ni5VVZ-wvS90VzZ3-O_iRiw/edit?usp=sharing

NWEA Cheat Sheet:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1eBtW_9o0j_AXS2ZFnrIwmfdPpaNB11slDNBLL5g0kcI/edit?usp=sharing

Small group list:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/18URPArL5S3sLLKDy6vixG-UhDXJlSyBBBbQAjRCRReI/edit?usp=sharing

Proctor list:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1vj6zQJ5yQH0W5BMSKSWqxIlYWAYt7RaHnAwxBhk4IB4/edit?usp=sharing

Hi all!

Don't forget the Hixson Holiday party is on Saturday Jan. 21st from    6-8pm at Epiphany Lanes. It is $5 per person (spouses and kids welcome) and only cash for drinks.

http://evite.me/AWXuy8VHjh 

You can pay by:

1. Check made out to Hixson Social Courtesy in Hope Strasser's mailbox.

2. Cash in an envelope marked "Social Courtesy" and place it in Hope Strasser's mailbox.

3. Cash App:  $HixsonSocialCourtesy

4. Zelle: strasser.hope@wgmail.org

5. Paypal: paypal.me/HixsonSocialCourtesy

*Please note we no longer have a Venmo account.

Let me know if you have any questions. Hope to see you there!!

Hope Strasser

Hixson Middle School

Progress-Monitoring Coach

The day that we are going to see Mr. Conner's play has changed to Friday, 12/9. It will NOT be on Thursday. 

Below is the timeline for the afternoon. Please be aware that this will cut into the lunches of the 8th graders that are performing in the play. Accommodations will need to be made for that. I would suggest that they eat during 7th grade lunch. 

12:23 - 6th Grade students will go to their 5th hour class. Teachers will take attendance and hold a normal class until 12:45 (or as much as possible).

12:45 - 6th grade classes will move down into the auditorium. Please have them sit in their sections that they occupy in the morning at arrival time. 

12:55 - Play will begin.

1:45 - Play will be complete and students will be dismissed to their 7th hour class from the auditorium. That means they should bring their materials with them from their 5th hour class.

There are very few classes that have multi-grade classes that include 6th graders. If that is the case (I'm looking at you Orchestra and/or Math 7), please send your students to the auditorium. We will seat them, on their team, with another class. 

Mike Hazelton, Ed.S.

Assistant Principal

Hixson Middle School

314-918-4552

Please complete the brief Calendar Survey for Staff (scroll down for the link). This survey will remain open until December 8th at 5:00 pm.

WGSD Calendar Survey - Staff - https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/K6XHY5M

In addition to the points mentioned in my previous email (see below), I had several questions about whether extending the school year past Memorial Day would impact the end date for Semester 1.

• First semester is currently shorter than 2nd semester, which is a challenge for balancing the content of semester-long courses.

• High school teachers are asked about this on the survey since shifting days into May would impact the timeline for finals.

• I would imagine that Hixson's calendar will follow what is decided by the High School for the Semester 1 end date. 

• Please feel free to add comments about this issue if you have concerns - more voices sharing a concern makes it clear that it is a significant issue to consider on behalf of Hixson.

A reminder from my previous email of important points to keep in mind:

• The number of teacher contract days and student attendance days will not change.

• Shifting the end date for the school year provides some flexibility for use of days throughout the year. This includes opportunities like adding a fall break, not starting the school year with a 5-day week, and more flexibility with dates for winter break.

• The committee would like to avoid taking the school year into June. The way dates work out for the next several years allow for this to happen. We would evaluate changes again when Memorial day falls later in the month (this is not an issue until May 2027).

Early Release Day Schedule - September 16, 2022

12:32 pm to 1:05 pm - lunch (bring your own lunch)

1:10 pm - 2:00 pm - LGBTQ+ & Gender Identity Awareness Training w/Dr. Williamson (required for all WGSD staff)

2:00 pm - 2:30 pm - a bit more CLT training on Qs 3 & 4 & introduce Sherri K.

2:30 pm - 3:25 pm - CLT meetings (PLC Start Up Kit Phase 2 due by end of day)

If you had a student absent or students who did not have their AUP's filled out at the time of you coming to the library for roll out please note:

In a continuous effort to support the learning and learners, each day at end of day, we will run a new report to see which families have submitted their AUPs.

We will continue with our roll out schedule as planned and then each day we will also call down students whom:

A. Have had their families fill out their AUP

B. Have already visited the library with their ELA teachers to pick up Chromebooks but were unable to due to their AUP not being filled out.

Reminder: We will call the students down in groups to get them their equipment if the above criteria is met. DO NOT SEND students unless we call them down.  

We appreciate your support as we work to get each learner a chromebook, and continue to support the staff and their request each day.

Shout out to our ELA teachers who have been extremely helpful with organizing the learners when they come into the library, assisting with roll out and for reaching out to families to help encourage them to get their students registered.

Our admin team is currently working to ensure that our families with Epworth also register.

If families need assistance with parent portal/registration please have them call or email Ms. Banks: banks.earline@wgmail.org ext.14906

Thank you for your support.

Hello everyone,

This is just a reminder that for the first two weeks of school we will run our Late Start Schedule so we can start our day with Statesmen Time. 

ON MONDAY, we will have students first report to their 1st period for about 10 minutes so teachers can take attendance and explain our late start schedule for the first two weeks with students and make sure everyone knows where they are going for ST.

We will make an announcement when it is time to send students to their ST (there will be no bell on Monday).

Then on Tuesday all students will just report to ST first thing.

Statesmen time Lesson can be found here

Good afternoon everyone,

This is just a quick reminder for all to be at Webster Groves High School at the time provided below in Dr. Adams's email. After Opening Day activities, please return to Hixson for our opening staff meeting. We will have breakfast snacks set up for you in the Cafeteria starting at 10:00 am. All of our back to school faculty meetings/gatherings will take place in the Cafeteria. There will be time for you to mingle and greet each other prior to the start of our meeting. We will start sometime between 10:20 am and 10:30 am. Without knowing what the traffic situation will look like tomorrow, I'm trying to allow enough time for everyone to drive back to Hixson without feeling rushed. Also, please remember that your staff shirts are at Hixson in your mailbox. Feel free to stop by and pick it up so you can wear it tomorrow, OR, wear a Hixson t-shirt that you already have. After our opening faculty meeting, the rest of the day is yours to have lunch together on or off campus and work in your classrooms.

Looking forward to seeing you tomorrow! Please let me know if you have any questions!

--

Dr. Shenita Mayes

Principal

Good afternoon,

Our 6th grade orientation program, “March to the Middle,” is quickly approaching. We have worked hard to make this a meaningful and positive experience for our rising 6th graders. 

Many of you have already expressed interest in helping out - thank you! If this is you, please still complete the directions below.

If you are interested in helping out with this event, please fill out the Google form by clicking HERE (only 2 questions!). Please complete the form by Wednesday, July 13 to help us prepare. 

Information: 

• Brief informational meeting via ZOOM: Monday, August 8th, 12:00 PM (link will be sent in follow up email).

• March to the Middle 6th Grade Orientation: Tuesday, August 9th 8:30 - 11:45 AM. Please plan to arrive by 8:00 AM for set up.

• Adult leaders will assist with one or more of four stations (depending on number of helpers) - cafeteria procedures/snack, locker practice, team building, and building tours.

• There will be a $100 stipend for staff who help out. Please plan on attending the ZOOM meeting and 6th grade orientation. There will be a form to complete to collect the stipend - this will be sent out in a follow up email.

Please let me know if you have any questions and we look forward to welcoming our newest group of Jr. Statesmen to Hixson!

P.S. Please help spread the word as I know we all check email with varying frequency over the summer :)