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| Local artist Katherine Sandoz showing her work to the 7th graders. Hancock is VERY lucky to have her! |
Savannah artist, painter and illustrator Katherine Sandoz is teaming up with Ms. Oosterhoudt to facilitate the Middle School community in creating a large scale fiber art piece which will hang in Hancock Hall. The students will be cutting, folding, stitching, stapling, shredding, rolling and dying recycled materials from the Middle School building to create this sure to be fantastic work of art. The project will be done over the next 5 months and we will keep you updated on our progress! Katherine was here visiting with all the Middle School classes this week sharing her work, examples of Public Art, Street Art and fiber works from around the world.
Katherine Sandoz has shown her work worldwide and we are lucky to have her participation! Check out her website at www.katherinesandoz.com
FOOD BANK UPDATE
We are well on our way to reaching our goal of donating
2,000 pounds of canned goods to Second Harvest Food Bank. You can bring in your canned goods and
non-perishable food items now through November 22nd. Also, don’t forget that if we reach our 1 ton
goal that there will be a Teacher Edition of “Minute to Win It” held in the gym
on November 25!!
EXTRA CURRICULAR
The 5-6th
Football Cheerleaders coached by Lindsey Giddens and the 6-8th
Varsity Competition Cheerleaders coached by Cindy Drew will compete tomorrow in
the S.P.A.L. Cheer Competition at St. Peter’s Apostle, 12:00-2:00pm.
WORDS FROM THE MIDDLE SCHOOL DIRECTOR
AWARDS PROGRAMS
From
time to time, the Middle School office receives materials from organizations
offering students a chance to attend conferences and programs. Usually these programs are located in major
cities like Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Chicago and others. With the exception of the Duke TIP program,
we have not endorsed or participated in these programs as a school.
The
process for participation in these programs follows a common format. The school nominates a list of outstanding
students and forwards these nominations onto the sponsoring organization. The sponsoring organization then contacts
families to promote student enrollment and participation. If a student decides to participate, the
family is responsible for tuition, transportation and chaperoning at the
conference. Hancock Day School does not
provide those services.
In
the past we have not forwarded information about these opportunities onto
families since we provide no support or endorsement for any particular
event. That said, I would not want someone
to miss an opportunity that a family feels appropriate. Therefore, when I receive these invitations
in the future, I will note them in our weekly newsletter.
I
received information from Envisions about a Washington conference entitled
“Foundations of leadership I: Bringing
History to Life.” That information can
be viewed in my office or online at www.envisionexperience.com. I must submit nominations by November 15th
so if you are interested, I need to know by Wednesday, November 13th.
STATE OF THE SCHOOL
The
Hancock Day School Board of Trustees and the Hancock Administration invite all
Hancock families to the annual STATE OF THE SCHOOL ADDRESS, Tuesday, November
12, 2013, at 6:30 pm in Hancock Hall.
UPCOMING SCHOOL VISITS
The
8th grade class will be visiting St. Andrews School Thursday,
November 14th, Savannah Country Day on Monday, November 18th
and Savannah Arts Academy on Monday, November 25th (see below for
Arts Academy tour description).
I
have arranged a special tour of the Savannah Arts Academy on Monday morning,
November 25th. This tour is only
for students in the 8th grade seriously considering applying
to the Academy. A special note about
this application process. It is a
DEMANDING process, not to be entered into lightly. If you have not already given serious
consideration to attend the Arts Academy, you probably are too late to submit a
successful application. Why? The application comes in two parts. The first part is the academic
requirements. This is not unlike what
all of our other schools require. All of
our current 8th grade students would do well on this section. The second section is the audition
section. Each area at the Arts Academy
requires an audition and/or portfolio to be submitted and adjudicated. This process is explained in detail on the
school’s website. To prepare for a
successful audition or assemble an acceptable portfolio most applicants begin
well ahead of this time and often employ a tutor and or coach to provide
support. If a student submits an
acceptable academic application and a successful portfolio/audition application
all those names are sent to an independent company in Texas that randomly
picks those that will be selected to fill a limited number of seats. This is a new step in the process this
year. Last year SAA had about 2
applicants for every seat. The top students in each category do not get
accepted, it is a random draw among those students submitting successful application
packages.
Touring
the Savannah Arts Academy is a family event.
The admissions director has offered to host a special tour for Hancock
Day School families. To reserve a space
on that tour (Monday, November 25th in the morning), you must get
your names to me by Wednesday, November 13th.
I will confirm the reservation with SAA and meet you at the school for
the tour. Details will follow to all
those interested in this tour. You are
always welcome to take the general tour given by the school. Those dates are listed on the School’s
website.
QUARTER ONE HONOR ROLL
Congratulations
to all those who earned High Honors distinction (95 or greater) or Honors
distinction (90-94). Job well done!
High Honors
Eighth
Grade
Madeline Mascolo, Alex Mason, Virginia Maxwell, Allie Rathbun, Mason Stoever
Seventh
Grade
McKenna Bazemore, Ally Best, Lexi Dixon, Caroline Gilpin, Will Gladden, Ashley Lanier, Carlisle McCullough, Hunter Simpson, Anson Siu, Isabel Stafford
Sixth
Grade
Lily Allen, Hailey Arnett, Joshua Hameed, Aidan Henriksen, Selia Hooten, Charlie Ippolito, Rachel Mascolo, Taylor Mason, Emma Saunders
Honors
Eighth
Grade
Lucy Batchelor, Kaitlyn Rowe, Jessica Tucker
Seventh
Grade
Rowan Burgess, Elizabeth Hayes, Reid Markowitz, Miles Silva, Anna Giles Truax
Sixth
Grade
Sydney Bacon, Lily Horton, Mallory Lockett, Caroline Massey, Libby Mattocks, Madigan Mourning, Elsa Paulick, Alaina Rachlin, Noah Wolfe
6TH GRADE NEWS
6th Grade English Language Arts with Mrs. O'Connor
Students are wrapping up our study of short stories, and we
have a test coming up on Tuesday, November 12th. Students
already have a detailed study guide for this, and they should also spend time
reviewing the quiz that we took on Wednesday. We will review in class on
Monday as well. Once we have the test behind us, students will begin
writing creative short stories. This assignment will count as a major
paper grade, and the rough draft will be due on Friday, November 15th.
Final drafts will be due on Wednesday, November 20th. Next
week we will also begin working with lesson five in Wordly Wise, as well as
exploring adverbial prepositional phrases and appositives.
Math 6 with Mrs. Reardon
Next week in Math 6, we will journey further into Chapter 5
learning how to divide fractions and mixed numbers. We will also discuss customary units (units
we use in the United States such as feet, miles, and ounces) and how to convert
them. Due to the State of School Address
on Tuesday at 6:30pm (which we hope you will attend!) students will not have
homework that night. Students will
receive a math facts quiz outline on Wednesday and will take their math facts quiz
on Friday (11/15) in class. The Chapter
5 test will take place on Tuesday, November 19.
6th Earth Science with Mr. Crawford
This week we
will finish up our discussion of heat and heat transfer and cover the movement
of air on Earth. There will be two
quizzes on short sections of the book. Tuesday’ quiz will be heat and heat transfer and Friday’s quiz will be
air movement. Homework – prepare for
quiz; Tuesday – Sleep in preparation for OLSAT test on Wednesday; Wednesday – Read
439 – 443 w/notes; Thursday – study for quiz on Friday (which we might not get
to! Check on Wednesday)
6th Earth Science with Mrs. Blake
The sixth grade will finish their chapter on plate tectonics
next week. At the first of the week,
they will spend time learning about the layers of the Earth that compose the
plates and the layer responsible for the plate movement. They will also have a lab activity dealing
with tectonics that will help illustrate the slow pace of this process. They will review in class on Thursday and have
their test on Friday.
6th Spanish with Ms. Hughes
Next week in Spanish class, the 6th grade will
continue to work with the verbs and vocab from their new chapter.
Grammatically, this chapter covers prepositions. Student will have a graded
listening activity and a vocabulary quiz on Friday, November 15th.
Students should continue to practice their Spanish at home and sign up for
tutoring hours should they need help.
6th World Civilizations with Mrs. English
This week we will
complete the Akkadian Empire and pick topics for our ancient Egyptian unit
projects. We will have a test on Chapter 3 (Lessons 1,2, and 5) on
Thursday November 14th. We will also have a geography assessment on
Central America and the Caribbean Islands on Friday November 15th.
For homework students will primarily be studying and completing a study guide
for the chapter test.
7TH GRADE NEWS
7th Grade English Language Arts with Mrs. O'Connor
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| 7th grade art |
Next week students will continue to explore the oral
tradition and folk tales as we read a few more myths, epics, and legends, and
examine the differences between these three different types of stories.
In the early part of next week students will try their hand at writing some of
their own creation myths, and by the week’s end all students should have a
solid understanding of the differences between these three types of stories, as
well as an understanding of what it means to be an epic hero. We will take
a brief quiz over epics and the epic hero on Thursday, November 14th.
Students will be ready for a test over this unit on Friday, November 22nd.
Additionally, we will also be working our way through lesson five in Wordly
Wise as well as exploring participles and participial phrases.
Pre-Algebra with Mrs. Reardon
Next week in Pre-Algebra, we will continue in Chapter 5
learning how to multiply and divide fractions with variables, as well as using
multiplicative inverses to solve equations.
On Monday, students will receive their math facts quiz outline and
students will take the math facts quiz on Wednesday. The Chapter 5 test will take place on
Wednesday, November 20.
7th-8th Algebra with Mr. Lanfear
Next week in Mr. Lanfear’s Algebra (Grades 7/8) class, we
will begin Chapter 5 by continuing our discussion of linear equations.
Students will learn how to write the equation of a line when given either the
slope of a line and a point on that line or two points on the line. We
will also discuss point-slope form versus slope-intercept form of linear
equations (5.1 – 5.3).
7th Grade Life Science with Mrs. Blake
After learning about the cell cycle and mitosis, on Monday
the seventh graders will have an activity dealing with mitosis. They will then be introduced to
meiosis. Meiosis is a specialized
process that produces only germ cells. Both of these processes are important in the life of cells and students
can easily get them mixed up. It is
important that your student reviews daily in order to be ready for a possible
pop quiz next week. The test will be the
following week.
7th Spanish with Ms. Hughes
Next week in Spanish class, the 7th grade will
begin Chapter 8A. We will be covering travel vocabulary, more verbs in the
preterite tense, and expression of time. Students will have a graded listening
activity and a vocabulary quiz on Friday, November 15th. Students should continue to practice their
Spanish at home and sign up for tutoring hours should they need help.
7th American History with Mrs. English
This week we will finish our notes on the backcountry of the
Colonies and turn our focus towards chapter 3- Section 4 “The Southern
Colonies.” Students should expect a quiz on chapter 3- section 3 on
Tuesday November 12th and a geography assessment on Central America
and the Caribbean Islands. For homework students will answer review
questions and define vocabulary from Chapter 3-Section 4.
8TH GRADE NEWS
8th Grade English Language Arts with Mrs. O'Connor
Next week students will continue reading To Kill a
Mockingbird. In addition to reading the text, we are also studying
contextual vocabulary words and analyzing character development as we create
body biographies for various characters in the novel. We will eventually
turn some of the ideas from our body biographies into the basis for a character
analysis essay. Students have a quiz over chapters 11-21 on Wednesday,
November 19th. Our test over novel is scheduled for the
following Wednesday, November 20th.
8th Grade Physical Science with Mrs. Blake
Next week the eighth graders will start a new chapter on
states of matter. In looking at the
different states the students must keep in mind that the particles in matter
are never still, but are always in motion. The amount of motion, due to energy, is responsible for each particular
state. Over the next week and a half they
will perform some labs that demonstrate the transfer of energy which causes a
change in state.
7th-8th Algebra with Mr. Lanfear
Next week in Mr. Lanfear’s Algebra (Grades 7/8) class, we
will begin Chapter 5 by continuing our discussion of linear equations.
Students will learn how to write the equation of a line when given either the
slope of a line and a point on that line or two points on the line. We
will also discuss point-slope form versus slope-intercept form of linear
equations (5.1 – 5.3).
8th Advanced Algebra with Mr. Lanfear
Next week in Mr. Lanfear’s Advanced Algebra/Introduction to
Geometry course, we will start the week by continuing our discussion of the
Pythagorean Theorem by using it to find distances. This will lead into
our discovery of the distance formula. We will also discuss the formula
for finding the midpoint of a line segment (11.4 – 11.5). By the end of
the week, we will have completed Chapter 11 and will have a test on it the next
week.
8th Spanish with Ms. Hughes
Next week in Spanish class, the 8th grade will
begin Chapter 3B. This chapter explains how to give and ask for directions to
specific places. Grammatically, this chapter covers direct objects and
irregular verbs in the present progressive tense. Students will have a graded
listening activity and a vocabulary quiz on Friday, November 15th.
Student should continue to practice their Spanish at home and sign up for
tutoring hours should they need help.
8th American Government with Mrs. English
This week we will continue our analysis of the Constitution
and Bill of Rights. We will consider if our rights and “contract” with
our government is still upheld today. We will have a quiz on chapter 3-
section 1 on Wednesday November 13th. We will continue our
study of geography with an assessment on Friday November 15th on
Central America and the Caribbean Islands. Students should expect to
answer review questions and define vocabulary from chapter 3-section 2 for
homework.
