Important dates
January 31 - NWEA Testing
February 1 - NWEA Testing
February 7 - 11 - National School Counseling Week
February 7 - Faculty Meeting, 3:35 pm
February 14 - School Improvement Team (SIT) meeting
February 14 - Panorama survey window opens
February 16 - Orchestra Pops Concert, 6:30 pm
February 17 - Panorama survey window closes
February 18 - No School
February 21 - No School; President's Day
February 23 - SLO due
March 2 - Probationary Teachers growth plan due
March 7 - Faculty Meeting
March 7 - 11 - School Board Recognition Week
March 11 - end of 3rd quarter
March 15 - Virtual Parent Teacher Conferences, 4pm - 8pm
March 16 - Virtual Parent Teacher Conferences, 4pm - 8pm
March 18 - 25 - Spring Break
101st issue of Hixson Happenings
WGSD Plan for School Closings due to Inclement Weather
List of 2nd Semester After School Activities
Staffing updates
New building subs - Logan Mattix (M/W/F), Dan Velten (subbing for Kendell Sparks)
We are currently in the process of replacing Madalyn Baker (former Clinic Aide)
Panorama School Climate Survey window #2: February 14 - 17, 2022
The time for our second School Climate survey is approaching. This survey will be administered through the Panorama survey platform just as it was in October 2021. Some important points to note about the survey are provided below.
- Survey administration will take place during Statesman Time from February 14 - 17, 2022.
- The survey is not anonymous. If a student demonstrates that they need support through the survey, we will be able to follow up and provide additional support to our students.
- The survey questions are as follows: (How well do people at your school understand you as a person? How connected do you feel to the adults at your school? How much respect do students in your school show you? How much do you matter to others at this school? Overally, how much do you feel like you belong at your school? The goal of Statesman Time is to provide time for students and staff to build relationships with one another and learn about our core values of positive relationships, respect, and teamwork. In your opinion, is Statesman Time achieving its goal? Do you have a trusted adult at Hixson? Please share the name of your trusted adult at Hixson. Do you have any questions, comments, or concerns about Hixson Middle School?)
- All survey questions are optional. The survey can be submitted even if a student doesn't answer all the questions.
- We want all students to take the survey. However, if a parent wants to opt their student(s) out of the survey, they can add their student's name to the opt out list. This list will be shared with you prior to survey administration. Students who are opted out of the survey may read a book or work on homework while they wait for the other students to complete the survey. A student can also opt themselves out of the survey by just letting you know.
- Panorama does not market, sell, or rent any student's personal information, nor do they engage in, inform, influence, or enable advertising to students. Panorama does not use student data for purposes other than serving schools and districts pursuant with their written contract.
Please be sure to read the following information from Dr. Simpson's email regarding changes to COVID timelines. If a student is unable to return to school at day six because they are still sick, you will need to continue giving them access to live instruction via Zoom until the student returns to school. If the student is still sick beyond their 10 day isolation, Amy Hensley (nurse) will confirm for you that Zoom instruction needs to continue. A student is only eligible to return if their symptoms have improved/subsided.
Effective Wednesday, January 26:
A student/staff member who tests positive will need to stay at home for a minimum of 5 days. If they are asymptomatic or their symptoms are resolving (without fever for 24 hours) they may return to school on Day 6 or thereafter. While masks are still required in the WGSD, students and staff should continue to wear a well-fitting mask around others at home and in public for 5 additional days (Days 6 through day 10) after the end of their 5-day isolation period. As testing remains a key mitigation strategy, we encourage testing on Day 5 or shortly thereafter. To order 4 free at-home COVID-19 tests, please click on the following link: www.covidtests.gov.
Close contacts who are required to quarantine will need to stay home for at minimum 5 days. If they develop symptoms, they are to get tested immediately and isolate at home until they receive their test results. If they test positive, they must follow isolation recommendations (bullet above). If they do not develop symptoms, they should return to school on Day 6. While masks are still required in the WGSD, they should continue to wear a well-fitting mask around others at home and in public for 5 additional days (Days 6 through day 10) after the end of their 5-day quarantine period. As testing remains a key mitigation strategy, we encourage testing on Day 5 or shortly thereafter. To order 4 free at-home COVID-19 tests, please click on the following link: www.covidtests.gov.
In most circumstances, students and staff who are asymptomatic close contacts with someone during the school day will be allowed to remain at school under our current guidelines for modified quarantine.
Starting Tuesday, February 1, we will update our COVID Dashboard on a daily basis. Daily updates will include the number of positive cases at each school and the 7-day moving average. Close contacts or families of close contacts will still receive notification from the school as soon as possible. There will not be school-wide notices of cases at any of our schools.
Your school’s nurse will contact you if the changes outlined above will impact your child’s return to in-person school.
In the meantime, please remember to:
Remain at home if symptomatic.
Let us know if you’ve tested positive for COVID-19. You can let your school nurse know or contact huertas.rachel@wgmail.org.
Wear a properly fitted face covering when inside our schools and district buildings. Face coverings remain a critically important strategy for protecting yourself and others from COVID-19.
If eligible, please consider getting vaccinated or boosted as soon as possible. Doing so will:
decrease your chance of testing positive for COVID-19,
minimize the likelihood of severe symptoms if testing positive, and
allow you to remain at school in the event of being identified as a close contact.
To find a vaccination clinic near you, please go to: https://revivestl.com/get-
PMIGA update
The Progress Monitoring, Intervention, Grading, and Assessment Committee of the School Improvement Team is examining current grading practices in the building in the efforts to create a universal grading policy at Hixson. Please take some time to complete the survey found at the link below by February 11th. You may choose to respond to this survey as an individual, CLT, or department.
Protocol for reporting COVID related absences
If you are experiencing COVID-like symptoms and therefore need to get tested, please send an email to Shenita Mayes and Human Resources (hrc@wgmail.org) explaining your situation, and enter the absence in Aesop as soon as possible. This same process applies if you need to care for a child or family member who has COVID or needs to get tested for COVID. I am trying to keep very close tabs on the progression of COVID in the building, and I need your prompt communication in order to do that.
Generally speaking, the sooner you enter an absence into Aesop, the better, regardless of the reason.
Essential information for when you have a substitute
Adding substitute accounts to a teacher's course
From Tim Brown--"If you need a substitute to open Zoom for students who are not present at school, then you will need to add the substitute account as a co-host to your Zoom session." Sarah Magruder will tell you which sub account to add. Tim Brown has created more sub accounts for us. Our sub accounts are listed below, along with the password, which is the same for each account.
hixsonsub1@wgcloud.org
hixsonsub2@wgcloud.org
hixsonsub3@wgcloud.org
hixsonsub4@wgcloud.org
hixsonsub5@wgcloud.org
hixsonsub6@wgcloud.org
hixsonsub7@wgcloud.org
hixsonsub8@wgcloud.org
Who is permitted to access live instruction via Zoom?
Here is the explanation for who is permitted to access live virtual instruction, and how you can respond to parents if they are choosing to keep their student home out of extra precaution, but NOT due to official quarantine or isolation.
