REPORT CARDS: Next week you will receive email notification alerting you to the exact time grades and comments will be available for your viewing.  I have found that the most beneficial conversations regarding report cards center around four questions in regard to each subject: What actions did the student take during the term that worked well? What actions did not produce positive results, and what adjustments, therefore, are necessary? What steps does your daughter need to implement, and does she need any assistance from teachers and parents? Do you detect any patterns in the teachers’ comments regarding your daughter’s progress? Having your child verbalize her thoughts in this way puts an emphasis on academic growth and places each student in a position to honestly determine skill sets that can be strengthened. These discussions are particularly important for sixth grade families as the girls receive their first set of letter grades.

 

SPRING CONFERENCES: You are now able to sign up online for Middle School spring conferences which will be held on March 23 for grades 5-7 and April 3 for grade 8. Sign-up closes on Sunday, March 19 for all conferences. As you know, conferences are a great opportunity to engage in conversations regarding your daughter’s day-to-day life at Hockaday; we look forward to meeting with you in the spring. Fifth through seventh grade students, parents, and teachers will discuss goals set in the fall conferences and summer study plans while eighth grade families and advisors will plan for the upcoming ninth grade year.

SCHOOL SUPPLIES FOR NEXT YEAR:Based upon parent feedback and consideration of the School’s strategic plan regarding sustainability, Hockaday will provide school supplies next year for our Middle School students. This will be a continuation of procedures in our Lower School. Our teachers have turned in comprehensive lists that will be ordered in bulk this spring. It will not be necessary for you to shop for school supplies this summer, and the costs will be more affordable. Costs per grade level will be $100 or below (varying at each grade) for the supply package, and that will be included in your tuition and fees. The Middle School Office will no longer send out supply lists. At Middle School Registration on August 21, 2017, your daughter will pick up these supplies along with her schedule, laptop for those in sixth grade next fall, and other items. Like last year, textbooks and calculators may be purchased through MBS Direct prior to the start of school. You’ll receive information about that process later in the spring. I am excited about this shift for Middle School families as it offers financial, time, and energy savings for you!   

EIGHTH GRADE:  You will soon receive an email inviting you to a very important gathering on Tuesday, March 28 at 6:15 p.m. Upper School administrators will speak with eighth grade students and parents regarding the academic program in Upper School.  Each student’s Course Request form for ninth grade will be discussed during eighth grade conferences on Monday, April 3.

SIXTH GRADERS’ LANGUAGE SELECTION FOR SEVENTH GRADE:  Sixth grade parents should have received an email packet yesterday explaining the process for world language selection for your daughters. The choices broaden in seventh grade to include Spanish, French, and Latin. Students met yesterday with the teachers of each language. Please return language selection forms to the Middle School Office and/or contact Lisa Camp, World Language Department Chair, if you have questions.

MIDDLE SCHOOL TALENT SHOW: Middle School girls signed up for Talent Show auditions several weeks ago. This event has not been on our calendar for the last few years because of construction and scheduling conflicts with our Centennial and then the School’s accreditation visit. It is usually held every other year; we should now be back in our regular rotation. The actual auditions will be held from 3:30-5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, February 28 and Wednesday, March 1. Those auditioning signed up for their date preference. These auditions are closed to all except the faculty sponsors for the event, Rachel Brandt and Darin Jeans, and the Talent Show Committee which is made up of eighth graders who volunteered for this leadership opportunity. Those on the committee will not be performing in the Talent Show.  All decisions by that group will be final. The actual show will be on Friday, March 10 from 1:45-3:15 p.m. right before we begin Spring Break and will be open to parents of the performers as well as all Middle School teachers and students. 

EIGHTH GRADE GRADUATION DRESSES: While our eighth graders have another term to complete before the end of their journey through Middle School, it is not too soon to start thinking about Eighth Grade Graduation on Thursday, May 25.  You’ll receive more details about the event later this spring, but I did want to provide you with requirements for the girls’ dress that day. It is traditional that eighth graders wear white dresses or white skirts and blouses and white shoes to Eighth Grade Graduation. The governing principle at this end-of-year celebration is to dress with modest taste, meaning skirt lengths should be no more than four inches above the knee--no mini-skirts, please. If a dress is strapless or has spaghetti straps/halter top, a sweater or jacket must be worn also. The white is to be a true white, not ivory or off-white, and should not have colored trim. The required white shoes may be sandals but must have a strap around the back of the heel. The heels and soles may not be black or another color, but may be wooden, cork, or metallic.  In addition, adornments on the shoes may not be colored but may be metallic. For comfort and safety reasons, girls must wear flats or heels no higher than two inches. Remember…the girls are walking up and down multiple steps at this graduation ceremony!

UNIFORMS: Every year as we move into the third term, skirt lengths at school become problematic for our rapidly growing girls. I have mentioned that they should check hems (and alter them as needed) during Spring Break in order to avoid receiving a uniform violation. 

HABITAT FOR HUMANITY: Every year, the Upper School students work together with a family in West Dallas to help build a quality, affordable home through the Habitat for Humanity program. Upper School St. Mark’s and Hockaday students are working together to build this home. The Middle School participates in the program by collecting household goods that will further support the project. Each grade level collects supplies that are delivered as these families begin their lives in new homes. The drive begins on February 27 and runs until March 3. We ask for donations of cleaning supplies (5th grade), kitchen paper goods and cooking items (sixth grade), kitchen/bath towels and bed sheets (seventh grade), and bath and garden supplies (eighth grade).

I look forward to seeing fifth grade parents on Thursday, March 2 from 8:15-9:15 a.m. in 5/6 Commons.  We’ll talk about your fifth graders’ spring in Middle School!  

 

My best,

 

Linda Kramer
Head of Middle School