Hamilton Pandemic Safety Protocol Update
By John Burkholder, Principal
In our last Hamilton Headlines I outlined for you some of the pandemic safety protocols that will be in place for the coming school year across our entire school district. This week let's take a look at a few of the protocols that are specific to Hamilton Middle. Keep in mind that we will continue to update, add to, and remove protocols as the landscape of the pandemic changes.
Student Entrance Doors to Start the Day: Sixth grade students will use two entrances in the morning between 8:18am and 8:38am. Students with Advisory teachers Wiedholz, Duffield, Branch, Kruger and Jordahl will enter Door #1, while students in the Advisory classes of Moore, Meiller, Strasser, Dehnel, and Gores-Lund will enter Door #1a (near the library). All students in seventh grade will be entering Door #10, while all eighth grade students will enter the building through Door #13. We will have lots of staff outside on the first days of school to point students in the right direction! All students arriving after 8:38am will need to use the buzzer at Door #1 to enter the building. Note: Students eating breakfast at Hamilton enter Door #1 regardless of grade level.
Masks: Required at all times while inside our building, except when eating or drinking. Students are also expected to wear masks while riding buses to and from school. The current plan is that students will be able to remove their masks while outside. Our mask wearing compliance among all students this past spring was very high!
Lockers: Yes, we are going to use lockers. However, students will be limited on when they can access lockers in order to maintain appropriate spacing of three feet.
Lunch: We will be eating lunch outside on Hamilton Beach on any and every day that the weather cooperates. When eating inside, students will be assigned to spaces such as classrooms, the cafeteria, and hallways so that six feet of distance can be maintained at all times while eating. No, we will not be having 250 students at a time eating in our cafeteria!
Parents, Visitors and Volunteers: Unfortunately, we still can not have visitors inside our building with the exception being unique circumstances necessary to meet the needs of individual students.
Special Events: At this time, indoor special events such as open house, concerts, and dances are not allowed. We are hopeful that these events will be returning to our campus sometime during the coming school year.
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August Principal Update: A Principal's Opinion
By John Burkholder, Principal
As principal I work hard to maintain an unbiased middle of the road stance in my work at Hamilton when it comes to issues on which there are a variety of strong opinions in our community. Like you, I recognize that there is a range of opinions out there with regard to this pandemic and on topics such as vaccines, masks, and the reopening of schools. Along the way this summer I have received emails from some of you asking me for my opinion around the safety of our return to in-person school in September.
I am a parent too and in September my daughter will walk into West High School along with 2,200 or so additional students and a couple hundred staff members. I want her to be safe, just as I want all your children to be safe here at Hamilton.
In my opinion, vaccines available to protect against covid work well when it comes to insulating people from severe illness. I recognize that our sixth grade students have not yet had access to a vaccine, but I believe that access will be coming soon. I do think that a good majority of our seventh and eighth grade students along with our staff members will be vaccinated when school starts. Also in my opinion, masks provide a great deal of protection against covid, including for those who are vaccinated and for those who are not. I am certain that we will be diligent in our efforts at Hamilton to make sure that people inside our school are wearing masks as required when school begins.
Going further, it is my opinion that fear more than anything else drives clicks on headline news, and our media sources know this. As the start of school draws closer there are sure to be headlines designed to produce fear in us as parents. I am not saying that these stories will be without merit, but I do encourage you to dig into the details, find research from reputable institutions, do your homework, and most certainly, go beyond the headlines.
In the end, I suspect that at some point this fall after school begins I will be obligated to send you a letter saying that there was a person in our building who tested positive for covid. I also expect to receive a similar letter or letters from West High School across the school year. Yet, regardless of those letters, I feel that my daughter will be safe at school because I know she will be following mask protocols at all times. While there is certainly pandemic risk related to attending school, I think that there are benefits to being back together in our building that in the long run will offset those risks.
It's one principal's opinion.
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Enrollment Information
While you are thinking about the start of school in September, many of us here at Hamilton are very busy creating student schedules. Help us in this process by making sure your child’s enrollment is completed as soon as possible.
See the link here for the online enrollment page. Once on the page, you will need to click the BLUE 2021-22 Enrollment for all Grades button. Families completing the application for students continuing within the MMSD will complete the enrollment process fully online, including incoming sixth grade families who are coming to Hamilton from feeder elementary schools. You will only need to schedule an appointment in-person with us if we need to verify your child’s birthday and/or a parent-student relationship.
Families with an address change only will be asked to send the verification of their new address (either lease, recent utility bill, or mortgage) to a Hamilton email address listed in the confirmation email you will receive upon submitting the online enrollment application. Families who moved after the last day of the school year 2020-21 cannot use the utility bill as proof of address since it does not have the date of move.
Keep in mind that we will also be hosting an in-person enrollment day on Thursday, August 19, 10am-6pm for families new to MMSD, or for anyone needing additional support in completing the enrollment process. Masks required if attending!
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So Long Mark Dax
It was a good run, but after two years of serving as Hamilton Middle's Assistant Principal, Mark Dax is heading over to Emerson Elementary in MMSD as their new Principal. We thank Mark for his dedicated service to Hamilton and wish him well at Emerson! Be on the lookout in our next edition of Hamilton Headlines for an introduction to our new Hamilton AP!
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Hamilton Period By Period Schedule
Click on the above photo or on this link to see our Hamilton schedule by period. Keep in mind that our entrance doors will open at 8:18am for breakfast, and at 8:23am for general entry. |
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Don't Buy that Bus Pass!
The bus transportation plan for Hamilton in the upcoming school year continues to be a change to yellow buses. As such, at this time you do not need to purchase a bus pass from Madison Metro Transit!
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Upcoming Dates of Interest |
Mark your calendars for these upcoming dates:
August
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19-In-Person Enrollment Day (for anyone needing assistance with Enrollment)
September
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2-First Day of School: 6th and 7th Grade
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3-All Students Report to School
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Hamilton Quick Links:
Report an Absence: 204-4702
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Photo Finish
The school district is working to replace the hallway wall tile at Hamilton. All of it--Along with some collaterally damaged floor tile. We are hopeful that the demolition portion of this work will be done by the time school begins in September, as that's the noisiest part. New wall tile installation will hopefully be done by late September. Floor tile sooner!
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