Welcome to the 2020-2021 School Year!
On behalf of our entire Hamilton Middle staff, we welcome you to the new school year! Whether you are brand new to us, or returning for your third year, we are excited to see you, speak with you, and to get to know you! Classes begin Tuesday, September 8 at 8:30am. Please note that this first day of school is a B day. See the below link for the official Hamilton Middle Distance Learning Schedule.
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Sixth Grade: First Day of School
Sixth grade students will be following a modified schedule on Tuesday and Thursday of the first week of school, spending more time with a smaller number of teachers. The purpose of this schedule format is to build connections to middle school for our newest group of students. Students should plan to login to their first class Tuesday morning at 8:30 as normal. Teachers will take it from there, making sure students get to where they need to be across these two days of instruction.
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A-Days and B-Days and Wednesdays, Oh My!
One of the things that I will miss as principal when school starts on Tuesday is greeting students at our main front doors. Each morning prior to getting to the doors, I had to be sure to know whether it was an A or a B day as many students would want to know when arriving to school. Fortunately, keeping the A-Day, B-Day schedule straight while we are in a distance learning setting is going to be fairly simple. While in distance learning, every Monday and Thursday will be an A-Day, while all Tuesdays and Fridays are designated as B-Days. Wednesdays are altogether different, with a completely asynchronous schedule that students follow at their own pace. On Wednesdays, students will view asynchronous lessons, work on/complete independent assignments, and/or work on assignments of a longer duration such as readings, researching a topic, experiments, writing rough drafts of an essay, etc. Students must plan to check into/complete their asynchronous learning for each class on Wednesdays as directed by their teachers to be counted present. In addition, by district requirement, Wednesdays are combined A and B days, meaning students will need to check in with both their A and B day classes on Wednesdays for any directions and/or assignments. Because of the double meeting of both A and B day classes on Wednesdays, assignments for these classes will be adjusted so that when combined, they equate more to the load of a single class.
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Friday Reverse Parade
On Friday, September 11, Hamilton will be hosting a Reverse Parade to provide an opportunity for students and families to see many of their teachers live and in person. For this parade, Hamilton staff members will line up along the school side of Waukesha Street, and families can drive past in their vehicles to wave to their teachers. Please read on for important information about the timing and structure for this event as we work to create a positive opportunity for our community and a safe environment for all.
Parade Time:
Sixth Grade: 12:30-1:30
Seventh Grade 1:30-2:30
Eighth Grade: 2:30-3:30
Route: Vehicles should enter Waukesha Street from the south and head north (toward Target), traveling along the school side of the street (blue arrows in below map). Staff will be present along the sidewalk. If walking or biking, please use the sidewalk on the opposite side of Waukesha.
Safety Notes: Please do not stop in the street for extended periods of time as we want to keep traffic moving. Do not exit your cars, or otherwise attempt to make physical contact with anyone.
Alternative Class Schedule to Accommodate Parade: All class periods will be modified on Friday to accommodate the parade. The class period schedule for Friday is:
Period 1: 8:30-8:50
Period 2: 9:00-9:20
Period 3: 9:30-9:50
Period 4: 10:00-10:20
Period 5: 10:30-10:50
Period 6: 11:00-11:20
Period 7: 11:30-11:50
Period 8: 12:00-12:20
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A Picture's Worth 1,000 Words
On the first day of school we like to take lots of pictures of our students and Hamilton staff. This year, those photos will prove to be elusive for some months to come. You can help us out! Please, if so included, take a photo of your child on their first day of school on Tuesday and send the photo to the below email address. Note that photos received may be posted to our Hamilton Facebook page, website, or in an upcoming newsletter. We do not use student names when sharing photos publicly.
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Reminder: Instrument Pick Up Information
Students who are in 6th Grade Orchestra who are renting from the district can pick up their instrument on Wednesday, September 9, 8-10am & 3-4:30pm. Students in 6th grade band will have future pick up day scheduled after instrument types have all been introduced and discussed in class across the first couple weeks of school. Please watch for an email from music teachers with additional information regarding instrument pick up procedures.
Any 7-8th grade band or orchestra students must arrange instrument needs with their music teacher through email communication and pick up on 9/9 at the above times.
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Reminder: Check Out a Hamilton Library Book
If you would like to check out a library book from Hamilton and pick it up on Wed, Sept 9, here is how:
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You will need to put a hold on the book. Here is a video that shows how. Let’s limit it to 2 books right now -- we can add to this number after a month.
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Please place your holds by TUESDAY, Sept 8 at NOON. (That gives Ms. Phelps time to go to school, get the books, check them out to you, and organize them on a cart for you to pick up.)
- When you come on Wednesday, Sept. 9, A STAFF PERSON will get your information, locate the LMC HOLDS cart, find the bundle with YOUR NAME and bring it to you. It would be helpful to open your car trunk for them to safely deliver to you.
- IF YOU HAVE LMC books to return (to any MMSD library), put them in your car trunk, and a Hamilton staff member will take them and put them on the RETURNS cart.
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Photo Finish
What our Hamilton staff will miss most come Tuesday morning:
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