Hamilton Headlines

News and notes from
Hamilton Middle
March 4, 2021
Vol. 2, Issue 32
March Principal Update
By John Burkholder
Recently on a cold winter's day there were three robins in a tree outside my office window at Hamilton, and wouldn't you know, just a few days later temperatures were in the 40s. These sharp seasonal turns in the road across any given year remind us that time is passing. As we move into spring we will pass the one year mark that our Hamilton building has been closed to all but a handful of our students. I suspect that someday soon a date will suddenly appear on our calendars as the day Hamilton students and families will have the option to add in-person schooling to their schedules. Like our midwestern seasonal changes, our eventual return to in-person schooling may have an abruptness to it for students, families, and our Hamilton staff members.

Here at Hamilton our staff members continue to work to provide a quality distance learning experience for our students, while at the same time are planning for the eventual addition of an in-person schooling option. This newsletter outlines some important information that is on the road ahead, and before you get going, I want to note the format of the news items that follow.

The next item is about a new Debate Club that is beginning this week, and is followed by two items around changes to our weekly schedule and attendance taking that will begin on Monday.

News items that are separated by the blue line dividers and that have blue headlines pertain specifically to a future and currently unknown date when an in-person option for schooling will be added to our current distance format at Hamilton.

Read on for the details and keep an eye out for those robins!
Student Debate Club Beginning

Does your child like to discuss and debate current issues around what should happen or ought to happen in our world? Do they want to meet other Hamilton students? If so, encourage them to join our Hamilton Debate Club open to 6th, 7th or 8th grade students. We will meet (virtually) for the next two Fridays, March 5 and March 12 from 4:30-5:30pm before joining with another middle school for some light competition on Friday, March 19th. We'll resume again after spring break for a few more weeks. Absolutely no experience necessary, just a willingness to talk in front of others on Zoom and work together with teammates. Note: This same information has also been sent directly to students along with meeting Zoom links. Questions? Contact Kathleen Doherty, Instructional coach, kdoherty@madison.k12.wi.us
New Schedule Begins Monday
This Monday, March 8, all MMSD schools will begin a new schedule. The biggest change for us at Hamilton Middle is that our asynchronous learning day will be on Mondays, while students will attend classes virtually Tuesday through Friday. Please be aware that our Tuesday through Friday schedule may change in the coming weeks if the district expands its current offering of in-person schooling to all students. Please see the new distance learning schedule in the following link. The link also shows that our A Days are designated as Tuesdays and Thursdays, while B Days are Wednesdays and Fridays.
Attendance Procedure Change Also Begins Monday
Monday, March 8 is also the date that all MMSD secondary schools will begin a new way of taking attendance on asynchronous school days (Mondays). The short story is that unless we hear from you the parent that your child is sick, out of town, or otherwise not participating in learning on a Monday, they will be presumed to be present. This change results in a way of taking attendance on asynchronous school days that aligns with all MMSD elementary schools. Students will still be completing assigned work or getting additional support as needed on asynchronous days, but will again will be automatically marked as present unless a parent excuses them.
Following items pertain to school at such time that an in-person option is added for middle schools.
Reset: Change in School Start Time
The school district continues to develop a comprehensive plan to reopen schools, including the development of procedures to increase student and staff member safety with regard to the pandemic. One of the areas of safety that has been of recent focus is bus service. At some point in time in the future when an in-person option is added for schooling at the middle school level, the daily schedule at Hamilton will shift to what it was in 2019-20. See the below schedule information for anticipated new start and end times. Note that this is only a temporary change and that we anticipate being back to our later start time in September.

Daily Schedule When an In-Person Option is Added at the Middle School Level:*

7:15--Doors open for those eating breakfast at Hamilton
7:20--Doors open at Hamilton for students participating in in-person
7:35--Instructional day begins ALL students
2:42--End of instructional day ALL students

*The above schedule should be considered tentative pending final district decisions and as such could vary by a few minutes.
Bus Service for In-Person Option for Remainder of 20-21 School Year
When an in-person school option is added at the middle school level, there will be a change to our planned bus service for students. Instead of switching to yellow school buses, we will be back to using Madison Metro buses. Students who quality will receive district provided bus ride passes. Remaining students will need to purchase ride passes. More information can be found at the below MMSD transportation link.

Reset: School Structure for Adding an In-Person Option
Information in this item should be considered in "draft" format as we are not sure where the shifting nature of this pandemic will be at some future date when MMSD middle schools add an in-person option to schooling. Nevertheless, here is where we are at in planning at the middle school level.

Mondays: These days will remain asynchronous for the remainder of the current school year. The reason for the shift of the asynchronous day to Mondays is to allow a full 72 hours of air circulation and deep cleaning each week in all district buildings.

Cohort Model: Students choosing the in-person option at middle school will most likely be split into two cohorts. One cohort will attend in-person school on Tuesday and Wednesday each week, while students in the other cohort will attend in-person school on Thursday and Friday each week. The split into cohorts is to help us to ensure appropriate social distancing in all classrooms. When a cohort is not assigned to be on campus, these students will be joining classes virtually.

In-Person Class Transitions: At this time the thinking is that students participating in-person will be traveling from class to class across the school day as normal, albeit with additional safety measures in place. This model could change based on community metrics related to the Covid virus.

Concurrent Teaching Model: Students remaining in an all virtual setting and those participating in-person will follow their regular schedules and join each other in the same classes that they are in under the current all distance model. Teachers will work to accommodate both virtual and in-person students at the same time in each class.
Upcoming Dates of Interest
Mark your calendars for these upcoming dates:
March
  • 8--Asynchronous Mondays Begin
  • 14--Daylight Savings Begins--Spring ahead one-hour
  • 19--No School: Staff Prof. Dev.
  • 29-April 2--Spring Break!
Hamilton Quick Links:
Report an Absence: 204-4702
PTO
Photo Finish
In Sarah McRae's sixth grade Art classes students studied value (shading) and applied their new knowledge when drawing cylinders and cones. Photos below and above are examples of work completed by sixth grade students.
Hamilton Middle Website