Good evening, Hugh Mercer Students and Families,
Welcome to 2025! I hope everyone had a restful and refreshing winter break and that everyone was safe and warm during our extra week off of school from the snow. We are excited to get back into the groove of school and open the doors tomorrow to launch what will be an exciting second half of the school year for our students and staff.
Reminders from last week:
As we get ready to start back with our school routines, we would like to remind families of three key components to learning success and for Hugh Mercer to continue its growth towards becoming a school for educational excellence. Our success is based on three areas of focus and importance: regular attendance, high academic expectations, and clear behavior expectations for the school day. You will see each of these areas outlined in this newsletter when we explain some of the steps being taken in the second half of the school year to help us keep moving forward with our goal of achieving educational excellence for all students at Hugh Mercer.
Instruction and Assessment
To help keep the focus on instruction and to assist with setting high academic expectations, we are focusing on setting a standard that our school day starts promptly after morning announcements. We are expecting teachers to prioritize the first 15 minutes (8:30 to 8:45) by starting instruction and keeping all students with them in order to set the standard that we are here to teach and learn and the importance of that begins from the start of each school day.
We are thrilled to announce that our DARE program will begin on Tuesday for students in grades K-2! This engaging program is designed to help students build essential life skills, such as making safe and healthy choices, developing strong friendships, and learning how to handle peer pressure in positive ways.
Through fun lessons and activities, students will gain valuable tools to navigate challenges, communicate effectively, and be great friends and classmates. We are excited to see how these lessons will empower our young learners to grow and thrive!
Attached, you will find a brief family summary of each lesson along with an activity to help you reinforce these important skills at home and a brief welcome and bio of Deputy Rogers who will be teaching your children. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out. We’re looking forward to a fantastic start!
Veteran Deputy Trevor Rogers.png
K-2-Take-Home-Activities.pdf
Remediation and support for students not demonstrating proficiency on their grade level SOL standards and grade level skills will begin before the end of the month. Remediation and support are given during our intervention blocks during the day and during our after-school support sessions on Tuesdays and Thursdays. More information will be sent home with students that may benefit or need extra supports.
Safety and Behaviors
We will be reviewing and reminding students of our behavioral expectations on Monday. We will also have grade-level meetings with students and their teachers starting 1/15 - 1/16 to discuss our expectations for student behaviors in the classroom, hallways, and cafeteria.
One important update to understand is in order to make the start of each school day a focused one that has students thinking about learning is that all students will be directed to the cafeteria for breakfast when they first arrive. If a student wants breakfast, they must report directly to the cafeteria first. In order to reduce the number of students lingering in the hallways or making multiple trips to the cafeteria or other areas before class, we are requiring student to remain with their teachers once they report to the classroom. We want to establish that school starts promptly after morning announcements and that we don’t waste time or opportunities waiting to get settled into the day.
Upcoming Events
1/13: School Board Meeting @ 7:30 PM (Walker-Grant Center)
1/14: DARE K-2
program Kick-Off
1/14: Kids Heart Challenge Kick-Off assemblies (www.heart.org/khcenvelope)
1/15-1/16: Grade-level meetings
1/17: Report cards distributed
1/20: SCHOOL CLOSED for holiday (students do not report)
1/21: Family/Teacher Conferences 5-7 PM (please contact your child’s teacher to schedule)
1/23-1/24:
Awards Assemblies
As always, we are looking forward to another productive and positive week ahead. Please don't hesitate to reach out if you have any questions or concerns. Your partnership is essential, and working together ensures the success of every Hugh Mercer student.
Patriot PRIDE, always,
Mr. Snyder