Herget Happenings

Hello Herget Families,

We are quickly heading toward Spring Break! As we move that direction, we continue to focus on our commitments, but we also look forward to the preparation for the next school year. Our students have made their elective choices at the 6th and 7th grade level, our 8th graders have chosen the classes that they want for next year. This is an exciting time, but also a time to focus on finishing the year strong! We ask you to remind your students that we have another quarter of school, and to take their academics seriously.

We continue to be committed to creating a culture that demonstrates a clear…

Commitment to Learners

• Relationships are important and matter to create environments where learners feel welcomed, safe and connected.

Commitment to Dialogue

• High quality dialogue enables learners to generate ideas and think more deeply leading to transferable learning

• Dialogue creates space for learners to expand and reinforce ideas that share and deepen their perspectives

• The learning environment and culture of each classrooms encourage learners to make their thinking visible

• Planned dialogue opportunities are created and modeled to intentionally challenge student thinking and understanding

Dates, Events and Information to put on your radar…

• Quarter 3 Report Cards available Friday, March 24, 2023

• No School - Spring Break: Monday, March 28 - Sunday, April 2, 2023

Greetings from Student Services!

BARK Expectations

Please remind your student about the expectations for keeping a safe school environment.

Be Ready

Accept Responsibility

Respect Others, Self, and the Environment

Keep Hands and Feet to Self

Tardy Reminders:

Tardies have reset for 4th Quarter. Check in with your child to ensure that they are transitioning to class on time. It is important that they arrive on time to class to maximize learning as well as ensure a safe school environment. We use Hero to track tardies, so be on the lookout for emails from Hero when teachers log a tardy. A reminder on our Tardy Policy:

Tardy: 1-5 Warning

Tardy: 6 Phone Call Home

Tardy: 7-9 Detention (1 hour each)

Tardy: 10-12 Detention (2 hours each)

Tardy 12+: Parent Meeting, ISS, Administrative Review

Phones:

Students should not be texting or calling parents to pick them up. Student phones should be turned off and put away during the school day. If a student needs to call home, they can head over to Student Services or the Main Office and complete the phone call there. If students are feeling ill, they should report to the nurse who will decide the next steps.

Bus Behavior:

All Herget bus riders should model the expectations of positive behavior on the bus including staying in their seat, using kind and appropriate language, keeping hands and feet to self and not damaging the bus in any way.

Important Numbers:

Main Office 630.301.5006

Attendance 630.301.5230

Nurse 630.301.5243

Student Services 630.301.5235

Choir

Congratulations to the Herget Choirs for a successful concert performance Tuesday, March

14th. If you missed it, here are pictures, audio recordings, and the archival video. Enjoy!

The third quarter seemed to fly by. We continue to develop the curiosity, complexity, and joy of learning. We continue to learn and apply our vocabulary words in a variety of ways. Our students are progressing on grammar rules, and how to use the different parts of speech in our writing. Our students utilized all of these components throughout their latest writing unit.

The sixth grade students had a great opportunity to do research for their historical fiction narratives. Students were able to write about various topics such as, The Titanic, The Boston Tea Party, and The Montgomery Bus Boycott. They even had the option to write about the development of Machu Picchu, which ties in with what they were learning in Social Studies. All of our Language Arts students will continue developing their vocabulary skills and applying newly acquired vocabulary words in their writing.

The seventh graders have been working hard at the Argumentative Writing Unit. This involved taking a stance on various debatable topics, and then gathering information from various sources. They used the information from their research to create an argumentative piece. The students were also able to offer peer-feedback, which helps strengthen the writing as well as built relationships in class.

Eighth grade continues their novel studies. They are also looking forward to their 4th Quarter unit where they will reflect on excerpts and memoirs.

As Spring Break approaches, please take a few minutes to share about what you are reading and ask questions about what is happening in the book. Talking with your student about their reading will encourage them to continue and make it a priority. It also is a great way to check in with what they are reading and make connections. Remember, reading for pleasure is something that we want everyone to do. If you get a chance, sit down and read quietly with your student to show them that reading for fun is something we do even after we leave school. All students should have had the opportunity to check out books to read over spring break.

We look forward to the Book Fair and Family Night coming up in mid-April. As always, we like to remind the students that “Reading is like breathing in. Writing is like breathing out.”

Thanks for all your support, and effort to make this year as successful as possible.

Sincerely,

Herget Language Arts Department

Math classes have been hard at work as we continue making our way through our respective course curriculums. We love seeing the students' efforts pay off and are amazed by the growth and progress of all of our students. We continue to emphasize the importance of attendance and hard work in order to become the best version of ourselves. We can all be great math students - we just have to persevere.

As parents or guardians, you might have your children coming to you seeking guidance on different assignments from math class. When this happens, do you find yourself unable to help your child and do you find yourself thinking, “What do I tell my child when I don’t remember ever seeing this type of mathematics when I was a student?” or “I was never good at math, how can I possibly help my child?” If so, here is a nice layout of six questions and answers, provided by Denis Sheeran from @MathDenisNJ, you can go through with your child when they come to you asking for help on math homework.

Please just remember, to stay positive and encourage your child to continue reaching out for help. Additionally, on nights when your child doesn’t have homework or finishes their homework early, practicing basic facts is always beneficial. Reviewing integer operations and multiplication/division facts are always excellent topics to practice no matter what grade your child is in. Here are a few websites that are quick resources for practicing these skills:

• www.Multiplication.com

• Integer Operation Practice

Thank you for all of your continued support at home!

Students from Mrs. Sikorski and Mrs. Masus’s math classes created posters for Black History month about influential African-American mathematicians. We were amazed to find people from the late 1700s through present day that have broken through the barriers of racism and sexism to explore advanced mathematics.

Where we've been...

In the month of February sixth graders finished up their study of the Structure and Function of Organisms where they learned all about cells and how they come together to form organisms. Next, students will be exploring the weather and climate.

7th graders learned how sound and light waves travel. To begin the unit, students read the difference between a transverse wave and a longitudinal wave. They also understood the difference between frequency and amplitude. Students will model the various waves in class with materials and create drawings.

8th-grade science students will continue their exploration into genetics and inheritance of traits. They will use Punnett squares to determine the probability offspring will inherit certain traits. Students will also explore asexual and sexual reproduction and they will get a chance to watch a planarian regeneration through asexual reproduction.

Where we are...

In March 6th-grade students are just completing their study of Weather and Climate with a project comparing climate zones. They will use the research they have been collecting.

The 7th grade will continue their unit on sound and light waves. Students will discuss how waves travel and the differences between mechanical and electromagnetic waves. Students will research how waves are used in their everyday life with devices such as cell phones, televisions, and microwaves and will create a poster to show all the waves in the electromagnetic spectrum. Students will get to experience the law of reflection when they become engineers and design a security system using only mini flashlights and mirrors.

8th graders are wrapping up our unit on Genetics and getting ready to jump into our unit on natural selection and animal adaptations. During this unit, they will be creating an animal that is strong and resilient enough to survive in their assigned environment. Students will consider how this animal is going to stay warm, what it is going to eat, and how it is going to get food and water. Students will also be battling it out in March Mammal Madness!

Where we're going...

For April 6th graders will be finishing up their study of weather and climate. They will then begin their exploration of the universe and its stars. This will include a study of Earth and the solar system. This unit will continue into May.

7th graders will begin a unit on photosynthesis. Students will start out by learning the parts and functions of a flowering plant along with how plants use the sun's energy to make food. Students will then grow their own bean plants in a scientific experiment. Students will test one variable, and record and observe how their plant grows. Students will then share their results with the whole class.

8th graders will complete an Earth Science unit on Natural Disasters. They will begin their unit by learning about Pangea and plate boundaries. We will be studying various natural disasters and their impacts on the earth. Each student will then build a tower that can withstand an earthquake.

PE classes began Fitness Testing at the end of January through mid-February. Please email your student's teacher if you have questions. PE is continuing dialogue using the Google Docs students have created when they are using the fitness center. A lot of good conversations are happening with that activity!

Health is starting fresh with a new group of students. We also are continuing to explore and discuss the different health topics within each grade level. Stay tuned for updates in our next letter!

PE students are busy with Fitness Testing and collecting the respective data from those tests. These resutls will be used throughout their school career in West Aurora. These results will help faciliate future discussions on how PE class and the activities conducted in this class will help them lead healthy and happy lives. It will also identify different activites that will help improve or maintain these Fitness Test Scores. Please contact your student's PE teacher if you have further questions.

Health students in 6th grade are looking forward to finishing the Body Systems and completing the Body Systems Puzzle very soon! This leads to very interesting discussions as to where the organs are located and how they can overlap in the body and still do their job! 7th graders will focus on Nutrition and Disabilities to end the quarter and 8th grade is finishing up with Non Communiable Diseases and the Reproductive Systems.

Once again, the World Language Department celebrated National World Language Week. This year's theme is "Embrace the Power of Languages." The Herget community is very diverse and every day offers many opportunities to learn more about each other.

Tuesday, February 21 was Mardi Gras. French classes at both levels learned about the Francophone world celebrating this holiday. This day is also known as Pancake day, Shrove Tuesday, Paczki Day. Laissez Les Bon Temps Roulez!

Level A classes are finishing the unit on families. In the fourth quarter, students will be reading, a novel.

Level B classes are finishing Unit 3, weather and clothing by creating a story about someone who has a problem on vacation. This will demonstrate their understanding of clothing vocabulary, colors, and sizes.

7th grade Heritage Spanish

We’re finishing our “power of stories” unit. In the fourth quarter we will start our food unit, where we will be learning about different Latin America foods.

8th grade Heritage Spanish classes

We’re finishing our unit 3 (the environment) by creating a recycled project. In fourth quarter we will start our “family and values”. Students will write about their family and values.

1. Spring is around the corner. Staying focused and paying attention is hard to do when the weather will soon be warming up. One nice weather-distracting culprit is allergies. Runny nose, watery or red eyes, stuffy ears, and scratchy throats are all allergy symptoms that can be treated effectively. Don’t forget to seek guidance from your healthcare provider for your child if he/she has a history of seasonal allergies. Most preventative allergy medications are given at home before school. If your student has a doctor’s note or medical documentation, regarding allergies, please send a copy to Herget's health office to keep on file. Students with red eyes are sometimes sent to the health office for assessment. If there has been active drainage or the student has a fever we usually call the parent and refer to the doctor. Preventative care will be the most productive for your child. Know that student dismissals during the school day for illness need clearance from the school health office.

2. Reminder regarding Dental Exams- All 6th-grade students are required to submit proof of dental exam by May 15, 2023. This dental exam could be the result of an exam completed as far back as November 15, 2021. Please submit the completed dental exam form for your student to the Herget Health office as soon as possible, if you have not already completed this requirement.

3. We have had a few students recovering from injuries. The bones of our growing middle school students need vigilant care. Please remember that any student who requires a specific device such as crutches/ limb braces or any other physical limitation will need to provide a doctor's note.

4. All Herget eighth-grade students should have participated in the vision screening at Herget Middle School. Please call 630-301-5243 to obtain more information regarding resources if you have received notice to complete a visual examination for your student.

Please press here to see the District 129 Medication Policy. Medication Policy

Happy Spring!

E. Silva RN -630-301-5243

• March 27 - March 31Spring Break
• April 3 Classes resume, late start Monday
• 📸 April 5 - 8th Grade Formal re-takes; April 6-All Clubs Picture Day
• 📝 Friday April 7- No School

Email: www.hergethuskies@sd129.org
Website: https://herget.sd129.org/
Location: 1550 Deerpath Road, Aurora, IL, USA
Phone: 630-301-5006
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HergetHuskies/
Twitter: @HergetSchool