Good evening, Hugh Mercer Students and Families,
I hope everyone had a restful and refreshing extended weekend in honor of and celebrating the life and messages of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. We are excited to see you tomorrow and to keep the ball rolling with some wonderful learning opportunities as we settle into the new semester and second half of the school year for our students and staff.
Reminders from last week:
As we continue to come together around 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. We want to 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 have begun our mid-year VALLSS testing for K-3. Please help your child be well rested each day and ready to demonstrate their best as we assess their learning progress in literacy and gather information to help us better support them in their literacy learning.
Remediation and support for students not demonstrating proficiency on their grade level SOL standards and grade level skills will begin January 28th. Remediation and support are given during our intervention blocks during the day and during our after-school support sessions on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Information has been sent home with students that need extra supports. Your child’s teacher can provide more information on your child’s needs and supports.
Safety and Behaviors
We reviewed and reminded students of our behavioral expectations last week.
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
1/20: School Closed for holiday (students do not report)
1/21: Family/Teacher Conferences @ 5-7 PM (please contact your child's teacher to schedule)
1/23-24: Awards Assemblies
1/27: Division-Wide Spelling Bee
1/28: Start of HMES Afterschool Supports
1/28: SEAC (Special Education Advisory Committee) virtual meeting @ 5-6:30 PM
1/30: FCPS Kindergarten Registration @ HMES (
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