SIMMONS
MIDDLE
PREVIOUS INCOMING PARENTS ASKED...
HOW ARE PARENT/TEACHER CONFERENCES HANDLED?
WHAT IS TEAMING?
Teachers are able and willing to meet with you at any time upon your request. In addition, they may also contact you if there are concerns they would like to address face to face.
Conferences are generally conducted during the day and are scheduled during teacher planning periods (these vary year to year). However, if a daytime conference is not amenable, before school and directly after school conferences are also held.
Parent conferences at Simmons are always conducted with the entire team of teachers present. This allows a more holistic picture of the student's behavior and progress.
In a school as large as Simmons it can be difficult to find a "home". To that end, Simmons incorporates a 'teaming' system. Each grade is broken down into teams that consist of their four academic subjects. This allows for the following to occur:
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Teachers have a smaller number of students to monitor which enhances their effectiveness
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Students connect with a smaller group of students. Teams eat lunch together, share the same academic teachers, and participate in team building days together.
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Logistically it allows our staff to identify and locate students more easily.
MY CHILD IS STRUGGLING. WHO DO I CONTACT?
Your child and their emotional, social, and academic success are our top priority. If you feel that your child is having a difficult time, either academically or emotionally, we encourage you to contact the school. Generally, your 'go to' people should be your child's team teachers. Email is always the most efficient way to open the lines of communication with them. In addition, our school is staffed with excellent counselors at each grade level. They are also an incredible parent resource in these types of scenarios.
8th Grade Counselor: Erika Berryhill, eberryhill@hoover.k12.al.us
7th Grade Counselor: Winnie Davis, widavis@hoover.k12.al.us
6th Grade Counselor: Ashlee Webster, awebster@hoover.k12.al.us
HOW DOES SMS HANDLE ABSENCES?
School attendence is crucial for the success of each student. Therefore we ask that parents make every effort to schedule appointments outside the school day and take vacations during breaks. However, we are also aware that events happen that are beyond our control and require students to miss instruction time. If your child misses school please send an excuse in NO LATER than 3 days after the absence occurred. We may not accept more than 8 excuses a semester. Excessive absences will result in intervention by the school and attendence officials.
PREARRANGED ABSENCE FORMS:
If you know in advance that your child will miss school, have them stop by their grade level office and complete a 'prearranged absence form.' This should be completed and submitted to the registrar a week prior to the date.