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Hamilton Headlines

News and notes from
Hamilton Middle
April 8, 2021
Vol. 2, Issue 36
Cohort Assignments
The school district will be releasing student cohort assignments tomorrow, April 9. Please know that these cohorts were assigned at the district level as there was a desire to keep families who have children attending different secondary schools on the same schedule. Here at Hamilton we needed to make some adjustments to cohort assignments prior to their release as we had a few class sections that came in a bit too large to ensure adequate physical spacing between students. At this time we are not able to accommodate individual requests to change cohorts based on existing friendships, neighborhood pod configurations, work schedules, etc. The cohort system overall is very fragile. Simply accommodating a request for a single student means making adjustments to eight different classes, possibly moving other students, and could also impact sibling and other student assignments at schools other than Hamilton. Thank you for staying with your cohort assignments through these last remaining days of the current school year.
Bus Routes Available
For those of you who will soon be sending your children to school by bus, please note that Madison Metro Transit has released bus route information. You can access the route information by clicking the below button.
Forward Assessment Coming Soon & Opt Out Information
Starting soon, students at Hamilton Middle will be participating in the FORWARD assessment.  The FORWARD is a State test used to assess students in English/Language Arts and Math in grades 6, 7, and 8, and additionally in Social Studies and Science in eighth grade only. For sixth and seventh graders, the test takes about 2.5 hours to complete, with sections spread out over three weeks. At eighth grade the test takes about 5 hours to complete, with sections also spread out over three weeks.

The FORWARD test must be given in-person here at Hamilton, and will be taking place April 21-May 14. Students staying all virtual but wanting to test will have to come to Hamilton at designated times to test in a location with other virtual only students (masks and six foot distancing will be enforced and group sizes will not exceed 20 students).

Although this is a State-mandated test, families do have the option to decline testing this year for what the State calls "safety reasons".

If you wish to decline FORWARD testing for your child, please fill out the short form at the below link. Families have the option to decline testing for safety reasons regardless of whether your child remains virtual or returns to in-person school. 
Reminder: New Schedule to Begin April 20
ALL students will begin a new period-by-period schedule beginning April 20, necessitated by the shift to an earlier start time. The instructional day will begin at 7:35am with Advisory. After Advisory, Period 1 instruction will begin at 8:23am. See the below link for the full schedule.
Upcoming Dates of Interest
Mark your calendars for these upcoming dates:
April
  • 20--Grade 6 F2F Begins
  • 27--Grades 7-8 F2F Begins

May
  • 28--No School--Prof. Dev. Day
  • 31--Memorial Day Holiday

June
  • 10--Last Day of School
Hamilton Quick Links:
Report an Absence: 204-4702
PTO
Hamilton Middle Website