Weekly Update from Principal Snyder, 8/27/2023

Good evening, Hugh Mercer Students and Families,  

  

This is your principal, Mr. Snyder, with your weekly update for the upcoming week. As we get ready to start our fourth week of school, I would like to thank everyone for their hard work but also their excitement about how much we can learn this year and how far we will try to go.  

This week is a shortened week of school with only four instructional days in observance of the Labor Day holiday weekend. There will be no school on Friday, September 1st and no school on Monday, September 4th. All FCPS schools, including Hugh Mercer, will be closed on those days. We will resume learning and instruction on Tuesday, September 5th.  

This week we continue with student growth assessments in grades 3 through 5 and we start our PALs assessments window for kindergarten through 3rd grade. Please make sure to have your child on time to school each day as these diagnostics give us great insights into your child’s academic needs and academic goal setting.  

Parents, a reminder that when making a transportation change or picking up your child for early dismissal from school that both need to occur before 2:30pm daily. We are not able to process transportation changes after that time and we are not able to accommodate parents picking up students at the same time we are preparing for dismissal and verifying student locations for dismissal. Again, there can be no transportation changes or early dismissals after 2:30pm.  

Parents, we wanted to share with you our concerns over bathroom behaviors and hygiene that we have noticed over the first month of school. We have witnessed behaviors that do not meet with our expectations for respecting other people and their privacy during bathroom breaks as well as keeping Hugh Mercer’s bathrooms clean and places that we can be proud of. We especially need parents of students in grades 2 through 5 to assist us with enforcing the message that bathrooms are not for playing in or invading another student’s privacy while using the bathroom. We also need your assistance with the message that proper bathroom hygiene is expected at all times when using the bathroom. We are working to implement hall monitors and student-run safety patrols to help with creating an atmosphere of pride and safety at Hugh Mercer, thank you for choosing to help us with these goals of good bathroom behavior and hygiene.  

Please mark your calendars for Family Connections Night (formerly known as Back to School Night) on Thursday, September 7th from 5pm to 7pm. Not only will you get a chance to visit your child’s classroom to see what they have learned and accomplished thus far, but you will also be able to engage in activities that showcase all the other things happening outside of their classroom and the ways both you and Hugh Mercer can support your child’s learning and success.  

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 we're excited to work together in making this school year successful for every Hugh Mercer student. 

I hope you enjoy your Sunday evening and look forward to a wonderful week ahead. 

Goodnight, 

Mr. Snyder