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Dear Decaturish,

Beacon Hill Middle School is an amazing place to learn.

We have seven classes daily, five core classes, and two connections/electives. For electives, you can choose band, orchestra, or chorus. For the connections, you are assigned photography, culinary, engineering, design for change, and more basic ones. In every grade, we have four teams: gold, green, silver, and blue. They’re decided by what language we take. We can choose between Spanish, German, and French. There are about 100 students per team. We also have many great teachers and students. We have plenty of breaks in the school year too. These are great reset weeks. We have a fall break, thanksgiving break, holiday break, winter break, and spring break. We also have some days off for the teachers and students to catch up. Our school gives out a lot of T-shirts to show our pride in the school. We usually get one for field day and another one for spirit night. We also get a T-shirt for an elective if we join one and clubs too.

Our school does not have uniforms; it recognizes that every student is their person, and we should have the freedom to express ourselves freely. Another amazing thing is that the school is a short walking distance from downtown Decatur. Teachers appreciate that there is so much diversity in the school, too, with race, religion, and ethnic differences. Our school has many clubs, including the GSA or Gender Sexuality Alliance, hobbies, education, and volunteering. Apart from those clubs, we also have sports teams, including Cross country, track, Cheer, football, soccer, basketball, softball, volleyball, swimming, and baseball. Other after-school activities are school dances. We usually have two for all grades, one after a holiday break and another for the spring.

In each grade, we go on crazy field trips; in Adventure Quest, we go to Panola Mountain and do tree climbing, hikes, and engage with wildlife. The orchestra goes to Orlando Universal too. In 8th grade, Ad Q goes on a sleep-away camping trip for a night. The 7th graders go to Rock Eagle for one night, and we do a lot of learning and fun. Our school has a field day in the last week of school. The 8th graders go to Six Flags for their field day every year. The other grades stay at the school and play in bouncy houses, and enjoy games, ice cream, and entertainment. Another field trip the 7th grade goes on is the Football hall of Fame, where they get to kick or throw a football, watch a movie about how football isn’t just a sport, and learn about players and teams.

Our school has fun events and activities, but it also has taught us so much knowledge and life skills.

— Lilah Gardes and Emma Riebel, Beacon Hill Middle School students

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