Mr. Pollard

Put not your trust in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation.

When his breath departs, he returns to the earth; on that very day his plans perish.

Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in Yahweh his God,

who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them,

who keeps faith forever; 

who executes justice for the oppressed, 

who gives food to the hungry.

Yahweh sets the prisoners free; Yahweh opens the eyes of the blind. 

Yahweh lifts up those who are bowed down;

Yahweh loves the righteous.

Yahweh watches over the sojourners;

he upholds the widow and the fatherless,

but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin. 

 Psalm 146:3-9 [2025-2026 theme]

     Welcome to sixth grade!  

We have embraced the middle school model for 5th-8th grade here at PCS in order to better prepare students for high school and beyond.

Mr. Pollard – Homeroom/Bible, Math, Literature

Miss Bjelic – History, Geography

Mrs. Irvine (M-Th) & Mrs. Furrier (F) – English/Spelling

Mrs. Ervin – Art, Science

Miss Heeringa – Health (2nd sem.), PE, Academic Director 

Mrs. Morrison – Library, Technology

Sra. Chaney – Spanish

Mr. Groenendyk – Choir, Handbells

Pollard Classroom Expectations 

1.  Follow Instructions promptly, willingly, fully, the first time

2. Respect yourself, your peers, your teachers, and your surroundings, as logical expressions of your respect for God.

3.  Be on time and use class time wisely.  Time your bathroom and water fountain breaks for breaks and recess, please. 

4.  Raise your hand silently to speak.  I love classroom discussion in an organized manner, and I do not permit students to disrupt my class with excessive talking. 

5. Keep your work space clean and organized.  Multiple grade levels need to use my classroom in rapid succession, so I expect students not to eat, drink (besides water), or leave messes in my class. 

Absences

If your child is ill, please feel free to keep them home to recover and not spread illnesses. If your child is tired (or just tired of school), please send them anyway. Students will have a commensurate number of days as they were absent (2 extra days/1 day sick) to make up the work.  I will do my best to get homework to your child at home (on an as-requested basis), otherwise I'll be gracious about make-up assignments and tests.  Do note, some things we do in school (e.g., science lab, in-class movies, field trips) aren't possible to replicate when your child is well enough to return to classes. 

If you have a planned absence (e.g., vacation, relatives visiting, doctor's appointment), please let us know.  Giving more notice is better in order to help your child not fall behind. 

Assignments and Homework

      Daily assignments will be written and displayed on the white board. We expect and teach each student to be responsible to record these assignments on a daily basis in his/her weekly newsletter (taking the place of planners which we previously used).  As a general rule, assignments will be available on Jupiter Grades as they are assigned in class. 

Parents/guardians – in order to support and encourage your child’s success it is important that you check each night and review the assignments with your child, making sure that all assignments have been written down, homework has been completed, and they are able to sufficiently prepare for tests. Any class work that has not been finished in class is homework that night, unless otherwise specified. More details below, elaborating on the language in your copy of our Parent-Student Handbook.

• All work assigned must be completed neatly and in the correct form (i.e., showing work and units in Math). I may require work of excessively poor quality to be redone in order to receive credit. It is essential to reinforce the value of quality in everything we do, since doing our work heartily is pleasing to God.  

• Name, date, and assignment description should head every page. I expect middle school students to take ownership and responsibility for their work.  Assignments submitted without name, date, and a clear description will not be graded, will be posted on my "No Name Wall of Shame," and (after a significant grace period) ultimately be tossed in the trash. 

• Remember that only [up to] 50% credit is awarded for late assignments (this is PCS’s school policy for middle school). At the end of each week, late assignments from that week will be given zero credit.

Grades:

Grades are based on tests & quizzes (weighted for 50% in my classes), homework (25%), in-class work (25%). The grading scale is as follows:

98-100 = A

95-97 = A-

92-94 = B+

89-91 = B

86-88 = B-  

83-85 = C+

80-82 = C

77-79 = C-

74-76 = D+

70-73 = D

60-69 = D-

0-59 = F

CHECK JUPITER GRADES DAILY.

SCHEDULE

Bible:  

• The House of Israel (Christian Schools International) and associated worksheets, various supplementary materials, Bible (ESV).

• • Scope: Creation through King Solomon’s reign (Genesis - the beginning of 1 Kings)

• Sermon notes will be due each quarter. All entries must be dated (and preferably numbered in order).

• • Sermon notes are handwritten by the students during or immediately after the sermon, and should follow the outline provided. These sermon notes/reflections may be completed in a notebook instead of on individual outline/handouts, but they should be clearly named, labeled/numbered, and dated according to the handout provided.

  • At least 8 sermon notes/reflections are due each quarter. Additional sermon notes will be extra credit!

• Tests and Memory Verses

  • Tests are open-note, and often open-Bible.  This means 6th grade students will begin to practice note-taking in Bible class, especially scaffolded by Mr. Pollard in the first quarter.

  • Memory verses will be hand-written or (optionally) orally presented on request.  These passages will be assigned every 1-2 weeks.  I will not be gracious if you "cram" these verses.  To counteract that, we will routinely review the memory verses we have accomplished in weeks gone by.  I grade memory verses as homework because I hope Bible memory would be an activity to share with your siblings and parents!

Math:

• We'll use the McGraw-Hill math curriculum.  You can find the entire textbook online with the log-in credentials shared in class. 

• ALEKS - Many concepts and skills will be reinforced through homework assignments on the ALEKS program.

• I suggest you correct all incorrect problems on tests, either beside the original problem (or on scratch paper if test is online, or if you run out of room on the paper test sheet) so that you can show you understand mistakes and have mastered the concepts.  Students will earn some points back for corrections!  

  1. NOTE: Test corrections are MANDATORY if you scored less than a 60% on the test, or if you have less than a C- as your overall class grade. 

Literature:

• The reading anthology textbook is As Full As the World, published by Bob Jones University Press.  In class, we will also be reading novels (at least one per quarter), poetry, articles, fables, science fiction short stories, Bible passages, and more.

  • Book Reports:

     The purpose of book reports is to enrich our students' understanding of different types of literary genres and hopefully spark their interest in reading!  There will be one book report due per quarter.  Each one will be different in style and genre.  Students will get to choose the book for the book report.  If in doubt, students should email Mr. Pollard the book's title & author for approval. Students will be reminded of the dates before the book reports are due. 

Book Report #1- Fiction Book - 1st quarter

Book Report #2 - Mystery Book - 2nd quarter

Book Report #3 - Autobiography/Biography (Wax Museum) - 3rd quarter

Book Report#4 - Fantasy Book - 4th quarter

• • Accelerated Reader (AR):

     Students in 6th grade will be required to earn 16+ AR points. There will be a prize for the student who earns the most AR points over the course of the year.  (Ask Mrs. Robin Irvine about the school-wide contest!).  Students may take AR article quizzes for up to 8 of their required 16 points.  Additionally, I'll allow AR points to roll over from quarter to quarter, up to 6 AR points/quarter.  Students shall count their book report book towards AR points.   

(Unrelated to AR -- Lord willing, we will also be able to participate in the Pizza Hut BOOK IT! reading program for free miniature personal pan pizzas). 

History: 

• Building A Nation by Scott Foresman

• Assignments, projects, quizzes and test will be given over each unit.

• Each unit or chapter will culminate with a test.

Geography:

• Maps, Globes, and Graphs by Steck Vaughn

• No workbooks this year (2022-2023); various topics will be discussed on Fridays. 

English/Grammar:

• Lessons and tests come from  BJU English 6,

• This subject is divided into unit studies. There will be an assignment each day. At the end of the unit a comprehensive test will be given. At the end of the year, a comprehensive test over the book will be given.

Spelling:

• Spelling assignments will come from BJU Press Spelling  6.  There will also be vocabulary words which will be added to the spelling list.

• There will be assignments each day and a test on Fridays. Weekly spelling words will be located in the 6th Grade Weekly Newsletter.

• Parents are encouraged to give a practice test during the week. The practice test will be a guide for students to use in deciding on which words to concentrate their time learning.

• Any spelling words missed on Friday’s test must be written 10 times and handed in by the following Monday. 

 Science

• See Mrs. Ervin's website for more information: 8th Grade Class Website 

Growth and Development/Health

• Mrs. J. Voss will be teaching the students once a week in health. 6th graders will have health the 2nd semester. 

• Preparing for Adolescence by Dr. James Dobson

• Class will be taught by both Mrs. J. Voss and Mr. Groen the second semester (more details to follow). Please contact these instructors with questions.