Academic update

Sandra Hankins, a sixth grade teacher at Hacker Middle School, meets with Hayley Mitchell and her mother, Tanya, during a parent-teacher conference Thursday afternoon at the school. Parents across Mountain Home met with teachers for a progress report on their children shortly after the third semester of the academic year began. Parent-teacher conferences this year were moved up by nearly a month compared to previous years to provide more time to help parents with students who may be struggling academically, according to district superintendent James Gilbert.