Letter from the MC Principal
Hello MC families,
It was great to see many of you in the building last week for student-led conferences. These conferences offer a unique opportunity for you to hear from your students about what is going on at school. They are also held accountable for preparation, and the presentation itself is quite telling. I heard lots of positive feedback about the process last week. On the flip side, we talk about growth at our school for a reason. We’ve got middle school students who are learning and growing, so struggles in class or in conference prep are opportunities for students to identify areas to grow and improve.
Continuing with this theme of people in the building, Grandparents and Special Friends Day was quite enjoyable this past Friday. I always enjoy having the opportunity to show off what we do. There were lots of smiling faces on Friday, and I received lots of compliments about the work that we do at school. It was a pleasure hosting our special guests last week.
During Morning Meeting yesterday our Heritage Speakers class talked about Dia de los Muertos. In the slide that he presented from on Monday explaining what Dia de los Muertos is, 8th grader Jacob Sanchez wrote:
Dia de los Muertos or Day of the Dead is a Latin American holiday that is also celebrated by many in the United States. For many, it is a holiday to remember, appreciate those who have passed, and to celebrate the life they lived. People do this by creating altars filling them with food and drinks that they loved during their life. They also decorate with marigolds and butterflies.
Our Heritage Speakers class is creating an altar that will be displayed in Oakland Cemetery during their Dia de los Muertos festival on Sunday, November 2nd. Please check it out! The altar will be decorated and ready to be seen from 12-5pm on Sunday. Big shout out to Mr. Rios for the work that he is doing with this class – learning about, and celebrating history and culture.
Halloween is coming up this Friday. Students are allowed to wear costumes to school, but our dress code still applies and we have a few other guidelines in order to help maintain a safe and orderly environment. In terms of safety – NO masks, NO face paint, NO fake blood or fake injuries. We need to be able to see students’ faces and we need to know if students are actually hurt – this is part of the safety issue. Continuing along those lines, NO weapons, fake or otherwise. These are also obviously physical safety issues, but we also want to protect the emotional safety of our peers and teachers, and protect the learning environment as school will be in session. When thinking about the costume that they are going to wear, students should be sensitive to the impact that their costume can have on others. Culturally insensitive costumes are not allowed, and students should not be seeking to be intentionally disruptive. Additionally, no oversized costumes that will be a distraction in the classroom or take up a bunch of space. A rule of thumb is that if a costume makes your student think twice about whether it’s a good idea to wear it, they should not wear it. Students should also be prepared to take their costume off if it does not meet these guidelines.
Our Physical and Health Education department has orchestrated a Red Ribbon Spirit Week (redribbon.org) to spread awareness about the dangers of drug and alcohol abuse. It began last week. As Ms. Hinton and Coach D. have stated, participation is not mandatory, but this is a creative way to show awareness and allow us to have some fun as a school family. The spirit days are listed below:
- Thursday 10/23 – Put a cap on drugs – Wear your favorite hat
- Friday 10/24 – Wear clothing that represents a college you hope to attend, or a high school
- Monday 10/27 – Grade Level Color Match (6th grade – Yellow, 7th grade – Green, 8th grade – Blue, Staff – Black)
- Tuesday 10/28 – Wear Red
- Wednesday 10/29 – Dress for Success
- Thursday 10/30 – Superheroes Don’t Use Drugs – Dress up as a superhero
- Friday 10/31 – Don’t get mixed up in drugs – Wear mismatched clothes, crazy socks, crazy hair
Tuesday, November 4th is Election Day. Be sure to go out and vote! This is an Asynchronous Day for our students in which they will stay home while they do school work (the building will be closed to students), and it will be a work day for our teachers. The 4th is an A day, so students should go to the Google Classrooms of their A day classes to look for their work. There will also be an Advisory assignment, and a Power 30 assignment. Teachers will be providing work for students to do that is meaningful, but also work that students can do on their own without teacher or parent assistance.
As always if you have any questions feel free to reach out.
Kind regards,
Mark
Mark Sanders
Mark Sanders began teaching at ANCS in 2011. Before coming to the school, Mr. Sanders worked in New York City. He spent three years teaching 7th and 8th grade mathematics at Middle School 50 in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and two years at Harlem Village Academies teaching Geometry and Algebra 2/Trigonometry. He taught 8th grade Math/Science/Technology at ANCS for five years.
