Letter from MC Principal

Hello MC families,

I hope that you all are having a wonderful week. An issue that has been coming up for us a lot recently has been bike safety. We have students who are riding bikes, scooters, and skateboards without helmets and some of our students are not being careful as they ride down the street. A student rode out in front of a car during dismissal on Friday on top of not wearing a helmet when it happened. PLEASE ensure that your students are wearing helmets as they ride to and from school. Also speak with them about safely riding on the street and watching their surroundings.

Prior to my last Courier letter students learned about Lunar New Year during Advisory. The Lunar New Year is the largest and most celebrated holiday in East Asia. Based on the Lunar Calendar, it always takes place in Late January or Early February. Many people in America refer to it as the Chinese New Year, but it is celebrated by many countries. Student also learned about some of the traditions associated with Lunar New Year including: cleaning and decorating houses with red items, offerings to ancestors (honoring the dead), enjoying a family reunion dinner on Lunar New Year’s Eve, exchanging red envelopes and other gifts, setting off firecrackers and fireworks, and watching lion and dragon dances. This was a great way for students to learn about a cultural celebration celebrated by billions of people around the world.

We continued our celebration of Black History Month with a Brain Smart Start led by The Sisterhood during Morning Meeting on Monday. Students learned about the influence that Black women and teens have had on culture and fashion throughout the world, and our cheer team closed us out with a performance. In addition to the work that we do throughout the year, and the spotlights that we put on Black History in February, each year we also take a full school day in February that we devote to Black History. This concept is the continuation of an idea brought about by Ms. Alina Hinton and former ANCS MC Performing Arts teacher Mr. Aaron Goodson. Each year we have an hour long Morning Meeting that includes speeches and performances from students and teachers – this is the Celebration portion of the day. The rest of the day, the Teach-In, consists of sessions led by students, teachers, and outside speakers about Black History and Culture. It’s always one of the best days of the year. The Teach-In will be taking place on Tuesday, February 25th. Please join us for Morning Meeting that day to take part in our celebration.

I hope that you all have a restful and enjoyable break next week as the building will be closed for Mid-Winter Break (Monday 2/17 – Friday 2/21). As always feel free to reach out if you have any questions.

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.