Letter from MC Principal
Hello MC families,
Each year a lot goes on during the month of March. I covered several items in my last Courier letter, and there are several things to touch on with this letter. March is Women’s History Month. One of my favorite things that we have done the last several years, is when our Celebrations Committee hangs up posters around the building celebrating the women at ANCS. Each poster has information about staff members’ backgrounds and interests. We have a rigorous, impactful school and the women at our school are the drivers behind our success.
As the most recent Georgia Charter Schools Association (GCSA) Charter School of the Year, we were asked to host a school visit, highlighting our school as a part of this year’s annual GCSA conference. A group of about 30 administrators, teachers, and other conference attendees came to see what makes our school the charter school of the year with their own eyes. It was an honor to host them, and it’s always a pleasure having the opportunity to show off the wonderful things that we do as a school. Our guests visited classrooms, talked to teachers and students, and I took the opportunity to address the group to share background information about our work. They were all very impressed with what our school is accomplishing.
In the building this week students are conducting their student-led conferences. If you do not have yours scheduled yet, check for an email from your student’s Advisor, and reach out to them. As a reminder these conferences are student-led – meaning that it’s important for parents to allow the students to lead the conference and go through their presentations, and then parents can ask questions at the end. It can be tempting to take over the conference, but allowing the student to lead is an important part of the process. You also will get to see how well your student prepared for their conference, as they will be given ample time to prepare during Advisory.
At the end of February, 6th and 7th grade students took the CogAT test. We will be reviewing those scores internally over the next few months and the scores will be shared with families at the end of the school year. Spring of course, is also allergy season. Nurse Leslye cannot give students allergy medication at school. As a reminder, please do not send any medication (over-the-counter or prescription) to school in your child’s backpack in anticipation of him/her/them taking it at school. We monitor air quality at school and if there are days where it is unsafe to send students outside we will make adjustments to recess.
On Thursday, students will be doing a Milestones simulation during Advisory. The simulation is an opportunity for students to get used to the electronic platform and the tools available to them (highlighters, calculators, etc., depending on the section they are taking) in preparation for taking Milestones this spring. I have added the Milestones schedule (which days we’re taking which tests) to the bottom of this letter.
Friday is opening night for our spring musical, Into the Woods, Jr. Each year Mr. Dewey leads our students in putting on an amazing performance, and I look forward to another great show this year. We hope to see you this weekend! Well wishes for the cast and crew. The showtimes are below and you can get tickets here:
- Friday, March 27 | 7:00 PM (Doors open at 6:30 PM)
- Saturday, March 28 | 2:00 PM (Doors open at 1:30 PM)
- Saturday, March 28 | 7:00 PM (Doors open at 6:30 PM)
- Sunday, March 29 | 2:00 PM (Doors open at 1:30 PM)
The week before Spring Break is Teacher Appreciation Week. We’ve got a great school and our teachers are doing great work everyday. The work they do to create amazing learning experiences, to get to know students, and to keep them safe is the reason why our school is so strong. It’s the reason why we were named Georgia Charter School of the Year in 2025. If you are looking for ways to celebrate our teachers feel free to shoot them a note of thanks via email over the next couple of weeks.
My next Courier letter will be sent out after Spring Break so have a fun, restorative, and safe break. Here are a couple notes for after Spring Break. After the break Ms. Lee, our counselor, and Ms. Santina, who presented the idea, have arranged for a Student Wellness Day on Thursday, April, 16th. On that day we will have shortened classes in the beginning of the day and students will rotate through various wellness sessions with their Advisories. The sessions will be led by outside service agencies. We’re looking forward to this opportunity for our students. The spring can be a stressful time of the year. We hope to help our students manage their current stress levels, and we hope that they walk away with some skills that they can use to help them moving forward as well.
As always if you have any questions feel free to reach out.
Kind regards,
Mark
Spring 2026 Milestones schedule:
- 6th Grade
- Mon. 4/27 (B day) Math sec. 1
- Tues. 4/28 (A day) Math sec. 2
- Wed. 4/29 (B day) ELA sec. 1
- Thurs. 4/30 (A day) ELA sec. 2
- Fri. 5/1 (B day) ELA sec. 3
- 7th Grade
- Mon. 5/4 (A day) Math sec. 1
- Tues. 5/5 (B day) Math sec. 2
- Wed. 5/6 (A day) ELA sec. 1
- Thurs. 5/7 (B day) ELA sec. 2
- Fri. 5/8 (A day) ELA sec. 3
- 8th Grade
- Wed. 4/29 (B day) Algebra I (for students enrolled in online Algebra I)
- Thurs. 4/30 (A day) Social Studies sec. 1 & 2
- Fri. 5/1 (B day) Science sec. 1 & 2
- Mon. 5/4 (A day) Math sec. 1
- Tues. 5/5 (B day) Math sec. 2
- Wed. 5/6 (A day) ELA sec. 1
- Thurs. 5/7 (B day) ELA sec. 2
- Fri. 5/8 (A day) ELA sec. 3
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.
