Letter from MC Principal
Hello MC families,
Our school year is off to a great start! It was nice seeing students back in the building, smiling, and reconnecting with friends and teachers that they missed over the summer. Sixth graders have been getting used to their schedules, finding their classes, and making themselves at home. Teachers are energized and showing their passion already as they engage with students in the classes that I’ve popped into.
During this first week-and-a-half of school, students have a longer Advisory period to help them reacclimate themselves to the school day, and to build connection within their Advisory group. We use the time we have set aside for Power30 to extend Advisory. For those that do not know, Power30 is a 30-minute math class that students take on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday that focuses on computational fluency, growth mindset, and developing skills that will bolster their class performance. Power30 will begin on Thursday, August 10th.
As you know, we extended our school day by 10 minutes and we are using this time for Sustained Silent Reading (SSR). We are adding this 10 minutes to our Power30 time, giving our students 40 minutes of dedicated reading time each week.
While our first day of school was just yesterday, we are diving right in and we have plenty going on already. Fall sports are getting started over the course of the next few weeks. Cross Country has an interest meeting on Thursday, August 3rd (tomorrow) after school. Ultimate Frisbee will have an interest meeting on Tuesday the 15th and a practice/tryout on Thursday the 17th.
Next Week:
- Flag Football will be having tryouts on Tuesday the 8th and Thursday the 10th from 3:20 – 4:45pm at the Boys and Girls Club.
- Girl’s Volleyball will be having tryouts on Tuesday the 8th and Friday the 11th from 3:15 – 5:15pm.
- Cheer will be having tryouts on Monday the 7th and Thursday the 10th after school until 5:00pm.
For all sports, students must have an up-to-date physical completed and on file in order to even try out. So parents, I’m sure your student-athletes will be asking you to get those set up. Our goal is to have all tryouts completed by Friday, August 18th, and we encourage students to try out for multiple teams to help them decide what they’d like to do. If a student makes more than one team they are encouraged to speak to their coaches to help them make a decision on a team.
Next week Office Hours will begin after school, from dismissal to 4:00 pm. Office Hours are an optional opportunity for students to spend some time getting additional help from their teachers. If they have questions from class, need help completing homework, or want assistance in preparation for an upcoming summative assessment, students have the opportunity to see their teachers for Office Hours.
The assigned Office Hours days for each subject area are as follows:
- Mondays and Thursdays – I&S, L&L, PHE, and Spanish
- Tuesdays and Thursdays – Arts, Design, Math, and Science
Sometimes parents just tell their students to go to Office Hours even if they do not have work to do, but that is not the best use of Office Hours. Students should use this time with their teachers intentionally, and come with questions or something specific with which they need help.
Here are some other important things to know about Office Hours:
- Students can stay for some or all of the Office Hours time (3:10 – 4:00).
- Students can check in with multiple teachers during Office Hours.
- When students leave the building they must sign out at the front desk near the gym.
- At 4:00, all students must either leave campus after signing out, go to After Care if registered, or go to Athletics practice if applicable.
Finally, as we adjust our various COVID mitigation measures we are opening Morning Meeting back up for parents to attend. Our Morning Meetings occur once a week on Mondays (or whatever the first day of the week is if there is a holiday) in the gym. Students will head down to the gym for Morning Meeting at 8:30, and once they are in place we will let parents in to the back of the gym at about 8:35.
Have a great week and 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.
