Letter from the MC
Hello MC parents,
Last week we hosted student-led conferences and lots of important conversations were had. Students shared their analysis of the feedback they received from their teachers with their parents. The process involves lots of self-reflection and preparation. Hopefully, you were able to get a good idea of how your student is doing, as well as a window into their thought process for how to improve.
This past Thursday, an organization by the name of Hands on Atlanta coordinated a volunteer day with Cox Communications in which over 100 volunteers from Cox came to the Middle Campus. They worked on gardening and beautification projects on the farm and in the front of the building, and they took on some additional clean-up projects inside the building. Hands on Atlanta also helped connect us with an organization called Art in the Paint. Art in the Paint resurfaced our basketball court and coordinated the painting of Libby Zimmerman’s student-selected court design onto our outdoor court.
Grandparents and Special Friends Day was a success this past Friday. Our guests were able to get a taste of what your students experience at the Middle Campus. We started in the gym with a Brain Smart Start, the same way that we start classes and Morning Meeting, and then our guests saw a performance from our cheerleaders and a snippet from our school play. Next they rotated between an Advisory session, the book fair in the Media Center, a tour of the school farm, and bingo in the gym. I saw lots of smiling faces on Friday and heard from many guests about both the good time that they had, and sharing how impressed they were with our school. Grandparents and Special Friends Day requires a lot of coordination, but it’s definitely one of my favorite events.
Our Physical and Health Education department has orchestrated a Red Ribbon Spirit Week (redribbon.org) that started in the middle of last week to spread awareness about the dangers of drug and alcohol abuse. 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.
- Wednesday 10/23 – Sock it to drugs – Wear crazy socks
- Thursday 10/24 – Team up against drugs – Wear sport jerseys
- Friday 10/25 – Don’t get mixed up in drugs – Wear mismatched clothes
- Monday 10/28 – Put a cap on drugs – Wear a hat
- Tuesday 10/29 -Wear Lots of Red – Wear red clothing
- Wednesday 10/30 – Life is a Movie – Dress up as your favorite Actor/Actress
- Thursday 10/31 – Superheroes Don’t Use Drugs – Dress up as a superhero
Halloween is coming up this Thursday. 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 make on others. They 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.
Tuesday, November 5th 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 5th is a B day, so students should go to the Google Classrooms of their B 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