Letter from the MC Principal

Hello Middle Campus Families,

The beginning of the 2025-2026 school year is almost here. I hope that everyone is enjoying the final days of summer break. Our instructional support team and various non-instructional staff members are back in the building this week, we are in the midst of holding another successful round of Wolf Prep Camps for our rising 6th graders, and the teachers come back next week. Teachers will return for our annual K-8 staff retreat on Monday before moving into pre-planning for the rest of the week. 

To help you get yourselves prepared for this school year I’ve added some important information below. Be sure to continue reading the Courier for information that I have not covered here.

Your Student’s Advisor this year:

You will receive an email on Friday 7/25 after 12pm letting you know who your student’s advisor is. Students will receive their schedules and have an opportunity to meet their Advisors and some of their teachers on Monday 7/28 during our various Orientations and Meet and Greets (more detail below).

Cell Phone/Smart Watch/Electronic Device Procedures:

As we know, cell phones and smartwatches are a big part of all of our lives. Also as you know, there is an impact on our children, from focus and attention at school and at home, to distractions at school to, most importantly, student mental health. Last year I wrote about our progress regarding modifying our cell phone procedures in Courier letters and emails, as we solicited feedback from students, teachers, and parents. In summary we are proceeding with a process whereby students will turn their cell phones AND smartwatches in during Advisory, the devices will be locked away during the school day, and students will get their devices back at the end of the day. The state of Georgia is mandating that cell phones be removed from classrooms next school year, but we are continuing the process that we already started and we are implementing a new set of procedures during the ‘25-’26 school year. The details of this procedure are the following:

• During morning Advisory, students will turn in their cell phones AND smartwatches to their Advisors.
• The devices will be locked in a storage cabinet for each Advisory that will be housed in the main office and returned to Advisory at the end of the day. 
• During afternoon Advisory, Advisors will retrieve the student device storage cabinets from the main office, and students will get their devices back when they return to Advisory at the end of the day.
• If you need to relay a message to your student during the day you can call the school at 678-904-0051. Additionally, we have a phone in the main office that students can use if they need to reach out to you.

Our rising seventh and eighth grade students went through this process for two weeks during Milestones last year so they are familiar with both how this procedure will work, and what it feels like to not have access to their devices during the day. Staff observed increased student communication during lunch and recess and a reduction in bathroom breaks during class so we are excited about the positive impact that this process will have on our school community.

Orientation (6th grade and New Families) and Meet and Greet (7th and 8th grade) Schedule:

Our Orientation day will take place on Monday, July 28th. Our Orientations and Meet and Greets are grade-level specific, so look for your particular category below:

• 6th grade New to ANCS Student/Family Orientation (this session is ONLY for 6th grade students and families who DID NOT attend school at the ANCS Elementary Campus) will take place from 9:00 – 9:20 am. We will begin at 9:00 am in the Gym.
• 6th grade Orientation (for 6th grade students and families) will take place from 9:30 – 11:00 am with a session that will begin in the gym at 9:30 am. Students will sit on the floor in the front of the gym and there will be chairs for parents to sit in.
• 7th and 8th grade New to ANCS Student/Family Orientation (this session is ONLY for 7th and 8th grade students and families who are brand new to our school community) will take place from 1:00 – 2:30 pm. We will begin at 1:00 pm in the Media Center.
• 7th and 8th grade Returning Student Meet and Greets will take place from 2:30 – 3:30 pm – This is not an orientation, it is an open house. Students will enter the building through the gym entrance, go to their Advisory rooms to meet their Advisors, spend some time with them, and get their schedules at any time between 2:30 and 3:30 pm. Parents are welcome to come to the Meet and Greets, but 7th and 8th grade students are also welcome to come on their own.

Weekly Schedule (Student Arrival and Dismissal)

• Student arrival begins at 8:00 am through the Gym entrance (the entrance closest to the flagpole and up the ramp – towards the corner of Essie and Emerson) and students can arrive any time between 8:00 and 8:30 am. The building will not be open to students who are arriving before 8:00 am. Students who arrive prior to 8:00 am will often wait outside for a few minutes before we open our doors.
  • Breakfast will be available between 8:00 and 8:30 as well. For more information about our Nutrition Program (breakfast and lunch) read the general section of the Courier.
• On Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays students will be dismissed at 3:10pm.
• On Wednesdays students will be dismissed at 2:00pm. We dismiss early on Wednesdays for staff meetings and staff professional learning.
• When students are dismissed at the end of the school day they are dismissed to walk, ride their bike/skateboard, to our car line. We dismiss the entire school by 3:07 on our busiest days, and we have dismissed everyone by as early as 3:03 on some of our days when clubs and sports keep lots of students busy after school. Parents will never have to wait long for their kids so we encourage you to access the car line – this also helps to keep our students safe. Everyone working together as a community makes for a quick, safe, and orderly dismissal. Unfortunately, sometimes parents are parking on off streets to pick up their students or encouraging their students to cross the street amidst traffic in order to beat the car line. We discourage parents from doing this because it is unsafe. We appreciate your cooperation!

Early Check-Out

We cut off early check out in the last 30 minutes of the school day, because students being checked out within this timeframe is disruptive to class and causes congestion in our dismissal process/car line when an early check out is happening close to dismissal.

• The LATEST time for early check-out is 2:45pm on M, T, Th, and F. After that time (Yes, even at 2:46.) students cannot be checked out. We will dismiss students at 3:10pm. On Wednesdays our latest check out time is 1:30pm and we dismiss students at 2:00pm.
• Students cannot be checked out during Quiet Time (1:55-2:05 on M,T,Th, &F); we will bring your student out before or after Quiet Time so that we don’t disturb the rest of the class. If you need your student during this time please call us beforehand so that we can arrange to have your student ready to go.

After Care and Office Hours

• Once After Care begins students will be able to stay at school with adult supervision until 6:00 pm. Look for more details on this in the general section of the Courier.
• During the second week of the school year Office Hours will begin. On these days students can see their teachers to ask questions and seek extra help. Teachers will have Office Hours on designated days after school between dismissal and 4:00 pm. If students are attending Office Hours they need to go directly to their teachers after dismissal, they cannot go home and come back for Office Hours.
• Students who are attending After Care will be able to go to Office Hours to work with their teachers before transitioning to After Care if they would like.

Dress Code:

During the ‘21-’22 school year we began the process of re-evaluating and modernizing our current dress code and we finalized the process during the ‘23-24 school year. You can find the updated dress code here. That is the official version, and we have a more kid-friendly version here.

School Supplies:

As we’ve done in the past, ANCS will be purchasing school supplies and materials for all of our students. Each year we ask families to donate $45.00 to help cover the cost of the supplies and, if you are able, to donate extra to cover the cost for another family who is unable to donate at this time. You can donate using this link. You will also be able to give your donation by check or card when you come to our 6th grade Orientation or 7th/8th Meet and Greets.

Morning Meeting:

At the Middle Campus we have our Morning Meetings once a week on the first day of each week from 8:30 – 9:05 am. Typically the first day is a Monday, but if we have a three day weekend for example, the first day of the week may be a Tuesday and we would have our Morning Meeting that morning.

We will have a Morning Meeting just for students the first week of school (this will be a practice run – learning where to sit, etc.), but we will begin opening up our meetings to parents on Monday, August 4th. Interested parents can join us in the back of the gym on that day. Look for more details in my Courier letter the first week of school. 

Thanks for reading. Each week when the Courier comes out there will be additional important information for you to check out, so please make a habit of reading the Courier each week over the course of the year. If you have any other 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.