Letter from the MC Principal

Hello MC families,

I hope that you all had a wonderful break last week. Thanksgiving is a great time to reflect on what we’re thankful for. I’m appreciative of our hardworking teachers, our tight-knit community, and our learning and growing students. Additionally, in this season of giving I’m grateful for the contributions that our school family made to our food and gift card drives. We collected over 700 individual items of food at the Middle Campus for the APS Food Hub in our food drive and $2700 in gift cards were donated for families in need. Thank you school family for your generosity. Given that these can be difficult times, if anyone is in need of resources please reach out to our counselor Ms. Lee (klee@atlncs.org) and she can coordinate.

There are three weeks left in this semester, let’s encourage our students to finish strong. As students wrap up summative assessments in classes we will also be moving into our winter sports season (basketball and cheer), the Snow Ball dance will be on Friday, December 12th from 6:30-8:30pm, and the Spelling Bee will be after school on Tuesday, December 16th. The last day of the semester will be Friday, December 19th – please remember that dismissal is at noon (12:00pm) on that Friday and all students must be picked up at that time. There is NO After Care at the Middle Campus that day. If your student needs a sack lunch that afternoon, they should let their Advisor know by Wednesday so that the Nutrition Staff can plan accordingly.

Last year we had some trouble with students taking care of their school-issued Chromebooks, but things have been much better this year. Students first received their Chromebooks back in August for use during the school day. Each day students check Chromebooks out during Advisory, and check them back in at the end of the day. Before students receive their devices we have them take a quiz that covers details like how to take care of your Chromebook and when it is appropriate to use them in class. We also held Town Hall meetings with each grade level to discuss Chromebook care. Last year we had several situations where students were intentionally damaging their Chromebooks. During the Town Halls we talked to students about how this behavior is inappropriate, and we discussed the associated consequences which can include suspensions and/or repair bills being sent home to parents. As I mentioned, things have been better this year, and we hope that things stay that way.

As always, 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.