Letter from the MC Principal

Hello MC families,

I hope that you all have had great breaks. I always enjoy the rest, but it’s also great to have the kids back in the building.  

When we have interruptions in our schedule (e.g. NAEP testing, CogAT testing, school days missed from severe weather) we don’t swap our A and B day rotation because the interruptions typically even out. However, we have gotten a bit out of whack, so we changed the first day after the break to an A day and we are continuing with the rotation from there. To prepare the students, I made announcements about this in the last two Morning Meetings and I also made announcements during lunch periods. So yesterday was an A day, and today is an A day as well.

It’s crazy that there are only six weeks left in this school year! The kids have grown tremendously, but we’re not done yet. There will be a mix of fun (Pep Rally, Extended Advisory, Field Day) and academic expectations (summatives, Milestones, Exhibitions) over these next several weeks. Our Spring Pep Rally, in which we recognize student achievement as well as recognize participants in various clubs and activities (not just sports as in many traditional schools) is always a lot of fun. It is a celebration of the hard work that our students put in.

As students progress through middle school they learn from these experiences as they move from being elementary school students to preparing for high school. Learning to manage stress is a part of this process. This year to support this learning, Ms. Lee, our counselor, and Ms. Santina, who pushed the idea, have arranged for a Student Wellness Day on Thursday, April, 16th. 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.

In Advisory this week students will be putting the finishing touches on their portfolios. 8th graders are finalizing this week since they have Portfolio Exhibitions next week. Students have been working on their Portfolios all year, but that work has ramped up in the last two months. The last couple of years we have introduced the Portfolio concept earlier in the year so that students can work on them over a longer period of time. Students have had multiple hours of time during Advisory to work on their Portfolios over the course of this time frame.

• 8th grade portfolios are due on Thursday, April 16th, since they present next week.
• 6th and 7th grade Portfolios are due on Thursday, April 23rd, because their Exhibitions are later.

8th grade Exhibitions will be taking place at the following dates and times:

• Monday, April 20th, 2026 from 1:00 pm to 3:30 pm.
• Tuesday, April 21st, 2026 from 8:15 am to 10:30 am.
• Wednesday, April 22nd, 2026 from 8:15 am to 10:00 am.
• Thursday, April 23rd, 2026 from 1:00 pm to 3:30 pm.
• Friday, April 24th, 2026 from 8:15 am to 10:30 am.

Advisors will be reaching out to parents about scheduling 8th Grade Exhibitions if they have not already, so please keep an eye on your email. We are also making preparations for the 8th grade Celebration in May. Eighth grade families please take a look at your email for various updates that I’ve sent about the 8th grade Celebration. 

Seventh graders are currently thinking through their arts selection (Performing Arts or Visual Arts) for next year and I’ve encouraged students to talk to their parents about their arts selection. 6th and 7th grade Exhibitions will take place the week of Monday, May 11th. Advisors will reach out to schedule these Exhibitions in the next few weeks.

Going back to Exhibitions, Exhibition success is not about presentation skills, it’s about content. Your students have gotten, and will continue to get, lots of time in Advisory to work on their Exhibitions so please encourage them to use their time wisely during school. Similar to student-led conferences, you will be able to see an indication of the work that students are putting in once their Exhibitions have been conducted.

8th graders conduct their Exhibition before a panel that includes their Advisor (someone with lots of context for the student), an additional staff member (someone who knows our school), and a community member who provides an outside voice to the panel. The panelists individually score the Exhibitions using a rubric and then they come together to deliberate and decide on the student’s final score.

Milestones testing is coming up the week of April 27th for our 6th and 8th graders (8th graders begin at the end of the week and continue testing the following week). Seventh graders will test the following week. Please encourage your students to get proper rest, eat well, and get to school on time during Milestones so that they can put their best foot forward. Note: Morning Meeting will be at the end of the day at 2:35pm on Monday, April 27th and on Monday, May 4th (NOT in the morning), since we will start the day with Milestones testing. The testing schedule for each grade level is below:

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

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.