Letter from the MC Principal

Hello MC families,

It was great to see many of you yesterday as we welcomed students back at our various open houses and orientations. I enjoyed spending time with our new families, seeing the 6th graders excitedly work their way around the building, and seeing the 7th and 8th graders reconnect with friends and their favorite teachers. I can certainly speak for the rest of the staff when I say that we’re excited for the start of the school year. We worked hard during pre-planning – sharpening unit and lesson planning skills and reflecting on our commitment to Conscious Discipline. Now we’re ready to get started and to create wonderful learning experiences for your students.

By the time you’ve read this your children will have already begun their first day of school for the ‘26-’27 school year. It’s going to be a great day and we look forward to your children being able to share some great first day stories with you.

Kind regards,

Mark

Upcoming Items

  • Our first Morning Meeting open to parents will be on Monday, August 10th at 8:30am. Our Morning Meetings are during the first day of each week.
  • Fall Sports are beginning: The fall sports we offer are Cheerleading, Cross Country, Flag Football, Ultimate Frisbee, and Volleyball.
    • You must have an updated sports physical to participate in any sports at ANCS. 
    • Interest Meeting and Tryout Information:
      • Cross Country Interest Meeting 8/4 (TODAY!) after school in the gym. First practice will be 8/6 from 3:10-4pm. Practices will be on Mondays and Thursdays.  Maynard Mile on Saturday at 7:30am. 
      • Flag Football tryouts are Monday August 10th and Tuesday the 11th from 3:20-4:30pm at the Middle Campus Backyard (the recess field).
      • Volleyball tryouts are Monday August 10th and Tuesday the 11th from 3:30-5:00pm in the Middle Campus gym. 
      • Cheer and Ultimate Frisbee tryout dates, times and locations will be announced next week during Morning Meeting. 
  • Students will take the MAP test on Wednesday, August 19th (Math) and Friday, August 21st (Reading). MAP is a nationally normed standardized test that we use to help measure students’ academic growth over the course of the school year. MAP testing is not something that students need to do extra preparation for – it is baseline testing that lets us know where the students are. Please encourage your students to get a good night’s sleep and to try their best on the test – that’s all that we ask!

Next are a few operational reminders:

Cell Phone Policy: As you know, we have a phone (and smart watch) – free policy at school. We instituted this phone-free policy to minimize distractions and support student mental health. We collect student cell phones at the beginning of the day and return them at the end of the day. Unfortunately sometimes students try to refrain from turning in their devices. Please let us know if your student has a device by completing our technology commitment form.

Checking students out early: When checking students out early, please do so before 2:40 pm, we do not release students after 2:40 since we dismiss at 3:10 pm (On Wednesdays please check students out before 1:30 pm since we dismiss at 2:00pm). Additionally, another consideration that we have is Quiet Time. During Quiet Time the entire building is quiet from 1:55-2:05 and we do not release students at that time. Quiet Time occurs on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays. If you are planning to pick up your student during this time frame please call us prior to 1:40 on days when we have Quiet Time so that we can bring your student down to the main office in preparation for an early check out.

Carpool/Dismissal: With our carpool line we sometimes have parents that 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 carline. We discourage parents from doing this because it is unsafe. Additionally, for context, 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 carline and to help keep our students safe. Everyone working together as a community makes for a quick, safe, and orderly dismissal. Pull your car down as far as possible and as you move down the block please don’t block our neighbors’ driveways.

Arrival, Dismissal and After School Reminders

  • Our building opens at 8:00 AM so do not drop your student off before then. From 8:00 – 8:25 we have morning recess.
  • We dismiss at 3:10pm on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays, and we dismiss at 2:00pm on Wednesdays (so that starts tomorrow).
  • After Care goes until 6:00pm and After Care will be available after school on the first day of school.
    • The cost for After Care is $20/day.
    • If students have not been picked up by 15 minutes after dismissal we send them in for After Care. We do not leave students outside unsupervised. Please do not encourage students to sit outside to avoid After Care.
    • Office Hours DO NOT start until next week (beginning Monday, August 10th) and the schedule is as follows:
      • Mondays and Thursdays – I&S, L&L, PHE, and Spanish
      • Tuesdays and Thursdays – Arts, Design, Math, and Science

Communication about Absences

  • If your student is going to be absent, whether they are sick or it’s a planned absence, you can report that to us via this link (Attendance Reporting Form 2026-2027). Do not send an email, please use the link.

Chromebooks

  • Students will receive their school Chromebooks on Thursday, August 13th – these computers are for use during the school day. Students check them out during Advisory, and check them back in at the end of the day. Before students receive their Chromebooks we have them take a quiz that covers details like how to take care of your Chromebook and when it’s appropriate to use them in class. We also will be holding Town Hall meetings with each grade level to discuss Chromebook care. Last year we had several situations where students were intentionally damaging their Chromebooks. We will speak to students about how this behavior is inappropriate, and we will discuss the associated consequences which can include suspensions and/or repair bills being sent home to parents.
    • If you need to borrow a Chromebook from the school for students to do homework at home, please fill out the linked technology commitment form if you have not already done so.

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.

Mark Sanders

Published : August 4, 2026
Category : Letters from ANCS