Letter from the MC Principal
Hello MC families,
This past Thursday and Friday we had our first Student Profile Talks and they were very successful. Students spent time in Advisory last week reflecting on their strengths, their areas of interest, personal growth goals, and preferred ways to learn. Next each student was assigned to meet with an adult to discuss their Student Profile Reflection at the end of the week. I was one of the adults having these conversations, and it was quite enjoyable hearing students talk about their reflections on their learning. We ended each student’s meeting with the question: “What can teachers do to help you learn to the best of your ability?” (Enrichment and Extension students had a question tied to helping gifted endorsed teachers extend their learning.) These Student Profiles will serve as a great resource that teachers can access to push the learning of every student in the building.
On top of what we offer in the classroom, our various extracurricular offerings enrich our students’ experience at school. In addition to our various fall sports, our club offerings include Art Club, Drama Club, and various affinity groups. Students also have the opportunity to start their own clubs. Futsal (soccer on a court) club, Anime Club, Sports Broadcasting Club, Minds of All Kinds (celebrating neurodiversity), and a Dungeons and Dragons club are all student-initiated clubs that will be starting up soon. Posters about meeting times will be posted around school as club details get finalized.
On Thursday, September 3rd, Meet the School Family Night will take place from 6:30-8:00pm at the Middle Campus. Several years ago we moved away from doing a standard curriculum night, because it was going to be difficult to pull off having parents travel through a student’s schedule to spend time with all of their teachers since students have eight classes. Hence, we decided to move to our Meet the School Family Night structure in which we all meet up in The Backyard, and parents have an opportunity to spend some time meeting their students’ various teachers.
Prior to the event I will send out a link with a collection of videos from each teacher (the videos will be no more than about 4 minutes in length) that parents can look at to learn more about their students’ teachers, what they are learning (and will learn) in class, and for parents to see some of what the classroom space looks like. All told, you should be able to gain familiarity with your child’s classes within about 30 minutes of watching these videos. Then during Meet the School Family Night you can put faces to names, get to know the teachers a little more, and ask clarifying questions. That said, you will be one of many families wanting to spend time with each of the teachers that night. We ask that everyone recognize that this night is not for individual conferences, but rather to learn more about your child’s teachers and other staff members at the Middle Campus.
I hope to see you on Thursday! 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.
