Letter from the MC Principal
Hello MC families,
This Courier letter is largely about this spring’s grade level midday (6th grade) and overnight (7th and 8th grade) field trips (as well as an additional international opportunity for a smaller group in 2024). However, as we close out this last week before Thanksgiving I want to express gratitude for our hard working and caring teachers, our learning and growing students, and our supportive parents. On Monday students started the week with some learning around Native American History Month during Morning Meeting, and then continued the week with time in Advisory learning about service on Tuesday (we do this every Tuesday by the way), learning how to manage big emotions on Wednesday, and they will end the week reflecting on what they are grateful for on Friday.
Bringing field trips back has been one of the highlights of this school year. In addition to your standard field trips we are also planning to bring back more involved field trips including overnight trips. The 7th grade will be returning to Jekyll Island in March (Wednesday the 1st – Friday the 3rd) where they will explore coastal habitats with the 4-H club. The 8th grade will be going to Savannah from Tuesday, May 16th – Friday May, 19th, 2023. Our tentative itinerary includes Fort Pulaski which was in use during the Civil War, the Ralph Mark Gilbert Civil Rights Museum, the Jepson Center for the Arts, and learning about the preservation of West African culture through Gullah Geechee heritage. Communication went out about the 7th grade trip a few weeks ago, and information went out last night about the 8th grade trip (if you missed it please check your email for payment information and cost). Coming out of the pandemic it has taken some time to do some of the planning to put together the 8th grade trip, especially since Savannah is a new location for us, so thank you for your patience.
Several years ago we moved towards doing a day trip with the 6th grade (we’ve done Sweetwater Park and the Tellus Museum in the past) so that we were not asking parents to pay for yet another overnight trip during their three years at the Middle Campus. We are still looking to go that route for 6th grade – potentially some time in March. Look for more details about this trip in February.
Continuing with this theme of travel, I also wanted to share information about another travel opportunity – this one is geared towards 7th and 8th graders. This past summer 8th grade Language and Literature teacher Heidi Goodwin took a group of travelers on a service learning trip to Peru with the organization Education First, and she is working with that organization to put together another trip for the summer of 2024. Given the nature of the trip it is better suited for older students. However, we hope to run additional trips each year, so future trips will be more appropriate for our current 6th graders.
The Peru service learning trip was a life changing experience for the travelers that attended. From Ms. Goodwin, “When students travel, they expand their knowledge of the world around them, discover more about themselves, and grow more confident – critical skills for creating the global citizens of tomorrow. I would love to have your student join me on this adventure.” There will be an informational meeting about the trip on Tuesday, November 29, at 5:30 p.m. The meeting will take place at the middle school campus, in the Media Center. You can RSVP here to help us know who to expect.
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.
