Letter from the MC Principal
Hello MC families,
I hope that you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving/Friendsgiving break. Morning Meeting this past Monday began with a Winter Wonderland themed Brain Smart Start lead by Ms. Bennett’s Advisory. Each month we concentrate on a different IB Learner Profile Attribute (LPA) at school and for the month of December the LPA is Knowledgeable (the LPA for November was Caring). We introduced this LPA to our students during Morning Meeting as is our typical practice as we transition into a new month. In keeping with the mission element of “challeng[ing] each student to take an active role as an informed citizen in a global society” we began our meeting with a moment of silence for the victims of the Club Q shooting in Colorado on November 19th, and for all of the victims of mass shootings in the United States this year. Mr. Dewey talked to the students about the importance of maintaining a safe space in our school for all students and he reminded the members of the LGBTQ community at our school, and all of our students, that they are loved in this building. He also talked about the importance of acceptance, kindness, and being thoughtful about the language that we use.
Another element of our meeting was a continuation of our celebration of Native American Heritage Month. We discussed the concept of land acknowledgement – acknowledging the origins of the Native American land that we live on, and we learned about the difference between ceded (given up) and unceded (seized) land based on treaties that the United States honored and treaties that the United States broke. Land acknowledgement is a “first step in honoring the land we are on and their people.”
Outside of the classroom this week students participated in a drama workshop with the Alliance Theater on Monday, and Annie Jr. tryouts are taking place on Tuesday and Thursday.
Traffic/Pedestrian Safety
At dismissal we are having some issues with traffic safety before and after school. I have gotten two parent reports about drivers who are driving fast around the corner of Delaware and Essie (an intersection that many students are crossing), driving fast down Essie, sometimes dropping their students off in the middle of the street, and sometimes on their phones while driving. I know that the mornings are a time that we are often in a rush to get to school and work on time, however please drive safely for the sake of all of our students.
Hopefully, you have seen some of the recent communication from our Executive Director Chuck Meadows about ANCS boosting security by hiring armed security guards for each of our campuses. Someone started at the Elementary Campus this week and an individual by the name of Anthony Burke was hired on Tuesday to begin working at the Middle Campus. In the coming days you will see Anthony walking around the perimeter of our building and he will also be helping us with some traffic management among other things. We are looking forward to welcoming Anthony to our school family.
Upcoming Parent Meetings
There are two parent meetings next week that I want to make sure that you all are aware of. The parent meeting about the 8th grade year end trip to Savannah in May (Tuesday, May 16th – Friday May, 19th, 2023) will be an in-person meeting. The meeting will be held at the Middle Campus in the Media Center on Tuesday, December 6th from 6:30-7:30 pm. RSVP at this link (8th grade trip meeting) to help us know how many people to expect.
As we’ve worked through the process of re-evaluating our dress code we got feedback from students and teachers in the spring and our next move was going to be involving parents. We relaxed our enforcement of the dress code last year, but the dress code didn’t go away. The next step in this process will be coming up with an ANCS dress code that helps create a safe and comfortable learning environment for students and teachers alike. We will have a virtual parent meeting about dress code on Thursday, December 8th from 6:30-7:30 pm. RSVP at this link (dress code meeting) to help us know how many people to expect. We will email out a Zoom link next week.
School Dance
Finally, on Friday, December 9th Student Council will be sponsoring a dance (the Snow Ball) from 7:00-9:00 pm at the Middle Campus in the gym. Students are free to “come as they are” in terms of dress, but they were asked by Student Council to dress to impress. As students consider what they plan to wear they should be sure to make sure that their clothing is school-appropriate. NOTE: After the dance students must be dropped off and picked up by an adult on Essie Avenue. We dismiss the students from the dance similar to the way we do at dismissal. Leaving a dance though, students must either be picked up in the car line or they must be walked home by an adult – they may not walk home alone. For students who are being picked up on foot we will release those students directly to an adult who is walking them home.
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.
