Letter from the MC Principal
Hello MC families,
This week students took the MAP reading and math tests for our first administration of MAP for the year. MAP tests are nationally normed baseline math and reading tests that help us get an idea of how students are doing in math and in reading. Since the tests are nationally normed that means that student performance is measured in comparison to students all over the country – this helps to make the data useful for us to understand where kids are and how they are progressing over the course of the year. These are not tests that students need to study for, they are literally Measures of Academic Progress.
Fall sports tryouts wrapped up this week with Ultimate Frisbee tryouts on Tuesday. Lists have been posted for the students who have made the Cheer, Flag Football, and Volleyball teams. Students compete to earn these spots and it can be certainly disappointing when a student does not make a team. However, these disappointments are also opportunities for students to learn to be resilient. When our students struggle we pick them up and help them work their way through. Resiliency is one of the most important skills that anyone can learn.
Whereas there are some sports where we do not make cuts like Cross Country, in other sports like Cheer, Flag Football, and Volleyball, having large teams makes it difficult to practice and makes it difficult to manage playing time. While we would like to keep everyone, there are other details that we have to take into consideration. If a student does not make a team and they are having a tough time with it, we make sure to take note of this so that we can support them and we encourage you to reach out and let us know as well.
For students who do join our athletics teams one of the big things that students learn is how hard work pays off. In Power 30 we’ve been talking about growth mindset, and the importance of working hard in order to improve. Playing time is earned on teams, and sports are a great opportunity for students to push themselves to become both better players and better teammates – supporting each other irrespective of how much playing time they are getting.
As I mentioned in my Courier letter last week, there are also several clubs that are starting up.
- Drama Club began this past Monday and will continue to meet on Mondays.
- Model UN will begin tomorrow, on Thursday the 17th.
- The Gender and Sexuality Alliance (GSA) will begin meeting on Tuesday the 22nd.
- Pickleball will meet on Wednesdays from 2-3:30pm beginning on Wednesday the 23rd.
Art Club, Farm Club, and Gavel Club will also be starting soon. For those who are unfamiliar with Gavel Club this is a description from the club sponsor Ms. Hanes (Ms. Hanes is currently a charter member and the Immediate Past President of Eagle 7 Early Risers Toastmaster club), “Toastmasters’ Gavel Club historically teaches youth and young adults the power of voice. We practice being good communicators and strengthening our ability to speak extemporaneously and concisely through speech writing, brainstorm writing and table topics.”
As a reminder, IB MYP Family Information Series Session #1 will be the week of August 21st. Our IB family info sessions are designed to help our families better understand what IB looks like at ANCS. These sessions are geared towards 6th grade and new families, but anyone can attend. The topics covered next week include Intro to IB, School/Home Communication, and ManageBac. (Note: ManageBac is a website that we use to report information about units of study, what’s going on in class, and student performance.) There is an evening session (Monday, August 21st from 6:30-8:00pm) OR a morning session (Wednesday, August 23rd from 8:30-10am) that you can attend. Both sessions will be virtual and will contain the same information; we are offering two different times to make this convenient for your schedules. If you are interested in attending, please RSVP here and we will send you the link closer to the date of the session. If you have trouble with the RSVP link you can email our MYP Coordinator Dale Scott at dscott@atlncs.org for details.
Next week we will also have a few sets of school related photos. On Tuesday the 22nd we will take our annual all-school photo and on Thursday the 24th photographers will be in the building taking marketing photos that we can use to update our various marketing materials. Individual picture day will be on September 14th so that’s still a few weeks away.
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.
