Hello All!
Welcome back from spring break! I hope your family found the time refreshing. Students have settled back in quickly, and we are already hard at work again at school. Many subjects are kicking off new units, so in addition to my usual list of dates here, I’ve included a short list of “dinner table topics” you might enjoy bringing up with your child to stimulate conversation about happenings at school.Dates of Interest:
- Ongoing: Service Learning –– Each advisory plays a role in the 6th grade spring effort to plant a vegetable garden for our local Center for Food Action. This is a long-standing annual project which has resulted in the CFA being able to provide fresh produce for its clients all summer. If you are available over the summer and would like to take your family back to the CFA to support the garden the 6th graders are installing, please feel free to volunteer! (While the literature says volunteers need to be 16, younger students can help in the garden if a parent is present). At the end of the year, at a full-class meeting, students will share with each other what they learned, the various roles each advisory played, and summarize the mission and actions of the CFA they discovered in the course of this project.
- Begun: Activities and Sports — Students now all have enrolled in clubs or sports for the spring season, and we look forward to home games coming up! Please visit the athletics page of the school website to find out about games and practices.
- April 12: Midterm Comments Released to Students — During Advisory first thing in the morning, students will read their narrative summary feedback from teachers and reflect on these “comments.” As in the fall, advisors meet with each student to confer, celebrate progress, address questions, and discuss goals. The comments will be available on your parent portal the following morning.
- April 14: 6th Grade Parent Forum –– At our spring gathering at 8:30-10:00am in Hulst house, Mrs. Agblonon and Mx Arcane will speak about work they are doing with 6th graders, PA representatives with lead an informal conversation about today’s assembly speaker on social media, Max Stossel, and I will share a preview of some upcoming events and moments that close the 6th grade year. (This gathering will not be recorded, but I will send a May update with mention of those moments and events.)
- April 14: Orchestral Extravaganza — Look for an announcement from the music department with more details — all are invited to this evening performance of our instrumental groups.
- April 23: Spring Carnival — See the recent email from our parent’s association about this all-school community event.
- May 1: Parent Orientation for Rising 7th Grade Parents (and Parents of Students Newly Admitted to the class of 2029) — You won’t want to miss this discussion with your dean for next year, Mr. Aitken, about course selection and the 7th grade program. Look for an e-mail invitation to this evening event! I will be hosting a full-class meeting for students on course selection looking forward to 7th grade shortly after you cover this material with Mr. Aitken, so they will also be in the know.
Dinner-Table Topics:You might want to ask about the following from the past two days…
- Lions of Little Rock — the novel just launched in English class, and the Merci Suarez Reflection due next week
- Health and Wellness Classroom Conversations on Puberty and Self Care
- See-Saw Postings your child has made for art class and the final Symbolic Self Portrait
- Max Stossel’s Presentation on Social Media in assembly today
All the best and happy spring!Tasha Urbanowski
