Greetings Middle School Families,
I hope all of you who go out with the kids trick or treating have a nice evening and are able to snag a few pieces of candy for yourself. I’m in the hunt for Almond Joys and York Peppermint Patties myself.
There is no school for students this Friday, November 2. The Middle School faculty have a professional day to work on Mid Semester Comments. In Middle School students get them electronically first and HomeBase advisors go over the comments with them. Families will get the comments the following day, and we expect them to be sent out to families on November 9th.
Parent – Teacher Conferences are at the end of the first week in December. We are currently setting up the PickATime online reservation system so that parents can sign up for conference times with the teachers. I will be sending along more information as soon as it is ready in a separate notice.
Candy Collection: A student from the Lower School came to our Monday Morning Assembly to talk about their candy collection. This year, the students are asked to bring in leftover / surplus Halloween candy to donate to the Soldiers’ Angels Treat for Troops program. The candy will be distributed to VA Hospitals and active duty personnel. So, if you are looking to rid your house of processed sugar treats, send them in this week. Collection bin conveniently located by the main doors in Umpleby Hall.
Parenting Tech Tip: The new Apple IOS 12 has a great feature that is helpful to adults and children called Screen Time. This allows users to know their phone or iPad usage for the current day or the last seven days. Often we want to change our habits, but it is hard to know our own personal data. Screen Time puts the knowledge into your hands so that you can be more aware of how you use your devices and how your Middle School students use theirs. A feature I found useful was the limit function that allows you to set time limits for different apps. I’m glad this is finally on Apple devices, as it allows all of us to better manage ourselves and have conversations with our students.
Calendar Items:
- November 2-professional day, no school for students
- November 12-start of Middle School winter sports
- November 15-Diwali Celebration
- November 21-start of Thanksgiving Break
- December 6-shorter day for students, afternoon Parent Conferences
- December 7-Parent Conferences
All-School Food Drive:
Our All-School Thanksgiving Food Drive, led by the Upper School’s CODES Club (Community Outreach @ D-E School) kicks-off on November 5. The Middle School has historically been very gracious and responsive in terms of giving non-perishables, baby care, and toiletries items for the local Center for Food Action. You will receive more information about this in the near future. In the meantime thank you for your support.
See you around campus soon!
Sincerely,
Jonanthan Davis
MS Principal