Greetings Middle School Families,
I hope your week is going well.
On Friday, March 15, Middle School families will be able to access mid-semester comments. Teachers have finished writing individual comments on each student and are in the process of proofing them. MS students will have seen the comments today and discussed them with their HomeBase advisors in an extended period. I encourage you to pull out the comments from first semester so that you can look for areas of growth and also pinpoint specific challenges that your student needs to focus on the remainder of the year. I will send a reminder tomorrow to everyone about how to LogIn to MyDE and view comments.
This week is the final week for the Project Cicero book drive. Project Cicero is a non-profit organization designed to create and supplement classroom libraries in under-resourced schools in Northern New Jersey. The need for books, even in our area is immense, and we are asking Middle School students to bring in books they have which they no longer want. Books should be appropriate for students Kindergarten all the way to 12th grade. As an adult, it will also help you declutter your student’s room! The collection ends soon, so if you still have books and wish to bring them during afternoon pick-up or drop-off between now and tomorrow, please do so. Collection boxes are in Umpleby Hall.
Parenting Tech Tip: Over spring break the tendency is to relax our expectations and family rules. While easing up on bedtimes makes sense, I would caution you to totally loosen your family rules regarding the amount of tech time. Hold the line and expect that your middle schooler even might take a break from their phones, iPads, etc over spring break. Scheduling a tech free day or two over the break will actually help improve family time and the enjoyment of the experience, whatever it might be.
Looking Ahead: The Parents’ Association (PA) would like all MS parents/guardians to know about some April parent education events available to you, thanks to their being a part of the nonprofit organization Parents In Action (PIA) – NYC. From April 2-4, PIA will be here at D-E for grade-specific conversations as follows:
- April 2, 7:00 PM (Hulst House, Leggett Hall) For Grade 6
- April 4, 7:00 PM (Hulst House, Leggett Hall) For Grade 8.
- April 11, 7:00 PM (Hulst House, Leggett Hall) for Grade 7.
The PIA-NYC will also have a “GAMING” – related discussion at Trevor Day School on April 9, for parents / guardians of all ages. Visit pa.d-e.org for details; Email Parent Ed. Committee chair Erin Brown with questions at ehnb2000@gmail.com
Additional Calendar Items:
- March 16 – First Full Day of Spring Break
- April 1 – Return to school
- April 2 – 7th Grade ERB testing begins (see below)
See you around campus soon!