Welcome to all new families, and welcome back to our returning families as we look forward to another exciting year in the ISB Middle School! We hope that you have had a wonderful holiday and are rested and ready for the upcoming start of school this coming Wednesday.
What should Middle School students expect on Wednesday morning? All MS students should arrive by 7 a.m. and go to the central MS Quad on the second floor (follow the crowds in green shirts) where they will find our “Learning to Learn” class lists posted by grade level. Each student needs to find her/his name on the class lists, note the name of his/her assigned “L2L” teacher and classroom, and proceed to that classroom by 7:20 a.m. We will have teachers, administrators, and our MS Student Ambassadors pointing new students in the right direction, so don’t worry! Students will receive a printout of their schedule of classes, assigned locker, and their student ID card in their first class, and then they will be sent on their way to find all of their classes and to meet their teachers as well as new and old friends.
We have a 4-day schedule rotation in the Middle School, and we will start on a revised Day 2 on Wednesday, then revert to a regular Day 1 on Thursday followed by a regular Day 2 on Friday, then on to the regular routine of Day 3 & 4 next Monday and Tuesday. One change in the schedule this year is that the Flex enrichment period at the end of the day will be on a Monday-Friday schedule rather than a 4-day schedule. This might seem a bit confusing at first, but other schools using this model have indicated that students will adapt quickly. Each student’s schedule printout will show his/her schedule clearly, and it will also be available on PowerSchool. The Flex period will be 5 minutes shorter from 1:25 to 2:05 in order to extend lunch by 5 minutes as well.
Once the schedule is published on Wednesday, as mentioned above it will be available on PowerSchool and we will ensure that all new students learn how to access their schedule and classes on their PowerSchool accounts. If a student has a “hole” in his/her schedule, meaning a blank class, he/she should wait until that period to go to the office to see his/her counselor who will help assign a class…..we do not want students to miss any of their first classes in order to resolve a schedule issue involving a different class period.
If students want to request a change in schedule, they have by next Tuesday, August 19th, to make this request to their counselors. For visual and performing arts classes, grade 8 students receive priority in scheduling, so grade 7 students may or may not get their first arts elective choices…..many will, but if a student does not, he/she can see the counselor and look to see what other classes are available. We have many arts choices available for students, so I am certain that they will find one of interest if they do not get their first choices. All grade 6 students will have a required arts elective wheel, with one Trimester each of Art, Drama, and Dance.
At ISB, we highly value the support and communication of our parent community. By working together, we are certain that our students will continue their growth and development to achieve their academic and personal potential while becoming confident, caring, and creative individuals. Middle School is a challenging time for our adolescent students, and the ISB Middle School team is here to help with the challenge, so please do not hesitate to contact our teachers, counselors, administrators and/or staff at any time and it is our intention to reply within a 24 hour period.
We’ll see you bright and early on Wednesday morning!
All the best on behalf of our Middle School team,
Tom Burgess
MS Principal