by Dennis Harter, MS Principal
At the first assembly of the year, I spoke with Middle School students about how the MS school year was like a mixtape. As the first semester comes to a close and we head off on vacation, “Side A” of our mixtape/year has reached its end. We use the 3-week break to eject our tape, flip it over, and re-energize to start the new semester – Side B – up in January (some of you may have had the high tech Auto-Reverse function on your cassette players).
Side A of the 2019-20 school year has been a terrific one. This semester we have:
- welcomed new families and our grade 6’s to our middle school community;
- hosted parents for our Open House evening;
- sent grade 7 and 8 students to the Environmental Wilderness Campus for our Wild Panthers Outdoor Education program;
- talked with parents and students about learning progress at Conferences
- sent grade 6 students on a class trip – the first in several years;
- participated in sports games, tournaments, and events;
- been entertained by students improvisation skills at our Theater Sports event;
- listened to amazing talent showcased in band, choir, and orchestra concerts;
- engaged in service activities like ServICE, Breaking Boundaries, and the Symphonic Band trip to Non Ya Plong;
- hosted parents at PTA meetings, coffees, and Principal’s Forum;
- had MS students mentoring ES students on health and well being;
- showcased student art work at exhibitions;
- learned from visiting artists and dancers;
and through it all, engaged and challenged students with new learning and growth and development in their middle school courses. Often while events receive a lot of attention and showcase development or learning progress, it is the day to day work of our counselors, teachers and students that make our middle school the rich place of learning that it is.
Whether it’s swimming in PE, delving into the artistic process in art, developing musicianship or stage presence, reading, writing, problem solving, analyzing, or engaging in the scientific process, our students have grown as learners through hard work, support at home, and the dedication of their teachers. All of these important activities and events have come together to make for a unique first semester and a wonderful “Side A” of our school year’s mixtape.
We will always continue to work towards improving student learning, but also need to pause and recognize how proud we are of your children and our middle school.
If “Side A” has been any indication, we can’t wait to see what “Side B” – the 2nd semester – has in store!
Happy holidays to everyone in our middle school community. We hope your break is filled with peace, joy, rest, and loved ones.
See you “on the flip side” in 2020!