MS Week Ahead, Dec. 15

It’s the final countdown!  5 days until vacation … but 5 busy days that need a lot of adult supervision and support in the the halls, the classrooms, and all places around the school.  Let’s all be out  helping in a proactive manner – kids are stressed with the end of semester.  Stress leads to unpredictable responses … let’s be there to help.

Congratulations to Stephen Ada on another wonderful Winter Concert.  The students performed beautifully – the event was fun, festive, and certainly brought about good cheer!  Thank you to all who attended.

Here’s what’s up this week:

Monday, Dec. 15
Day 7 DABC
1:30-3  Admin Mtg
3:00-4:00ish Mtg regarding Auditorium (Ada, Thompson, Burger)

Tuesday, Dec. 16
Day 8 HEFG
8-8:45  Learning Support Plan Mtg (Flynn, Bertoia, Burger, Johnston)
3:30ish Girls A Soccer w/AIS @ SSIS

Wednesday, Dec. 17
Day 1 ABCD
10:00  Run Grade/Comment Verification Run and Given to Teachers
10:30 7th Grade Drama performance for ES
3:15-4:30  Work Time to Finalize Grades and Comments

Thursday, Dec. 18
Day 2 EFGH
8:00 Signed Verification Reports due to Molly (will run report cards at this time)
9:30-11 Admin Mtg
12:15-12:55 Pop Up Library in Cafeteria (run by Lara Keller)
12-12:45 HOS / MS Principal Mtg

Friday, Dec. 19
Free Dress Friday for the Students; Reuben Bright’s last day in Drama
Special Schedule (Early Dismissal)
8-8:10 Advisory Check In
8:15-9:15 MS Assembly in Auditorium
9:30-12:15 Rotation through Activities (see link above)
2-4:00  Faculty and Staff reception at Keller’s House

Grading Deadlines
As a reminder:

• December 17 (Wednesday) – 10:00 Verification Reports will be run; 3:15-4:30 work time set aside for peer comment review/corrections; (due at 8:00 AM on Dec. 18 – turn in signed verification reports to Molly)
• December 18 (Thursday) – 8:00 AM verification reports signed and returned to Molly; Date for report card printing
• December 19 (Friday) – Date for report card distribution

Need something meaningful to do Wednesday and Thursday once grades are done?  Think about reflection … the end of the semester is a great time for self-assessment and metacognitive activities.  Maybe even Student Led Conference reflections for classes that end this semester.  Here is a link to some forms we used last year.

Repeat:  Reflection at the End of Semester 1: Dec. 17 and 18?
As we wrap up the semester, this is a great time to have your students reflect on their progress so far this year (and for semester classes, this is your only opportunity).  We will have Student Led Conferences in April.  This is a great opportunity to have your students create a reflection while it’s fresh in the students’ minds.  I’ve added some student led conference reflection options to the MS Divisional Mtg folder.  Since grades are to be completed by Dec. 17 – Dec. 17 and 18 might be great days for this type of activity.

Repeat: 2nd Semester Schedules:
We need need to review 2nd semester schedules with students to make sure there are no errors.  By errors, we mean missing a core subject or being registered for two of the same classes.  This will NOT be a time for students to request different electives; nor can they request specific teachers (some 7th graders will be switching between teachers at the semester in certain core subjects).  Bonnie and I are hoping the review will happen by December 18th.  We will have 2nd semester schedules printed out for 7th and 8th graders because over 50% of them will have a shift in the order of classes as well as new electives.  I’m thinking 6th grade will be able to review theirs digitally via PowerSchool (they will only have 1 switch – new exploratory).  Since grades will be in – perhaps using Wednesday’s tutorial time would be possible.  Please let Bonnie know your team’s preference of date.

Free Dress Friday
StuCo asked for permission to have free dress days and/or theme dress days.  While they were modest in their request (hoping for 2nd semester), I persuaded them that their peers would probably like free dress on Friday.  I have put some dress guidelines in announcements.  For staff, I would still like professional dress, SSIS shirts, or House League shirts.