Middle School Principal’s Letter
Dear Parents,
Thank you for taking the time to read this week’s version of the News and Views. It was a productive week in middle school with students learning, exploring and having fun.
Last Thursday we had the Welcome Back Social which was well attended, and our students had an evening of good clean fun. It is during this stage of their lives that students develop their social and their problem-solving skills. I would like you to join me in thanking our teachers who chaperoned the social. Mr. Miller, Ms. Medina, Mr. Johnson, Ms. Tatiana, Mr. Medina, Ms. Spencer, Ms. Kumar, and Ms. Urbiztondo.
During the design technology class, the students had an opportunity to apply the design cycle they have been studying. Here is a photo album with shots from testing the bridges that students created during their most recent project. Testing was nerve-racking for many, as cupful after cupful of sand was added to the bucket until the bridge broke. Most students can tell the tale of how their bridge either failed suddenly or slowly buckled under the pressure. Nearly all bridges were successful in meeting the standards’ set.
The final piece of this project, as with most, will be a written evaluation in which students consider and reflect on the process, the product they created (bridge, in this case), it’s a success, and what they learned will transfer into other experience. In conversation with them, I’ve found them a remarkably reflective group. They are well able to shift gears from thinking about the content (bridge, engineering, building process) to the meta-level of thinking about themselves and their process.
We held our annual Peace Day Assembly on Thursday morning. It was wonderful to see the gym overflowing with the color white to celebrate the International Day of Peace. Well done to the advancement department who planned the events, and to all of the students and teachers who participated in the assembly. Here is a link to the words of the “slam poem” performed by our middle school students. It was a very uplifting experience and a great way to start the day and go off into the weekend.
As we think about the future of learning, we realize that with more voice and choice there is more ownership. With that in mind, this year we are giving our students an opportunity to experience and Exploratory Block on Tuesday. This will be the fifth block for teachers and students. The students will have their classes on Tuesday shorten to 60 minutes. Our goal is to give students more voice, helping them find their own talents and passion in distinct ways. There are no lesson plans for teachers, there are no assessments for students. It is about collaboration, communication, exploring, learning and having fun. The first exploratory block will begin on Tuesday, September 24th.
Next week, we will be issuing our first set of standards-based progress reports for the first semester on Thursday, September 26th. We hope that this “snapshot” of learning will provide students and parents with valuable information about the progress being made toward academic learning goals. The reports will also be issued electronically. In the case of all progress reports, teachers will report only on the Approaches to Learning, and in some cases, students will also receive a Narrative Comment from their teacher. However, in addition to the ATLs, all new students will receive a comment from their teachers. We strongly urge parents to take the time to talk with their children about their learning and to focus specifically on the Approaches to Learning. We report on these separately, and in the past, we have found that students who perform well on their Approaches to Learning, tend to also do well in areas of Academic Achievement.
Thank you for your continuous support of the middle school.
In Partnership,
Courtney Bailey
The Middle School Principal
Announcements
Open Call for StoryFest Participants
On December 10-12, CAC will inaugurate StoryFest, a celebration of storytelling and stories in all their myriad forms. Our community will welcome professional storytellers, authors, photographers, musicians, and more to share a variety of performances and workshops with students, parents, faculty, staff, and alumni over three afternoons.
Recognizing that our community is full of diversity and talent, StoryFest invites you to participate in several ways beyond simply attending the event:
Perform or lead a workshop in any mode of storytelling you can imagine (music, spoken-word, drama, visual, etc.), in whatever language you speak.
Read a story or poem at the StorySLAM or PoetrySLAM events.
Participate in the Flash Fiction contest.
Record a reminiscence about CAC in the sound booth. Stories are being collected for CAC’s upcoming 75th anniversary!
We aspire for this event to involve a diversity of voices, reflecting our community’s internationalism. If you are interested in any of the above, please contact Noah Balazs at nbalazs@cacegypt.org.
This Week’s Soaring Eagles Award Winners!
From the MS/HS Library
The Battle of the Books 2019
The Battle of the Books starts on September 25! We thank last year’s MS Library Council for their recommendations and for setting up our voting process. Which books made the cut? Find out on September 25, at an assembly during advisory in the HS theater. The BOB books will be available to check out that day after assembly.
Parent orientation slideshow
Thanks to the many parents who attended our library orientation. Here is the slide deck for the presentation. You will need to sign in to Google with your CAC single sign in. Please see the comments below each slide for more information.
Crochet for a Cause
The Crochet for a Cause WWW trip will be creating beanie hats and octopus toys for a hospital or orphanage to be determined. We are a small group and we would love for the knitters and crocheters in our CAC community to help us knit/crochet items for that donation. Please email Mrs. Fitzgerald, librarian@cacegypt.org, if you would like to help with the project.
Three Cheers
Three Cheers to everyone who dressed in white to commemorate the day.
Three Cheers to the advancement office for organizing the Peace Day assembly
Three Cheers to the parents who sold pizza on Wednesday afternoon.
Three Cheers to our STUCO students Ella Hammerich, Marwan Haggag, Lara Senna, and Isabella Torres, for displaying courage and creativity during the Peace Day assembly.
Three Cheers to Mr. McCuaig mixed choir class and their contribution to the assembly.
Three Cheers to our teachers who participated in the Positive Education training on Wednesday.