Week of November 5, 2017

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Sunday, November 5
Daylight Savings Time Ends - Fall back!

Monday, November 6

F DAY

8:00am Morning Meeting in the Lounge

10:00am Where's Annie?, Part 2

2:15pm First Day of Winter 1 Athletics
3:30pm All Schools Meeting: Benefit Fair in the Great Hall

Tuesday, November 7
A DAY

8:00am Morning Meeting in the Lounge

10:05am Snack in the MS Office
10:20am Flex & MS Chorus

Wednesday, November 8
B DAY

8:00am Advisory
10:05am Snack in the MS Office
10:20am MS Chapel & Grade 8 Recognitions, led by Price Advisory; McConnell Advisory as Acolytes

Thursday, November 9
C DAY
8:00am Advisory
10:05am Snack in the MS Office
10:05am Photo Re-takes in the Great Hall
10:20am MS Share about Experience Days in the Chapel

Friday, November 10
D DAY - Monday Schedule
8:00am First Quarter Advisors' Letters due to folder
8:00am-8:10am Advisory
8:15am-9:05am Period 1
9:10am-9:55am Period 2*
10:00am Veterans Day Chapel Service
10:45am Snack in the MS Office
10:55am-11:45am Period 3 (and the day continues as normal)

Athletics Season

Congrats to our student athletes and our coaching staff for a fantastic Fall Season! And congrats (and thanks) to the Faculty Volleyball squad for a great game on Thursday! Recipients of Fall Athletics Awards are below. 

• Varsity Volleyball Most Valuable Teammate - Wyndham Gray
• Varsity Volleyball Most Improved Player - Kamalani Enomoto
• JV Volleyball Most Improved Player - Kate Collie
• Varsity Volleyball Gatorship - Nadine Gibson
• JV Volleyball Gatorship - Mckayla Jones-Bishop
• Boys’ Soccer Most Valuable Teammate - Leo Bessler & Nicholas Ferencko
• Boys’ Soccer Most Improved Player - Connor Enebrad
• Boys’ Soccer Gatorship - Riley Comstock
• Cross Country Most Valuable Teammate - Caroline Hall
• Cross Country Most Improved Athlete - Saul Kontos-Cohen
• Cross Country Gatorship - Jonny Lane

Monday marks the beginning of the Winter 1 season. Students indicated their preferences at MS Orientation; if they want to make a change, students in Grades 7 & 8 may do so before Tuesday, and students in Grade 6 may do so before the end of the week. Advisors: please remind students that they may only go to Study Hall if they have been granted a waiver for the season or the year or if they have permission from Bill.

Progress Reports

Progress Reports for First Quarter include Advisors' Letters and Course Summaries. Next steps for Progress Reports: 

• Friday 11/3, 4:00pm: Teachers post course summaries.
• Tuesday 11/7, 2:15pm: Advisors meet in the Design Lab to peer-edit. Peer editing will include catching any mistakes or typos and ensuring that each letter adheres to formatting guidelines
• Friday 11/10, 8:00am: Advisors' Letters due to folder. When you've added your letters, please let Bill know. Bill & Clare will review and email you when your letters are ready to post on myAW. 
• before Monday 11/13, 12:00pm: Advisors copy Letter and Course Summaries to myAW. Please copy the content of your letter, followed by the full content of Course Summaries for the appropriate Grade Level (see the Example Advisor's Reflection) and mark ready for review. Bill will review on Monday afternoon, and then...
• 3:00pm: First Quarter Progress Reports published.

This year, we're adding two steps to this process: peer-editing and posting Letters and Course Summaries. To mix it up across grade levels, please note peer editing pairs:

• Hartmann & Gettel
• Hunt & Calcote
• Paco/Flores & Price
• Rockne/Drown & McConnell
• Strate & Leenstra
• Taylor & Wagstaff

On Tuesday, Advisors will review their partner's Letters. If you have a conflict on Tuesday, please be sure to let your partner know and review her/his letters before the end of the day on Tuesday. 

Veterans Day Observance and MS Preview Day

On Friday, November 10, we will welcome parents of students throughout the school for our annual Veterans Day Chapel. A few things about our observance: 

• While students will be in daily uniform, please dress more formally in honor of our guests and the service. 
• We will follow a Monday schedule - Advisory is 10 minutes, Period 1 from 8:15-9:05, Period 2 from 9:10-9:55. Please dismiss students from Period 2 classes by 9:55 so that children of veterans can connect with their parents and so that the service can start on time. 
• Chapel is scheduled for 10:00-10:45am, as this Chapel typically goes over the usual 30 minutes allotted. Snack will be available for students in the MS Office after Chapel.
• Expect seating to be quite tight. 

Friday, November 10 is also a LS and MS Preview Day. The MS Preview runs from 9:00am-11:00am and includes a tour of campus and a brief presentation, including a student panel. The Preview will include student tour guides and panelists - we will send out that list ahead of time. In anticipation of Preview Day, please update bulletin boards and MYP Unit information in classrooms and hallways. 

Grandparents' & Special Friends' Day

Lower & Middle Schools Grandparents' & Special Friends' Day is Friday, December 15 (which is also a noon dismissal for students). The plan is to follow a schedule and program similar to the last couple of years. Last year's schedule is below. The program will include a welcome and performance by MS students and ensembles and the MS Expo to feature a variety of projects and experiences from throughout our program. In an upcoming Faculty Meeting, we'll identify the projects that will be highlighted. 

Special Schedule for 12.16.2016 Grandparents' & Special Friends' Day				FRIDAY
PERIOD	Start time	End time	Min	6		7		8
0	7:30 AM	8:00 AM	30	Orchestra
Morning Meeting	8:00 AM	8:10 AM	10	Advisory
1	8:10 AM	9:00 AM	50	MS Expo Set-up & Locker Cleanout
2	9:00 AM	9:30 AM	30	Faculty Share
	9:30 AM	9:45 AM	15	Transition to Grandparents' & Special Friends' Day (Students expecting guests report to the Front Hall)
	9:45 AM	10:30 AM	45	Special Performance in the Great Hall
MS Expo	10:30 AM	11:30 AM	60	MS Expo
	11:30 AM	12:00 PM	30	Cleanup

Assignments, Assessments, and Thanksgiving Break

As we approach our first extended break (Thanksgiving...already!?!), please be mindful about scheduling assessments in the weeks leading up to break. In the next round of team meetings, let's ensure that assessments are appropriately staggered for students. Also, please remember our commitment to not assign work to be completed over vacations.

First Semester Finals Schedule

A draft iteration for First Semester Finals is on the MS Schedule Doc (tab: S1 Finals). The week is built around 1 or 2 finals blocks each day, Arts, Design and PHE classes, special activities, and sports. Please take a look and reach out with any questions or concerns. 

Professional Growth: Goal Articulation, Meetings, and Observations

Please see the list below - Bill & Clare will divide observations as listed below. For observations, please schedule three things:

• Pre-Observation Meeting (10 minutes, the day before the observation). Complete the pre-observation template before this meeting. Thinking about what you'd like feedback on, consider the elements in the Danielson framework, listed in the pre-observation template. 
• Observation (one full class period). 
• Post-Observation Meeting (30 minutes, at least 2 days after the observation). Complete the post-observation template.

How to prepare? Don't. Well...don't do anything differently for an observation than you would for any other class meeting. Think about what you want feedback on - a particular strategy or technique, engaging a particular student or group of students, a new lesson or mechanism. Use the observation docs in your folder to guide

Observations: Bill/Clare

Fall Observation Bayard, Drown, Lovejoy Calcote, Flores, Paco Hunt, McConnell Price, Strate Dicks, Finch, Rockne Hartmann, Taylor, Wagstaff Gettel, Hake, Leenstra

Week of… Sep 25 Oct 2 Oct 9 Oct 16 Oct 23 Oct 30 Nov 6

Upcoming religious & cultural observances

• Wednesday, November 1 marks the beginning of National Adoption Awareness Month and Native American Heritage Month.
• Saturday, November 11 is Veterans Day in the United States.