November 17, 2008

Congratulations to October Team Students of the Month, as voted by teachers for a variety of reasons for excellence: Katherine (Kat) Motsko, Ayman Juburi, Nastassja Cordero, Alex (Jonathan) Freitag, Cristian Torres, William Woodward, Elizabeth Thomas, Kevin Cheng, Latrice Smith, Lidia Mengestu, Bryce Moorehouse, Nemesis Garcia, Andrea Uribe, Evelyn Zelaya, Matthew Kaufax, Jennifer Gomez, Maria Letona, Erica Benitez, Minelik Lemma, Lydia Clites, Chris Holt, John Melgar, Margaret Northrup and Reese Shaw.

Congratulations to the following students: James Stull, Clayton Mottley, Hannah Smith, Michelle Lam, and Nastassja Cordero for participating in Fall Regional Technology Student Association Rally which is the first step toward Regional Competition in March 2009.

Reminder about Reading: 45 minutes! Make it a daily habit with your child! Asking your child to summarize the text (non-fiction writing) is the next level of support you can give. Researchers suggest that non-fiction writing helps students develop their critical thinking skills that can be applied to math, science, and reading comprehension.

Want Another Best Practice? According to the researchers, the NUMBER ONE most effective instructional strategy we can use with students is SIMILARITIES/DIFFERENCES. Next time your child wants to buy something new, have him/her make a compare/contract chart, venn diagram (two circles that overlap in the middle), or just a list of same/different features. This develops their thinking and reasoning skills.

November 10, 2008

Twain Night was a HIT!!! Students, staff, parents, community members, and families had a BLAST on Friday night!!! Thank you to teacher leaders Jane Miller and Carolina Soto for initiating this event and leading the MTMS staff in putting on such a wonderful night! Thank you to the PTA for all the food, spirit ware, and support! Students led the way with musical entertainment from the band/orchestra, poetry readings, face painting, Latin “chariot” runs, putt-putt golf, teaching about how to calculate one’s GPA, math games, science experiments, and more! What a wonderful way to showcase our students, staff, and school!

Second quarter has begun! Straight A’s for everyone!!! It’s a clean slate, but the rigor has picked up as has the depth/complexity of the learning objectives we have for your child. Thank you for your role in helping your child with organization of supplies/materials, time-management, and in making daily reading a priority. 45 minutes every day.

November 4, 2008

The end of the first quarter has arrived. Wow. Hard to believe! We have been so thrilled with the social, emotional, and academic progress of our students this year. Beyond our academic focuses, we have had new initiatives about which we are quite proud. Character education has begun as we focus on teaching students RESPECT. The counselors have taught two lessons this year helping your child define respect and stages of change. The tardy policy has resulted in our desired results: students are on-time to class and instruction begins as soon as they enter the classroom to maximize instructional periods of time. Afterschool programs are fantastic! We have increased the quality and quantity of choices students have each day and students are having a blast!

October 14, 2008

Interims came out! What are your child’s next steps? Extra help from staff during Extended Learning Time? Time with teachers afterschool? Monitoring of the assignment notebook? As we work to build the self-advocacy skills of our students, what can you do to help “lead from behind” when it comes to more academic support for your child?

September 22, 2008

What a great week it has been! Students learned about the “stages of change” through the student services department in science classes. In English classes, the elements of fiction are the focus. Remember the stages of “plot?” Just ask your child! We appreciate your support of our early release professional development day today. Thank you to everyone who helped with picture day!

Strive for 45! That’s right! It’s back. My soapbox! Research out of Harvard University tells us that students who read 40.4 minutes per day score in the 90th percentile on standardized testing. If you child is a reluctant reader, try non-fiction! Middle schoolers love biographies, natural disasters, sports, and magazines. Read, read, read.

Back to School Night: 7th Grade-September 23. 8th Grade-September 25. 6pm-8pm. We will look forward to seeing you at Back to School Night next week. For parents/guardians. Come feel what it’s like to “walk in the footsteps” of your child and experience the classes for 10 minutes each. We’ll begin in the cafeteria to set the stage for your evening. Please remember to drive carefully as we anticipate a large crowd.

Afterschool Programs, with late bus transportation, begin on September 29, 2008. Late busses leave MTMS at 4:30 on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. Note-late bus number are different from the daily bus numbers. Make sure your child knows his/her bus number/bus stop. Questions? Contact our Specialist: Dominic Amato.  Dominic.amato@fcps.edu 703.313.3711.

September 2008

Happy First Day of School! We are so excited to have you here this year! We've hired some new staff, moved some classrooms to different locations, and expanded our electives program to offer more opportunities for students including Latin and more Peer Helping and Computer Solutions classes! We can't wait to support you this year! Have a wonderful start to the 08-09 school year! I'm proud to be here as your principal!