October 17, 2011

Random Song:

Here is a classic Stray Cats tune that my daughter just loves (go figure!)

"Black and orange stray cat sitting on a fence ain't got enough dough to pay the rent Im flat broke but I don't care I strut right by with my tail in the air"

It seems appropriate to have a song about a black cat during this month.

Busy October:

There are a lot of things going on right at this moment on campus and coming up in the following weeks as we move into the later stages of October. The 7th Grade enjoyed two days in the Hill Country on their retreat on Monday and Tuesday. They did some spelunking, rock climbing and hiking on and around Enchanted Rock - I even got a tweet from the top of the rock! Again, the kids seemed to really enjoy themselves as I heard stories of overcoming challenges and defying death (okay, so they exaggerated a little in their story-telling) when they returned.

The 6th Grade took a terrific field trip on Wednesday to the Holocaust Museum. By all indications, that trip went very well and the students found it to be a rewarding adventure. Also on Wednesday, the 7th and 8th Grade advisories participated in their first Tikkun Olam day of the year. The experiences for the students were varied and the results seemed positive overall. Kids traveled to League City to help collect and organize clothes, some stayed at school and packed boxes for service men and women overseas, and some kids traveled to different schools around the the city to help in a number of capacities depending on the need. Thank you to those parents who drove and helped in various ways to make the day engaging for our students.

We still have a lot of things going before the month ends. We have another short week this week as we are again off on Thursday and Friday. In order to compensate for these short weeks, we have had several Day zeros in which students meet with all of their classes. Although classes are shorter in length, they meet more consistently to help keep the flow of the school year intact during this challenging time. The JOE dinner is next Thursday night and promises to, once again, be a huge event on campus. In preparation for it, school will dismiss at 12:30 p.m. on October 27. Finally, the month ends with parent-teacher conferences on October 31. We will have much more information about the expectations of those meetings in next week's blog.

Have a great week everyone.

Happy Birthday to the following students:

Nicole Zucker - October 19

Jillian Greenberg - October 20

Hannalee Fox, Nicole Miller and Dylan Zisman - October 21

Hailey Caress - October 22

Mazel Tov to Adam Davis who will celebrate his Bar Mitzvah on October 22

Athletics:

MS Girls Soccer, MS girls Basketball, 7th and 8th Grade Boys Basketball teams all begin practice on October 17

Calendar Events:

Oct 17 - 6th Grade electives begin third rotation
Oct 20-21 - School Closed
Oct 27 - 12:30 dismissal for JOE Dinner
Oct 31 - Parent-teacher conferences 12-7 (No MS classses)