November 21, 2011

Random Song Quote:

Here is the Gary Neuman Classic, Cars:

“Here in my car
I feel safest of all
I can lock all my doors
It's the only way to live
In cars”

Seems appropriate given this week’s blog entry.

Carpool:

Over the past couple of weeks, there seems to have developed some confusion regarding afternoon carpool. As a result, there also seems to be some frustration among parents about it as well. Carpool is not a particularly difficult process, however it takes time, patience and attention in order to run smoothly and more importantly safely. With vehicles and children all moving, and generally in different directions, it is necessary that the priority of carpool is the safety of your children. There is no compromise in this regard. Below I will explain the procedures of carpool and make some requests in from you in order to facilitate this process.

Process:

• There is only one Middle School carpool line around the back of the school. It is in the lane closest to the buildings.

• The lane splits into two at the end of the sport court – please see the diagram – you can stay in the line closest to the sidewalk or head straight towards the median. Both lanes are used to pick up children.

• In either pick-up lane, please pull as far forward as possible without stopping at the crosswalk next to the rear entrance to the Middle School. This crosswalk is used for children to cross onto the median for the pick-up lane #2.

• Please stay in your car in the carpool lanes and wait for your children to come to you. It slows down carpool if you get out of your car.

• Please DO NOT park in the spaces reserved for teachers and expect your child to cross three lanes of traffic to get to your car. It is dangerous for the students and backing out of these lanes slows down carpool.

• Please travel in the first and second carpool lanes only. The third is reserved for the Upper School students and their carpool. Certainly DO NOT use the third lane to bypass the longer MS carpool lane and then cut in after the sport court.

• Once you pick up your child, please proceed slowly out the middle lane between the median and pick-up lane #1 or wait to move forward out of pick-up lane #2.

Requests:

· Proceed slowly through any of the carpool lanes.

· When your vehicle is moving, please put down your cell phone.

· Please watch the person on carpool duty for directions of when to move.

· Please be patient. The whole process is generally finished by 3:50 p.m., which is just 15 minutes after the students get out of class.

We understand that carpool can seem long particularly at the end of the day, or if you need to pick up other children at other schools. A safe and smooth carpool process is the responsibility of the drivers and the school faculty on duty. Our primary concern is the safety of your children and we will sacrifice speed in order to ensure it. Thank you for your cooperation.

Thanks again for your cooperation in this regard. Have a great Thanksgiving.

Happy Birthday to the following students:

Jacob Stern and Joseph Scwartzberg – Nov 22

Nikki Schwartz and Lauren Rosenberg – Nov 23

Sophia Kuperman – Nov 24

Sam and Gaby Ross – Nov 25

Adam Leigthman – Nov. 26

Anna Epstein – Nov 29

Mazel Tov to Emma Danziger who will celebrate her Bat Mitzvah on Saturday, November 26

There are no Athletic events scheduled for Thanksgiving week in the Middle School.

Calendar Events:

December 9, 12, and 13 – Exam Review Days – Day zeros

December 14-16 – MS Exams – Carpool begins at 11:15 a.m.

December 16 – January 2 – School Closed for Winter Break

January 3 - MS Classes resume at 7:45 a.m. – Day 4

November 14, 2011

Random song quote:

I know this is supposed to be a holiday song, but given how I feel about the subject of this week's blog...

"It's the most wonderful time of the year..."

Countless people sang this holiday classic.

Exam Information

With Thanksgiving just a week away, and the second interim grades now behind us, students, parents and teachers will start to think about exams. This tends to be a time of stress for our students. Many of the exams are comprehensive exams covering material since the start of the semester. Each teacher will provide a study guide to students on December 9. This is to aid them in their preparation and to identify the key topics students should study for the exam. The purpose of these exams is to provide a culminating event for the semester and to help students practice preparing for and taking exams and give final presentations.

From Wednesday, December 14 to Friday, December 16, students will take six exams (two per day). The first exam begins at 8 a.m. each day, and the final exam ends at 11:15 a.m. You can expect to pick up your child by 11:30 a.m. on those days.

Wednesday Exams - English first and then Judaic Studies

Thursday Exams - Science and then History

Friday Exams - Math and then Foreign Language

There may be alternate assessments given in lieu of exams in a few classes this year. Each individual teacher will send out the details of those assessments in December. The time and weighting for each grade-level exam is as follows:

6th Grade - 1 hour exam; 10% of semester grade

7th Grade - 1 hour and 15 minute exam; 15% of semester grade

8th Grade - 1 hour and 30 minute exam; 20% of semester grade

In preparation for the exams, students will work on exam study skills in the 6th Grade and share successful exam preparation methods in 7th and 8th Grades during advisory on December 5 and 6. In addition, three exam review days are scheduled for December 9, 12 and 13. These are day zeros in which students will meet with all classes in order to maximize the time to review for each exam.

If you have any questions about the schedule or process, please feel free to email or call me.

Thanks and have a great week.

Happy Birthday to the following students who will celebrate their birthdays this week:

Melissa Altar - Nov 17

Vinit Reddy - Nov 18

Dylan Solomon - Nov. 20

Kyle Stein and Elise Shoss - Nov. 21

Jake Stern and Joe Schwartzberg - Nov. 22

Lauren Rosenberg and Nikki Schwartz - Nov. 23

Mazel Tov to the following students who either celebrated or are celebrating their Bar/Bat Mitzvahs:

Rebecca Burd - Nov 12 (sorry we missed you last week)

Kyle Stein and Michael Ran - Nov 19

Upcoming Athletics Games:

Monday -

7th Grade Boys Basketball @ John Cooper - 4:30 p.m.

8th Grade Boys Basketball @ John Cooper - 5:30 p.m.

Tuesday -

7/8th Grade Boys Basketball v. Presbyterian - 4 p.m.

7th Grade Boys Basketball v. Trafton - 5 p.m.

8th Grade Boys Basketball v. Trafton - 6 p.m.

Calendar of Events:

Nov. 23 -25 - School Closed for Thanksgiving

Dec 9, 12 and 13 - MS Review Days

Dec 14-16 - MS Semester Exams

Exam Calendar:

Wednesday - English/Judaics

Thursday - Science/History

Friday - Math/Language

November 8, 2011

Song:

Since you all know how we feel about your children, here is a very appropriate Katy Perry lyric (yes, Katy Perry....I really like her)

"cause baby, you're a firework

Come on show 'em what you're worth

Make 'em go, oh, oh, oh

As you shoot across the sky"

I guess my musical interests finally moved closer to the present?

Empowering our students:

In future blogs, the students of SGA will begin taping weekly segments that will be played in Kallah and uploaded to this blog. The content of these videos will vary from week to week, but will always include birthdays, Bar/Bat Mitzvah, and scores of and upcoming athletic games. SGA is committed to becoming more of a voice in the school and this is one of the ways to do so. SGA has also created its own Twitter account. Feel free to follow @EWSMSSGA for weekly fun and informative tweets.

The purpose of SGA has always been to provide a student voice to faculty. However, this year we are trying to give it more. We have asked the SGA president to speak to the student body about key issues, they, as a group, have met with SAGE about its menu, and they have had opportunities to create programs such as student of the week and tweet of the week. With this enhanced role, it is our hope that MS SGA becomes truly a representative body of the students in the Middle School and a means for producing more student-driven programming.

Dr. Bishop and I share a similar philosophy in regards to the importance of a strong student voice. When Dr. Bishop reminds students "to ask for what you want because you just might get it," it is not just a tag line. Some of what they ask for gets implemented and honored. We both believe in student empowerment. We feel that by empowering students, the school is a better place and that student buy-in is much more widespread. As a result the programming is more robust, behavior is better, and academic achievement is increased. It is with this in mind that we continue to work to enhance the programs in the Middle School to include more student involvement.

Thanks again and have a great week.

Happy Birthday to the following students:

Cole Caress and Joseph Minkowitz - Nov 10

Jonathan Blum - Nov 12

Mazel Tov to the following students who are celebrating their Bar/Bat Mitzvahs this week:

Kyle Cimino, Nicole Zucker, and Audrey - November 12

Athletics:

Tuesday

MS Girls Soccer v. Awty - 4 p.m.

Wednesday

MS Girls Soccer team pictures

Thursday

Boys 7/8 Basketball v. Veritas - 4 p.m.

MS Girls Soccer @Fort Bend - 4 p.m.

7 Boys Baseketball @ Fort Bend - 4:30 p.m.

8 Boys Basketball @ Fort Bend - 5:30 p.m.

Friday

7 Boys Basketball @ Family Cristian Tournament - 3 p.m.

7/8 Basketball @Family Christian Tournament

Calendar of Events:

Week of November 7 - Second Interim reports will be emailed home.

November 16 - Begin fourth rotation of 6th Grade electives

November 23-25 - School Closed for Thanksgiving

October 31, 2011

Random Song: Halloween Style

Word of the week:

Last week was our first full week in a while and it seemed that we quickly got back into rhythm. We now have three weeks until the Thanksgiving break and then we return and exams are upon us in a blink. The next few weeks are a great time for teaching as it is one of the longer periods of the first semester without a break. Once we return from Thanksgiving, exams and exam preparation are on us quickly. I will have a blog post in a couple of weeks outlining the exams schedule, review days and what you can expect from that week.

Last week we had our first Friday Kallah in a while. Mr. Dean's music classes ripped it up for the student body. While students performed student art work from Mr. Murasko's class was shown on the big screen. With musical numbers that ranged from an already classic Adele tune to Michael Jackson's Billie Jean, there was something for everyone. 8th Grader Cy Pacht and 6th Grader Ari Schwartzberg had a guitar battle greater that would rival those from the video game, Guitar Hero. The music days in Kallah are a fun time for the students and it serves as a nice way to end the week and transition into Shabbat.

As we were reminded in seeing the student's art work and watching the them perform on Friday, you all send us some pretty talented kids and we appreciate it. As Dr. Bishop says frequently, thank you for sending us your best.

Have a great week.

Happy birthday to the following students:

Katie Rosenkrantz - Nov 3

Amanda Barsky and Annie Ferdman - Nov 5

There are no Bar or Bat Mitzvahs this week. Seventh graders gets a bit of a break this weekend.

Athletics

Team pictures for all MS teams on Tuesday

Calendar Events

Thursday, Nov. 3 - 12:30 p.m. dismissal for teacher in-service

Week of Nov 7 - Second Interim reports will be emailed home

Nov. 16 - Beginning of final rotation of 6th Grade Fine Arts

Nov 23-25 - School Closed - Thanksgiving Break