January 23, 2012

Random Song Quote: Lots of people emailed wondering about the song quote that was absent last from last week’s blog! Okay, no one really emailed except someone who works at EWS, but I thought I’d make it sound like it was a really popular feature!

In honor of the release of Bruce Springsteen’s new single, “We Take Care Of Our Own”:

“Where's the promise from sea to shining sea
Wherever this flag is flown

Wherever this flag's flown

Wherever the flag is flown
We take care of our own”

What’s Happening?

There is a lot going on at school now that we have hit the second semester stride. This week we are beginning two programs in advisory, digital awareness for all grades and drug and alcohol awareness in 8^th Grade only. The goal of these two programs is to provide some basic education on these two pertinent topics in our students’ lives. If you have any questions or would like your child to not participate in one or both of these programs, please give me a call or drop me an email.

The digital awareness program is going to cover five advisory periods. During the course of those periods students are going to try to identify their own digital footprint and learn ways to minimize it. For “homework” due Janaury 31, students will Google themselves to see what information is online. We encourage parents to join with their children for this activity. In February, students are going to hear from the Upper School College Counseling staff about the pros and cons of the digital age on college admissions and we will wrap up the program in February with a lesson on the effects of cyber bullying.

The drug and alcohol program in the 8^th Grade will serve as an intro and extension to the same unit in health. We will have three whole group activities including a survey and discussion on self-esteem, and then on February 23, we will have a guest speaker – Dr. Bob Weinberger – who will give a presentation to parents and students at 8:45 a.m. He will then be available for a parents’ only meeting from 9:30-10 a.m. We encourage you to put this date on your calendars as we hope to see you all here for it.

Thanks again for another great week.

Mazel Tov to Marlo Olifant and Allan Frederick who will be celebrating their Bat and Bar Mitzvahs this weekend.

Happy Birthday to Sam Kaminsky (27^th) and Morgan Levy (29^th) who are celebrating birthdays this week.

Athletic Events this week:

Monday –

7 Boys Basketball @Westbury – 4:30 p.m.

7/8 Boys Basketball @St. Michael’s – 4:30 p.m.

8 Boys Basketball @Westbury – 5:30 p.m.

MS Girls Soccer v. John Cooper – 4:30 p.m.

Thursday -

MS Girls Soccer @Grace – 4:30 p.m.

Winter sports Season Concludes. Spring sports begin Monday, January 30.

Calendar Events – There are no significant calendar events to note this week.