It’s hard to believe we already completed our third full week of school this year! These first few weeks have been filled with the joyful work of building community—hearing summer stories, watching old friendships grow stronger, and seeing new friendships begin to blossom. One of my favorite things to notice has been the small moments when students look out for one another: helping a classmate, inviting someone into a conversation, offering encouragement, or simply noticing when someone needs a little support.
This week, we built on those moments by talking about our core values and how they can guide us when we are faced with big emotions or things we don’t particularly want to do. As quizzes, tests, and projects begin to fill our calendars, students are learning that our values can serve as an anchor. When we are frustrated, overwhelmed, or tempted to give up, we can choose to lean into perseverance, kindness, responsibility, courage, or whatever value helps us make a choice we can be proud of.
I am so grateful for the energy and kindness I have seen in our middle school community these first few weeks. There is something special about watching a group of students grow our community, one conversation, one shared laugh, and one small act of kindness at a time.
I hope everyone has a wonderful long weekend and has the opportunity to rest, recharge, and enjoy some time with the people they love. I can’t wait to welcome everyone back on Tuesday feeling refreshed and ready for another great week together!
-AB
Upcoming Dates:
- Monday, September 7: Labor Day, No School
- Wednesday, September 9: 5th grade off campus – wear sneakers, wear clothes for ropes course, and bring water bottle
- Wednesday, September 9: Cooper Cluster Day – Pizza Lunch!
- Wednesday, September 9: Middle School Curriculum Night, 5:30 – 6:30
- Thursday, September 10: MS PE day – all students wear sneakers
ELA: This week, 8th grade photographic writers selected final pieces and photographs for their exhibit next Friday! We experimented with background information and flashbacks to mimic the planes of photography and thought about how lighting in photos could inform a writing’s mood or tone. Students also started their first grammar unit, with a test planned for next Friday after their exhibit!
Next week, photographers will polish writing and prepare for their presentation! Please plan to join us in the library Friday at 9am for an exhibit of thoughtful writing and photography. 8th grade can consult their grammar study guide to prepare for next week’s test.
Science: This week in science, 8th graders explored sound waves and how sound travels from a source to our ears. Students investigated how sound moves through the air as compression waves, creating patterns of movement in air particles that allow us to hear.
Students then put their understanding into practice using the engineering design process to design and build a model soundproof room. After testing their designs with a decibel meter, students analyzed their results, made adjustments, and tested again to improve their designs.
Next week, 8th graders will review everything they have learned about wave properties and sound waves before taking an assessment on Wednesday, September 9th. After the assessment, students will begin exploring light waves and investigating how light interacts with matter.
Social Studies: We have finished our unit on the introduction of world history and began learning about the world impact of our revolution. The students finished their first project in which we dived into the real roles women played and their important contributions that often went unnoticed. NExt week we start the idea of national and liberal revolutions and how those of the 18th century changed the world forever. Enjoy the long weekend!
Math: This week in Algebra 1, students learned how to use spreadsheets to find the standard deviation of a set of data, analyzed what standard deviation is and how different data points affect it. They received a study guide for their test next week which we’ll review together on Tuesday! Their test will be Wednesday, and they’ll be able to use both a calculator and their Chromebook for Google Sheets (the standard deviation formula is super complicated and not normally taught until Stats or Calculus – so we use a function on Google Sheets to find it!!). Their test will also assess their master of determining appropriate measure of center and variability, finding the mean, median, range, IQR, mean absolute deviation, and standard deviation of a set of data.
