This Monday felt extra special to me—not only because it was a snow day, but because my favorite band, Tophouse, is releasing a new song every Monday in February. This week’s release, “Morning Cup of Coffee,” felt like the perfect soundtrack for a quiet winter morning. Beyond its cozy, uplifting sound, one lyric especially stood out to me: “Day’s calling, wake on up. You will decide, are you living or alive.”
In a cheerful song about a familiar morning ritual, there’s a gentle but powerful reminder to choose how we show up each day—to live fully, intentionally, and with joy. That idea has stayed with me this week as students began preparing for their self-assessments and reflecting on the school year.
As they look back on their growth, challenges, and accomplishments, my hope is that each student carries with them that same spirit: the courage to choose to thrive, to notice the small moments, and to step into each day with purpose.
—Amanda
Upcoming Dates:
- February 13 – Valentine’s Day Bake Sale and Bingo (1:30pm)
- February 16-17 – February Break (No School)
- Please fill out this form for James Island County Parks. We will be doing PE there starting soon!
- February 27 – Middle School Dance!!
ELA: 7th grade continued their film studies this week, looking at the mis-en-scene in The Sound of Music and attempting to analyze these elements for hidden meaning. With our past discussions in mind, film critics concluded our film with a mini essay on possible themes in The Sound of Music, using our cinematography, sound, and mis-en-scene vocabularies to unpack the story. We also continued grammar studies in verbs this week!
Next week, we will dive into the classic film references hidden in the absurd comedy Pee Wee’s Big Adventure, with a special focus on film structure and storytelling! 7th grade’s grammar test will be on Thursday 2/12, so be sure to use study guides and flash cards wisely!
Science: This week in Science, 7th graders investigated what makes ecosystems sustainable through an interactive simulation. Students took on the roles of organisms within a food chain, beginning with equal numbers at each trophic level. Through experience and reflection, they discovered that energy limitations made it impossible to support large numbers of top predators.
Students then iterated on their models—adjusting population sizes, creating rules, and designing “safe spaces”—to better understand how balance can be achieved in an ecosystem. This collaborative problem-solving helped students see firsthand how energy availability shapes ecological systems.
Next week, students will continue this work by investigating the efficiency of energy transfer between trophic levels, building on the insights gained from their simulation.
Social Studies: Seventh grade has now finished their unit in the Federal Government. I must say how impressed I am with this class on an information packed unit! It is important to understand with our trip to Washington D.C. coming up and they worked hard and were extremely interested in the material. We are now moving into the next unit, which is America during the 19th Century.
Math: This week in math, 7th graders continued practicing solving systems of equations using both the substitution and elimination strategies. Practice makes perfect with these! We also explored data representation and how it relates to proportional relationships and linear equations! Next week, we’ll continue data analysis strategies and learn how to use linear equations and systems of them to help us solve real world problems.
Science Experiment (read about it above and ask your kiddo more!)
Sports Club travels to Park Circle for some frisbee golf!
