From the Desk of the Middle School Director - 5

It’s been a busy to start to spring at Thatcher Hall. Our athletic teams are excelling, with approximately 95% participation from grades 6-8. Final assemblies, dances and social gatherings, field trips, and transition days are being planned. We are in the midst of planning for next year as well. In the coming weeks, you should receive information from Pam Sullins regarding your child’s (or children’s) interests for enrichments for next year.

I hope everyone had a chance to attend the Spaghetti Dinner. It was a wonderful event! I can’t thank Middle School Tiger Pride enough for putting this on. We served more than 300 hundred plates. The jazz band and chorus were phenomenal. Student volunteers stood in the cold rain and packed up to go orders. It was awesome to see everyone enjoying this time together. Thanks again, Middle School Tiger Pride!

Beginning this fall, Charla Brewster will serve as dean of grades 5-6 and Angela Pieroni will serve as dean of grades 7-8. This new administrative structure will help enhance our current programs. I will count on them to provide leadership to faculty in regard to parent communication, to assist teachers with appropriate assessment methods, and to collect and utilize data to refine our instructional practices. I’m excited about the opportunities this structure will provide our students and the Darlington community at large. I appreciate their passion, leadership and hard work.

The Circle Georgia Trip for grades 7 and 8 was amazing! I had several individuals along the way compliment our students. One in particular said, “I’ve been doing this for 35 years and have never seen a better group of kids. They are extremely well behaved.” I was so proud of them. The trip was exhausting but worth every minute. I hope your child(ren) enjoyed it. We have posted photos and student blogs on the school website. Please forward any feedback you may have heard from your child(ren), as we hope to make this trip even better next year.

I had a great conversation about our new science program several weeks ago with Melanie Montanaro, parent of eighth-grader Elisa Montanaro. She thought it would be a good idea to send out some additional information about the program to parents, and she’s right. The Middle School science program is an inquiry-based, hands-on approach to learning in which students are presented with big challenges or questions. Students are given a strong foundation in scientific literacy — how to ask scientific questions and how to use data as evidence. This will enable them to complete activities that will help them understand and develop answers to the questions or complete their challenges. Project-Based Life Science allows students to be involved and take control of their learning. This responsibility empowers students and gives them the incentive to learn. This foundation will help our students ask better questions and use evidence more efficiently. Students are challenged like never before to think through their problems and not focus so much on simply finding the answer. So, teachers might answer students’ questions with a question.

You should have received your re-enrollment contract for the 2011-12 school year. Currently, we only have a few openings in seventh and eighth grade, so it is imperative that you return your contracts in a timely manner in order to secure your child’s (children’s) spot for next year. We appreciate your help with this.

As always, I welcome conversation and hope you will stop by soon.