Dear Arcola Families:

It is my pleasure to introduce myself as Principal of Arcola Intermediate School. I am coming to Arcola with 20-years of middle school experience as a teacher and administrator. Middle school students have unique, developmental needs, and we are prepared to meet them. I look forward to partnering with you on the middle school journey. In the coming weeks and months, I hope to meet many of you. Please do not hesitate to share your experiences and insights.

Please know that I plan to be active with the Arcola Home and School Association, and I strongly encourage you to join. This forum will allow time to share some of the great experiences that are occurring day-to-day at Arcola. It also provides another space to hear from you and to receive valuable feedback. Regardless of membership, it is a privilege to be Principal of Arcola and to work with you and your children. It is with firm belief that I say that we are better together. Please feel free to contact me if needed.

Respectfully,

Michael Bourdreau

The 7th grade Science classes had their first dissection of the year today. It was great to see the high level of student engagement and a wonderful opportunity for parents to volunteer. The parents appeared to be seasoned pros! As explained by our teachers, "There are many reasons that dissection is important for students of science, which include developing skills of observation and comparison, discovering the shared and unique structures and processes of specific organisms, and developing a greater appreciation for the complexity of life. The science team chose a date around Halloween since the dissection is a cow eyeball and kind of CREEPY!"

Picture retakes are scheduled for Wednesday, November 3rd. New students must have their pictures taken. Those students who would like a retake should come to school with their current picture package. The package will be given back to the photographers. Pictures can be ordered on mylifetouch.com with the Picture Day ID: EVT9XNFZ6

• Students are to wear masks on the bus
• Students are not permitted to be guest riders on any other bus; students must ride the bus they are assigned

The Methacton Backpack program is up and running in each of our buildings and serves district families in need with supplemental food and non-food items. This program helps create food stability for breakfast and lunch when our students are not in school. Weekly, the program sends home a bag of breakfast, lunch, and snack items for the weekend and holiday breaks for students in Kindergarten through 12th grade. Families who qualify for free/reduced meals are eligible to participate in the Backpack Program. Please contact the school counselor if you would like to register your child for the Backpack program.

In order to continue to sustain the program please consider contributing and donating items to the program. Items can be donated directly to the school or you can place an order through Amazon and ship it directly to our school from the Amazon page.

https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/Y75GZGW6DXNJ?ref

Please remember to select, “No Weekend Delivery.”

What items can I donate?

Individual Serving Food Items

· Single serving boxes of milk (shelf-stable/not refrigerated)

· Mini cereal boxes

· Canned soup (cans with “pop tops”)

· Oatmeal Packs or cups

· Applesauce and fruit cups

· Chef Boyardee, Hormel, Dint Moore Meals, etc.

· Easy Mac Cups

· Cracker packs

· Sweet snacks: Fruit snacks, pudding, granola bars, individual bags of cookies, etc.

· Salty snacks: pretzel packs, goldfish crackers, popcorn, etc.

· 100% juice boxes

This past week, Arcola celebrated Red Ribbon Week. Red Ribbon Week started after the death of Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent Enrique “Kiki” Camarena, who in 1985 was murdered by drug traffickers he was investigating. After his death, people started wearing red ribbons to honor Kiki’s sacrifice.

Red Ribbon Week is celebrated annually. It is the nation’s oldest and largest drug prevention awareness program in the nation and a way for people and communities to take a visible stance against drugs. This awareness program works alongside student councils and school boards to review policies and advocate for drug-and alcohol-free school grounds and sporting events. Arcola students heard messages each morning on the News Journal promoting a drug-free lifestyle and each day had a school spirit theme.

Over the past several weeks, our 7th Grade students participated in their first career lesson of the year focused on discovering their learning styles. They took a learning styles inventory in Naviance – ask them to show you their results! – and they were given some tips on how to use what they learned when they sit down to study for tests and quizzes.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, two-thirds of teenagers suffer from chronic sleep deprivation. Parents/guardians should discuss good "sleep hygiene" with their teens as we transition out of daylight savings time next weekend. As parents/guardians, encourage your teens to have a regular bedtimes that allow for at least eight hours of sleep a night. Parents should also implement a "media curfew" of phone, computer, TV, and video game use after a certain time in the evening. As an old Irish proverb states, "A good laugh and a long sleep are the two best cures for anything." Here is an article about teen sleep to learn more: https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/sleep-newzzz/201901/what-modern-science-says-about-teen-sleep

Attached to this newsletter is the November issue of Parents Still make the difference!, a newsletter focused on helping you improve your student’s success in school. Also attached is the November issue of Daily Learning Planner, a list of daily topics that will also help your student do well. We hope you enjoy both!