MMS Families,

This week 7th grade student focus groups will take place. Next week we will continue with 8th grade. I have thoroughly enjoyed hearing from our students and I'm excited to respond to their ideas and concerns to ensure that MMS is a place where they will grow and thrive. The focus group model will continue in this week's advisory on Friday, February 23, 2018.

I had the chance to see Black Panther this past weekend with a friend of mine. We saw two MMS students with their families at the theater. Seeing the students there and seeing the movie affirmed for me the importance of ensuring that all of our students see positive images of people of color. And for our Black and African American students, seeing a movie filled with strong, intelligent and loving African people--reflections of themselves and their history--was truly powerful. We will continue to find opportunities throughout the year to teach all of children the contributions of people of color to American culture and to the world at large.

Best,

Ms. Gronau

MMS Principal

The 5 Keys to Middle School Child Resilience and Success

The MMS faculty and staff ask that you support our work with your child in the following ways:

1) Encourage a Growth Mindset-Having a growth mindset fosters resilience. Use the language of yet. I don’t understand this “yet.” Emphasize the importance of hard work as opposed to innate intelligence. “I did well because of my effort. I’ll do better next time.”

2) Encourage 1-2 Good Peer Relationships-Friends should be a source of support. Often our middle schoolers try to maintain large groups of close friends and that is challenging for anyone of any age! Encourage your child to have 1-2 solid and supportive peer friendships and keep it light and simple with the larger groups.

3) Ensure 9-11 Hours of Sleep Please! Sleep is the best way to foster resilience. Research shows that kiddos this age need 9-11 hours to be at their best. When your child is well-rested, everything is better. Technology is the #1 enemy of sleep! As a school community, we recommend that you keep technology out of your child’s bedroom at night to encourage healthy and consistent sleep.

4) Encourage Coping Strategies-Coping is personal. Everyone does it differently. Encourage your child to think about healthy ways to relax and give them permission to do it!

5) Facilitate Time/Connection with a non-familial adult-Good connections with non-familial adults are very important for your child. They hear things differently from non-familial adults. Encourage your child to participate in a club or activity. Children need our perspective. They are always changing and growing. As adults we can attach a growth mindset to their personality development and their peer interactions.

The MMS Principal has added a school-wide "Remind App" as another way to communicate with families. Many of your child's teachers will share Remind class codes for you and your child to stay up to date about class events and assignments. As needed, the MMS Principal will periodically use the Remind App to share important info with our school community. Our Maplewood Middle School school-wide code Remind code is listed above (@k92d29). The link below explains how to begin getting notifications. It's a simple way to stay in touch. Join us!

https://help.remind.com/hc/en-us/articles/203179887-How-do-I-join-a-class-