Thunderblast 2023
Taking Risks by OWNING Our Learning- November 12, 2023
Big Week Coming Up!
Although these are reminders at the end of the newsletter, please use this week to get involved by signing up to stop by for our first ever Bring Your Parent to School Day on Thursday and/or Friday, then join us for the Turkey Trot on Saturday. Now's the time to come check us out in person!
- Bring Your Parent to Work Day Nov 16-17 Google Form
- Turkey Trot- Registration form
Transition
This is year 24 for me as an educator with all but 4 of those years being in middle school, and those were 9th grade, which definitely focuses on transition. Transition is the name of the game at the middle level. Sometimes, in my old age, I forget just how significant and detailed that transition can be. At each PTO meeting, I give a little update, but you are all sick of hearing me pontificate. My favorite part is hearing questions and insights from our families. Below is what we talked about on Wednesday evening:
- Vaping, Fentanyl, and Overall Safety at Seneca- I will continue to share pertinent info and add this to our December 8 parent coffee.
- Israel-Hamas War- You saw the message from LCPS this week. We did have a campus event, when 125 Dominion High School students participated in a walkout regarding the conflict two weeks ago. We have had past walkouts at Seneca, with the most notable being an awareness of gun violence in schools in my first year here. Similar to Dominion, students in this community do a great job of speaking with the administration and communicating plans so we can support their participation in peaceful civic unrest and ensure their safety during the process.
- Racial Slurs- Our UMHT is developing a plan to hear from our student leaders about their experiences. We will use this as a social emotional advisory lesson in the future.
- Parent Conferences- for elementary schools, Quarter 1 conferences are part of the norm and after that, parents can request conferences. In middle school, with so many different teachers, we work together with families to meet when teachers would like, or when families would like. Feel free to reach out to our teachers directly, or to your student's counselor if you would like to set up a meeting.
- Homework Expectations- We continue to work with Dominion to ensure our students are well-prepared for high school, while still treating them like middle schoolers. There is a progression of very little homework in 6th grade to an incremental increase in 7th and 8th grade depending on course selection. Students have various circumstances at home, so we try to provide the majority of supports within the school day. EACH student in this school should be reading 20-30 minutes at night and actively synthesizing notes from class. Having a student walk you through their gradebook and Schoology (especially for classes they are struggling in) should be part of the weekly or daily homework expectation.
- Active Studying Strategies- I will look into getting some resources in your hands next week.
- Executive Functioning and Time Management- We focus on student conferencing and executive functioning in advisory on Mondays and during resource. Of course, these skills are integrated in classes too.
- Active Learning vs. Screen Time- We are working on it. See some of the highlights below.
Thank you for always trusting me to find the answers to these great questions. Open dialogue is the only way for us to continue to teach our students and keep them safe. This communication will make our 3 transitional years together (or more) the partnership we aspire towards. We have the same goals!
Parent Coffee for Further Discussion of the Topics Above- Friday, Dec 8 @11:00AM
Active Learning
We are continuing to look for opportunities to get away from our screens and our desks so students are engaged hands-on with the curriculum more often. Science 7 is leading the charge during the cell membrane and cellular processes unit!!!
Keep scrolling and you will notice our PE teachers are connecting with Dominion's Wrestling program to share some of the skills used in high school wrestling. I love seeing our former students take ownership and lead by imparting their wisdom and mentorship on our students!
Title I Information
As a Title I school, we are beginning to focus budgetary items on literacy. We have recently purchased IXL subscriptions for students needing support in English and Math. Those particular students have the ability to work on these catch-up skills outside of school at home. Now that we are spending funds, I will be transparent about our focus. One important aspect is the use of Title I funds for Family Engagement. We will continue to look for opportunities- like Bring Your Parent to School Day- and other times when we can help families connect to Seneca.
April Henry
Author April Henry came in Friday to share about the plethora of Middle Level thrillers she has written and how important the authentic investigative process is to writing a great novel. Getting students excited about reading and writing is an important use of Title I funds.
FACE (Family and Community Engagement) Event
We continue to partner with the FACE group from central office to help connect our new to the country students and families to Seneca. In these feedback circles, we are learning exactly how to support EACH student that crosses our threshold.
November 11- Veteran's Day
The student-created thank you cards were distributed among three veterans groups. Ms. Mehalic gave a portion to her grandfather-in-law who resides at Falcon’s Landing and will share them with other there. Ms. O'Grady gave some to the Sterling Volunteer Fire Company vets. Mr. Wilke handed the remainder to the American Legion Post 150 earlier today. Ms. McKenica helped screen and organize submitted cards. Ms. Zangara initiated the student question Form back in early October. It was very much an all-around group effort and the students had some very thoughtful and artistic work done this week in advisory.
Bounty Of Books
Unified Mental Health Team (UMHT)
Seneca’s UMHT: One of our goals is to provide families with information on community resources, access to basic needs, mental health/crisis counseling, reducing stress/anxiety, substance abuse resources, and resources to support learning. Please feel free to access the resources below as needed.
PBIS - Students of the Week... Attendance, Bolt Bucks, & Overall Awesomeness!
Congrats to this week's PBIS winners!!
Leela Nemazee 6
Rachel Eskin 7
Sadie Petilla 8
Seydi Murillo Aguilar 6
Elena Q Tran 7
Kimberly C Vasquez Gomez 8
Fernando J Funes Lopez 8
Cora Kelloggg 6
Sebastian Soler Moreno 7
Ainoa Benavides 8
Wilzon Romero Murcia 6
Sepehr Rohani 7
Kat Dillingham 8
PBIS - Staff Of The Week
Ms. Cripps has been working tirelessly this year to ensure EACH student is successful. She is working with the Math 6 team to help any student new to middle school who might be struggling with the curriculum. Individually, she continues to pull students for extra support during lunch time. Last but not least, our theme this year is Taking Risks, and Ms. Cripps is getting on the frontline of communication with parents to help EACH family partner in the educational process. One more thing: Ms. Cripps is a Cowboys fan, so we thought this would be a nice pick-me-up after losing to the home team last week... Just kidding :)
PTO Corner
Visit us on Website- https://srms.ptboard.com/ and follow us on Facebook- Seneca Ridge Middle School PTO & Seneca Ridge Home of the Thunderbolts
Staff Appreciation- Please join us in bringing a hearty and warm taste of autumn to our teachers on Wednesday, November 15th! Local Provisions in the Cascades Marketplace is generously preparing salads, and we are asking the community for donations to help complete this delicious feast. Contact Julie Garrett at staffappreciation@srmspto.org for any questions. You can sign up here to donate food, time or money:
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F0444A5AB2DA4F85-45744053-staff
Spirit Wear- PTO will be setting up table on Nov 16 and Nov 17, meet us at our table to stock up your school Spiritwear! Check out our in-stock inventory here!
I can't wait to see you in classes on Thursday and Friday!
📨 Email: nick.cottone@lcps.org
💻 Website: Seneca Ridge Middle School
🏫 Location: 98 Seneca Ridge Drive, Sterling, VA 20164
☎️ Phone: 571-434-4420