MMS Principal Newsletter
November 12, 2018 @MMSCougarPride
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Congrats Sra. Cavagnaro!
On Sunday, November 4, Sra. Cavgnaro completed her first NYC marathon. We are proud of her and inspired by her!
Greetings and Updates from Ms. Gronau
Happy Monday MMS Families,
Special thanks to the fabulous MMS HSA who at my request surprised our staff on 11/6/18 with some treats after their full day professional development. Thank you for taking such good care of us!
I hope that you had a wonderful and restful long weekend! I had a great day of learning at TCRWP on 11/7/18. We focused on helping our students to informational texts across disciplines. The keynote speaker pushed our thinking on how we can lead classroom and school-wide discussions on intentionally managing our screen time and our "online" lives. In so doing, we will enrich our in person human connections. I'm eager to engage our HSA and our families in this conversation and share ideas for MMS. Stay tuned for information on that!
This week 6th graders will have a "Minute to Win It" Activity during advisory on Friday, 11/16. 7th grade will have a small group advisory session on Friday, 11/16.
Quarter 1 grades will be posted live in Power School on Friday, November 16.
Photo Updates
-8th grade class picture and club pictures are November 13
-Retakes are November 14
Best,
Ms. Dara Crocker Gronau, Maplewood Middle School Principal
(973) 378-7660 X3001
The 5 Keys to Middle School Child Resilience and Success
The 5 Keys to Middle School Child Resilience and Success
*Adapted from Lisa Damour
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.
Maplewood Middle School Remind App Code @k92d29
This year, 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-