Mount Saint Agnes Comings & Goings
Friday, February 19th, 2016
New Staff
We would like to take this opportunity to welcome Kevin Tonak to our staff. Mr. Tonak started working as our Curriculum Coordinator this week. He comes to us from Calgary, Alberta. He has worked for many years as a teacher, school counselor and administrator for the Calgary Board of Education.
Elementary/Middle School Parent Teacher Conferences
Upcoming Events
- FEBRUARY
- Saturday 20th - Grade 12 Bake Sale/Car Wash at MSA from 11am - 5pm; Bake Sale at Lindo's Devonshire 11am - 5pm...proceeds for the Prom.
- Tuesday 23rd - Grade 12 Parent Meeting at 5:30 pm - Senior Lunch Room
- Wednesday 24th - Elementary Parent Interviews 3:30 pm- 5 pm; Middle School Parent/Student/Teacher Interviews 4 pm - 6:30 pm - No High School interviews. - Interviews will be in the Auditorium
- Thursday 25th - Elementary Parent Interviews 3:30 pm - 5 pm; Middle School - Parent/Student/Teacher Interviews 4 pm - 6:30 pm - No High School interviews - Interviews will be in the Auditorium
- Friday 26th - Pink Bermuda Day at MSA. To show support for the Love Bermuda Campaign, students are asked to show their love of our Island by wearing PINK and enjoying summer fun in February. There will be contests for Best Dressed Bermudians.
Read and Feed
For the month of February, the children in Grades K-8 have been asked to consider taking part in our annual Read And Feed.
The object is to read books, and get non-perishable food items pledged for their reading. Last year the response was overwhelming, and we managed to fill up 10 barrels of food, and 15 boxes and bags for the Eliza DooLittle Society.
A sponsor sheet with details about this event went home in January. Please contact kcamara@msa.bm if you need another form, or have further questions.
Home & School - White Elephant Sale
On Saturday, April 23rd the Mount Saint Agnes Academy Home and School Association will be hosting a White Elephant Sale in the Auditorium from 9:00 am until 2:00 pm.
This would be a great time to do some Spring cleaning, and make some extra pocket money at the same time!
Tables will be available for $25.00 each, and these will be limited to 25. If you would like to purchase a table to sell your treasures, (all proceeds from the sale of your items go to you!) please send the money in an envelope to the attention of Karen Camara.
For any other information, please contact kcamara@msa.bm
School Notices
PLEASE BE ADVISED THAT ALL EMAILED NOTICES
ARE NOW ACCESSIBLE VIA THE MSA WEBSITE.
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DoE Bronze Expedition Saturday, March 5th and Sunday, March 6th
DoE Silver Expedition Friday, March 4th - Sunday, March 6th
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CLASSROOM SUPPLIES - Elementary teachers are looking for any old Blue Bunny ice cream tubs to use for various purposes. If you have any please consider sending them into the office.
St. Baldrick's
Science Supplies Needed
If you have any empty wrapping paper tubes please send them into the office in preparation for the Science Olympics being held on March 19th.
Digital Dilemma
Privacy, Surveillance, and Self-Disclosure
Online privacy is tricky. The information that we put in digital form can now be readily accessed by unintended viewers, whether because of an oversight in selecting privacy settings, the vulnerability of “secure” online data, sharing passwords that grant others access to personal accounts, or simply because a friend’s eyes wander to read personal text messages. Work together with your kids to be vigilant about keeping private information private.
Underscore that any digital information has the potential to go public.
Information posted online or shared digitally (a picture, a status update, a text message) is searchable, easily copied, and often permanent. Even if your kids set strict privacy settings, there is the chance that a friend could copy/paste, take a screenshot, save, or forward something your kid didn’t want to get widely shared. Or, a curious onlooker may simply steal a glimpse at their screens and read private messages. Password sharing with friends, while often done causally, leads to serious privacy issues and should be avoided. Make sure your kids know that it is their responsibility to set privacy settings thoughtfully and to keep passwords private - but also remind them that anything shared digitally might be seen by unintended audiences.
Together, set privacy settings on all social media accounts.
On a daily basis, you and your children probably use different apps and sites. Together, explore how varied privacy settings and privacy policies are. Discuss how companies use their members’ personal information, and urge your children to be responsible and use “friends only” privacy settings. Many social media platforms default to mostly “public” settings — requiring users to set privacy controls. And many sites frequently require updates, which reset all settings back to the default. Not only will these opportunities help safeguard you and your children, but you will get insight into how and why your child participates in the digital world.
Be patient and take the time to understand all the features.
While companies don’t always make it easy to understand their privacy settings and privacy policies, take the time to dig in. Be wary of “social sign-in” (like using your Facebook or Twitter login to sign onto other sites), because that entitles third parties to collect data from your accounts. Set privacy settings for each and every type of content — profile information, posts, comments, and photos. And learn what individual features do, like tagging and blocking, to help you and your children manage and control your presence online. If your kid’s school provides devices, it may have the right — and responsibility — to monitor all content on the machines. Make sure your children know that they can’t assume their digital life is private from you or from anyone else.
Spark a Conversation:
Breaking and Entering
Nik and his girlfriend Blair were hanging out at his house. Blair got up to go to the bathroom and left her phone on the couch. While she was gone, Nik noticed her phone light up and saw the name Matthew out of the corner of his eye. He was torn about whether or not to look, but decided he would just take a quick look at the texts that he could see on the main screen. Then, he couldn’t resist: he knew her phone password, so he typed it and opened the conversation. Before he knew it, he was scrolling through Blair’s conversations. He saw that she had been texting Matthew a lot. Nik was furious, but he couldn’t decide whether or not to confront Blair and admit that he had looked at her text messages. Finally, he decided he was too angry to ignore it. Blair could not believe that Nik had looked through her messages — she thought that he trusted her and she felt like this was a complete invasion of her privacy.
1. What is your gut reaction to this story?
2. Can you understand Nik’s decision to read Blair’s text messages? Has there ever been a situation when you wanted to read someone’s messages?
3. What do you think about Blair’s reaction: Did she have a right to be angry?
4. Are there any situations when it is okay to read another person’s private messages or emails?
5. Have you ever heard of something like this happening to someone you know? Has it ever happened to you?
Resource: www.commonsensemedia.org
Outside Events
Successful Scholarship Strategies
Summer Employment Program
P.A.L.S. Walk
Uniform Shop Hours
February
Tuesday 23rd: 12:30pm - 1:30pm
March
Tuesday 1st & 15th: 12:30pm - 1:30pm
Thursday 10th: 8:15am - 9:15am
Mount Saint Agnes Academy
Email: comingsandgoings@msa.bm
Website: msa.bm
Location: 19 Dundonald Street, Hamilton, Bermuda
Phone: 441-292-4134
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mount-Saint-Agnes-Academy/122732467780429