MMS Principal Newsletter
September 8, 2019 @MMSCougarPride
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Save the Date-9/19/19 is Back to School Night!
Welcome Mr. Chiles!
Mr. Chiles will remain with us until our permanent assistant principal is appointed.
Brief Bio: Mr. Chiles was born and raised in Oakland, California. He is the father of 3 sons and 3 grandchildren. He brings 40 years of experience in education and 30 years as an administrator in Montclair Public Schools. He's an advocate for all children, has been married to his lovely wife for 44 years, and is eager to serve the MMS community!
Greetings and Updates from Ms. Gronau
Greetings MMS Families,
As some of you know, I am officially a parent in SOMSD and I could not be happier! My little one Hannah started as a first grader last week. I share this photo with you to affirm my commitment to stand alongside you in service of our children. We are partners in this mission to ensure that all of our students have a wonderful experience in middle school.
This year our school goals address supporting literacy skills across all content areas and supporting our students' social and emotional needs through restorative practices and trauma-informed educational strategies. I look forward to sharing our ongoing work and partnering with our families in this effort.
Scroll down for more photos from our first two days at MMS!
The Hub/Family Connections is a wonderful resource we are fortunate to have at MMS through a Maplewood Municipal grant. If you would like your child to participate in individual and group sessions during the school day or in the social support through recreation after school programming, please contact Ms. Candice at cebbesen@familyconnectionsnj.org.
IMPORTANT NOTES
-Reminder to please send Ms. Gronau your good news/recognition worthy events of your child's academic, social, social activism, community service, and artistic achievements. We would like our MMS kiddos to be recognized at upcoming board meetings! Email at dgronau@somsd.k12.nj.us!
Teachers' Room-Thank you HSA!
Mindfulness Room-Thank you Achieve!
Social Emotional Learning in Action
Mindfulness Room
Teachers' Room
Our Hopes for Our Students
Restorative Practices Training at MMS
In our Classroom
This is your year!
The 5 Keys to Middle School Child Resilience and Success
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.
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-