This year we are hoping to create a book club to offer the opportunity for staff and families to collaborate and discuss issues directly related to middle school. For this year, we have selected the book "Middle School Matters" by Phyllis Fagell. This book identifies ten essentional skills the author identifies as essential for helping students flourish at this time of their lives. Our plan is to meet immediately following the conclusion of each PTSO meeting to discuss a designated portion of the book. If this is something that interests you, please plan to come to the next PTSO meeting to be held on October 17 at 6:00 PM. We will pass out books and have a brief initial conversation about our hopes for the club, as well as agree upon the portion of the book we will discuss following the November PTSO meeting.

Here is a brief description of the book:

Middle school is its own important, distinct territory, and yet it's either written off as an uncomfortable rite of passage or lumped in with other developmental phases. Based on her many years working in schools, professional counselor Phyllis Fagell sees these years instead as a critical stage that parents can't afford to ignore (and though "middle school" includes different grades in various regions, Fagell maintains that the ages make more of a difference than the setting). Though the transition from childhood to adolescence can be tough for kids, this time of rapid physical, intellectual, moral, social, and emotional change is a unique opportunity to proactively build character and confidence. Fagell helps parents use the middle school years as a low-stakes training ground to teach kids the key skills they'll need to thrive now and in the future, including making good friend choices, negotiating conflict, regulating their own emotions, be their own advocates, and more. To answer parents' most common questions and struggles with middle school-aged children, Fagell combines her professional and personal expertise with stories and advice from prominent psychologists, doctors, parents, educators, school professionals, and middle schoolers themselves.