Monina shared with students the importance of feeling safe and learning how to express our emotions. This was a wonderful opportunity to begin reflecting on our own feelings, practicing self-regulation, and gently stepping into the principles of Conscious Discipline. Good for you!

It is also inspiring to see the energy and creativity in our classrooms! Whether it’s Eli building community through an activity centered on food, or Angelo engaging students in math by answering questions in groups and chanting BINGO. These moments show how deeply you are pouring your hearts into teaching and guiding students to seek truth with critical thinking, beauty with compassion, and goodness with the commitment to create a more empathetic and better world. You should all feel proud of yourselves — what a great way to finish the week!

Monday's GLM - Sept 8th, 3:00 - 3:45 pm

Starting this Monday, we will hold our first Grade Level Meeting (GLM) focused on student follow-up. 

The purpose of these weekly meetings is to create space to review specific intervention plans, share questions, and discuss strategies to support our students. 

In this first meeting, we will share the protocol to follow and clarify who will be leading the meetings. 

6th Grade - Rafa - Location: Gaby V.'s classroom

7th Grade - Vale - Location: Santi's classroom

8th Grade - Male - Location: Claires' classroom

*We understand that some of you work across multiple grade levels and will need to decide where to participate, as it won’t be possible to attend every group.* 

Community Time (CT) Plans

Here is the link to this week’s Community Time (CT) Lesson Plan. We will continue following our regular teaching schedules. If you have any questions or need support, please reach out to Valen.

Wednesday's Staff Meeting- Sept. 10th, 3:00 - 3:45 pm

This Wednesday we will hold our first staff meeting, and lunch will be provided as we get ready for Meet the Teacher Night. 

During the meeting:

• Keith will take a few minutes to share updates to our gradebook configurations that were made to ensure all the percentages work correctly. With this adjustment, we need to import the gradebook template again. 

• Cassie will also join us to guide us through where to upload lessons in Atlas. 

• Since we will be meeting parents later that day, we will review the presentation (adapted for parents and including team pictures) and take some time to go over key recommendations together before heading to the PAC.

Attendance

A friendly reminder that student attendance must be recorded twice daily (AM and PM). 

When attendance is not entered, the system automatically flags it and generates alerts to our Head of School through the NAE dashboard. To avoid unnecessary notifications and ensure accurate records, we need everyone’s support in completing this task consistently and on time each day. 

Thank you for your support!

• Meet the Teacher Night

Wednesday, Sept 10th, 5:00 - 7:00 pm (Location: PAC)

• Junior Games Informative Session for 6th Grade only 

Friday, Sept 12th, 8:15 - 9:00 am (Location: PAC)

• Global Games Informative Session for 7th and 8th Grade

Friday, Sept 12th, 9:00 - 10:00 am (Location: PAC) 

Email sent September 3rd:

As you know, Meet the Teachers Night is coming up soon. It will take place on Wednesday, September 10, from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm Here are a few important details to help us prepare:

• Lunch will be provided during our staff meeting that day, come hungry!

• Please prepare a one-slide introduction about yourself. Keep it short, friendly, and engaging. You can find a template here

• Just a friendly reminder that all teachers should send a brief introductory email to their students’ parents before Meet the Teachers Night. This helps us foster strong, direct communication between teachers and families from the very beginning. If you’d like support drafting your message, feel free to stop by our offices. Remember to keep parent emails confidential, BCC everything. 

• Each parent visit should last no more than 5 minutes. Our goal is to make families feel welcome and appreciated, while also keeping the evening flowing smoothly.

• Carpooling is encouraged for the way home. If you need transportation support, please make sure to submit a receipt under Gaby’s name.

Let’s make this a great evening and show our families why Middle School truly shines!

Un abrazo,

Valentina Serrano