"The challenges today’s generation of young people face are unprecedented and uniquely hard to navigate. And the effect these challenges have had on their mental health is devastating."

~ Dr. Vivek Murthy, US Surgeon General

Dear HKMS Families,

As we continue to move out of the pandemic, we are seeing the prevalence of anxiety and depression among young adolescents reach heights never before seen.  The World Health Organization cites studies that report anxiety and depression are up by 25% with over 90% of the countries surveyed are seeing unprecedented rates (see the article here). In a recent report, the US Surgeon General stated, "Recent national surveys of young people have shown alarming increases in the prevalence of certain mental health challenges — in 2019, one in three high school students and half of female students reported persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness, an overall increase of 40% from 2009" (see his full report here). While our children may seem happy and well adjusted, often mental health issues are just below the surface. The good news is that parents and other trusted adults are in the best positions to recognize the signs of early mental health issues.   In an article published by KQED this week, the author details how parents can identify signs of anxiety and depression and what do do if you suspect your child is going through a mental health issue. I strongly encourage everyone to give this article a read:  How parents can recognize and help a child with anxiety.  

At our first PTO sponsored Principal's coffee this week, we featured our new counseling team, who described the nature of their work with students and the importance of keeping an eye on our kids' mental health through early adolescence. We also launched our parent book club that will be the focus of many of our upcoming coffees.  We will be reading Smart but Scattered Teens, by Dr. Richard Guare, et al.  The authors describe why executive functioning skills decline in adolescence and how we can help counteract some of the biology driving this decline.  This book gives you fascinating adolescent brain science, and provides many tangible strategies we can use as parents and teachers to help support students develop better executive functioning skills.  If you were not able to make it to the coffee and would like to borrow a copy, please send me an email and I will send it home with your child. 

This week marks the midway point in the first trimester!  This weekend is a great time to sit with your middle schooler and review their "progress" grade PowerSchool (a link to the parent portal is here).  The "P1" in PowerSchool is their interim report on their progress half-way through the trimester. You'll notice the P1 grade is the same as the trimester 1 (T1) grade at this point.  As more grades go into the second half of the trimester next week, the T1 and P1 grade will start to differentiate.   When you sit with your middle-schooler to discuss, a great conversation starter might be, "how do you feel about your grades? What are you proud of? If you want to improve something, what are you going to do differently?" Starting positive and promoting a "growth mindset" is the key. I've included a great resource from NAESP below that can help you plan a successful conversation with your child about their progress. 

Speaking of progress, this five-day week was full of students progressing through major units of learning and skill development.  Be sure to check out Mr. D'Agostino's students who connected with the Lexington Historical Society. One of his students wondered, who was the first to shoot at the battle of Lexington and Concord? This is a question as old as the events of April 1775, and we still do not know the answer!  Since the Lexington Historical Society puts on a reenactment of the battle every year, they must have a good idea...someone has to shoot first, so who?  I think you'll find their answer in the Peeks section below very interesting.  And that's just one class!  From great student-created questions to beautiful artwork, and daunting geometry problems, this week's newsletter is one not to be missed! 

I hope everyone has a great weekend.  

Sincerely,

Steven Clapp, Ed.D.