Monday, 23 August 2010
Greetings Upper School Parents:
I hope this e.mail finds you healthy and well-rested as we all prepare for a jubilant start to the 2010-11 academic year. It was exciting to meet and participate in all four of the upper school grade-level orientation programs, including Sunday’s river clean up and canoeing expedition, organized and accomplished by the Senior Class of 2011. Their enthusiasm, sense of purpose, and good humor bodes well for our senior leadership this year.
I am thrilled to share that we will begin tomorrow at 189 students strong in the Upper School, including 18 families new to MVS! Here are a couple details and reminders to further smooth tomorrow’s start of school:
• Morning Announcements begins promptly at 8:05AM each day and fulfills an essential component in our close-knit upper school community. Please make sure your sons and daughters arrive with ample time to store books and backpacks, and be ready for the start of Morning Announcements.
• Tomorrow’s opening school schedule allows for lengthened Morning Announcements, each class period to meet for 40 minutes, and an extended lunch/advisory period.
• Student Government is hosting a pizza lunch for the entire upper school on Tuesday, 24 August. We will eat in Advisory Groups, allowing the opportunity to share summer stories, meet new advisory members, and discuss a number of topics relevant to the 2010-11 school year. Of note, faculty members have identified orderliness of commons and locker area, enforcement of dress code, and timeliness to classes as high-priority subjects to begin the year. As always, we appreciate parental support and assistance.
• During Advisory Meetings, students will receive copies of the Parent Notification & Permission Form, indicating the thorough reading and understanding of the MVS Student Handbook (available on the MVS website) and the Technology Acceptable Use Policy (which will be discussed in detail this week). This form needs to be initialed, signed, and returned to the upper school office by next week.
• All upper school students should anticipate eating on campus (either packing their own lunches or purchasing from the new food service in the Commons Cafe) for at least the next 5-7 days, allowing time to re-connect with classmates, collect missing forms, and for extra-curricular organizations to hold initial meetings. Ordering food deliveries to campus is only permitted if officially sponsored by an extra-curricular group and overseen by a faculty member. I will e.mail you when “open lunch” privileges for appropriate Juniors and Seniors goes into effect.
• Regarding “supply lists” for the upper school, my advice is for students to bring their assignment books and a couple notebooks for the first day of classes; individual teachers will provide suggestions for course specific supply needs.
• There are a number of exciting and noteworthy start-of-school meetings and events, including: Parents Association, Distinguished Alumni Induction, Convocation, Parent Information Night (PIN), and MVS Visiting Author programs. Please refer to the MVS on-line calendar for dates and details.
• The archives of all letters and e.mails sent from the upper school office can be viewed on my Blog at http://wagnersmvsblog.blogspot.com/. I welcome your comments.
On behalf of the entire upper school faculty and staff, we look forward to welcoming your sons and daughters to the start of the academic year. We are also excited to meet you in person during Upper School Parent Information Night (PIN) on Wednesday, 15 September, beginning at 7:00PM.
I hope to see you at an up-coming MVS athletic event.
With sincere regards,
Sam Wagner
Head of Upper School
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment