Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Parent Education Program: Cyber Safety & Internet Awareness

Tuesday, 30 November 2010

Greetings Upper School Parents:

In response to on-going questions about cyber safety and the increasing role of technology and the internet in our children’s lives, I have arranged for parent education program on Tuesday, 7 December at 7:00PM in the Truslow Upper School Commons. Upper school students and teachers will participate in a similar presentation and discussion Tuesday afternoon.

We are very fortunate to welcome Vipal Patel (Assistant United States Attorney) and Robert White (Special Agent of the FBI) to lead an informative program on cyber safety and internet awareness. While our speakers have prepared an interactive presentation, they are also looking forward to fielding questions from the audience.

In preparation for this parent education program, I will post some links to recent articles relating to the internet, cyber safety, and recent events in the news on my Blog. An interesting article comes from the recent Sunday New York Times, by Matt Richtel, titled Growing Up Digital, Wired For Distraction

I look forward to seeing you on Tuesday, 7 December, and to discussing this important topic.

With sincere regards,


Sam Wagner
Head of Upper School

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

MVS Parents' Association Presents: Jeff Wolfsberg, 'A Conversation with Parents'

Wednesday, 17 November 2010

Greetings Upper School Parents:

A quick reminder that tomorrow, Thursday 18 November at 7:00PM in the Alumni Theatre, there is an important MVS Parents' Association Meeting, including a "conversation with parents" by Jeff Wolfsberg, our Drug Education Specialist.

Mr Wolfsberg will also make reference to the results from the Student Wellness Survey we conducted back in September.

I look forward to seeing you there.

With sincere regards,


Sam Wagner
Head of Upper School

Friday, November 12, 2010

Fall Term Comments & Grades, Advisory Conferences, Techno-formatting Code(?)

Friday, 12 November 2010

Greetings Upper School Parents:

I am not sure why yesterday’s e.mail began with a paragraph of techno- formatting code; the “normal text format” can be read on Wagner’s MVS Blog at: http://wagnersmvsblog.blogspot.com/ .

Amazing to see that we have completed the Fall Trimester of the 2010-11 school year! We are now in an exciting transitional period, balancing the reflection upon first term accomplishments while establishing a solid foundation for second term goals. This e.mail serves as official notification that the comments, work habit/effort marks, and grades illustrating your daughter or son’s Fall Trimester academic performance are now available via My Backpack.

My Backpack also allows you to check and up-date your personal contact information for accuracy, so if you have revised contact information (including phone number, e.mail, or mailing address), please do so via My Backpack.

In composing narrative comments, teachers have been attentive to commend the highlights, make pertinent suggestions in areas needing additional attention, as well as providing a reflective overview of the course content covered during the first term. In reviewing the end-of-term teacher comments and grade reports, please carefully read through the written comments (with your daughter or son), praising accomplishments while strategizing towards areas that would benefit from additional support and improvement. In considering the “larger picture” of all of your child’s comments and grades, search for emerging patterns and themes, specially in preparing for the fall conference with your child’s Academic Advisor, which occurs on Monday (afternoon/early evening) and Tuesday (morning) 22 & 23 November.

Since for many of us there has not been a direct contact between Academic Advisor and parents since Upper School Parent Information Night back in September, we look forward to having the opportunity to meet again and discuss your child’s first term accomplishments (academic, extra-curricular, and others). As I mentioned previously, scheduling for conferences is now accomplished via an on-line scheduling program, which is accessible from the Upper School homepage .

The fall advisory conference is an opportune time to discuss matters of academic performance, extracurricular involvement, as well as monitoring the status of various graduation requirements (including service learning/community service hours, physical education credits, and others). Should you need to discuss a matter regarding a specific course, please schedule a meeting with that teacher after the Thanksgiving break, seeing as all upper school advisors are also classroom teachers.

That’s all for now. I hope you enjoy the amazing weather this weekend; I look forward to seeing you at an up-coming winter athletic match.

With sincere regards,


Sam Wagner
Head of Upper School

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Wellness Week, Jeff Wolfsberg, Winter Play, & Advisor Conferences

Thursday, 11 November 2010

Greetings Upper School Parents:

To celebrate the summer-like weather outside (November, with temperatures reaching 70!) I’ve officially proclaimed this Friday as “summer in November day,” encouraging students to wear summer colors and attire that better match the delightful delay of winter.

Next week brings Wellness Week to the upper school. Under the careful planning of Christie Kemper (School Counselor) and the robust student members of the Red Cross Club, we have a week chock-full of themed dress days, activities, and purposeful events:

Monday 15th
“De-Stress” Monday
Focus on Emotional and Spiritual Wellness
Students wear “veg” (comfy) clothes
“Battle of the Grades” Jeopardy, during first period

Tuesday 16th
“Social” Tuesday
Focus on Social Wellness and building healthy relationships
Students have a hot chocolate social during lunch

Wednesday 17th
“Working” Wednesday
Focus on Intellectual/Occupational Wellness
Students dress up as what they want to be when they grow up
Student Health Fair 11:00 AM-1:00 PM, in SAC Gym

Thursday 18th
“Going Green” Thursday
Focus on Environmental Wellness
Students wear green
MVS Parent’s Association, featuring Jeff Wolfsberg: 7:00-8:30 PM, in Alumni Theatre

Friday 19th
“Fitness” Friday
Focus on Physical Wellness
Students wear workout clothes
Hoops for the heart, during extended lunch, in the gym

Jeff Wolfsberg (drug education specialist) returns to MVS to meet with all upper school grade-levels Tuesday through Friday, 16-19 November.

Peter Camm announced this week that the winter drama presentation will be The Reduced Shakespeare Company’s: “The Compleat Works of Wllm Shkspr.” Auditions will be held next Monday and Tuesday; performances are scheduled for 27-29 January.

A reminder that Winter Advisory Conferences are Monday and Tuesday, 22 & 23 November. In preparation for conferences, we have employed a new on-line scheduling service. This service offers real time access to your child’s advisor schedules. You access this system by going to the upper school homepage MVS website, then click on the "schedule your conference" link in the top right hand corner. This scheduling system will be available until Friday, November 19 at midnight. Scheduling slots with Advisors are available on a first-come first-served basis.

I am happy to announce that there will be a Parent Education Program on the evening of Tuesday, 7 December, addressing the sensitive topics of cyber-safety, cyber-bullying, and internet safety. I will provide further details at next week’s evening Parents’ Association Meeting, before Jeff Wolfsberg’s presentation to parents.

That’s all for a busy start to the Winter Term. I look forward to seeing lots of MVS folks at Friday evening’s book fair at Books & Co, from 4-8:PM.

With sincere regards,


Sam Wagner
Head of Upper School