Friday, November 20, 2009

Dear Parents,
                We had a really busy week in the Middle School! The upgrades to our coffee house paid off! We had a wonderful turnout and we are excited to continue on our mission to both ‘green’ our coffee house and to make more profit. Thanks again to all that helped out and made donations. There is no way we could have put on such a great event without your help. Our current profit analysis is in the ball park of $650.00! Our next coffee house is planned for Thursday January 28^th, and the students are already thinking or ways to improve including changing the room layout to allow for quicker purchases.
                The Re-Accreditation Team visited our classrooms several times on Wednesday and Thursday. During our lunch period on Thursday, two of the team members held a Question & Answer session with the students. Students had an opportunity to share their thoughts about the Middle School program and the school in general with the team. They seemed to enjoy the opportunity to express their opinions!
                Starting after the Thanksgiving Break, there will be a homework and study group meeting on Monday and Wednesday afternoons. Students who sign up to participate will work under the supervision of either Cora or Leah from the end of school until 3:45 p.m. on any school work that they need to complete. If you and your child would like to take advantage of this extra help time, please let us know. Students are expected to remain with the teachers for the duration of the work period and attend regularly. They should either be picked up at the end of the study period, or go to aftercare if they are staying longer at school.  Please send in a form that indicates the days that we can expect your child. Drop-ins are fine with prior notice. This program will run for a trial period of the second trimester (which runs through the second week of March).
                During a community meeting last week, students found out that they have been invited to a Winter Social that is being held at the Brown School in Schenectady on Friday December 4 from 7:00 pm to 10:00 pm. There is a $5.00 entrance fee and the dress is casual. Invitations have been sent to other private/independent schools in the area. This could be a nice opportunity for students to meet and make friends with other youth as well as a nice time to socialize with their WHMS friends.  We encourage the students to attend, and we would like to know by Monday if anyone is attending, so we can accept or reject the invitation.
                We are kicking off our Holiday Raffle fundraiser today. Students are beginning the process of writing business letters and practicing the process of asking for donations. We are looking to get donated items for the raffle during the next two weeks. Once we have items, we will begin selling the tickets. Please consider donating items if possible- they do not have to be only from businesses- and help your children in their quest for donations. This is a great ‘no-risk’ fundraiser that is relatively easy to administer- all the money we make is profit!
                Please let us know if you have further questions or concerns regarding the Amsterdam Trip/meeting minutes that came out yesterday. A reminder:  our next trip meeting will be help on Friday, December 11 at 3:30 for all families/students who will be attending the trip. We hope to see everyone there!

As always, please email or call with your questions.  Have a great weekend!

The Middle School team