Vintage

Dear Parents:

After the first few weeks of the summer vacation have passed, I realize that the Middle School Conrad-Lehmann building during the summer months is definitely not the same compared to the months when the students are around. Thanksgiving, Winter, Spring and Summer vacations are always looked forward to by both students and staff, so that the “what seems to be” heavy, academic demands are not weighting students and adults down. However, the comfort of a daily routine, the sounds of student chatter, the voices of instructors teaching in the classrooms, the sight of parents dropping-off and picking-up their children, the smell of hamburgers and fries / brunch for lunch / pizza in the dining hall, the understanding that the educational process is in full swing, the taste of student accomplishments on Way-to-Go Wednesdays or the Honors Program leaves me sitting in my office feeling that there many things missing from my senses. The facility is much too quiet!

I want to let our Middle School parents know that the M.S. faculty and staff were very pleased with the overall accomplishments of our students during the 2009-2010 school year. We feel that the students progressed substantially academically at all three grade levels; we feel that the citizenship throughout the year was such that teachers could teach and all students were afforded an environment where they could learn; and we feel that there were plenty of Middle School activities throughout the year that everyone had a chance to feel part of the school community. Over the summer months, we are actively engaged in preparing for the 2010-2011 school year: keeping those things in place that we feel went very well; modifying and adjusting those things we feel we can do a little better; and changing those things that will better meet the needs of our students.

The core curriculum in the Language Arts will remain in place so that all of our Middle School students will continue to have two periods of English/Writing each school day. We feel that we have made very good headway in addressing some language arts issues by allowing our students  90 minutes a day in this area. The math curriculum choices will remain the same:  Math 6, Math 7, Pre-Algebra, Algebra I, Algebra I (Honors), Geometry, and Geometry (Honors). The science curriculum was modified slightly by the instructor during this past school year to address the needs of our students. We will continue with this modification. The social studies curriculum at the 6th and 7th grade levels will be adjusted to meet the needs of our students. The 6th graders will continue to study world cultures but a semester of geography will be introduced this school year. The 7th graders will study early American History plus they will study North American geography. The Spanish curriculum will remain as Spanish 6, Spanish 7, Spanish 8, and  Spanish I. The Middle School faculty and staff left at the end of the 2009-2010 school year feeling very good as to what we accomplished and they all were excited about what we were going to be doing during the 2010-2011 school year. A great way to end the school year and start the summer vacation!

Best wishes for a great summer vacation with your children!

Yours in education,