No images? Click here A Quarterly Check-In for Middle School Principals October 2020 Shawna Groulx, Principal, Anna M. Thurston Middle School and MASSP Board of Directors Representative One Person, Two Places: Creativity, Consistency, and GraceTake a walk with Shawna through her Q & A session with Wendy Zdeb, MASSP Executive Director. Learn about Shawna’s experience as she transitioned from middle school principal to becoming the principal for both middle and high school in St. Charles. Read about her transitional challenges she faced becoming the 6-12 principal, how she approaches students, what it's like to be face-to-face 5 days a week, students responses and more! Rick Frens, Principal, Hamilton Middle School & MASSP Board of Directors Representative Building a Hybrid Schedule in a PandemicSitting at lunch today, a student asked me about her sandwich. It was made from potato bread, and she wanted to know if there were actual potatoes in the bread. I couldn’t answer her, so naturally I pulled out the phone and Googled it. If you were wondering, potato bread is made with real potatoes. After we solved the mystery, I reflected back on our experience of the last several months. When we started planning for our return to school here in Hamilton, we couldn’t Google the answers we were looking for. And “Pandemic Planning 101” wasn’t in the grad school course catalog. Fully embracing this challenge of the unknown, and working alongside a dedicated team of educators, parents, community members, and our Board of Education, we built and implemented a hybrid schedule to best meet the needs of all our learners. Check out the below resources from Rick Frens: Questions? Email Rick: A Quick Glance at the Response to COVID-19 at Carter Middle School in Warren Consolidated SchoolsAmy Hendry, Ed.S., Carter Middle School, and MASSP Board of Directors Middle Level East Representative Executive Order 2020-4: The first executive order was the Declaration of a State of Emergency which was issued by Governor Whitmer on March 10, 2020 after two cases of coronavirus were confirmed in Michigan. On March 12, Carter Middle School (CMS) received notice from the Warren Consolidated Schools (WCS) superintendent that school would be closed indefinitely. It was on this day our lives changed; students cleaned out their lockers, said goodbye to friends and began an unfamiliar journey of what would officially be our first National pandemic since the Spanish flu in 1918. COVID-19 had arrived in Michigan and was ominously here to stay. The district’s immediate priority was to establish a system/protocol to meet the needs of our 13,500 families which included servicing a 52 percent free and reduced lunch population. The weekend of March 13, 2020 the middle school principals focused on providing basic needs to our community. We collaborated, planned, and implemented a food distribution system that would deliver over 36,000 meals a week; since March, delivery has reached 63,000 meals a week. As the need for food increased during the pandemic, WCS partnered with Gleaners Community Food Bank and began hosting multiple emergency mobile units in our middle school parking lots, increasing meal delivery by the thousands. Bob Kefgen, MASSP Director of Government Relations New Law Extends MMC Flex for Current 8th Graders SB 171, a Michigan Merit Curriculum change that will definitely be of interest to middle level Principals, has been signed into law and is in effect for the upcoming scheduling season. For the last several years, students were given the flexibility to substitute an additional arts credit or CTE coursework for the second required credit of world language. That flexibility was set to expire with the current eighth grade class, but SB 171 extended it indefinitely. This will not only affect 8th graders as they schedule their freshman year courses this spring, but will also mean that, moving forward, students who complete the equivalent of one credit of high school level world language at the middle level may not need to take further world language after the middle level. Check out MASSP's Professional Development Designed with You in Mind!Don't Miss the In the Middle with You Webinar Today!MASSP is in the middle with you! You wanted learning designed specifically for you and we listened. Join us for our initial, interactive, webinar TODAY, October 13, at 4:00 p.m. where we will collaborate and share ideas surrounding “hot topics” that you are facing. We will rely on one another to generate ideas, share resources, problem resolve, and goal-set. During the initial dialogue, we will gather feedback from you to help design future learnings based on your needs and desires. We look forward to the opportunity to learn with you and our Middle-Level colleagues from across the state of Michigan. Only one hour and it is free! RECON: A Must See for Middle School Principals!Join us on October 19 & 20. This will be a fully virtual event that will allow the membership to come together to revise, revisit, re-envision and reconnect! All sessions are focused on the key issues schools are facing – Equity, Student Mental Health, High Quality Teaching and Learning in a Pandemic and School Logistics. Special Offer: Buy One, Get One Free!When registering, participants will be asked to submit the name and contact information for an additional, free participant. We hope you will join us for this amazing event! Not sure you would like a video conference? Wondering how you can make time for a two-day event when things are so busy? Does sitting in front of a screen for two days not sound like your idea of fun? MASSP's virtual event platform allows for an engaging and interactive conference experience, but if you have to step away all sessions will be on-demand to access when time allows. Check out the below video message from MASSP Executive Director, Wendy Zdeb! New Principal Connect Series: Free PD!Now more than ever, MASSP recognizes the importance of supporting those who are new to the profession or administrators who have moved schools that may appreciate some support. The pandemic has made the difficult job of a building administrator even more complex. When you are new and overwhelmed it can be difficult to find a mentor and develop a support network. Principal Connect allows you to make these important connections with statewide colleagues from your desk. Each session is free, 60 minutes via Zoom, open to middle and high school building administrators, designed for principals and assistant principals with less than 3 years of experience, focused on leadership topics, networking, and practical to build your skillset! Attend all or pick and choose from the five sessions still remaining! Click the links below to register. Note: each will be held from 9:30 a.m. - 10:30 a.m. Share your ideas!Would you be willing to write an article for our next edition of In the Middle With You? Tell us about your learning plan and how things are going. Are you finding success with a particular strategy with students, parents or staff? If you are willing to share, please sign up below to submit an article for a future edition of MASSP In the Middle with You! |