1. W ELCOME F IELD F AMILIES !

2. ? TRANSITION QUIZ? Name one of the TOP FOUR challenges of students moving from elementary to middle school?

3. LOCKERS! Getting their locker open, grabbing their class binders and getting back to class before the bell rings…. All in 3 Minutes! Summer Practice can HELP!

4. T HIS W E BELIEVE… ( A DAPTED FROM AMLE) E SSENTIAL A TTRIBUTES OF A M IDDLE S CHOOL … Developmentally Responsive … We utilize the nature of young adolescents to guide all decisions. Challenging …We hold all members of our learning community to high expectations Empowering …We provide students knowledge and skills to take responsibility for their life and learning. Equitable …We believe all students have the right to a challenging and relevant learning environment

5. O N T O M IDDLE S CHOOL … Bell schedule/ 7 - 51 minute periods Lunch & Recess -40 minutes total Lockers Weekly newsletters Daily B.E.S.T. class- Basic Enrichment Skills Time Daily Advisory and 2 nd Step lessons Strong community STARRR- Stop Think and Act Responsible Respectful and Ready Developmentally Responsive

6. D AILY SCHEDULE… School starts at 8:05 and ends at 2:35 8:05-8:56- First Period 8:59-9:50- Second Period 9:53-10:44 – Third Period (Specialists) 10:47-11:10 – Advisory 11:13-11:51 – Recess/Lunch 11:56- 12:47- Fifth Period 12:50-1:41- Sixth Period (Specialists) 1:44-2:35 – Fifth grade B.E.S.T period SEVEN 51 minute periods with 3 minutes passing time

7. S PECIALIST C HOICES …. Field students take a daily specialist course and choose three specialists classes which meet on a three day rotation. ___ Media Technology ___ Physical Education ___ Art Choices ___ Spanish Foundations ___ French Foundations ___ Beginner Band ___ Varsity Band (experience) ___ Beginning Guitar ___ Intermediate Guitar ___ Beginner Strings ___ Varsity Strings (experience) ___ Concert Choir ___ Madrigals (audition)

8. D EVELOPMENTALLY R ESPONSIVE Daily Advisory 25 minute period before lunch aimed at building meaningful connections within a smaller class Second Step-Social/Emotional curriculum Facilitated weekly (school wide) during Advisory. Topics include Empathy, Communication, Problem Solving, Bullying, Substance Abuse and Emotion Regulation strategies. Student Voice- Student Council, Upstanders, Student Newsletter (after school opportunity) Multiple Learning Approaches - Active, Relevant and Technology infused classrooms

9. ? TRANSITION QUIZ? Name another one of the TOP FOUR CHALLENGES of students moving from elementary to middle school

10. FRIENDS… Will I have friends? Will people tease/bully me? Will my friends be in my classes/advisory? What about gossip/social media issues? What about dating? Be an AWARE parent…know who your child is spending time with and set reasonable limits on social media. Ask questions and then LISTEN …

11. CHALLENGING… AVID Strategies infused in Classrooms MUSIC Opportunities Cornell Notes WICOR... Critical Thinking-WHY/HOW Socratic Seminars Philosophical chairs Technology Integration Digital textbooks Edumodo-classroom Facebook Classroom IPads for deeper exploration and differentiation

12. EMPOWERING…. Interdisciplinary Projects Student Leadership/Collaboration with Teachers, staff and PTA Cooperative Learning/Tasks- me to we… Increased Student responsibility/ownership Grades Friends Time/Interests Values/Goals

13. ? TRANSITON QUIZ? Name another of the TOP FOUR challenges students experience in middle school…

14. HOMEWORK…. Middle School expectations will change…. Increased Rigor/Pace More independence/responsibility Students need increased self awareness of their strengths and areas needing improvement Parents can help… Provide consistent time, place and structure to their homework schedule. Check the Parent Portal regularly Encourage your child to self advocate by setting up time to talk with their teacher if they are confused about their grade or an assignment

15. S TUDENT A THLETIC O PPORTUNITIES Field 6-8 th graders are invited to participate in school sponsored extracurricular sports… Fall (Early Sept. - Mid Oct.) Girls Volleyball, Boys Flag Football Winter (Late Nov. - Mid Feb.) Girls and Boys Basketball Spring (Late March - Early May) Girls Softball, Boys Baseball

16. ? TRANSITION QUIZ ? Name the FINAL of the TOP FOUR CHALLENGES students face in middle school…

17. PARENTS! Expect TOO much Too nosy Too Strict Too many lectures Too many rules/regulations/limits This time period is often a tug of war related to POWER/CONTROL. They want independence AND relationship, freedom AND limits, control AND guidance… All of this becomes a complicated balancing act

18. RESOURCES : M IDDLE S CHOOL T RANSITION … Websites : http://www.amle.org/Publications/OnTarget/Tran sitioningtoMiddleSchool/tabid/313/Default.aspx http://www.amle.org/Publications/OnTarget/Tran sitioningtoMiddleSchool/tabid/313/Default.aspx http://pbskids.org/itsmylife/school/middleschool Books: Parenting Teens with Love and Logic (by J.Faye) Boundaries with Teens (by J. Townsend)

19. FOR COMING! Please take a minute to fill out a comment card with any questions that did not get answered tonight and someone will contact you. We welcome your feedback as well!