Greetings, Middle School Families!

Spirit week was so much fun this week! Congratulations to all the students who won the class contests!

We are still working our way through the Justice Requires Restraint novel study unit with literature circles in all grades. This week, 7th and 8th grade began their study of rhetoric and rhetorical devices’ 6th grade worked on point of view, tone, and mood; and 5th grade worked on a compare/contrast paragraph. Next week, 7/8 will continue with rhetoric and dialectical journal responses and 5/6 will continue story elements and literary devices.

In US History, students engaged in an exciting and energetic Diplomatic Conference simulation surrounding the war of 1812. Each small group was assigned one of 7 delegations, and students from each delegation had to negotiate with the others to create proposals. This was great practice in realistic policy making and diplomacy. Looking ahead, we will begin the Era of Good Feelings next week. In Ancient Civilizations, students are continuing with Ancient India, and we focused mainly on Ancient Indian religions this week. 6th grade also engaged in a team building exercise on Thursday while the 5th graders were at their retreat. We will be wrapping up Ancient India in the next two weeks.

May Crowning: Please see emails from the school regarding May Crowning information.
Retreats: Please see emails sent by me (8th grade) and Mrs. Martinez (7th grade) for information.
Portfolios: An email was sent out to 8th grade parents with the presentation times. Please be on the lookout for more information soon. Also, while students do have daily class time to work on their projects, they should be working on their trifold at home. If they haven’t already, students also need to be sending out requests for character letters. Please check in with your student in regards to their progress on this.

Reminders & Important Dates:

Thursday, 5/3: May Crowning (8th grade 12pm dismissal)
Friday, 5/4: Early dismissal, 7th and 8th grade retreats
Week of 5/7: 6th grade camp
Friday, 5/18: Teacher experience (evening)
Friday, 5/25: 8th grade portfolio presentations
Monday, 5/28: Memorial Day no school
Wednesday, 5/30: Field Day
Friday, 6/1: Early dismissal, sports awards, all middle school dance
Tuesday, 6/5: 8th grade graduation dinner (evening)
Wednesday, 6/6: 8th grade graduation, early dismissal
Thursday, 6/7: Early dismissal
Friday, 6/8: Last day of school! Mass and 10am dismissal