The Middle Matters

Staying Connected...

...to parents

• Thanks to all of you who came to Back-To-School Night and the Grade Level Orientations.  Here is a link to the slides from the orientations. 
• Don't forget to check the Middle School Virtual Lobby for MS information and links.  Go to 'QUICK LINKS' on the GA homepage, scroll down to VLE, enter msparent for username and PATRIOT (case sensitive) as the password.
• Follow the division updates on Twitter @middle_ga.  Stay tuned as we will try a Parent Twitter Chat later this year.

...to the larger community

• The Middle School students donated 60 copies of the summer reading book Wonder to Sutton Elementary School in Houston, Texas. Kyra Dwinell, GA alumnus, daughter of Barb Dwinell, is a teacher at the school and will be using the books for their Reading Olympics program.
• Students are collecting jars of peanut butter and jelly this month to go in boxes for Thanksgiving
• For the Thanksgiving Food Drive, we will be collecting the following items by grade:
• Sixth grade = canned vegetables
• Seventh grade = rice
• Eighth grade = stuffing and cranberry sauce

...cross-divisionally

Middle School Note-Taking Project

My name is Kaela Griswold and I am a Junior at GA. As the school year kicks into gear, I am writing to inform you of a new note-taking program I am developing with the Middle School, alongside my project advisor Mr. Mark Stephens. I’ve been working to design a program to evaluate and assist individual Middle School students with their note taking skills, which I believe will improve their study habits and self-confidence in Middle School and beyond. This is the implementation stage of an Academy Scholars Project on which I’ve been working since my freshman year. The Academy Scholars program is directed by Ms. Sue Negro, US math teacher. It allows a student to work independently on designing and implementing a project in an area of particular interest to the student. Once I transitioned into high school, I noticed that many of my classmates had a hard time adapting because they weren’t using note-taking techniques that benefitted their personal styles of learning. I’m fascinated with the way that people learn and I believe that individualizing their note-taking techniques can really help students. I will be consulting with all Middle School departments that involve note taking so I know what teachers will be expecting of their students. I will be working with students one-on-one or in very small groups, and we will try to schedule meeting times that will address the needs of each student. This note taking program will be very individualized during its early months. I will be working with different classes, and an assortment of other students chosen by the teachers I work with. If you have any further questions, feel free to send me an email via Mr. Stephens. I am very excited to get this program started.