It has been a fun week. The kids looked great on Monday dressed up in all sorts of terrific costumes for Halloween. The faculty all came as me, which was quite something. There was Bill as coach, Bill as principal, and many wore slogans of some of my favorite sayings, “There is always room for one more” and “Do more than your share.” Made my day! I imagine it was also interesting for our students, who were metaphorically surrounded by “their principal,” no matter where they looked! 

 

Last week, Abby Johnson, our Middle School Counselor, gave a terrific talk on how to encourage independence in your adolescent. This is an important topic and area of growth during the Sixth through Eighth Grade years. Abby shared a number of valuable mindsets that may be helpful, as well as some day-to-day tips. Here is a link to a recording of the talk (Passcode: 4z?m.vWq) and to the slides she used. 

 

Abby is also inviting parents to join her in continued conversation about raising Middle Schoolers. This is intended to be a “parent support group,” which she will facilitate should parents be interested. I have put information from Abby below. There is a great deal of parenting wisdom in our community. We hope this will be a good forum for support, conversation, and sharing. 

 

If you have any questions, or if I can be helpful in any way, please do not hesitate to contact me.

 

Best,

Bill

 

Thank you to those of you who were able to join us on October 25 at our SPEAK event, where we discussed fostering independence in Middle School students. It was wonderful bringing so many of you together where we could share ideas, strategies, and tips that have been working in your homes. Along with that, it was a safe place to express concerns, ask questions, and gather insight from others.  

 

As mentioned at the event, I would like to invite you to a parent coffee where we can continue the conversation on relationships with your Middle School students and any other topics you feel are important to discuss. This will be a discussion, not a presentation. Topics will be generated by the group at each meeting. Please RSVP and join me on December 2, 2022. 

 

Date: Friday, December 2 

Time: 9:00 a.m.

Location: Smith Center Alumni Conference Room
RSVP now.