I always appreciate this week in October when we have a few days to stop what we are doing academically and take stock of where you are. As many seniors travel across the country to look at colleges, or stay close to home writing application essays, teachers, parents and students alike can step back from the first six weeks of school and ask, "where am I!?" To that end, both mid-trimester reports and parent-teacher conferences serve an important role.

Sometimes when those progress grades come out and the result is not as good as hoped, a parent might comment, "Why didn't I hear about this sooner?" Keep in mind, that many assessments come in right at the end of the reporting period and have just been graded. Plus, without piling up a lot of early assessments (not good teaching practice generally) teachers really do need a few weeks to see what a student can do in their class and to assess whether or not there is some sort of pattern that warrants concern. Thus, the mid-trimester report is the early warning, and there is time left in the trimester to remedy a developing problem. We follow mid-tri 1 reports with parent-teacher conferences so that the combination of written and verbal feedback tells the story of how a student has performed in the first six weeks of school.

Together, this "pause in the action" allows us all to re-group, reaffirm positive practices, adjust some practices that haven't worked as well, and move on to the next stretch of school that runs from now to Thanksgiving break.

In the end what matters most is open communication between the school and families. I would also encourage any parent who wants to initiate a quick check-in with a classroom teacher to simply send an e-mail. You could write something as basic as "I just wanted to check in to see how [student name] is doing in your class. I know in the past he/she has a bit of a mid-year slump and was wondering if you have seen any signs of that." We appreciate taking a team approach and if you have one of those teens who doesn't tell you much (pretty typical actually), you would certainly put your own mind at ease if you do a periodic "temperature check" with a teacher, especially in an area that you know to be challenging for your student. A teacher can then share grading information, an anecdote, or (we hope) a reassuring word. If there is an issue, we can address it promptly.