This being the first newsletter of the school year, I would like to acknowledge our school staff and Home and School Association for helping make our September opening focused on allowing students to begin their academic endeavors at MMS. I also appreciate the efforts of our staff and parent community that were directed at making Back-to-School Night a great opportunity for families to meet teachers and hear about plans for the year. Thank you to those who answered my email and provided comments on what was great about back to school night, and what could be improved. Those comments, with names redacted, have already been shared with the MMS staff.



As you know from our school calendar, October 1 is the beginning of five full weeks of uninterrupted learning. With five day weeks until the beginning of November, it is incredibly important that students remain healthy, rested, and ready to learn, as a substantial portion of the foundation for the rest of the school year is built during this time.



I hope that as a family you have had the opportunity to set goals for this academic year. The inclusion of adolescents in academic goal setting discussions, and subsequent frequent goal monitoring conversations, is one way to enhance overall student achievement. While all learners should have goals, so should a school. As a building the 2012-2013 MMS building goals are as follows:



1. The Maplewood Middle School staff will integrate the IB learner profile and Areas of Context (Interaction) into student learning experiences.



2. All students, during every lesson, will be able to identify the expected instructional outcomes of the given lesson, and will receive timely and specific feedback on their progress.



3. All students, during every lesson, will be intellectually engaged in challenging learning experiences that are responsive to their leaning profiles and level of readiness.



These goals will both guide our professional learning and direct the planning of classroom learning experiences. As the school year continues, I will develop each goal in these monthly reports and explain what the work associated with the goals looks like in our classrooms.