SCOTIA-GLENVILLE CENTRAL SCHOOLS
Scotia-Glenville Middle School
10 Prestige Parkway
Scotia, New York 12302
(518) 382-1263
Shari Keller
Frank
Rosselli
Principal Assistant Principal
September 10, 2009
Dear Parents/Guardians:
We are so excited to have all our students back in school! It is amazing how much they grow and mature over the summer months. We are also excited to be working with each of you to form a partnership in providing a great educational experience for your son or daughter.
Our Check for Success program has been very successful over the last three years. Each year, we try to expand our efforts to be even more far reaching in providing a great educational experience for our students. Scotia-Glenville Middle School is committed to the goal of providing a safe and nurturing environment for all students so they are best able to learn. Last year, the Shared-Decision Making Committee at the middle school discussed ways to address the issue of bullying in an effort to maintain the aforementioned goals. We have some very exciting plans called Stand Up To Bullying and IÕd like you to know about a few of the things we will be doing this year to build community and respect for all.
On September 18, we will have a Òkick offÓ assembly for our students. The message will encourage students to do their best work and to be the best person they can be. We will start the assembly with President ObamaÕs speech that aired on September 8th. The PresidentÕs message also encourages students to do their best work and to persevere so they can achieve and do well in school. Please feel free to preview the speech on scotiaglenvilleschools.org. If you do not want your child to watch the PresidentÕs speech, you may opt your son or daughter out of that portion of the assembly. You may call the Main Office at 382-1263 or send the lower portion of this letter in to the Main Office no later than Thursday, September 17th. Your son/daughter will be allowed to go to an alternate location for the approximately twenty-minute speech given by President Obama.
In addition, we will be showing a DVD called End the Silence: Stop the Bullying. The DVD showcases bullying situations and shows teens that they are not powerless in the face of bullying when they decide to join together and end the silence. All too often, teens know that bullying is occurring, but they are silent bystanders and do not report it to anyone. Our message will encourage students to report bullying to adults so that appropriate action can be taken to stop it.
I hope you will mark your calendars to reserve October 30th so you can attend a presentation by a nationally known speaker, Michael Pritchard. Our middle school PTA is sponsoring a student assembly by Mr. Pritchard during the afternoon of the October 30. On that evening, we will be hosting a district-wide parent presentation by Mr. Pritchard here at the middle school from 7:00-9:00 p.m. Michael Pritchard wants to prevent the unaddressed grief of children from turning to anger, rage and violence as they grow older. Youth may not be telling us all of the funny, sad, painful, or wonderful things going on in their lives. Or maybe we're just not listening sometimes because we get so busy. Michael has listened and he has some wonderful stories to tell....stories about kids that you need to know. We have a Teen Town for our 6th graders from 4:00-6:00 p.m. and for our 7th and 8th graders from 7:00-9:00 p.m. We hope you will bring your 7th and 8th grade students to the Teen Town and stay for the presentation by Michael Pritchard! We plan to ask some of our faculty (along with some high school students) to voluntarily chaperone the October 30th Teen Town so that our middle school parents will be able to attend our district-wide presentation.
Enclosed you will also find a letter explaining how you can receive access to Edline, an electronic tool which provides valuable information from teachers as well as a weekly newsletter with information about events and activities for middle school students and their families. We regularly post information for parents on Edline so we hope you will activate your account. For those families who have parents living in different households, you will only receive one Edline account initially. For the parent that is listed on our supplemental mailing list, please call Mrs. OÕConnor at 382-1263 to activate a second account. You may also use your childÕs account to access information as well. Sixth grade students will begin activating their Edline accounts on Monday, September 14, during their science classes. New 7th and 8th grade students should report to the computer lab during tutorial or study hall to activate their accounts.
Lastly, Meet the Teacher night for the middle school will be Wednesday, September 23rd, from 7:00-9:03 p.m. You will report to your childÕs homeroom and we start promptly at 7:00 p.m. Parking is very crowded so you may want to arrive a bit early to find a good parking spot. You may also park in the parking lot at District Office, Sacandaga Elementary or the senior high school. More information will follow as we get closer to the date.
Sincerely,
Mrs. Shari Keller
Principal
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OPT OUT SLIP FOR PRESIDENT OBAMAÕS SPEECH
(Please tear off and have your son/daughter return this slip to the Main Office no later than September 17th, 2009 if you want your child to be opted out of the first part of the assembly when we will show President ObamaÕs speech to students.)
_____ I do not want my child ___________________________________ to attend the portion of the
(please print your childÕs name)
assembly that shows President ObamaÕs September 8th speech to students.