November 9, 2009:
Transitions...
It's hard to believe, but we are finishing up our second six week grading period and are just a couple of weeks away from Thanksgiving break. I can't decide if the year is truly moving that quickly, or it just feels like it when you spend your days with middle school kids!
We are transitioning now from our fall activities to our winter sports, concerts, and competitions. Our 7th grade volleyball Seahawks brought home the district championship this past weekend, and our 8th grade volleyball team lost to eventual champion Fowler Middle School - an excellent showing for both teams! Our 7th and 8th grade football Seahawks also did an outstanding job of representing Scoggins Middle School this fall. Although the season's record may not have reflected it, these young men did a terrific job of learning and growing and carried themselves with Seahawk PRIDE for the entire season. It is not always easy to come up on the short end of the scoreboard, yet the effort and determination that our boys showed throughout the entire season was exactly what we hope to see from all of our students and student-athletes.
As we move into basketball season, holiday concerts and activities, and academic competitions, I want to take a moment to encourage each of our parents and family members to come out and support all of our Seahawks in their endeavors. And along with supporting our students, please remember to support our coaches, sponsors, and teachers as well - they put in amazingly long hours with your kids every day, and are often overlooked for what they provide to our students. In middle school, sports are about far more than win-loss records. I watch our coaches and sponsors work daily to serve as positive role models, mentoring so many of our kids who need that extra push to work hard in their classes or make good behavioral choices. Middle school is a time of transitions - from sport to sport, mood to mood, class to class, and finally, child to adolescent. It can be an incredibly tough time for a kid, and the connections they are able to make with supportive and positive coaches, teachers, and staff members are far more important than any win-loss record will ever show. Please remember that and take the time to thank your student's coach, sponsor, or teacher the next time you see them.
Have a wonderful and relaxing Thanksgiving with your family and friends, and Go, you Seahawks!
October 12, 2009:
Student-Led Conferences are a Success!
As I write this, our students, parents, and teachers are winding up our very first experience with Student-Led Conferences, and what a successful day it has been! Our teachers spent the past few weeks working with their students to develop their "learning plans" for each class, as well as a personal narrative about themselves, their own learning styles, and their personal goals. It was so amazing to walk through the different conference rooms today, listening to students share their own strengths and weaknesses with their parents, and watching teachers help guide them through the process. Our parent feedback has been great all day. In fact, one parent remarked to me, "I don't remember the last time he talked to me that much!"
Parent Conference Day is a great way to share the success that our students have established already in our first six weeks. Our kids have done a wonderful job of following our Seahawk PRIDE program, and their hard work and cooperation have certainly shown themselves in our hallways (much more orderly) and restroom/water fountain areas (much cleaner). Even our dismissal-time behavior has improved greatly in just this first six weeks! Academically, our Seahawks also gave us amazing effort, with each grade level passing its classes at 90 percent or above in this first grading period. Keep up the great work!
October is always a busy month, so please check our website calendar and marquee frequently for updated info on all of our upcoming events. Here are a few you might want to mark on your calendars:
* Teen Read Week = Oct. 19-23, with Teen Night at the Library on Oct. 21 from 4 to 6 PM
* "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" theatre production = Oct. 22 @ 7 PM and Oct. 24 @ 2 PM
* Our Fall Dance = "A Bright Night at Scoggins - Neon Dance" = 5 to 6:30 (6th grade); 7 to 8:30 (7th and 8th grades) - Must be passing classes and have good behavior in order to attend!
* Orchestra Fall Concert @ Stafford MS = Oct. 26 @ 7 PM
* Choir Fall Concert @ Scoggins MS = Oct. 26 @ 7 PM
Along with these events, our Seahawk Football and Volleyball teams continue to take on all challengers on Tuesday and Thursday nights. There is always something going on at Scoggins, so please join us to cheer on our kids!
Have a great week, and Go, you Seahawks!
August 31, 2009:
Welcome Back, EXEMPLARY Seahawks!
We just completed our first week of school, and it truly couldn't have gone more smoothly, thanks to all of our great students, supportive families and amazing staff members. It was great to see so many of you again, and to welcome our newest Seahawks to the Scoggins family. At the moment, we are about 700 students strong!
As you enter the front of our building this year, you may notice that we're sporting a new banner, signifying our TEA rating as an Exemplary School for the 2008-09 school year! Although we knew that our students worked extremely hard and did well last year, it was still such an honor to find out that the staff and students had pulled off an "Exemplary" performance in their opening year. We let all of our students know on the first day what an accomplishment that was, and that we had set the bar high for them again this year - Do it Again in '09-10!
And we're setting the bar high for behavioral expectations as well by launching our Seahawk PRIDE program in our second year! A team of our staff members received special training last spring and this summer about ways to support Positive Behavior, and the PRIDE program is the result. PRIDE stands for Perseverance, Respect, Integrity, Determination, and Excellence. Each day in our first week, our Seahawks watched teacher-made videos about each of these qualities and then brainstormed about what those qualities would look like in action at school. Ask your student about the PRIDE program, and the PRIDE tickets that he or she may earn from staff members who see him or her exhibiting these behaviors throughout the day. I have been so impressed at how quickly our students are catching on already!
Also, I'd like to thank all of our families for their support, especially in this first week back to school. We know how tough it is for kids (and parents!) to make the transition back from summer relaxation to schoolwork and schedules. We also appreciate your patience as you drop off and pick up your students in the mornings and afternoons. Because we've added nearly 100 students already compared to last year, our carpool lines may seem a bit longer, especially in this first week. We so appreciate your patience and cooperation as we try to ensure that all of our Seahawks make it out of the building and home safely, as well as ensuring that we're serving as good neighbors to those who live in our surrounding neighborhoods.
And I'm extremely proud and excited to invite you once again to please join us to "Back the Blue" as we swing into Seahawk Volleyball and Football action this week! Scoggins Band, Orchestra, and Theatre meetings are already on the calendar for this week, too. And if it all still seems a bit much, and you're missing summer...remember...Labor Day is just around the corner!
Go, you Seahawks!
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