H.E.L.P.

We had a great meeting last week with Middle School parents, but I wanted to try and catch up with those of you who were unable to attend.  We covered a wide variety of topics (too many to go into here), but you might be interested in a couple of major points we made during the evening.

PowerSchool:  One of the most difficult tasks for parents as they look at PowerSchool is to balance the need to stay in touch with their children's progress and the growing need for their children to be independent.  The great temptation for all parents is to check grades as often as possible, even as often as daily.  At the other extreme are those parents (fewer to be sure) who want their kids to be independent from Day One, and only check PowerSchool at the end of each quarter.  Although there are probably students who are best served by each of the above approaches, we would recommend a middle ground.  You know your child best; however, we think that parents should be checking grades and comments on a bi-weekly basis, particularly at the start of the school year.  As with most things, you need to adjust this to fit your particular situation.  Kids are unique, and you will have to decide where your family fits best on the continuum, but we thought this would be a good starting point for most.

We also spent significant time at the parent meeting discussing preadolescent development.  It isn't possible to replicate that discussion here, but we have a great resource that you should pick up next time you are in the building.  We have purchased a copy of H.E.L.P. ("How to Enjoy Living with a Preadolescent") for each family.  This is a booklet published by the National Middle School Association, and is a great (quick) read that goes through some of the more "interesting" situations faced by the parents of middle school aged children.  The booklets are in the Middle School office--stop by and pick one up!

As always, thank you for coming to our parent meetings.  I enjoy them tremendously, and the dialogue between parents and the school is a vital part of our children's education.