Spring sports have begun, and so has the rain, just like clockwork. Though we still have a long stretch of school until summer, and the first day of school feels like the distant past, this is a moment when transitions feel significant. More than halfway through the year, students have settled into routines so well that those initial days of not finding your locker or wondering about that new teacher are long past. For some of our eighth graders, they already have high school on their radar as they look ahead. It is always a time of change in our building, and this sweet spot in the middle of the year is no different.

We’re excited to share the learning we see with all our students when we see you on April 15–17 for our second round of parent conferences, this time with the students present at the conferences and leading the way. Please plan to arrive for your conference a few minutes early. Conferences last only 30 minutes and are scheduled back to back all day, so we appreciate your being on time.

For a window into some of the excitement in the building: celebrations will be underway today to celebrate Pi Day, 3/14, in our sixth-grade math classes, eighth graders just came off a successful Film Night where they showcased their original short films, and seventh graders are gearing up for their Theater Scenes Showcase next week. There are a lot of costumed seventh graders running through our halls in preparation!

Parent Partnership Meeting
We were sorry to cancel last month’s Parent Partnership meeting, so we’re looking forward to seeing all of you next month on Tuesday, April 7 from 8:15⁠–9:15 a.m. in person in the Middle School library and on Zoom. We’ll be hearing from Ian Groves from Atom Theory Prevention who works with our seventh and eighth graders about alcohol and other drugs and healthy decision making. We strongly encourage all seventh-grade families to attend this session, as it’s important for you to have context of what Ian will be sharing with students. Even if you have heard from Ian before, please join us as he always updates parents on the landscape of drug use with teens and offers advice about how to have conversations with your children about substance use. Please join us in person or on Zoom as you are able. We will record this meeting as we do all our Parent Partnership meetings.