MSC Principal Newsletter
October 23, 2020

Hybrid Week #1:  It was great to have students back at MSC this past week! Students adapted wonderfully to procedures and protocols put in place to maintain social distance and prevent exposure to the virus. Class sizes were small and very productive. Looking forward to week #2 as students will be familiar with what to expect and what to do. I’m very grateful to all parents, families, students, and staff for all the support and cooperation with getting kids back in the building. We are stronger together!

Precautions:  There are several steps we are taking to make sure classrooms and common areas (halls, cafeteria, restrooms) stay sanitized and safe for students and staff. Teachers are spraying and wiping down desks in between classes, students are following floor markings in the halls to maintain social distancing, custodians are sanitizing surfaces in restrooms, doorknobs, handrails by steps, and tables in the cafeteria in between lunches to lessen the chance of exposure. Water fountains have been shut off (students were provided water bottles and are provided bottled water when needed) and lockers are not being used to reduce the chances of exposure as well. All classrooms are cleaned and sanitized nightly with a building deep clean occurring on Wednesdays when all students are working from home.

Parent-Teacher Conferences:  Conferences will be held on the evening of Thursday, November 5th from 3p to 8:30p. All conferences will be held virtually with your student’s team of teachers unless other arrangements are made. Spots are limited, so please sign up as soon as you can. Generally speaking, conferences are great opportunities to address concerns and issues students are having in classes. If you know your student is doing very well with no issues, do not feel obligated to sign up unless you have specific questions. Thank you in advance for signing up and participating!

Grade cards:  Grade cards were sent digitally to ProgressBook accounts on Friday, October 23rd. Access to grades will be a matter of logging into your student’s account. If you need assistance, please feel free to contact the school for help. Parent-teacher conferences are scheduled for November 5th, so if you’d like to discuss your child’s grades more in-depth, please sign up for a conference.

ProgressBook:  Please be sure to check your child’s grades and for any missing assignments on ProgressBook. If you do not have access, email [email protected] for login help. We are happy to assist as well, just call or email.

Have a great weekend!
Mr. Brown, MSC Principal

MSC Principal Newsletter
October 9, 2020


Wednesdays:  Just to clarify, Wednesdays are not days students will receive direct/live instruction from teachers. Students should still check each class on their schedule for any assigned work. Some, but not all, teachers will post attendance forms as a way to check to see if students checked their google class for work while some will take completed work as proof of checking in for work. Please have your child sign any attendance forms posted just to be safe.


Three Day Week:  Next week (Oct. 12-Oct.16) will be a short week for students. There will be school Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. Thursday and Friday will be days off for students and staff with no instruction occurring online. Wednesday will be a day students check classes for work, but there will be no live instruction. Feel free to email or call the building if you have questions about next week. We are happy to assist!


Parent-Teacher Conferences:  Conferences will be held on the evening of Thursday, November 5th from 3p to 8:30p. All conferences will be held virtually with your student’s team of teachers unless other arrangements are made. Spots are limited, so please sign up as soon as you can. Generally speaking, conferences are great opportunities to address concerns and issues students are having in classes. If you know your student is doing very well with no issues, do not feel obligated to sign up unless you have specific questions. Thank you in advance for signing up and participating!



October 19th Restart:  Students will be returning to the building on Monday, October 19th. The first day is for A schedule students only. Please know the schedule your student is following. A schedule students will attend school Mondays and Tuesdays while B schedule students will attend school on Thursdays and Fridays. The district will be sending reminders of your child’s assigned schedule on Friday, October 9th. . I will also be forwarding several items next week regarding schedules, protocols, things to watch for, and the like. Please don’t hesitate to call or email with questions. We are happy to assist you in answering all the questions you have. It goes without saying that we are extremely excited to get kids back in the building! We will follow all safety guidelines and protocols in doing so as well.


ProgressBook:  Please be sure to check your child’s grades and for any missing assignments on ProgressBook. If you do not have access, email [email protected] for login help. We are happy to assist as well, just call or email.



Have a great weekend!
Mr. Brown, MSC Principal

MSC Principal Newsletter
September 25, 2020


MAP Testing:  Big thanks to students and families for completing fall MAP tests over the past two weeks. Over 90% of students have completed them, and we are finishing up make-up tests next week. We will test again this winter and will look forward to seeing a lot of growth from the fall test. Thanks again!

9/30 Waiver Day: A reminder to families that students will have Wednesday, September 30th off from school as staff will be involved in professional development activities throughout the day. This date was changed recently, so please make note of it. Teachers will not be assigning work that day.

Attendance:  Just a reminder that attendance is taken every period by each classroom teacher. When students miss classes, their names are sent to the office, and time missed is calculated into their overall attendance profile. If you receive notices from the school regarding absences, this is the reason for many students. We are required to account for student attendance and want to be as accurate as possible. Thank you for your continued support with this effort!

Guidance:  Mr. Coleman, MSC’s guidance counselor, has a Google Classroom set up on Wednesdays each week to meet with students on an array of topics or to simply touch base. He is very student-centered and a great resource for students who may need some support or guidance. If students ever want to contact him directly, they are welcome to do so by email ([email protected]) or by phone at 614-836-4957.

Art Displayed:  Please check out the school website to see pictures of some recent artwork that has been turned into Mrs. Cox, our art teacher. I’ve seen a few examples of student work and am thoroughly impressed! The pics will also be posted to our school Facebook page. Please check them out!

Show off those masks!: Next week I will be on the lookout for some stylish, creative, silly, or colorful face masks pictures to post on our school website and Facebook page. If you don’t mind putting yourself out there, please send a picture to a teacher to share. I will join in the fun as well!

Have a restful and relaxing weekend!  
Mr. Brown

MSC Principal Newsletter
September 18, 2020

Week two of remote learning is in the books! Just a reminder that we will continue to instruct remotely until October 19th. This coincides with the beginning of the second grading period, so hopefully, we can begin the hybrid model and get kids back in the building. While we understand the safety measures we need to take, we sure do miss seeing students in person!

Communication
Students, families, and teachers have been doing a fantastic job of adapting to remote learning, and all the tools required to do so. We encourage students and families to ask questions whether by phone or email. Just know while teachers are teaching classes through the day, they may not be able to return calls or emails right away. Please allow 24 hours for responses as teachers get several calls and emails during the course of the day. Most of our staff, including myself, have families (with kids in online learning) and reserve evenings and weekends for time with them, however, we will always respond to calls and emails within 24 hours otherwise. Thank you in advance for your understanding. We appreciate all you are doing at home to support student learning!

Attendance
It is vitally important the students follow their schedules and log into classes on time. Teachers are taking attendance each period, so if a student is a no show, it will be counted as an unexcused absence. By law, this is what we are mandated to do. We will be very flexible with any out of the ordinary circumstances that impact a student’s schedule. Parents and families only need to communicate any issues with teachers or the office staff. Parents will continue to get notices when students miss classes on a given day.


MSC Sports
Our girls' volleyball teams were in action this week against Wilson Middle School (Newark). The 7th-grade girls won the first and third games to win their match, while the 8th-grade girls lost two close games and the overall match. Both teams showed a lot of grit, hustle, and a positive mindset. They have lots of fun and are entertaining to watch! Our 8th-grade football team played Brookpark Middle School (South-Western City) this week and had a strong showing. They won 56-12 with strong performances from Zyon Brown and Rashaad King. These student-athletes are fun to watch and put a lot of time and effort into their respective sports!

MSC Social Media
Please be sure to look us up on Facebook, Twitter, and on the district website. There will be pictures and news concerning happenings here at MSC. Thanks in advance!

John Brown, MSC Principal

MSC Principal Newsletter
September 11, 2020

The first full week of remote online learning went smoothly overall! Thanks to all students, parents, and teachers who all made this week go as smoothly as it did. There are a few important things to remember as we head into the second week of school:

1) Students MUST login to all classes, including FOCUS, each day of the week.

2) Students need to sign in on the Google Form each teacher provides for their Google classroom (this tool tracks the time each student signs in).

3) Attendance is taken for each class on a students’ schedule, if they miss a class, it is reported (We are required by law to track and report attendance).

4) Students are prohibited from taking pictures of other students along with posting pictures on social media. This violates our student code of conduct.

5) Students must check their student email every day, throughout the day.

Please be sure to follow all guidelines set forth within the district Restart Guide and Code of Conduct. Following these guidelines will make remote learning a more enjoyable and safe experience for all students. If you experience any difficulties with Chromebooks, feel free to contact the school at 614-836-4957 or email our technology staff at [email protected]

MSC volleyball and football teams were in action this week. Our volleyball team had matches with Gahanna as our 7th-grade team prevailed in their match, while our 8th-grade team came up short in a hard-fought match. Our football teams had games against Newark as our 7th-grade team lost in the closing seconds 6-0 and our 8th-grade team won convincingly, 32-0. Please check out our school webpage, Facebook page (Groveport Madison Middle School Central), and Twitter page (@MSC_Cruisers) to see pictures from this week's match-ups.

Parents are welcome to check out daily morning announcements that are posted with each Focus class. They are pretty informal but give you an idea of what students are hearing day today regarding the activities and events at school (along with a lot of encouragement). Have a great weekend and know our staff is only a call or email away from assisting you with any questions or concerns. We are happy to assist you in any way we can!

September 4, 2020
 
It was a very productive week at MSC! Approximately 80% of all families picked up their Chromebooks and schedules. When it comes to FinalForms, 93% of all families have completed all the required forms and signatures. If you have not picked up your student’s Chromebook and other materials (textbooks, schedule, Google classroom codes), please call the school and make arrangements to do so. Better late than never, we are here to help! Thank you for the support with completing FinalForms information and picking up student materials.

MSC utilizes a variety of tools to communicate important events, dates, and times to our parents and families. Our school web page will be much more utilized and active with newsletters, updates, pictures, and other useful information. You can find the school web page on the gocruisers.org website by going to the school's link and clicking on Middle School Central. Our Facebook page can be found at Groveport Madison Middle School Central. The same updates and information you’ll find on our school page will be posted on the Facebook page. Please “like” the page and begin following! We are also on Twitter at handle @MSC_Cruisers. Facebook and Twitter will be used to share more of the day to day happenings at MSC to give parents a good sense of all the teaching, learning, and mindset work being done. Please check us out!

Just a reminder that Tuesday, September 8th will be the first day for online instruction for students. Students will be expected to follow their schedules and check into each of their classes via Google Classroom and Google Meets (links provided by teachers). Please be sure to familiarize yourself with how to use these tools and feel free to reach out to teachers if you have any questions. Each MSC teacher recorded a welcome/orientation video that is posted on our school web page. Please check these out to meet teachers and get a sense of expectations! Have a restful and relaxing Labor Day weekend. Looking forward to seeing students online next week!

Sincerely,
John Brown, MSC Principal

August 28, 2020


The countdown is on! Chromebooks will be distributed next week to students and families, along with other materials and resources that will be useful to begin the school year in an informed and organized way. Next week’s schedule is as follows:

Monday, August 31st: 6th grade pickup
Tuesday, September 1st: NO PICKUPS
Wednesday, September 2nd: 8th grade pickup
Thursday, September 3rd: 7th grade pickup
*All pickup times are from 2-6 PM

Beginning on Monday, August 31st, teacher links will be accessible on our school web page. These links will include video orientations and information regarding what to look for and to expect. Please check them out and take the opportunity to meet the teachers your child will be working with this year. Teachers have been working non-stop with resources and tools to use with students to make remote learning as engaging and productive as possible. MSC teachers are eager to do the very best job they can by providing students the best instruction possible.

A big THANK YOU  to parents and families for completing required forms on FinalForms to begin the year. This information is essential to making sure we have everything needed to communicate or reach out when necessary.  Looking forward to seeing students and families next week at Chromebook pickup! Have a great weekend!  


John Brown, MSC Principal