Almost That Time Again

Wow! Did the summer fly past, or is it just me? Hard to believe we'll be back in school in just three weeks. But, hey, I'm excited about it. Lots of changes taking place. First, Mr. Pillar is our new principal. He has some great ideas for making JCMS even better and I'm looking forward to working with him. He'll be assisted by Mrs. Carroll-Frye, of course, as well as Ms. Willis, who is joining us from North.



On the Blue Team front, while Ms. Martin and I are sad to see Mrs. Helmer leave, we were happy to learn she will be teaching science at Batchelor this fall. Meanwhile, we'll be joined by Mrs. Scott, who many of you know from her Spanish class, and Dr. Marchese will also be joining our 7th grade team as we are adding the ENL program to the Blue Team. Sadly, Mrs. Qualley will not be with the Blue Team this year, but you'll see her working with the Green Team.



Returning 8th graders will notice several changes to the way we do things on the team this year. No, home groups are not going away, but we intend to make use of them in some innovative ways. The Blue Team teachers are meeting next week to plan some of these changes. More on that in an upcoming blog.



How was your summer? I spent the first part immersed in the World Cup. Having the Spanish Football scarf hanging in the front of my room all last year paid off as La Roja finally won the World Cup! Several returning 8th graders can look forward to prizes as they correctly picked the Spaniards to win. But of course they would, given how many Barcelona players were in the starting eleven! I have to admit, though, that two players from hated Real Madrid were among my favorites - Sergio Ramos and Iker Cassilas were standouts!



I've also read quite a few books about Afghanistan and Pakistan this summer, so the recently leaked documents (you have been following the news, I hope) contained no surprises. If any incoming 7th graders are reading this, prepare to learn a lot about the various "-stans" this year.



Finally, I've also been reading quite a bit about things like RTI, PLCs, and other acronyms for exciting developments in education. I hope to work closely with Mr. Duvall and Mrs. Fox as we advance and improve social studies education for JCMS students. One such improvement will be an additional focus on current events this year.



Well, that was quite a bit to digest. Get rested and I'll see you on the 18th of August!