MIDDLE SCHOOL messages

FROM MIDDLE SCHOOL

September 10, 2020

Dear DAA Middle School Families,

We are already at the end of the second week of school! Students and staff are settling into the routine and shifting their focus to their content areas. We appreciate your support as we worked through all of the login and technical issues, and hope the majority of those are behind us now. We are so proud of our school community as we reflect back and look forward to the rest of the school year

Color House Days

Wednesday (9/16) and Thursday (9/17) this week will be our first COLOR HOUSE day! Students are able to wear a t-shirt of their house color and may also wear jeans or their uniform bottoms (please no leggings or jeggings, athletic wear, or jeans with rips).

Back to School Night! - September 14th @ 6pm

Back to School Night at DAA Middle is on September 14 at 6pm. We look forward to seeing you via Zoom. We are so excited to have you meet with your child’s team of teachers as they discuss what curriculum will look like in their classrooms and virtually throughout the year! Click here to see the information and Zoom links for the evening.

Zoom Expectations

Remote Learning Highlights

Remote Learning Highlights - (see the Middle School Handbook (p.34) for the full list)

All students are expected to be on time for all of their lessons, if not they will be marked as tardy.
All students cameras should be turned on for the duration of an online lesson, this is a safeguarding issue.
- Students will be removed from the class and marked absent if the camera is not turned on
  - If a student is having trouble with their camera, inform the teacher.
Students must use their correct name in order to be allowed into a lesson to ensure they are attending the correct lesson.

Attendance While at Home

School attendance is very important, and teachers take attendance at the beginning of class. It is important that students are on time to help keep the flow of the classroom discussion. If a student is having connectivity issues, please contact the teacher directly to inform them.

I’m Having Technical Issues!

Many of the sign in issues have been taken care of, but if you are still having trouble, please make sure to raise a ticket after the teacher has been contacted. Simply send an email to studenthelpdesk@gemsdaa.net and they will help resolve the issue.

Our A/B Schedule

We have now made it through an entire rotation, so we start on Sunday (Sept 13) with our week 1 schedule, meaning we’ll see the A Group on campus.

Social Media Safety

In our highly connected world, many social media platforms exist such as TIK TOK, Instagram, YouTube, WhatsApp and Facebook. These are mostly helpful to our lives, but at times, can also be destructive. Recently, there have some extremely graphic videos that have been circulating, and these have come to attention of our Safeguarding Team, and we always want to ensure Social Media Safety of our students. We recommend that you regularly check-in with your children about what they are viewing through social media platforms, what they share, and what they engage with.

Here are some helpful websites:

Online safety tips every parent should know

Kids and social media: Online safety tips every parent should knowSocial media safety for kids is a concern for parents. Here are a few online safety tips to help teens and parents navigate social media.

What are the basic social media rules for middle schoolers?

What are the basic social media rules for middle schoolers?What are the basic social media rules for middle schoolers? Get expert advice and tips from Common Sense Media editors.

Practical Tips for Easing Kids' Social Media Anxiety

Practical Tips for Easing Kids' Social Media AnxietyCommon Sense Media improves the lives of kids and families by providing independent reviews, age ratings, & other information about all types of media.

Parent Login Information for PowerSchool

Information for parent logins for Powerschool will be ready to distribute in the near future. In the meantime, I hope you have received an email with the contacts for your child’s teacher that were sent the morning of September 10. If not, please contact s.hole_daa@gemsedu.com who will be able to provide you with your child’s list.

I hope you all stay well,

Justin Reynolds

Principal, DAA Middle School

MS Counselor's Corner

MS Counseling Blog. Your MS Counseling team would love to stay connected with you in order to provide as much support as possible during these times where we are more distanced than usual. If you are interested, please follow the link below to subscribe to the MS Counseling blog.

https://daamscounselors.blogspot.com

MS ART

GRADE8Art-Eyes.MP4

Grade 8 2D Art students have started their first drawing unit with portraits and human eyes. They are looking at correct proportions with a focus on the art elements of line, shape and value. A fantastic start to the semester.

MS on Social

FROM THE Library

The Middle School library is open and ready for checkout. Students are able to request a book for delivery to their classroom, come to the library as usual or for remote learners we are happy to schedule book pick up for you. Please follow the link to our Libguide to assist you. If you have books still checked out from last school year, now is a great time to start bringing them back. We will be sending out email reminders starting next week about books that are still out. Please take note of the book and return it. If it cannot be found, reach out to the library and we will assist you.

Here are a few of the new titles we have added over the summer.

(Click on the cover for more information)

MS RESOURCES

PowerSchool is our student information management system which houses grades and marks for middle and high school. PowerSchool Admin Team will email all MS and HS parents the access ID information for their child by early next week.