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November 26, 2007

Dear Families of 7th/8th Graders,

                  I hope you all had a wonderful break and a joyful Thanksgiving with friends and family. Students were working hard the week before Thanksgiving and were well-deserving of a long break! We gathered around an artistic centerpiece and shared snacks and oral history stories the day before break. The amount of history that this group of students gathered and pieced together (without really realizing it) was amazing. The stories were written in creative short story format, with details from their imagination and research added to the information gathered from interviews of those who have lived in this area for a long time. I was truly impressed and entertained by the final projects.

                  I hope you all have received 1st trimester report cards. If you haven’t, they should be arriving shortly via mail. If you have any questions regarding the report cards, please feel free to contact your child’s advisor by phone or by email.

             The Baltimore Xchange is on and I need to confirm host families as soon as possible! Students from ConneXions Community Leadership Academy will be visiting us the week after the winter holiday break (January 6-12). Please contact Lauren ASAP and/or write a note at the bottom of this page if you think you’ll be able to host a student or two. Families of 8th graders are especially encouraged to host students since 8th graders will be staying with families in Baltimore during the spring trip. Thank you for making this enriching experience possible! More details to come soon!

                  As we swing into a new trimester, please indicate below whether or not you want your child to show you this homework sheet and letter each week. If you indicate that you would like to see it, I will check your child’s homework sheet for your signature each week and this will become part of their responsibility for this class. Please remember that the homework and this letter are always posted on my website by the end of the day on Monday of each week.

                  Have a wonderful week.

All the best,

Lauren Beigel, Middle School Humanities Teacher

lauren@compass-school.org,  home phone: (802)387-5324

____Yes, I would like my child to show me this homework sheet each week and I will sign it to indicate that I’ve 

         seen it.

____No, I do not feel it is necessary for my child to show me this homework sheet each week.

Student Signature __________________________Parent/Guardian Signature________________________

January 16, 2007

Dear Families,

• Thank you to those of you who participated in Mid-Trimester Parent-Teacher-Student Conferences. We got a lot of positive feedback about meeting at this time in the trimester and hope to continue doing this in the future. If you were not able to attend a conference last Friday,  please contact your child’s advisor directly to schedule a conference on another day.

• Last week, we continued Animal Farm and Lord of the Flies in Block 1 and Block 2, respectively. We will continue this week, but we also have a lot of other things going on in Humanities. We are working on first drafts of newsletter articles, second drafts of significant learning reflections, reviewing grammar based on last week’s homework, and continuing ancient world studies. We are busy!

• This week, Rick Gordon will be begin swapping teaching places with Andy Winter for a few weeks. Andy will be co-leading the 11th grade trip to Mexico and will be working with the 11th grade class to prepare for the trip. Rick, along with Antioch intern Chad Skowronski will be working on an exciting project with the Middle School based on ideas for decreasing global warming.

• Don’t forget winter sports this Thursday! Remind your child to bring appropriate clothing and gear.

                  Thanks for reading! Hope to see some of you this coming week for conferences! Please email or call if you still need to schedule one!  

              All the best,

              Lauren Beigel, Middle School Humanities Teacher

              lauren@compass-school.org, (802)387-5324