Principal's Weekly Newsletter

In a recent letter I celebrated the accomplishments of our 7th Grade Trumbull Rangers Football team. I am now happy to share that two of our 6th Grade Students–Alexis Squiccimarro and Brooke Borfitz– are on the Trumbull Rangers Cheer Team that qualified for Nationals and will be competing in Orlando, FL on December 12th. We wish them the best of luck down in sunny Florida ! They will be escaping the recent wintry weather which led to our first snowfall and first delayed opening of the year on Thursday morning.

The weather mentioned above set the tone for the first of our Winter Concerts on Thursday night. Our Madison Singers and our combined 7th & 8th grade chorus performed a program which included some winter themed and holiday music. As always, the audience was supremely impressed by our singers. Our Band and Jazz Band kept the momentum going with a performance at last night's town tree lighting. They will perform in concert on Thursday, 12/12. Prior to that, on Tuesday 12/10, you can hear our 6th grade band and Strings players in concert.

In this week's insert photo, you see some 6th grade students working collaboratively on some math problems. I chose this picture so that you can see the picnic table like seating which can be found in a back corner of this particular classroom. Along with more traditional desks, we are always looking for furniture which creates some inviting spaces which can promote both comfort and collaboration.

Trimester 1 Reports Cards

Trimester 1 report cards are now posted in Infinite Campus Backpack. Also, the 2023-2024 SBA Assessments for ELA, Math and Science have also been uploaded into Backpack in the 2023-2024 folder. Click here for directions on how to access Backpack

Reminders:

Attention 8th Graders: If you haven’t done so already, please log on to your Grade Level Classroom and participate in the “Most Likely To…” poll ASAP.

Students can purchase candy cane grams for $1 during homeroom. All proceeds go to the SAVE Club. Click here for more information. Students can ask their homeroom teacher for a slip to fill out to send a message to a friend or staff member!

Attention 8th Grade NJHS Members: A reminder that holiday cards for Maefair Health Care Center are due to Mrs. Pacelli by Friday, December 13th.

Clubs & Activities:

Chess Club meets every Monday in Room 122.

Madison Make Over Club will meet on Monday, December 9th. Those groups who worked upstairs will come again. All others will meet another week.

Are you interested in fantasy worlds? Do you want to adventure with your friends to explore, fight monsters, and find treasure? Then join us for the first meeting of the Dungeons & Dragons Club on

Monday, December 9th in Mr. Wilson’s Room 206 where we will learn what D&D is and start to create our own fantasy characters!

Sixth grade Makerspace begins Tuesday December 10th! All interested sixth graders, sign-up here! All students must sign up to participate.

The French Club will meet on Wednesday, December 11th in Room 204.

Star Wars Club will meet next week, on Thursday, December 12th, in Room 219. Please check Google Classroom for an important announcement.

The next Period 8 Lounge will meet next Thursday, December 12th.

In my conclusion this week, I return to the Chorus Concert from Thursday night. I first want to point out that you will see two "big photos" at the bottom-- I wanted you to get the visual of almost 200 seventh and eighth grade students situated on our brand new choral risers, and I also wanted to share a closeup of our Madison Singers. But there was much more on display than just visuals--it was a music concert, so the auditory aspect was of course predominant, and I've already said that the singing was spectacular. Yet, there was something else which made it a truly special night. Students introduced each of the songs. At the very beginning of the 7th & 8th grade Chorus portion of the concert, a student expressed a wish that the concert provide the audience with an opportunity to truly slow down for a moment in time, to in fact "be in the moment" , so "that the sound of childrens' voices might remind you that there remains a lot of beauty in the world". The message was both profound and peaceful and the students more than delivered on what they hoped to proivde for their audience. I sincerely hope that you experience similar moments during this most busy time of the year. Have a great weekend !!

Take care,

Peter Sullivan