Welcome back to a new and exciting school year at Durand-Arkansaw Middle School, where we are a community of learners! I hope this letter finds you well-rested, recharged, and ready to embark on a new school year. This will be our first newsletter of the school year and you can expect to receive one each Thursday morning with helpful information about what is going on in our middle school.
I would like to introduce myself to our new sixth grade families and anyone who is joining us for the first time as a Durand-Arkansaw Middle school student and family. My name is Sarah Sabelko and I am beginning my third year as the Middle School Panther Principal. I had the privilege to grow up in this community and a proud alumni of the Class of 1999. Loving it so much here, the Durand-Arkansaw area became the community my husband, Brad, and I wanted to raise our family and stay connected with our big extended family. We are the proud parents of our son Charles, who graduated from Durand-Arkansaw High school last spring and will be beginning his journey to becoming an architect as a Minnesota Gopher this fall in the Twin Cities, and our daughter, Sawyer, who is finishing up her senior year as a Panther enjoying her time playing volleyball, basketball, and preparing to pursue a future as a nurse. I absolutely LOVE everything about our community and living here! In addition to serving as your principal, I also enjoy spending time as a volunteer with the Durand Youth Fishing Content, various community organizations, reading, learning, listening to music, and all things outside along the Chippewa River, in our faith community, and with our extended family.
Last spring our middle school staff and leadership team spent time reflecting on the 2023-2024 school year and identifying our goals for the 2024-2025 school year.
Our student goals are based on identified values that we turned into statements that include:
Students will use their soft skills” daily and approach tasks with a growth mindset.
Students will acquire and practice skills to be prepared, productive, and responsible citizens in our school and outside community.
Students will collaborate well with others in inclusive ways modeling empathy and tolerance.
Students will obtain the academic, behavioral, and social skills they need to be successful in continuing to learn and grow in all areas and excel in as many aspects as possible.
Our staff is committed to creating a community of learning to support our students achieve their goals through:
Celebrating the successes of our students and other staff.
Preparing and delivering engaging and meaningful instruction and assessments.
Maintaining strong classroom management through clearly communicated and modeled student expectations for behavior and learning.
This year, each grade level will have a focus theme that will include: "Responsibility (6th Grade), Empathy (7th Grade), and Leadership (8th Grade).
In reflection we have made several changes that will help us to reach our goals including:
Students will not be issued 1:1 Chromebooks, but will have access to use them as a resource in each classroom as needed. If students need them after-school hours, tee-time will have this available resource as well as working with the Durand Community Library.
We will be on the same bell-schedule as the high school, with the exception of the Math and ELA block switches.
Students will have CTE classes at the end of the day, as well as Honors Choir, Jazz Band, and Community & Citizenship class. These classes will be graded on a pass/fail and students will take their belongings to their last classes each day, leaving for the buses or pick-up directly from that class.
We will expect that all electronic devices stay in students’ lockers including Air-Pods/Beats/listening devices, smart watches, and cell phones. They are welcome to use these before 8:00am and after 3:30pm.
A focus on giving students more time to eat each day in the cafeteria. We notice the students rush to eat when trying to get to recess and play, but then come back to classes hungry and tired. At each developmental level our students have different needs and with the transition to middle school and then to high school our students need to make sure they are taking and eating enough healthy foods each day to fuel their bodies and minds for the rest of the school day, as well as then into their after-school activities. With this what has been traditionally known and thought of as “recess” will be eliminated for all of our middle school students and replaced with time to sit, eat, and positively socialize with their peers, this will be 30 minutes for all students. We are hoping to see more students eating the items from the salad bar, fresh fruits and vegetables that take a bit more time to eat and not feeling so rushed. As we can we will build in time outside for movement and activities during other parts of the day.
Updates to the co-curricular code for all middle school students participating in sports and or other extra-curricular activities. Please make sure to read and be familiar with these changes as there is a significant change with students if they are not passing classes at mid quarter and end of the quarter that will impact their participation.
The Durand-Arkansaw Middle School staff believes that education is a collaborative effort that involves not just our teachers and students but also parents, guardians, and the wider community. This year we will ask that you join us in the work to accomplish our goals this school year through your continued support, questions, and communication to help all of us achieve our 2024-2025 goals. If you have any questions please reach out with an email, phone call, or schedule a meeting with one of our administrative assistants.
Welcome back, and here's to a fantastic year ahead!
Warm regards,
Mrs. Sarah Sabelko
