Principal's Weekly Newsletter

It's May now, typically our busiest month of the school year. We started the month off with our 7th & 8th Grade Chorus Concert on Thursday night. There will be two more concerts this week, on Tuesday and Thursday. On Friday morning I had the pleasure of attending the BEI Recognition Breakfast. The Business Education Initiative has helped to fund 3 programs at Madison this year-- "The Thirsty Travelers", "Life Skills and Career Awareness", and a "Class Garden Project". Thank you to Marisa Lucuk, Meredith Barton, Kara Peterson and Amy Oman for their work with those initiatives. Mrs. Oman was asked to present at the breakfast to explain the impact of the class garden project-- you can see a picture of her and two of our students below.

As I previewed last week, standardized testing begins next week, with Smarter Balanced Assessments in Reading on Tuesday and Wednesday. On Thursday 8th grader students take the NGSS science test. Last week I offered some tips for you as parents to help students to position themselves for success on the tests. This week I have "borrowed" a communication/ graphic from 6th grade teacher Morgan Mancini. In the "final photo" below you will see how her team of teachers has crafted a message for our students which we hope will encourage the right mindset as they approach these tests. I will just add a disclaimer that, while we look forward to the information which these tests will give us about the progress of our students this year, they are just one measure. And I think that if you regularly read these weekly updates, you know that our focus goes beyond just academics and test scores-- we are looking to provide an environment in which students will thrive-- a comfortable environment which will also promote social growth.

Have questions about the Lock-In, Holiday Hill, the 8th Grade Dance or Stepping Forth ? See this letter which details all of the 8th Grade End of Year Activities.

8th grade lawn signs:

It’s time to pre-order your lawn sign to celebrate your 8th Grade Graduate!! Click on this Link for Lawn signs to secure your order. Signs can be purchased for $12– orders close on Friday, May 9th. If you have any questions, please contact mkucich33@yahoo.com

** As a reminder, it’s “survey season” now for Trumbull Public Schools. Students, staff, and parents all have the opportunity to provide us feedback on school climate. You can take the parent survey by clicking on this link: Family Climate Survey

A reminder that every 6th grade student must have physical forms in by June 1st. Anyone who has not turned in a Physical Form is ineligible to attend school. Our nurse Patty Gold has sent out notices to those who still have not complied– if you received one of those notices, please take the time to arrange for a physical or turn in the form for an already completed physical.

News from the District Technology Department:

We have a couple of pieces of information to share with you in regards to student access to their Chromebooks and Google Apps. After collaborating with the administrative teams at both middle schools and with the central office team, it was determined that middle school student Chromebooks will be offline from 10PM-6AM every day, beginning this weekend. This is to help better support students and families who are having difficulty managing screen time outside of school hours.

Secondly, Google Keep and Google Sites have been blocked for all Trumbull middle school students. The reason for this is that despite our best efforts to communicate with students about the appropriate use of these applications, we were still finding that a significant percentage of students were using Google Keep and Google Sites for purposes unrelated to school and, at times, inappropriate in nature. We always reflect on our practices, and will keep you informed of any changes to these actions.

Clubs & Activities:

The Literary Magazine will meet next Wednesday, May 7th, in room 106.

Star Wars Club will meet on Wednesday, May 7th in room 219.

Video Game Club will meet on Wednesday, May 7th in room 216.

SLAM (Students Leaving a Mark), a Trumbull-based youth group that partners with Mary J. Sherlach Counseling Center, strives to empower each student to reach his or her true potential and positively contribute to their environment. The group is hosting an Ice Cream Social at Old Mine Park for students and families. The event will include food, prizes, and games!

** Don't forget that the THS Art Show Exhibit kicks off with an event this Thursday, 5/8 from 6-7:30pm at Trumbull High School.

The Online Book Fair begins on Monday, 5/5. To order, go to:

book-efairs.follettcontent.com

Enter the code M12G1

Please see this Flyer for the THS THeSpians (the theatre club) annual 8th grade Open House. Each year our theatre students welcome incoming 9th graders from Hillcrest & Madison to join them for an afternoon of activities, workshops, a facility tour, and Q&A. The event is at THS on Wed May 14, from 3:30 - 6:30pm.

Before I close out this week's letter, I have to take a moment to thank the PTA for surprising me with balloons and a very generous gift on Principal Appreciation Day (5/1). They weaved in the fact that it also happens to be my 20th year as a Madison Administrator. Their timing of the surprise was exquisite. They know that I come out of front entrance every day at precisely 7:20am to monitor students as they come off the bus. On that day, when I turned my head to the right, there they were coming around a corner, with the balloons and a gift bag in hand. I suppose that the most important point here is that we all love to be recognized, we thrive on compliments, and anything else that gives us a "positive push". We try to always do this for our students-- it has been one of our school goals this year to do as much as we can to give positive praise to our students for their accomplishments. I hope that many of them have felt as good about themselves as I felt when the PTA handed me those gifts.

Have a great weekend !!

Take care,

Peter Sullivan