Making Headlines: A Message from the Deans’ Office

Although ISL athletics just officially began and the fall play recently ended auditions, the Community Life program has been well under way since preseason. Seniors have spent hours with a range of faculty perspectives in order to examine how they can be healthy students and able leaders throughout the school year. This began with their own three-day leadership orientation and continued through new student orientation. The seniors have had their first of five senior leadership meetings, which continue through March break with the goal of helping them grow and thrive in their roles as the culture-keepers of the student body.

Meanwhile, 10th graders have learned about identity, wellness, and community culture in Connections just as they have bonded and worked together at last Monday’s Class III retreat. As “homework” for the final week of Connections, students were asked to meet someone new - in the spirit of Connections – and were asked to share something about their new friends in the final meeting of the program on Tuesday. For 9th graders, Choices – a program led by seniors and faculty that has several decades of history - begins this coming Tuesday and they have already had their first of two class chapels. For 11th graders, more than 40 of them have opted in to the pilot of our Citizenship and Civil Societies course, which is meant as a companion to the now well-established Dialogues Across Difference.

Finally, all students have already had their first of six Community Life meetings. In the first meeting of the year, in recognition of our strong emphasis on the School’s core values of Kindness, Courage, Gratitude, Honesty, and Respect, students were asked to reflect upon their own personal values as they relate to academics, extracurricular life, and community engagement. Those values sheets will be shared with each student’s advisor as a point of conversation and a frame of reference throughout the year.

For our next Community Life meeting we will administer the Independent School Health Check (ISHC) to all students. For the last decade, countless independent schools have administered the survey with the goal of obtaining a comprehensive look at student behavior and attitudes as well as school climate. Data is collected anonymously, and the aggregate results will be analyzed by ISHC and compared to the ISHC national database. Please note that we have changed the date of this Community Life meeting from Friday, October 5th to Thursday, November 8th. We will distribute more information about this survey as we get close to November 8th. In the meantime, we invite you all to look at the survey’s website.

With thanks,

Dan Sheff, Dean of Students

Calendar Notes

• September 29: MPA meeting, 10-11:30, RCC (live-streamed at https://youtu.be/vkUe-1T_VAs); Random Dance
• October 2: Special academic schedule - Dr. Scott Lukas, 2:30-3:15pm, Thrink; Class IV Choices begins, 7-8:30pm; New members of Class II Mindfulness, 7:30-8:15pm, Lambert Room
• October 5: **Please note that the Community Life meeting originally scheduled for Friday, October 5th has been moved to Thursday, November 8th.**
• October 6: SATs (Class I); Special academic schedule – Admissions Open House
• October 8: Columbus Day – Classes held
• October 9: Class IV Choices, 7-8:30pm; Class III event (required), 7-8:30pm, Recital Hall; Class II event (required), 7-8:30pm, Terry Room; Class I Leadership meeting, 7:30-8:30pm, Barron Room
• October 10: No classes – College meeting (Class I); PSAT (Class II and III); Class event (Class IV)
• October 12: Special academic schedule
• October 13-15: Fall Long Weekend (No classes)

Announcements and Reminders

• From the Health Center: An important way to prevent illness throughout the winter and spring is by getting vaccinated against the influenza virus. For those students living in a dormitory setting it is particularly important to prevent the spread of the influenza virus by receiving the vaccine. Influenza vaccinations will be provided by West Concord Pharmacy and available at Middlesex on the following days:

  • Tuesday, October 2nd, 5:30-7:30pm
  • Wednesday, October 3rd, 11am-1pm
  • Monday, October 8th, 5:30-7:30pm

  West Concord Pharmacy will need a signed consent form sent to you via the SNAP parent portal to vaccinate your child. They will submit a claim to your insurance for the cost of the vaccination and will bill you directly for any associated co-payment. 

  We very much encourage all students to be vaccinated but be sure to read the Vaccine Information Sheet to understand the risks and benefits of the vaccine before signing a consent. 

  Please be aware that signing the consent form does not guarantee that your child will be vaccinated.  They must attend one of the following vaccination clinics and they must be healthy in order to receive a vaccine.

• On Monday, September 24^th the senior community service officers led our ninth and eleventh grade students in a day of service. Each year, following the All School Read, the Middlesex community heads out into the Greater Boston Area to engage in a variety of service projects. This year we partnered with thirteen local organizations on fourteen separate service programs. The work happens on local farms as the students help assist with the fall harvest and production goes to the Greater Boston Food Bank or other non-profits that aid those in need. Other opportunities are presented at Habitat for Humanity, women’s shelters, meal packaging, and more. A highlight of day was the group of forty students and faculty that worked with Rise Against Hunger to package 10,000 meals. It was a great day, and we will continue our on-going partnerships with many of these organizations throughout the year. We look forward to working with all of them again in the spring during senior community service day. You can view a photo gallery of Community Service Day here.
  
  -Pascale Musto, Director of Multicultural & Community Development
   
• The Middlesex Alumni Association would like to remind all parents that the Kingman Cup Golf and Tennis Tournament is just weeks away. Hosted this year at the beautiful Myopia Hunt Club, this casual day of friendly competition is inclusive of all playing levels.  If your schedule doesn't allow you to participate in the golf or tennis, you can join us for the post-play cocktail reception. Please support this fun event with your enthusiastic participation. Online registration is available. If you have any questions, please contact Director of Alumni Relations John Morrissey at 978-371-6523, jmorrissey@mxschool.edu.
   
• The Alumni and Development office would like to remind all parents that there will be a cocktail reception at the New York Athletic Club on Wednesday, October 3rd, 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm.  Head of School Kathy Giles P'06'09'11 will be there to greet guests and share some thoughts on the state of school today.  If you (and a guest) would like to attend this reception, please register online by 9/21. 

• This fall there will be the 6th annual Introduction to Mindfulness course for Middlesex Parents and Alumni. The course is similar to the mindfulness course taken by Middlesex students, faculty, and staff. We will meet Thursday evenings from 6:30pm-8pm starting October 11th and ending on November 15th (6 sessions total). If you are interested or have any questions, please contact me at dworthen@mxschool.edu or 978-807-5735. The course is freely offered by the school. 
   
  If you would like to speak with MX parents/alumni who have attended the course in the past just let me know and I can put you in touch. Also, it is ok to miss one of the six sessions; however, if you plan to miss several sessions it is probably best to wait for another year.
  
  Thank you!
  Doug  Worthen ’96, Director of Mindfulness Programs’

• We would like to remind all parents that you are encouraged to attend the upcoming Parents' Weekend on October 19-20th. Please register online at your earliest convenience.

From the MPA

• Our first MPA meeting of the year is this Saturday, September 29 from 10am-11:30am in the Rachel Carson Center. For those unable to attend in person, the meeting can be viewed live at the following link: https://youtu.be/vkUe-1T_VAs
  
  The meeting will feature four teachers and administrators who will give an overview of different aspects of school life.  Dr. Munro will present the development of Dialogues Across Differences, Mr. Sheff and Ms. Cohane will discuss Community Life, Ms. McLaughlin will report on how the school encourages our teens to eat and sleep well, and Mr. Crozier will give an update on the visual arts and theater projects.

• Volunteers needed to help make Parents’ Weekend a success!  Come help assemble the handouts on Tuesday (October 16th, 8:15am-11:30am), or help decorate the gym on Friday morning (October 19th, 9:30am -11:00am)  Link to sign up is  https://www.signupgenius.com/go/60b094aaca72fa02-parents. Please contact Jill Creevy at jillcreevy@comcast.net with any questions.

• Welcome to the Middlesex Parents’ Association! The MPA is a parent-run, all-volunteer organization. Getting involved with the MPA is a great way to meet other parents and support the school, whether you live far away or nearby! We encourage you to volunteer by completing the electronic Parent Volunteer Form found on the Parents Page on the Middlesex website or by clicking here.  All parents are automatically members of the MPA.

• During the school year, the MPA has four Saturday morning meetings that present key information for current parents. Parents are encouraged to attend in person or to view the electronic broadcast of each meeting. The meeting dates for the 2018-2019 year are as follows: 

  • September 29, 10:00am-11:30am- Rachel Carson Center
  • November 17, 10:00am-11:30am - Barron Room, Ware Hall
  • January 19, 10:00am-11:30am - Barron Room, Ware Hall
  • April 13, 10:00am-11:30am – Barron Room, Ware Hall

The Price of Privacy

Taking a break from the customary All-School Read that has become an annual, summer assignment at Middlesex, the community began this year a bit differently with an “All-School Ethical Topic” – namely, the ethics of privacy in the digital age.