May 3, 2013

Hello, Titans!

As I type this newsletter, our wonderful parents are working hard to create "A Night in Paris," the 8th grade dance. Tonight promises to be a beautiful evening to cap off a very positive week. A special thank you to Ms. Gant, who has been the mastermind behind the 8th grade dance, as well as the many, many parents who are helping to make this special. Personally, I am excited to see our eighth graders arrive looking their very best, and then I will hop over to Roswell Relay for Life to join in the fun. It's been a long week, but packed with fun!

Celebrations:

• We are so proud of our 8th graders Cheyanne Surraco and Gabriel Aultman who performed in Roswell High School's production of Les Miserables last weekend.  Such talent!

• I am pleased to inform you that Milton High School Principal Clifford Jones wontheNorth Fulton Council Award for Outstanding Principal! With many of our students now attending MHS, I wanted to be sure that you heard the news, as it is evidence of the close relationship between administration and P.T.A. in the Milton Community.

• Congratulations to Patricia Libradores and Henna Mian, who both scored quite well for the Duke TIP program. Because of their hard work, both young ladies will be afforded additional opportunities in learning this summer. We are so proud of them!  

• If you missed out on Taste of Broadway, you should have seen how wonderful our brand-new Drama Club was! It was a great two nights of performances, and we could not be more excited to see what's waiting for us next year. Mr. DeHart wowed us with his ability to not just start a new program but pull off such a great performance, along with the help of many teachers, including Ms. Porter and Ms. Marmiol, and let us not forget Ms. Lewis, who took extra care of our fish, that have lovingly been nicked named our "Titanes." A special thanks to parents Ms. Nitzken and Ms. McKenna for all of their hard work and support!

• Congratulations to Ms. Grigsby and Ms. Meekhof, who have been accepted to present at the Department of Education's CCGPS Summit "Partners in Progress." They'll be presenting a collaborative unit they did about sports research. This is a highly sought after opportunity, with only presentations selected from the state of Georgia.

Be in the Know:

• Future Milton Eagles: Boys basketball players, entering grades 3-9, come learn fundamental skills and team play from the 2 time AAAAA state-champion Milton Eagles players and coaches. All participants will receive camp gifts, instructions from Milton's varsity players and meet guest speakers. Please wear athletic attire and bring a lunch and water bottle each day. Camp will be held at Milton HS, June 17-21, from 8:30am to 3pm. Cost: $175 before June 1; $200 after June 1. Contact varsity assistant coach Jonathan Womack for more information at Womack@fultonschools.org.  

• If your child is interested in auditioning for the Roswell High School Color Guard, the first informational meeting is May 9th. Click here  for more details and be sure s/he picks up a packet from the band room.

• Remember that, at the end of each year, we donate all Lost & Found items to North Fulton Community Charities. The Lost & Found is located at the clinic and will be in the front atrium for the last two weeks of school. Be sure that your child comes to collect their lost items.

• Come out and show your support for our Music Concerts this coming week! Chorus performs on Tuesday evening in the cafeteria at 6:30pm. Band will perform Thursday evening at 6:30pm as well. Remember that the Orchestra Concert is Friday night, at Roswell High School. More details here:

• May 10th / 7:00pm / Roswell High School Auditorium:  Featuring Mark Wood - Founding member of the Trans Siberian Orchestra, Violinist for Billy Joel, Lenny Kravitz, Celine Dion and Kanye West, Emmy winning composer, Inventor of the Viper electric violin, Juliard graduate. Also we will have Special Guests The Expats - Local rock band featuring Seth Gamba on electric violin. This will be a full, professional-length concert with intermission.  We will have professional sound and lights, one of the best electric violinists in the world, and our kids are really starting to rock!  Admission is free, so come out for a great night of rockin' music!

• Did you know that students can actually send text messages that "self-destruct" so that there is no record of them? I always like to keep you informed so that, together, we can keep watch over our students and keep them on the right path. If your child has this application on their phone, I suggest that you have a conversation with them. Learn more: http://www.slj.com/2013/04/technology/apps-tech/burn-note-the-snapchat-of-texting/

• We are already receiving a lot of questions about the last day of school. The last day of school is devoted to yearbook signings, good-byes, and celebrations. Our 8th grade Honors Ceremony will begin at 9:00am and lasts until approximately 12:00pm. Every single 8th grade student will be honored, and parents are welcome to attend. The sixth grade ceremony begins at 12:15pm, with 7th grade starting at 2:15pm. These ceremonies will be attended by all students, so that they can all celebrate the honorees together. Honorees will include students who have received awards throughout the year as well as second semester honor roll. Honor roll is based on the final progress report that went out this week, as grades will not be finalized in time for the last day of school. Students who received all A's and B's (including Connections) on this progress report will be recognized for Honor Roll. Parents may attend if they would like, and students are asked to dress nicely for the last day of school so that the ceremonies can be extra special.

Did You Know?

The iPad initiative group now has access to several carts of 30 student iPads for use in the classroom.  6th Grade math classes have started to use them during their final project, development of a business plan.  With the iPads students are able to work together in a more flexible environment.  Click Here to see the iPads being used for a survey!

Have a great weekend, Titans!