Dear Henley Families,
This is not the email sharing a weather update or school closure, although I can say that our hallways were “abuzz” about the predicted snow!
I wanted to share a couple of things as we move into the week and the end of the 1st semester:
- The first semester, or second nine weeks, ends Friday. Teachers have a workday on Monday, 1/22, to finalize grades and plan for the second semester. We are waiting to see what tomorrow’s weather brings before we publish due dates for grades, so please be on the lookout for those.
- Our Advisory lessons on social media and technology have started. One thing I would like to bring to your attention is a new app/tool called Sarahah. Sarahah is a social networking service for providing anonymous feedback. I bring it to your attention because some of our students have reported that unkind posts have been shared anonymously. While the intended use is to post nice or helpful feedback, the anonymous nature of the tool allows for cyberbullying to occur easily. Here is the Common Sense I am sure many use it as intended, but please reinforce with your child(ren) that their negative posts can be harmful and have a negative lasting impact. Used the wrong way, Sarahah could bring out the worst in our children as they struggle to navigate their way through the digital world.
- To that end, Henley Middle School is teaming with Western Albemarle to host a Social Media Forum. While we have not set a date, we are looking at an early February evening. We want to share information with you, bring in experts and professionals who can help with best practices, and strategies for helping and supporting your child. Please join us. I will have the date to you as soon as it is set.
- Beginning second semester we will make our Morning Announcements accessible via our website. If you or your child ever wants to check the announcements, they will be available on our homepage
- Lose something? Our Henley Lost and Found is growing. Please have your child look for lost articles of clothing, water bottles, and lunch boxes if they have misplaced something. We will donate clothes to charity and dispose of lunch boxes at the end of January, so have them look before then.
- EXPO Night for our 8th grade students and families is January 25th from 5:00-6:30. The change resulted from the team’s desire to make EXPO Night more authentic. 6th and 7th grade EXPO will occur on its original date-March 28th.
- A HUGE thank you to all of our families who donated food or money to host a holiday luncheon for our teachers. We really appreciate all you do for us!
- We did not have enough interest in our Modernization Bus Tour of other middle and high schools; however, I will be sure to share more information as we continue with our planning for next year and beyond.
- Should we have some weather this evening and tomorrow, please be safe! As always, if you have concerns or feedback, please contact me directly.
Best,
Beth Costa, principal