Middle School Newsletter - February 3, 2021

NEW/UPDATED INFORMATION

The Middle School Community is Wild About Snow!

The anticipation of snow inspired a lot of hope and hijinks.

Faculty/Staff Video

Student Video (coming next week)

Recording of Last Week’s Middle School Division Coffee

It was great to see so many of you last week at our division coffee, featuring Director of Counseling Ilana Reyes and Middle School Counselor John Magner on a range of social-emotional topics. The recording of this coffee is now available on our Resource Board here.

Articles for Middle School Parents

In the interest of sharing issues and perspectives relevant to the challenges of parenting young adolescents, here are a few articles that you might find helpful.

Seven ways to build a child’s resilience during the pandemic (and long after it ends)

Raising Confident, Independent Children

Listen and Connect: How Parents Can Support Teens' Mental Health Right Now

UPDATES AND REMINDERS FROM LAST WEEK

Update from John Thomas: Planning for 2021-22

Dear Flint Hill Families,

While we are focused on having a strong second semester, we are also turning our attention to planning for the 2021-22 school year. I want to share some of our thinking with you while our plans continue to take shape.

First, I want to thank the many parent volunteers who have referred prospective Huskies to us for next year and have connected virtually with these families in the admission process. We have experienced consistent year-over-year growth in inquiries and applications during the past three years and are again seeing record interest for next year. Still, as we have in 2020-21, for the upcoming school year, we are planning to operate at a “COVID capacity” until the Virginia Department of Health permits otherwise. This means that our planning will continue to be informed by the need to maintain a distance of six feet between students in classroom spaces. 

Our Lower and Middle School facilities and the sizes of those divisions continue to provide the greatest flexibility with capacity restrictions. To support the best learning environment for those young learners, we are currently planning to offer only on-campus learning for students in grades JK-8 in 2021-22. We understand that our Upper School students are eager to be on campus together five days a week and are continuing to monitor guidance from the Virginia Department of Health to make that possible, with our students’ health being the highest priority.

In the meantime, we are still planning to schedule fine arts and athletics activities according to a normal schedule for next year. Expanding the range of opportunities for our student artists and athletes to do what they love is one of our highest priorities for next year, and leadership in both of those departments is working hard to make that possible.

While the timing for a full return to pre-pandemic normalcy is uncertain, we continue to be hopeful and optimistic.

Best wishes to you!

John Thomas
Headmaster

First Semester Grade Reports and Narrative Comments — now available online

Our first semester Grade Reports are now available online. This is always an opportunity to practice how to keep quarter grades in perspective — focusing on the journey, recognizing what this current performance feedback can provide and avoiding the type of disproportionate fixation on grades that can limit growth. In addition to the performance feedback for each course, our teachers have provided narrative comments about your child’s progress. Like our conferences, these comments should convey the depth of our understanding of your child while providing feedback to him or her about progress and providing suggestions for future growth that can be used in goal setting for the next semester.

Virtual Fine Arts Coffee

Tuesday, February 9, 9-10 a.m.

Parents are invited to join us for an informative session about our fine arts program. James Venhaus, our new director of fine arts, will share news about our fine arts classes in all three divisions and our spring performances, including Arts Jam. We will demonstrate how the fine arts faculty and students are providing creative solutions to the challenges that we face due to the pandemic, and we will share some exciting plans for the future. Parents and guardians can access the coffee here.