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Middle School News 5-19-2023

The first day of school for next school year is Wednesday, Aug. 9, for students in grades 1-12. Fall Break will be Oct. 9 and 10.

Willow Spirit Shop, on the first floor of the High School (Brimmer) campus, will be open next week on Wednesday, May 24, from 8-12, for anyone wishing to purchase some Willow gear.

Upcoming Important Dates

  • 4th Quarter exams, May 22 - 25, dismissal @ 12:30 PM each day
  • The last day for aftercare is Wednesday, May 24.
  • School starts at 8:00 AM on May 26.
  • Middle School Parent Coffee, honoring 7th grade parents/guardians, May 26, 9:30am
  • Last Day of School, May 26, dismissal @ 12 PM
  • 4th Quarter ends on May 26.

Please check your child's lunch account and add any needed funds. Thank you!

exam schedule

4th Quarter exams will be held from Monday, May 22 – Thursday, May 25

  • Bag lunches will be served daily at 12:30 pm
  • Early dismissal each exam day at 12:30 pm
  • After-Care is available Monday - Wednesday (May 22- 24) until 6:00 pm. Standard aftercare fees will apply.
  • Wednesday, May 24th is the last day for aftercare.

Last Day of School- May 26th:  School starts at 8 AM. Students are dismissed at 12:00 on May 26th.

use paper to study for exams!
All Middle School parents/guardians are invited to an end-of-year Coffee on May 26 at 9:30. At the coffee, we will honor our 7th grade parents/guardians as a special send-off to high school!
information for 7th grade families

All Middle School parents are invited to a special end-of-year Parent Coffee honoring our 7th grade parents. The Parent Coffee will be held on the Loyola Avenue front yard at 9:30 on May 26th. You are welcome to proceed with your cup of coffee to the Spirit Award presentations on the backyard blacktop and a Passing the Torch Ceremony from 10:00-10:30.

If you’re unable to join us for all of the festivities, we hope our 7th grade parents/guardians will be able to come for the 7th Grade Bridging Ceremony which will take place in the Brimmer High School Gymnasium from 10:30-11:45. We will walk from our Marsalis Campus to the Brimmer Campus gym (bridging across the field) immediately following the Passing the Torch ceremony. Below is an outline of all of the events that we have planned for students.

honoring mr. martin as a semi-finalist for teacher of the year

​On Friday, May 12th, Mr. Mark Fry from Dream Teachers recognized our theater teacher Mr. Richard Martin as a semi-finalist for Louisiana Teacher of the Year during our middle school assembly. Dream Teachers is a statewide, nonprofit organization dedicated to recognizing and rewarding exceptional educators throughout the state of Louisiana and raising public awareness of the true value of the teaching profession.​ We are so proud of Mr. Martin. We loved celebrating him with our entire middle school community.

Arts Fest

On Tuesday, we had our first-ever Arts Fest! Many of our 7th-grade students made presentations from their exploratory classes for the 5th and 6th-grade students. It was a wonderful celebration of the Arts that ended with a popsicle treat! There were dance performances, musical performances from the middle school Choir and Orchestra, an adapted performance of Shakespeare from our theater students, podcasts and texts from our Creative Writing students, and gorgeous artwork from Visual Arts. Thank you to our exploratory teachers and our 7th-grade students for all of their hard work with this special program. We look forward to continuing Art Fest as a yearly tradition at our middle school.

T.R.E.E. Presentation in 7th grade

On Tuesday, Ms. Sanchez invited four amazing guest speakers who work for New Orleans organizations that focus on making our city more environmentally sustainable. As part of the follow-through activities of their Sunship III experience, students attended talks by local people who work in the recycling industry and other environmentally-friendly companies in New Orleans.

Regardless of attending Sunship III or not, as part of the 7th grade science curriculum, all students got an opportunity to learn about different organizations The following organizations were:

6th grade field trip

On Wednesday, our 6th-grade students headed to Mobile, Alabama visit the Gulf Coast Exploreum Science Center. It was an amazing trip! Thank you to our 6th grade teachers especially Ms. Raudonis for planning such fun learning experiences for the students.

visiting with our 4th grade students

We are thrilled to welcome our rising 5th grade (current 4th graders) for a special visit to the Marsalis campus on Friday, May 12th. The students viewed the middle school play Box, played an assembly game in the Brimmer gym, and enjoyed the day at their new campus. We can't wait to have them as middle school students next year!

prides of WEek

Our "Prides" of the Week and our Leaders of the Pack are recognized weekly. The "Prides" of the Week are students who exemplify the Project Pride rules. They were nominated by their teachers. The Leaders of the Pack are staff members who are recognized for their dedication and work with our middle school students. Congratulations to this week's "Prides of the Week" and Leader of the Pack.

  • 5th Grade: Annemarie Arendell
  • 6th Grade: Piper Toomey
  • 7th Grade: Rylie Thurlow
  • Leaders of the Pack: Ms. Brown and Ms. Dunn
winners of our paper math missions contest

On Wednesday, we celebrated the winners of our Paper Math Missions contest. Students who completed the most Math Missions activities on Paper (our online tutoring program) received lots of fun items from the company. Two of our ELA teachers Ms. Lett and Ms. Patterson also received prize boxes from Paper for all of their hard work with the program this year.

arts integration project in 7th grade

Ms. Bagneris and Ms. Sanchez completed a culminating project for a tree core lesson. Every Team 7 student participated in this meaningful scientific and creative experience. First, all students experienced collecting tree core samples from our campus trees with the assistance of LSU Climate Scientists, Jill Trepanier and Clay Tucker in their science class with Ms. Sanchez. Students learned the many reasons scientists take tree core samples. Scientists use these samples to understand how environmental factors such as flooding, drought, storms, extreme temperature change, lack of nutrients, diseases, salt or fresh water intrusion affect an area from the past to the present day. Dendrochronologists study the patterns of light and dark rings to determine what kind of year occurred. Light rings are the first part of the growing season and the dark rings indicate the slowing down or end of the growing season. In collaboration with our art teacher, Ms. Bagneris, students created replicas of tree core samples to illustrate patterns of shape, space, and color. Each sample became a piece of the larger radial design mural display in the corridor of the Nashville side entrance.

author visit in 6th grade

This week, 6th-grade students had a special session with author Marti Dumas. We sincerely appreciated the visit. Students learn more about Marti Dumas' books and she gave advice to inspiring authors. Thank you, Ms. Dumas!

New orleans public library summer FUN & reading Challenge
Click HERE for more details regarding the NOPL Summer Fun and Reading Challenge.
scheduling electives for 2023-24 school year

Foreign language, all arts disciplines (including TAM, TAV and TAT), physical education/health, and PLTW/engineering are also offered in the middle school during an exploratory/elective period each day.

Students who are in the Talented programs (TAT, TAV, TAM) must be scheduled for the appropriate talented class first, and then will have electives/exploratory classes for any open slots. Students must have an IEP to be scheduled for Talented classes. TAM, TAT, and TAV services are provided within the designated art class.

Students were given copies of the scheduling planning sheets. Copies are linked below.

The Course Request Google Form was emailed to parents and guardians on Friday, April 27th. If you did not receive the Google Form or need assistance, please email Mrs. Sepanik at elizabeth_sepanik@willowschoolnola.org.

Use the above QR code or click here to donate to help the victims of the earthquake in Turkey. Proceeds will help to rebuild some of the more than 600 schools destroyed in the earthquake. Mert Saygin, The Willow School's I.T. coordinator since 2009, is originally from Turkey and coordinated this effort. Please give if you can. Thank you.
using paper (our online tutoring program)

Let's finish the school year strong! Paper, our online tutoring program, is available 24/ 7 for students. Paper is a great resource for students to use when studying for exams or finishing 4th quarter projects.

ordering school supply kits
Order school supplies HERE for next school year! Our campus earns money on each order received!

Click HERE for more info and to register.

Willow Summer Arts & Innovation Camp will be housed at the Marsalis (Middle School) campus this summer!

Willow School Summer Sports Camps: Basketball Camps - May 29 - June 2 and June 5-9 Soccer Camp - June 12-16 All camps open to boys and girls, ages - 6-13. Registration is NOW OPEN. Camp Director - Hunter Higgins - Hunter_higgins@willowschoolnola.org
New Orleans Public Library Offers Free RTA Passes to Teens

Teens can access free RTA youth passes to get to the Library, thanks to generous funding from the Friends of the New Orleans Public Library.

The Youth RTA day passes are available at all Library locations for anyone ages 11 to 18. They will be distributed on a first-come, first-served basis, while supplies last. Visit nolalibrary.org/youth to learn more about all the resources the Library offers for children, tweens, and teens.

jcla
Here's the link to apply: https://nola.gov/neighborhood-engagement/programs/junior-civic-leadership-academy/
The Willow School uses a mobile app to help students, parents/guardians and community members know from their smartphones what is happening on campus. Most families use their phones as a primary means of communication, so we have an app that is custom-built to our school for smartphones. On the app, you can read the latest announcements, locate staff contact information, review upcoming events and find important documents. The Willow School app is available to download free from the Apple App Store or the Google Play store.
Learn more about Paper Missions through our online tutoring program Paper HERE
GOt Pictures?

We collect photographs from special events at school throughout the school year. Please help us build our collection! Send us photographs from school-sponsored events such as sporting games, plays, performances, and other special events.

Did you know that all middle school students have access to a FREE tutoring service 24 hours a day? Through the online platform Paper, students may get as much help as they need in any subject. The students have tutors’ full attention with unlimited, 1:1 support in their preferred language. Parents are invited to learn more about the program by attending one of their webinars. Students access Paper through their Clever portal.
Office Hours

Each week, the teachers will hold office hours once during lunch and once after school.

Did you know that all middle school students have access to a FREE tutoring service 24 hours a day? Through the online platform Paper, students may get as much help as they need in any subject. The students have tutors’ full attention with unlimited, 1:1 support in their preferred language.
Students May Access paper through CLEVER.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO

Middle School Admin Team

CEO: Nicolette London nicolettte_london@willowschoolnola.org

Principal: Kendra Henry kendra_henry@willowschoolnola.org

Assistant Principal: Elizabeth Sepanik elizabeth_sepanik@willowschoolnola.org

Dean of Students and Student Activities Coordinator: Claire Ory claire_ory@willowschoolnola.org

Ellis Marsalis, Jr. Campus, 5625 Loyola Ave. New Orleans, LA 70115

Phone: (504) 324- 7330 Fax: (504) 324-7340

https://www.willowschoolnola.org/

Language Assistance Services - languagehelp@willowschoolnola.org

The Willow School does not discriminate in the rendering of services to, or regarding employment of, individuals because of race, color, religion, sex, gender, age, national origin, disability, veteran status, or any other legally protected basis.

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