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Middle School News 4-28-2023

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.

Upcoming Important Dates

  • LEAP testing will be held May 1 - 5. We will have an early dismissal after LEAP testing each day. We will dismiss at 12:30 PM. Aftercare will be available and ends at 6 PM. Drop-in fees and full-time aftercare fees will still apply.
  • School starts at 8 AM on Friday, May 5. Students may continue to meet in the cafeteria as early as 7:30 AM with teacher supervision on May 5.
  • Teacher Appreciation Week, May 8-12
  • Middle School Piano Recital, May 9, 4:30 pm
  • PTSA meeting, May 9, 6pm @ Brimmer campus
  • 7th Grade Strings & Symphonic Band Class Concert, May 10, 5pm
  • 4th Quarter exams, May 22 - 25, dismissal @ 12:30 PM each day
  • Middle School Parent Coffee, honoring 7th grade parents/guardians, May 26
  • 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!

LEAP testing will be held May 1 - 5. We will have an early dismissal after LEAP testing each day. We will dismiss at 12:30 PM.

  • Students with school-issued chromebooks must bring them to school fully charged each day.
  • Please schedule any appointments after 1 pm on these days; calling students out of classrooms for dismissal can interrupt others.

If a student needs to purchase a new charger for a Chromebook: Click HERE for one option that is compatible with our Chromebooks. Thank you for your assistance with this.

Willow's Teacher Appreciation Week will be May 8-12. Don't forget to thank your teachers for all that they do!
Willow School senior, William Xi, has been selected by 826 New Orleans as a "Pizza Poet Laureate." William's contest entry, "Beginning," was selected and will be featured on pizza boxes throughout New Orleans today, on Pizza Poetry Day. We would love for as many families and staff as possible to go out and purchase pizza at a participating pizzeria and support our Willow School poet on this day. G’s Pizza (Mid-City), Midway Pizza, Pizza Delicious, Reginelli’s (all locations) and Theo’s Neighborhood Pizza (Mid-City and Uptown).
All Middle School parents/guardians are invited to an end-of-year Coffee on May 26. At the coffee, we will honor our 7th grade parents/guardians as a special send-off to high school! More details to come!
ordering school supply kits
Order school supplies HERE for next school year! Our campus earns money on each order received!
The blood drive will take place in the Nashville Avenue parking lot.
Join the Willow School PTSA Board
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.
Please remember The Willow School if you choose to participate in this year's GiveNOLA Day! Visit https://www.givenola.org/Willow now through Tuesday, May 2. Thank you for supporting The Willow School!!
Thank you for donating to our mississippi tornado drive

THANK YOU! We collected so many canned and dry food items this week. The donations will be given to Mississippi residents affected by the recent tornadoes. We sincerely appreciate all your support!

Mr. Ralph Alvarado Received the Chairman's Award from the American Petroleum Institute Delta Chapter

We are thrilled to announce that our Project Lead the Way Engineering teacher Mr. Ralph Alvarado has been chosen as a Chairman's Awardee for 2023 from the American Petroleum Institute Delta Chapter.

The API Teacher Award Program was established by the Delta Chapter to pay tribute to and reinforce outstanding teaching in the metropolitan New Orleans area. API is committed to supporting education and as a means of encouraging excellence has chosen to recognize the untiring efforts of educators who provide quality services to students through this annual awards program.

On April 27th, the Chair of the API Delta Chapter Advisory Board Teacher Award program Ms. Jean May- Brett recognized Mr. Alvarado during our Morning Meeting with the students.

Congratulations to Mr. Alvarado! We sincerely appreciate his service and dedication to our students.

LOUISIANA JR. THESPIAN FESTIVAL

Several of our 7th graders represented The Willow School at the Louisiana Jr. Thespian Festival in Baton Rogue. They had an amazing day of workshops and saw a production of Aladdin Jr. Many of the students competed in the Thespy competition and performed very well. Here are the results:

L. Owens competed in the Solo Musical Category with the song "Pulled" from the Addams Family earning a Superior Rating.

L. Rhein competed with monologues from A Midsummer Night's Dream and Brighton Beach Memoirs earning a Superior Rating.

The following students earned a Superior Rating in the Group Musical Category and were honored to perform "Hard Knock Life" from Annie in the end-of-day showcase.

  • L. Owens
  • P. Payne
  • M. Castillo
  • L. Favret
  • E. Bradshaw
  • A. Leashore
  • A. Messina
welcome rising 5th graders

On Monday, our principal Ms. Henry and our assistant principal Ms. Sepanik met with the 4th-grade students (rising 5th-grade students) to discuss scheduling their classes next year. We look forward to welcoming them to our middle school.

study for LEAP using Paper, our online tutoring program
prides of the 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: Leena Rodriguez
  • 6th Grade: Aubrey Smith
  • 7th Grade: Laeryd Rich and Emma Bolzner
  • Leaders of the Pack: Ms. Riggle, Mr. Darby, and Ms. Goodwin
7th grade band with mr. hart

Mr. Hart's 7th-grade band students rehearsed together in class this week. We love listening to them play!

musicians at work!

Lots of exciting things happening in Dr. Jurjevich's orchestra class this week. Go Lions!

6th grade theater

Middle School theater classes are so much fun! The students worked collaboratively in groups on their scenes.

6th grade music

Students in Ms. Matherne's classes use one of the twelve keyboards to practice their musical skills in class. We sincerely appreciate their dedication to the art form.

visual arts with ms. bagneris

The 6th-grade students in Ms. Bagneris' class are completing an amazing visual arts project. They will demonstrate an understanding of “sculpture in the round” by creating a 3D face sculpture inspired by the artwork of cubist artist Pablo Picasso. Bravo to these incredible artists!

podcasts in creative writing

7th-grade students in Ms. Disman's Creative Writing class are working on podcasts this week. We can't wait to hear their podcasts!

Thank you, Marsalis office staff!

On Wednesday, we celebrated our amazing office staff at Morning Meeting. We sincerely appreciate the hard work of Ms. Ellinghausen, Ms. Doussan, and Ms. Laufer! They make our school such a wonderful place to be!

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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