Friday, March 30th

Happy short Friday, Sharks!

A whirlwind of a week as we progressed through a number of field trips, wacky schedules, a pep rally, and assorted other items. Despite the intensity of the week, it has been outstanding to see so many folks doing great things. I got a chance to see several seventh graders making persuasive arguments/debates to their classmates. We got to see a number of our Band students perform in front of the entire school at yesterday’s pep rally. We got a chance to see first-hand how great our girls’ volleyball team is as they dominated the teachers in the student/faculty game. Our students practiced a number of drills this week as the weather finally remembered that winter was technically over. Our 6^th grade science students braved the wackiest week of temperatures yet as they paddled in the rain, the cold, and then the heat. 8^th graders ventured to Jump for their PE trips and also to AHS to see what life is like in high school. Our Jazz Band went to JMU and performed very well. SOLs wrapped up for those who missed their tests last week. Last, but certainly not least, we had the volleyball tournament where our Sharks made it to the championship game, but fell to Henley in a hard-fought game.

Now, our students are finishing their final work as the marking period ends and Spring Break begins. When we get back on Monday, April 9^th, it will be a Teal Day. The week of the 9^th, we do have a few things to keep up with. The middle school choral assessment is on Wednesday, April 11^th as well as a PTO meeting that evening. The Drama 8 students are on a trip on Thursday, April 12^th. On Friday, April 13^th the 5^th graders come for a visit and we finish off the week with a dance (the last whole-school dance for the year) from 4 – 6 PM.  

We hope you have a great break and enjoy the time together. A few blurbs from the news desk before I go. Enjoy!

News from SMS:

1. SCA is sponsoring the last dance of the school year Friday, April 13th. We need your help to chaperone the dance from 4-6. If you can volunteer an hour or two to help with the dance please email Andrea Walkup at awalkup@k12albemarle.org.

2. Albemarle High School’s MESA Bridge Camp for this summer: The camp is scheduled for June 11-15, 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., at Albemarle High School. Electronic applications will be available on April 16th at the Mesa Bridge Camp website: mesabridgecamp.weebly.com. The camp is for rising 7th- and 8th-grade girls who might have an interest in STEM. The campers learn about engineering and physics, and work with each other and MESA program mentors to apply what they learn in a series of hands-on activities. These activities culminate with the building of a pedestrian footbridge at the end of the week. (The Bridge Camp website is a good source of information for interested students.)