December 15, 2022
from Jenn Milam, Middle School director
Thank you to all who attended our Middle School Music Performance last night—it was such a wonderful evening, and I just loved the energy of having everyone together! What a wonderful way to cap off our final week as we head into winter break!
Unfinished Business and End of Quarter 2
We have worked diligently with students to get all assignments, assessments, and projects done before heading into the break—even offering additional work sessions during the day. Please check in with your student this weekend to use a little time next week to finish up anything that remains. When we return from Winter Break, anything that was not submitted before will not be accepted per our two-week grace period policy. Additionally, we will have just two weeks remaining in quarter two, and we want everyone to finish with their best foot forward.
If you have questions or concerns about your student’s academic standing or assignments, please contact advisors or teachers directly.
Class of 2027 Feed Your Mind Dinner & Panel Discussion
The first opportunity for the Class of 2027 will occur on Monday, January 9, at 6 PM. You and your student are invited to a “Feed Your Mind” dinner and panel discussion in the Family Commons. Please complete this form by Wednesday, January 4, to RSVP for this special event, where a delicious MPA meal will be served while you hear from Upper School students, faculty, and administrators. Bring your questions, wonders, and worries!
You can find a comprehensive list of events and information sessions here, Class of 2027 parents! We are excited to share MPA Upper School with you and your amazing class!
SAVE THE DATE: All Middle School Snow Tubing Outing
Our most recently imagined, most treasured Middle School event will be held Thursday, February 16! Mark your calendars for snow tubing at Badlands SnoPark in St. Croix, Wisconsin. We will load buses at school and head to the hills around 2 PM for tubing and sledding fun, food trucks and concession stand snacks, and loads of fun for students and families. Siblings, families, and our entire Middle School community are invited and welcome! More information to follow.
Winter Break and Emotional Well-being
For many, the winter holiday break is a time of rest, respite, and celebration; and yet, for others, it can be a time of intense stress, anxiety around less structured days, confusing expectations around feeling joyful and maybe overwhelmed, and many other things that may be hard to verbalize. I wrote a couple of weeks ago in my notes about remembering to regulate our emotions and take to heart meaningful self-care as grown-ups so that our young people might feel that energy and support, even in our nonverbal cueing in the day-to-day activities that propel us from morning to night.
I write this week to call us all to mindfulness that changes in routine, more ambiguity, and pressures of being with large families can, in fact, produce intense feelings (both highs and lows!) for young people. Additionally, less structure in the coming two weeks can lead to more unsupervised screen time and less engagement with humans in the physical world. This can add to feelings of isolation, sadness, and general malaise that are more prevalent at this time of year. For young people who wrestle already with anxiety, depression, or challenges related to emotional regulation, additional isolation and time on social media can prove to be especially hard. A recent article in THE WEEK entitled “Teens in Crisis,” notes:
“Interacting mostly by texts or social media lacks a warm human dimension that leaves many teens feeling lonely. “Teens are primed for social connection,” said Joseph Allen, a clinical psychologist who specializes in adolescent social development. Social media, he said, “doesn’t give them what they need.” Kids who spend long hours online spend less time outside, playing sports, exercising, and attending religious services or other community activities — all of which help boost their mood. And with their phones (and video games) beckoning them 24/7 with features engineered to be addictive, teens are sleeping less. There’s a mountain of evidence linking poor sleep to mental health issues, and today’s adolescents are sleeping less than ever: The average high schooler now gets six and a half hours instead of the nine optimal for their age — leaving a generation with severe, chronic sleep deprivation. Research shows that a lack of sleep triggers the reactive and negative emotional centers of the brain. Some experts, however, are wary of pinning all the blame on phones and social media, and point to factors beyond the internet, including modern parenting styles.”
Over the winter break, I encourage you to check in a bit more frequently, perhaps deliver a snack to the bedroom or game room, watch a movie together (let them choose the movie!), invite them out to bake cookies, go for coffee, do some thrifting, or go to browse a used bookstore! Dr. Jules would urge us all to focus more on what we want and less on what we don’t. If we want more time with our tweens and adolescents, we should embrace what they love, learn to listen and speak in a language they hear, and invite them to be with us…and less alone in the blue light of a screen.
Be well, take care of each other, and we’ll see you in the new year.
Important Dates and Upcoming Events
- December 16: Grades 5 + 6, Volunteer at Feed My Starving Children and Roller Skating
Ugly Sweater Day, No Study Hall - December 19-January 2: Winter Break, No Classes
- January 3: MPA Classes Resume, 8 AM
- January 9: FEED YOUR MIND Dinner + Panel Discussion, 6 PM (RSVP Required!)
- January 13: End of Quarter 2
- January 16: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, No Classes
- January 17: Professional Development + Grading Day, No Classes
- January 20: Rising Upper School Meeting for Eighth-Grade Families, 8-9 AM, PCR
- January 26: Rising Upper School Meeting for Eighth-Grade Families, 6-7 PM, PCR
- Grade 5 Music Share, 2:20-3 PM, Recital Hall
- February 16: All Middle School Snow Tubing, 2-5 PM, Badlands SnoPark
- February 17: Professional Development Day, No Classes
- February 20: President’s Day, No Classes
- February 21-24: SnoDaze Week
