Not so Spooky Halloween

We ended our voyage last week with a lot of fun.  Many of our students came dressed in Halloween costumes showing a lot of school spirit.  My favorite costume was definitely Stephan as you can see is this picture.  He really did a great job and was a great me.  On top of that, he and a team of defenders did a great job in Mr. Maas' Government class' mock trial where he and the defense team split the jury and a mistrial was declared by Judge Maas.  Let's see if the prosecution decides to give it another go round!

More great news that I have not had the chance to share beyond the last PTSA meeting was the fact that 72 MAST students, another new school record, were recognized as Advanced Placement Scholars.  These students represented 30 percent of the students who took AP exams last year.  This is an amazing feat that says a lot about our community - students, teachers, and parents alike!  This is one of the reasons why we all work so hard!  Congratulations to all for a job well done!

Over the past few weeks we have also done a bit of grade level and school wide testing.  A big thanks to parents, students, and teachers for all that they did to make PSAT and PLAN testing so successful.  In another first, 100% of MAST 9th, 10th, and 11th graders took the PSAT and 100% of MAST 10th graders took the PLAN.  It is inspiring as a principal to see students and families thinking ahead and getting prepared for college as early as possible.  Much credit is due Ms. Ulman and Ms. Yancoskie for staying on top of everyone and making sure that we reached complete participation.

On a final note for this entry, I am thinking about inviting parents to participate in a book club.  I have two titles in mind:  Edwin Abbott's Flatland or Daniel Pink's A Whole New Mind.  I very much enjoyed reading both and I would welcome any feedback as to what anyone might think to be the more appropriate title.  My thoughts are to begin reading and create a blog to hold the conversation before the semester break.  Please, feel free to respond with any ideas.  I believe it will be an amazing valuable experience for our community, and particularly our students, to begin additional discussions and to lead by example of adults reading as learning together. 

Strong winds and calm waters!