MSA Weekly News - October 19, 2018

Since our last News issue we had a wonderful Founder's Day picnic, the weather couldn't have been any better for a day outside. It was awesome, make sure you make your way over to the Facebook page to check out the photo album there, pictured above is the Middle School crew that sang the national anthem. We are over the middle of the term and student conferences have finished. We held an open house that was well attended for this time of year. There were some very interesting activities which included a sleepover in a Tipee (more on that next week) a trip to the Center for Puppetry Arts (see that below), and we are truly looking forward to tomorrow's Dyslexia Dash. In years past it conflicted with Founder's Day, but we worked that out this year and we were able to get lots of you together for a team - we are really happy about that! Make sure you find the MSA table and visit Sheila and Margaret from Admissions. Oh and finally the weather feels like fall.Have a safe weekend - See you Monday!

Fine Artist of the Week

This week's Fine Artist of the Week is Maggie Erlacher! Maggie is a 6th grader currently in the Junior Theater Festival class, preparing a musical selection to perform in Atlanta in January. She's always working hard on her music, lines, and blocking, but she's never too busy to help out a classmate. She is always quick to jump into an activity and determined to do her best and see it through to the end. All this and so much more makes Maggie Erlacher our Fine Artist of the Week!

Parent Thank You

I would like to thank Scott and Jennifer Ross! They and their company Atlanta Home Theater came in and helped me finish a project I've been working on since literally my first day here. Cleaning up all the hanging cables, removing old cables, updating to HDMI cables for our projectors, and one or two other small projects. Basically a school-wide technology management of cabling and devices and getting everything organized right. This is a REALLY HUGE thank you because they have been fantastic and their team was extremely efficient, pleasant, and GREAT at their job!

Sincerely,

Thomas Berg, Technology Director

Join the Mill Springs Academy Mustangs Team

TOMORROW - Saturday, October 20 at 8:30am

5K Run (timed or untimed) and 100-Yard Kids Dash

As of this writing we have 42 runners/walkers and we are so excited and would love for you to join us! You can register onsite in the morning.

Register NOW for IDA-GA's annual Dyslexia Dash! It will be a fun morning for all, AND every registration means money going towards training teachers and educating parents and professionals about dyslexia.

"The impact IDA-GA funding has had on reaching public school readers through teacher training is not something I can properly put into words. After 5 years of partnership, I can only estimate that the number of readers directly impacted ... is well into the thousands." - Jennifer Rhett, Executive Director, Reading is Essential for All People (REAP)

Join the Mill Springs Mustangs Team by registering onsite in the morning, it's not too late!

Puppetry Workshop

The Middle School students went on a field trip this week to the Center for Puppetry Arts to see a live performance of Peter Pan, running now through October 28th. The Center for Puppetry Arts, located in Midtown Atlanta, is the United States' largest organization dedicated to the art form of puppetry. The show included Blacklight, Rod and Shadow puppetry styles. After enjoying the show, students attended a puppetry workshop and created their own blacklight puppets of Cranky Crocodile, the villain of the show.

Evan Sycks (M6) said, "They put the masks on, and you couldn't see who was working the puppets until they removed their hoods at the end of the show."

Luisa Gorgoll (M6) said, "It could inspire people to create."

Oliver Healey (M5) said, "I liked Captain Hook – that was good character acting!"

Fullerton Dale (M6) said, "We learned to believe in fairies and clap to save them."

Pictured left to right: Gavin Applbaum (M5), Evan Sycks (M6), Holly Stormont (M6), Kamran Bahl (M6) and Oliver Healey (M5)

--Sylvia Cutchin, Middle School Instructor

Fathers' Night with Robert - NEXT WEEK

Thursday, October 25, 2018

7:00 - 9:00pm

Middle School Great Room

RSVP TODAY

What is LD? What is ADHD?

Come to explore these issues with your host and our Headmaster, Robert Moore. He will present the F.A.T. City Workshop video "How Difficult Can This Be?" by Richard D. Lavoie, a nationally known expert on learning disabilities.

In this video Richard Lavoie shows why the classroom can be an intimidating place for kids with learning disabilities. In the video he leads a group of parents, educators, psychologists, and children through a series of exercises that cause Frustration, Anxiety, and Tension … feelings all too familiar to children with learning disabilities. By dramatizing the classroom experience so vividly, Lavoie lets us see the world through the eyes of a child.

At the end of the video, a casual discussion will take place on strategies for working more effectively with our learning disabled children.

This is a Dad's only (grandfathers are welcome too) event! We will serve pizza.

Please RSVP to help us plan for food.

Spooky Writings

To celebrate Halloween, Branigan's Language Arts class has been writing about some symbolic animals for this time of year. This week, her class learned about bats and spiders. They learned that bats sleep upside down, they are nocturnal, and some other interesting facts. Students also learned that spiders have eight eyes and eight legs, they eat bugs, and spin a web of silk. Each student had to write an informative paragraph about spiders and an informative paragraph about bats. We added an art project to each writing to make it more fun. Pictured are Cameron Merritt (L1) and Jansen Jones (L2) showing off their spider writings.

Did You Know...

When you are looking for something on the website, there is an easy way to find it. No matter where you are on the website - it works from every page - scroll to the bottom and on the right side you will find a green box like the one above that says, "what are you searching for?" Type in a key word or two and a list of things that are similar to your key word will come up for you to select from. Then just click the one you think is most appropriate and there it is! It will search on everything within our website, including events and Mustang Market items. You can search for just about anything with ease. If you ever have any questions about the website just email me, I will be glad to help you out. Cheri

Protect the Bees

Guest Journalist - Elli Banks, 7th Grade, PreUpper

People always fear bees because of their appearance Bees might look scary but they serve a good purpose in life on this planet. Bees pollinate the flowers and make delicious honey for us to eat. Bees provide pollination services to over 180,000 different plant species worldwide.

Approximately one-third of the food we eat is the result of the honeybee pollination. Bees really are big parts of our lives; they help our crops grow make us honey, and bees over all make the world a better place. I hope that after reading this article you will look at bees in a different perspective. They might not look like a big part of our lives but little things can make a change.

(Elli is a very talented photographer, she took this photo. Thank you for sharing your craft with us. Cheri)

College Day College Fair

Friday, November 2, 2018

10:30am - 12:00pm

MSA Gym

All Parents, High School Counselors, and/or College/University Programs are invited, RSVP HERE!

College Day is an opportunity to meet with representatives of several colleges/universities/programs all in one location. Our hope is to help you make an informed college decision.

Volunteer at Book Fair!

Our Scholastic Book Fair is coming in November, and Brittany needs help! Please email her at bemge@millsprings.org or call the library at 678-893-7784 if you are interested in any of the following opportunities:

Book Fair Set Up: TBA, most likely Wednesday November 7th and Thursday November 8th.
Grandparents' Day Support: Friday November 16th from 10am-1pm (It's busy, busy once Grandparents' Day ends and everyone drops by on their way out. Bagging, cashiers, and shopper support is greatly needed!)
Book Fair Break Down: Friday, November 16th after Grandparents' Day (1pm-4pm).

Students Prepare

This week my Advisory has been getting ready for Fall Conferences. In PreUpper, the students led their own conferences for Fall and Spring. Slides shows are created and we also use Conference booklets to help explain how they are doing in each of their classes. Each students will explain to their parents what type of learners they strive to be, how to self-advocate for themselves, Academic and Social goals, as well as talking about their strengths and weaknesses in each academic class. This is such a fabulous way to run a conference through the eyes of the student. I wish everyone good luck during their conferences. Smith Hill is pictured preparing for his 8th grade fall conference.

--Kris Hawksworth, PreUpper Instructor

Grandparents' Day is Coming

This special day is Friday, November 16th and starts at 9:00am in the Gym. Invitations will be sent by the end of October. If you did not provide an address for your grandparents during the admissions process, or if you can't recall, please send it to Leila and she will take care of it. If your child doesn't have a grandparent that can attend, tell us about a special person that can come instead.

Attendance at Grandparents' Day has grown every year and we often end up with no empty seats. Because of this, please know that this special event is for our grandparents only and we are not able to have parents and students attend the breakfast. Students will be able to be with their grandparents after the breakfast for visiting and pictures! We are looking forward to a wonderful event! If you have any questions contact Leila Smith at lsmith@millsprings.org. Also, we have parent volunteers to help us with the breakfast at this event. If you are interested in being a volunteer, please contact Mary Ramirez at mramirez@millsprings.org.

The Weekend Shirt

Wear your Weekend Shirt to the Dyslexia Dash to run or cheer on the team!

This shirt was created for the sole purpose of getting the word out around town about Mill Springs Academy. That is why we call it our Weekend Shirt. The point is to wear it on the weekend, when you are out and about so people see you. Maybe they will stop and ask you questions about your shirt, the hashtag (#SuccessInSchoolSuccessInLife), or the logo, thus giving you a terrific opportunity to share information about the wonderful school your student attends. When this happens we get the word out in the community and the shirt is doing its job. Let's show our school pride all around town.

These shirts are available to you for $14 each! All you have to do is go to the website, order yours today, and then WEAR IT!

www.millsprings.org/ws (ws = Weekend Shirt)

This short sleeve tee shirt is 100% combed and ring spun cotton comes in gray with a large distressed logo printed in green on the front, Mill Springs Academy on the sleeve, and the hashtag #SuccessInSchoolSuccessInLife across the back in Mill Springs Green.

Oh and for those of you that already have one, you can wear it tomorrow because it's the weekend - no better time to wear your Weekend Shirt!

p.s. this is not just for students, but parents and grandparents, aunts and uncles too!