Weekly News
12/15-12/19/2025
Middle School wrapped up the week before break with mini-projects, paragraph writing, and quizzes and tests, but assessments were not the only activities going on. The students partook in the annual tradition of sharing Simple Gifts with one another. It is always a joy to see the creativity of our students, and to learn about the skills they have which we may not see during our school day. A variety of creative gifts were given: paintings, crocheted items, hand-sewn pillows, collage, and many more. Please share in the joy of their gift-giving creativity by perusing the Middle School Photo Gallery for all the pictures! We hope you all have a restful Winter Break and look forward to seeing you in the new year!
12/8/25-12/11/25
So much happened this week, it is hard to know where to begin! We have watched the snow come down, had a late start, met as committees and clubs, and attended a Masquerade Ball (photo gallery). Speaking of the Ball, thank you to the Social Committee for their extraordinary effort in throwing us a magical Masquerade Ball for our Winter Dance on Thursday night. We danced, laughed, played, ate decadent treats, and made memories with Friends. Finally, while students caught up on rest, teachers and parents made time to engage in direct communication and collaborations during post-evaluation conferences.
Executive Functioning Support:
For the past two weeks, the middle school team has made an effort to help student executive functioning by modeling HOW to schedule WHAT they need to do outside of scheduled class time. It is common for students to be offered extra help, reteaching, and retesting when they struggle with a skill, concept, or assignment. As a team, we noticed that students often expressed interest in taking these opportunities but failed to follow through. In response, we have communicated and modeled a few best practices with students, using the Monday Flex period for students to practice.
Students receive grade report emails on Sunday evening. They are expected to read those reports and note any actionable items by Monday afternoon. At present, we have been creating time for them to do so during the Flex period.
Students receive missing work reports on Mondays. Any work on the report must be submitted to the teacher before the end of the school week.
After receiving an invitation to reteach and retest, students have two weeks to take advantage of the opportunity.
Students have been prompted to add new sections to their weekly planners. First is a section called BRO, which stands for Before School, Recess, Office Hours (Wed afternoons). If a student needs time to complete an assignment or see a teacher, they should use that section to make it part of their tasks for that day.
Students have also added a section for reminders (!) to help them prompt themselves.
What you can do at home:
As you discuss missing work, follow up with teachers, or reteach/retake opportunities with your student, you can prompt them to log their intentions in their planner.
There is also a section in the planner for “after school”. You can support your student by reviewing their week with them and having them log their after-school responsibilities in their planner. This helps them develop a holistic sense of time management.
Coming up:
Next week is our last week of school in 2025, but we will not be slowing down! On Wednesday, we will enjoy a morning of service followed by our traditional and beloved Simple Gift Exchange. We will end the week at noon on Friday, following the Whole School Meeting for Worship.
Reminders:
Students should dress for the weather every day. We go outside every day that we can safely do so.
If your student chose to make a perishable Simple Gift, they need to bring it with them on Wednesday morning.
Students will dismiss at noon on Friday. They will not eat lunch at school.
As always, thank you to all of the wonderful families who make the NGFS experience special. We could not do it without you!
In Friendship,
Clarissa
12/1/25-12/5/25
MS Science with Madison: In Science, students learned about the properties of solids, liquids, and gases. We had a detailed discussion about how it is easy to identify these states of matter, but not as easy to define them! Classes explored the arrangement and energy levels of the molecules in each state of matter to determine how scientists can study these physical forms of matter. We also explored how matter can change from one state to another via the loss or gain of kinetic energy. Students will continue this lesson by writing and performing skits that accurately explain states of matter in an engaging way.