 | "Lunch Bunch" Series Starts This Month
2/11/2013
Middle School (MS) Psychologist Lauren Rosen is introducing a Lunch Bunch series of sessions for our MS students in Grades 7 and 8. Click here for a message from Ms. Rosen.
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Annual Wax Museum Educates, Entertains
11/27/2012
The annual Middle School Wax Museum, held earlier this month, once again educated and entertained its participating students as well as D-E parents, faculty, and staff. Click on the link immediately above to see a photo of one student speaking to a Lower School classsroom, and check out www.d-e.org/news for a full story.
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MS Report: What's Growing Now?
11/27/2012
Here's the latest from our intrepid MS Reporter, Kate Lappin '18!
After a hurricane, snowfall and frost, the Middle School vegetable garden is still providing food, fun and educational projects for D-E students. In the picture (Click on the "What's Growing Now?" link immediately above), a 7th grader holds a sampling of produce maturing now in the garden: kale, collards, swiss chard, spinach, beet greens and various herbs. Our leeks, sage and thyme have found their way into school lunch, adding a bit to soups and composed salads which the kitchen staff prepares daily. In the 7th and 8th grade elective, D.I.G (Dwight Englewood in the Garden), and in the Middle School club, “Planeteers,” students are also “putting the garden to bed” for the winter by amending soil with our own compost (made from kitchen scraps by the students on lunch duty), mulching with chopped leaves from campus trees, and planting garlic and strawberries for next spring’s harvest.
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MS Report: 8th Grade Measures Shadows!
10/23/2012
Here's the latest from our intrepid MS Reporter, Kate Lappin '18!
8th Grade Measures Shadows:
Hands-on learning is something of a tradition at D-E. For example, a sunny day last week saw 8th graders in Ms. Withrow’s and Mr. Scovell’s Earth Science class dashing outside during their passing periods to the Library’s patio. They were measuring the shadows cast by the sun against a “sun stick” they had planted earlier in the day.
The 8th grade measured the shadow’s movement because they are studying Earth’s orbit.
Says 8th grader Jacon Waxman, “[T]he length of the shadow changes over the course of the day because of the Earth’s roation. When the Earth spins the sun appears the be rising and setting. Because of this, the sun’s angle of light changes the length of the shadow. For instance, around noon the shadow will be smaller because the angle of sunlight is going directly down. [I]n the morning or afternoon, the sun is more horizontal so the shadow is longer."
Keep checking www.d-e.org/middle for more 'day in the life' news from the Middle School!
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Spring 2012 Report Cards Now Available
6/19/2012
Parents/guardians can now access Spring 2012 report cards for their Middle School student(s) online. Please click here for instructions! If you need assistance with your Login information contact the Technology Department at 201-569-9500, ext. 3826.
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7th Grade Students Host "Mayhem" June 1
5/15/2012
The annual celebration of Shakespeare and all things 16th Century will take place on June 1 in the Silberfein Gym. Hosted by the Middle School's 7th Grade Class, D-E families and friends are invited to enjoy the festivities. For Mayhem 2012 information please click here.
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Dear Parents and Students,
Explore, Experience, Excel! These words capture the enthusiasm and excitement you’ll find within the walls of our Middle School. Our students and faculty love to be here, and we want your child to love to be here, too. Every day, our students explore several worlds: the world of academics, the world of arts and athletics, the world of ethics, and the world of the 21st century problem-solving skills. They experience the thrill of intellectual pursuit, the delight of finding new interests, the joy in social friendships, the pleasure of challenging oneself, and the excitement of developing leadership skills. They excel in the classroom, on the stage, on the playing fields, in the music halls, in making ethical decisions, and in solving meaningful problems in creative ways.
Our students are challenged, nurtured, mentored, celebrated, and encouraged in a vast array of ways by the fabulous cadre of teachers. As our students grow emotionally, physically and intellectually, we are there to guide them along the way, gently pushing them and supporting them, and picking them up when they falter.
Our core curriculum, along with our enrichment programs, supports our school mission. Our students stretch their thinking, develop critical learning skills, and expand their horizons. Our Discovery Classes, our HomeBase system, and our Activity Period are just a few of the exploratory and innovative programs that capitalize on students’ interests and extend their learning. Our Service Learning Community Connections and our Leadership Program provide experiences for our students to become ethical citizens of the world.
I encourage and invite you to explore the excitement found within our Middle School learning environment.
Sincerely,
Kathy Christoph
MS Principal
EMail: chrisk@d-e.org
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MS Academic Program Highlight: Mayhem 2012 Toward the last week of the 2011-'12 academic year, 7th graders were eager to share their posters, skits, magazines and virtual stores in an interdisciplinary unit of study called "Mayhem: A 16th Century Experience." The students prepared their presentations on particular topics or perspectives from the 1500s, including memorizing scenes for the Shakespeare Festival performance of "A Midsummer Night’s Dream." Utilizing the skills and content learned throughout the year, each student was part of a research group that focused on individual academic interests. Their presentations were depicted within various booths and displays within D-E's Silberfein Gym that took the form of a 16th century 'village'. Parents, teachers, and fellow students enjoyed walking through the village learning more about the trades of natural wool dying and fabric construction, herbs for both medicinal and 'spells' purposes, the consequences of the Plague, and types of weaponry, among other topic areas.
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Academic Program Highlight: Greek Day 6th grade students, their parents and faculty members gathered with excitement onto Graham Field during the last week of the 2011-'12 academic year to take part in a D-E Middle School tradition: Greek Day.
A variation of the Greek Olympics followed by an Awards Ceremony and Greek Feast, Greek Day entails spirited competition, attire fittingly inspired by the ancients, and a delicious feast. Each 6th grade social studies class was assigned a new "city-state" status; the City-States of Athens, Sparta, Thebes, and Delphi participated in a series of events including a chariot race, a foot race and even a discus throw. These classes not only made red-figure and black-figure pottery for the showcase, but also created their costumes from bedsheets, and chariots from foam board. The event concluded with prizes and the serving of foods featuring classic and modern Greek delicacies including Tzatziki, Hummus, Moussaka, and Saganaki. |
MS Academic Program Highlight: Experimental Design Fair 2012 An eager and engaged 6th grade class duly prepared and tested an extensive range of everyday products for D-E’s annual Middle School (MS) Experimental Design Fair. As part of their Experimental Design science coursework, the students' results were officially exhibited in Hajjar Auditorium. Products ranged from marshmallows to nail polish to basketballs, paper towels, diapers, hand soap and even water pistols. The student teams explained to the audience of parents, peers and teachers how they chose their products, demonstrating their research process, conduction of surveys, completion of scientific experiments and results using vividly-designed posters, models and magazines. Their presentations included descriptions of the students' hypotheses, and their results. Overall, it was a wonderful event, leading many to make newly-informed resolutions about future buying decisions.
Student Rebecca McBeth noted, "It was fun to come up with a hypothesis and then test that hypothesis about paper towels! We were not too surprised by the results of our experiment, but we enjoyed going through it.”
See photo gallery above for images of the various exhibits on display. |
 James Aitken(201) 569-9500 ext 3702 James Aitken is the Dean for the 8th Grade (Class of 2016). He holds his Ed. S. (Specialist Degree) in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies from the University of Northern Colorado (Greeley, CO). |
 Elizabeth Traub(201) 569-9500 ext 3712 Liz Traub is the 7th Grade Dean and a faculty member of the MS Mathematics Department. A part of the D-E community since 1985 who also coaches Field Hockey, she has her Ed. M. from Harvard University and a B.S. from Ithaca College. |
 Tasha Urbanowski(201) 569-9500 ext 3706 With D-E since 1995, Tasha Urbanowski is the 6th Grade Dean and a member of the MS English Department. She has her M.A. from Columbia University and a B.A. from Smith College. |
| | Community of Readers for Fall 2013: Happy Summer Reading! Welcome from Kathy Christoph, MS Principal | | |
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