A Message from Director of Middle School, Ilse Norris:

Dear Middle School families,

Happy Labor Day! For many students in Minnesota and around the country, the day after Labor Day marks the first day of school. Our students, however, have been getting in the swing of things for the better part of two weeks! Last week, they had the opportunity to visit the community garden planted last May. They discovered kale, parsley, basil, pearl onions, chives, thyme, oregano, and one zucchini so far! The citronella smelled wonderful and kept the mosquitos at bay.

We would like for you to experience first-hand all the wonderful teaching and learning that is going on in Visitation Middle School. Please join us for Middle School Back to School Night on Thursday, Sept. 8, from 6 to 8 p.m. This evening is for parents/guardians. We will start the evening in DeSales Auditorium for a brief presentation. You will then have an opportunity to visit your daughter’s classrooms where the Middle School team will share about the rich curriculum and exciting projects they have in store for your daughter this year. We will end the evening with a round-robin showcasing of all the specialists, who will be gathered in the Heart. This promises to be an informative, exciting and rewarding evening! We look forward to seeing you on Thursday!

The Visitation band program is in full swing. Mr. Ross Bell, the Band teacher, will be on hand during Back-to-School night in the Heart from 7:45 - 8:15 p.m. to answer any questions you may have about the Band program. He will be providing the following instruments: pianos/ keyboards, guitar and bass amplifiers, and percussion/ drums and to share information on instrument rental. 

Mrs. Tara Schletz, our enrichment coordinator, presented the Global Ambassadors Student Leadership opportunity during Assembly on Tuesday. This is a leadership group devoted to connecting our community to the world, highlighting and celebrating our interconnectedness through different communities around us, and fostering global competence. Students will be selected from grades 6, 7 and 8 through an application process. Meetings will take place during pre-planned flex periods. Global Ambassadors student leaders will present “Global News” during Middle School Assemblies and will plan other initiatives throughout the school year and beyond. The application was distributed on September 6.

Mrs. Caroline Little, science teacher, presented a wonderful opportunity for current eighth graders at Assembly. The Nasa HUNCH mission is to empower and inspire students through a project-based learning program where high school students learn 21st-century skills and have the opportunity to launch their careers through participation in the design and fabrication of real-world valued products for NASA. Students will be working on solving a problem for the new Biomedical / Health Science. "As we look to the future of colonization on the Moon and Mars, we must consider the physiological changes that happen to humans in space and find ways to mitigate those changes. This NASA HUNCH program gives students a way to think outside of the box and create solutions to some of these problems." Students received an email from Mrs. Little to gauge interest. 

We have a new after-school Robotics Club for Middle School students beginning right away in September. FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) students learn to think and build like engineers. Teams design, build, and code robots to compete in an alliance format against other teams. The FTC team will meet on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 3:15 - 5:15 p.m. A big thank you to the Koehn and the Backstrom families for donating time and talent to head up the team! The first meeting will be on Tuesday, September 13, in the Sisters’ Dining Room. Come one, come all!

I had the pleasure of seeing the Middle School science classes in action on Friday: they engaged in some scientific inquiry as they practiced their skills in measuring and lab safety. Lab groups started with three primary colors and from there created a rainbow. It was wonderful to see the students so engaged and acting like little scientists! 

It is a privilege to partner with you and work with your daughter in this excellent school!

Gratefully,

Ilse Norris
Director of Middle School