November is a time that ushers in the holiday season. We are wrapping up Halloween, but Thanksgiving and Christmas are just around the corner. Thanksgiving is a great time to remember everything we are thankful for and how much we have been blessed. Helping your students start a grateful journal or stopping to give thanks can be some of the best strategies you give them to fight depression and rest in a sense of hope. More research is showing that gratitude makes you healthier. According to a 2011 study in Applied Psychology: Health and Well Being, taking a few minutes to jot down what you are grateful for during the day improves your sleep. Gratitude has a number of health benefits such as lowering stress and helping create good relationships https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2017/08/10/gratitude-health-benefits.aspx ) Writing down your blessings and helping your students do the same is a great way to change your outlook and create positivity. I challenge you to join me in being grateful throughout this November season. Let’s start trending with #grateful and #MACSawesome on the first day of November and keep it going until Thanksgiving.
We have so much to be grateful for in Mount Airy City Schools. Our achievement data is some of the best in the state with our overall proficiencies ranking 20th district-wide out of 115 school districts. We are also ranked 3rd overall in our elementary school growth leaving only two schools state-wide outperforming us. This is a testament to our great students, families, teachers, and administrators. Every week someone is telling me what a great school system and community we have. I would agree and am thankful every day that I am the superintendent.
Our students have a full schedule of upcoming art performances, winter sports are scheduled, and the innovation happening in classrooms are impacting our schools and community. Here are a few dates coming up in November that will help keep you in the know. Daylight Savings Time ends and we will set our clocks back November 5th one hour which will give you a little extra sleep. November 10th we will be closed for Veterans Day. Thanksgiving break will begin November 22nd and we will return on Monday, November 27th. This a great time to check in with your student’s progress. Our teachers and administrators are here with lots of information on how your child is doing in their academic subjects. Reach out to them to see how you can help your child at home continue to grow and learn.