Newsletter: HSA Meeting, Term 1 Ends, Musical Auditions, & More

NOVEMBER 12, 2023

This past week was a difficult one for our community as we mourned the tragic and unexpected loss of beloved teacher, dean, coach, and friend to the Masterman family, Mr. Kevin Saint Clair. Beautiful services attended by hundreds were held this weekend in Chestnut Hill to celebrate and honor his life and legacy. You can find coverage from 6abc here. We will continue to look for ways to memorialize him as a community.

In addition, please see last week's special community newsletter for information about ways to donate in honor of Mr. Saint Clair. In case you missed it, we also want to share this touching tribute published in the Inquirer this week.

Yesterday, we observed Veterans Day, and we'd like to extend gratitude to all who have served and sacrificed for our country.

We want to wish a happy and joyful Diwali to all who participate in the five-day festival of lights which begins today and celebrates "the triumph of light over darkness, knowledge over ignorance, and good over evil." Learn more.

It's hard to believe, but the first marking period ends this week, and next week is already Thanksgiving break. Report card conferences will be held the Monday after Thanksgiving break. Be on the lookout for sign-ups. Please read below for news, info, and helpful resources.

Meetings and Important School Dates

Mark your calendars! There are many ways to connect with the Masterman community.

THIS WEEK:

Mon. Nov. 13: World Kindness Day
Mon. Nov. 13, 8 pm: SAC Teaching & Learning committee meeting - Join Zoom Meeting.
Tues. Nov. 14, 6:30 pm: SAC Safety and Facilities committee meeting - Join Zoom Meeting.
Tues. Nov. 14, 7:30 pm: HSA Meeting - Join Zoom Meeting.
Thurs. Nov. 16: First marking period ends
Thurs. Nov 16, 7 pm: SAC Ad Hoc Bylaws Review committee meeting - Join Zoom meeting.
Nov. 13, 16, 17: School musical auditions for 5th-8th grades

UPCOMING:

Nov. 20, 7 pm: SAC Climate and Culture committee meeting
Nov. 22: 3-Hour Early Dismissal
Nov, 23-24: Thanksgiving Recess: School Closed
Nov. 27: Report Card Conferences (Full Day); School closed for students

You can find the full SDP calendar here for 2023–2024 and 2024–2025 school years.

HSA Meeting This Tuesday at 7:30 pm on Zoom

Feeling great about Masterman, and want to give back? Feeling like our community needs a boost? Either way, attending Tuesday evening’s HSA meeting on Zoom is a perfect way to learn about positive efforts to support the experience of students and teachers at our school. All are welcome. Please join us!

Agenda:

Regular Committee and Liaison Updates, Including: Fundraising, Membership, Facilities, Outreach, SAC, Teacher Liaisons, Admin, and Treasurer’s Report
Special Topics: Teacher Appreciation and Support, Rooftop Dreams & Aspirations
New Business

Join Zoom Meeting

Teacher of the Year Nominations Now Open

The Pennsylvania Department of Education is encouraging residents to nominate an outstanding educator to be the Commonwealth’s 2025 Teacher of the Year. This award celebrates and honors individuals for their excellence in teaching and outstanding contributions to our young people. The winner will represent Pennsylvania at the National Teacher of the Year ceremony at the White House. Finalists will be recognized in Harrisburg next fall. PA’s 2025 Teacher of the Year will be announced in December 2024.

Nominate a teacher until December 15th, 2023, and let the HSA know who you have nominated by emailing president@mastermanhsa.org.

AROUND MASTERMAN

Kudos to the Debate Team!

Congratulations to Masterman’s public forum debate team on their performance at yesterday’s Dallastown Wildcat Invitational tournament!

Sophomore pairs Tova Albert & Jess Jesteen and Taylor Samara-Reuter & Nabilah Chowdhury had a great first varsity tournament and Ana Sorrentino & Ray Eggerts went 4-0 to be top seed in prelims. Seniors Josh Cohen and Sam Doyle won the tournament in a tour de force final debate against a team from Central. Way to go!

Beauty & the Beast Auditions Start This Week

Nov. 13: 5th Grade

Nov. 16: 6th Grade

Nov. 17: 7th & 8th Grade

Nov. 20: High School Auditions

Nov. 21: High School Dance call (all high school) plus additional high school auditions

Please contact Mrs. Neu at kkelter@philasd.org with any questions.

World Kindness Day is Monday, November 13

There are many things in this world you can't control, but you can choose to intentionally show kindness to others.

"World Kindness Day 2023 is a global observance dedicated to promoting and celebrating acts of kindness. This day serves as a reminder of the positive impact that kindness can have on individuals, communities, and the world at large. It encourages people to perform intentional acts of kindness and foster a culture of compassion and generosity."

The school counselors asked students to use this past weekend to think about an act of kindness they can perform on Monday with a reminder that THEY have the power to help make Masterman a more caring space. They also shared this article with students which includes some ideas, while also encouraging them to devise their own acts of kindness.

"Be the change you wish to see in the world." - Mahatma Gandhi

School Counselors:

Ms. Nelson- students in grades 5-11 with last names beginning with the letters A-Haw and seniors with last names A-G
Mr. Allen- students in grades 5-11 with last names beginning with the letters Hay-Pha and seniors with last names H-Me
Ms. Marcus- students in grades 5-11 with last names beginning with the letters Phi-Z and seniors with last names Mo-Z

Spotlight on Masterman Voices

Check out the September/October features from Masterman Voices online here.

You can find info about SLAM Robotics starting up a new year, a feature on art teacher, Ms. Aubry, a new teacher spotlight on Ms. Conklin, senior spotlights, reflections on the admissions process, the schedule change, and more—all written by our amazing Masterman students!

Athletics News

The upcoming HS winter sports season starts November 17 and includes Girls/Boys Basketball, Girls/Boys Indoor Track, Girls/Boys Swimming, and "hopefully" Squash. Our teams welcome all abilities, including those with no experience. If you are a freshman, please do not be shy. You will be welcomed. We are a small high school and need you to join! If you are a senior who gave up on sports in pursuit of other interests, please consider that your college app process will soon be complete, and you will have time to squeeze in a fun sports activity. Note - this is a common trend of our seniors each year, so let's keep the trend going. Parents - your student will need to complete a PIAA physical form to join.

Student managers are needed for all athletics teams. If you have a passion for statistics, data analytics, film, photography, vlogging, and/or graphic design - these are all skill types that can be utilized as a student manager. Students should speak to a coach about their interests.

SGA Friendsgiving Potluck

Tues. Nov. 21 at 3:30 pm in Masterman's Cafeteria

Mark your calendars for SGA’s next event: the Friendsgiving Potluck! You can sign up to bring in food, desserts, drinks, or paper products using the Signup Genius link on all grade Google Classrooms!

Masterman Night Out at the 76ers, Dec. 15

Join your fellow Mastermanners at a 76ers game and raise money for our athletics teams at the same time! Members of our school group receive discounted tickets and perks like early access to watch the warm-ups and a special gift for every attendee!

All you have to do is reserve your tickets here. Feel free to invite friends and family to share the fun. Tickets are limited, so order now!

HSA & SAC UPDATES

HSA Membership Drive

The HSA membership drive is ongoing and we need your help to meet our goal. Please join and donate today!

SAC Update

SAC has been working with Assistant Superintendent Gordon in getting the assistance we need to get the bathrooms at Masterman fixed. Several areas were identified and a lot of the repairs have been completed. A few SAC members did a walkthrough of the facilities on Monday with the new building engineer, Mr. Woods, and the assistant building engineer, Ms. Smith, to check on progress of repairs. We jointly identified areas where improved communications and education could help alleviate some of the issues with the maintenance of our school bathrooms. According to today's Inquirer article the BoE discussed this topic in Thursday's meeting. Students across the district, including Masterman, are speaking out about the unsatisfactory conditions of school bathrooms. To see what our Masterman students said about their school experience, please read through SDP SchoolExperience Survey Result for J. R. Masterman School 2022-23 (The student participation rate at our school was 82 percent.)

SAC Committee Meetings This Week: All students, parents, and teachers are encouraged and invited to attend SAC committee meetings, which are all on the school calendar.

Mon. Nov. 13, 8 pm: SAC Teaching and Learning committee meeting - In last month's meeting, we discussed the staffing plan for unfilled teacher positions, homework protocols, and language pathways going forward. The committee made a recommendation of French as the 2nd language pathway for HS. For more information, please refer to the SAC Teaching and Learning Committee Meeting Report: 10/09/23 @ 7:30 pm. In this meeting, we will continue our discussions on language pathways, use of advisory time, and any other concerns submitted through the SAC input form, and from students and community members attending the meeting. Join Zoom Meeting.
Tues. Nov. 14, 6:30 pm: SAC Safety and Facilities committee meeting - We can provide an update on the bathroom fixes at Masterman and talk through recommendations that came from the walkthrough and discussions with the building engineers at the school. For a full list of bathroom fixes, refer to Safety and Facilities Committee Report Nov 1 SAC meeting. Join Zoom Meeting.
Thurs. Nov. 16, 7 pm: SAC Ad Hoc Bylaws Review committee meeting - Please join to give input and discuss the review of the SAC bylaws. Get to know our Masterman SAC's mission, vision, objectives, and how it works by reading through the SAC bylaws and the School District of Philadelphia's SAC Constitution and share your input in the meeting. Join Zoom meeting.

If you missed this month's meeting, here is the November Meeting Agenda. You can also find the approved minutes from the Oct. 4 SAC meeting here. Our next meeting is Dec. 6th at 6 pm.

Community engagement is what makes for an effective SAC, and we are counting on you for guidance on what is important to the community. There are many ways you can guide the conversation and priorities of SAC. You can 1) Attend SAC meetings and SAC committee meetings 2) Email jrmastermansac@gmail.com or any of the SAC members 3) Give your input via our SAC input form. You can find the aggregate of all community concerns received by SAC this month in this volume of synthesis. The top 4 topics of concern were the schedule, school communication, school leadership, and ratings & rankings.

Funding Spotlight: Rooftop Improvements

Students, families, and teachers were so happy to see an additional portion of our rooftop space opened up for use during recess this month.

The HSA is now getting to work on a plan to furnish and beautify the space! We have funds that have been earmarked for this purpose—all we need is some volunteers to help plan and execute this refurbishment! Every Masterman student, now and in the years to come, will benefit from this work. We will plan to have a discussion at this Tuesday's HSA meeting to gather ideas for what people would like to see done.

If you can help, please email president@mastermanhsa.org!

OPPORTUNITIES & RESOURCES

2024-2025 Bell Schedule School Survey

The School District of Philadelphia (SDP) in partnership with The Philadelphia Federation of Teachers is in the beginning stages of gathering information from schools regarding bell schedules for the 2024-2025 school year. The Bell Schedule is defined as the time school begins (start time) for students and the time the school day ends for students.

Please complete the survey by Monday, November 20, 2023.

YMCA FREE 7th Grade Gym Memberships

The 7th Grade Membership Initiative provides a FREE membership to all 7th Graders. Registration is easy! Students simply need to bring proof of 7th Grade status (a roster or report card), along with a parent or guardian to any YMCA location. Learn more and find your closest Y.

Students at Museums in Philly (STAMP)

Through STAMP any Philadelphia high school student can visit 20 museums and cultural sites for free. Just show your high school student ID and enjoy the STAMP discount.

Learn more and see the full list of STAMP museums.

Free Online SAT Math Classes, Every Friday via Zoom, 7 pm

Infinite Mind Tutors, an online tutoring organization, and Math Girl Movement, a non-profit are offering free online SAT Math classes, designed to help students develop effective strategies and achieve a high score on the SAT exam. Students can learn more and register here. For more info, email Melanie Young at infinitemindstutoring@gmail.com.

Free Virtual Tutoring

The School District of Philadelphia’s free Centralized Tutoring is open for kindergarten through 12th grade students. Click here to learn more about centralized tutoring and to register.

Prepare Now to Chaperone Any School Event or Trip

The school district requires certain clearances and background checks for all adults entering the school or accompanying students at field trips and other events. Get your clearances now and submit them to the main office so that you're ready to help out at any time. Info is here.

Masterman Safe Streets Resource

Check out this info sheet about the best ways to stay safe, be a good neighbor, and get help if needed when traveling to and from school. Watch for a printed copy to come home with your child shortly, and you can always access it on the Resources page of the HSA website. Huge thanks to the dedicated parent volunteer who worked with school leadership to gather this information and lay it out!

Connect with Other Families

One of the best ways to stay connected with other families is through Facebook groups. These groups are not run by the HSA, but moderated by individual parents with kids currently in each grade.

SUPPORT

We need each other.

Donate to the HSA today and help fund this year's programs, activities, and improvements!

Donations fund the many programs and initiatives of the HSA that support our school, teachers, families, and students.

Whether you are able to give $5 or $500, your gift is meaningful, and signals your commitment to our community.

Your donation today accelerates our fall membership drive.

DONATE NOW

Masterman Swag

You can always source standard items, including athletic wear, hats, and water bottles, from the HSA’s Squadlocker store.

Alumni gear: There are now t-shirts and hoodies with a Masterman Alumni logo on them in the shop.

SHOP NOW

Help Us Thank Our Auction Sponsors

Over 100 businesses donated to the spring auction last year to support the Masterman HSA. Show your gratitude by supporting them in return! Browse the list here.

Interested in supporting this year's auction, to take place in spring 2024? Email auction@mastermanhsa.org!