News
Middle School Matters Webinar Kicks Off
Monthly sessions for parents feature timely topics
Middle school often gets a bad rap with words like awkward and hormones being thrown about as license for setting low expectations for the three years preceding upper school. But at GPS, the time our students spend in sixth through eighth grades is replete with exploration, discovery, extraordinary growth, and fostering deep connections with adults and peers. In a nutshell, middle school matters significantly to a girl’s development. So Kathryn Outlaw, Head of Middle School and Director of Student Support Services, and Lauren Lawrence Swanson ’09, Director of Student Life and Assistant Dean of Students, have teamed up to present to our parents lunchtime webinars that cover topics relevant to what their students are experiencing.
In the first session, parents learned about the importance of sleep and its impact on stress and engagement. From data provided by our own students, our middle schoolers are falling short each night on the recommended nine hours of sleep needed for healthy development. In a followup survey question, two-thirds of our middle school girls keep their cell phone in their room at night. Data shows that engagement in school is directly related to keeping cell phones in bedrooms, and girls are less likely to be fully engaged in their classes when their phones are in their rooms at night.
According to Kathryn, “The biggest gift you can give your middle school girl is to set firm boundaries around technology use in the bedroom, removing phones and computers from her room at night. Middle school girls don’t have the maturity yet to make wise choices with technology, and nothing positive happens late at night on a phone.”
The remainder of the webinar was spent on MyGPS, highlighting the most useful portions of our internal platform, with Sarah Clardy, Middle School Learning Specialist, offering her expertise. Parents were shown some quick tips and suggestions for navigating the parent portal, including assignment views, resource boards and notifications. In closing, parents asked questions and offered their thanks for the helpful session.
The next installment of Middle School Matters will be February 27 (fourth Thursday) with the topic of February Feels: Navigating big feelings and emotions with middle school girls. Be sure to watch Bruiser News for the link to join us!
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In the first session, parents learned about the importance of sleep and its impact on stress and engagement. From data provided by our own students, our middle schoolers are falling short each night on the recommended nine hours of sleep needed for healthy development. In a followup survey question, two-thirds of our middle school girls keep their cell phone in their room at night. Data shows that engagement in school is directly related to keeping cell phones in bedrooms, and girls are less likely to be fully engaged in their classes when their phones are in their rooms at night.
According to Kathryn, “The biggest gift you can give your middle school girl is to set firm boundaries around technology use in the bedroom, removing phones and computers from her room at night. Middle school girls don’t have the maturity yet to make wise choices with technology, and nothing positive happens late at night on a phone.”
The remainder of the webinar was spent on MyGPS, highlighting the most useful portions of our internal platform, with Sarah Clardy, Middle School Learning Specialist, offering her expertise. Parents were shown some quick tips and suggestions for navigating the parent portal, including assignment views, resource boards and notifications. In closing, parents asked questions and offered their thanks for the helpful session.
The next installment of Middle School Matters will be February 27 (fourth Thursday) with the topic of February Feels: Navigating big feelings and emotions with middle school girls. Be sure to watch Bruiser News for the link to join us!
