With the snow melted and kids back in school, teachers returned to their weekly early-release schedule on Wednesday, January 25.  At the middle school, 6^th, 7^th, and 8^th grade teachers met together as a group during the beginning of the afternoon to discuss methods for helping struggling students (those receiving grades of D or F in classes).  After the initial group meeting, teachers broke into smaller grade-level teams for the remainder of the afternoon to continue planning.

The 6^th grade team discussed their upcoming annual “Pyramid Project” held in March, as 8^th grade teachers continued their earlier discussion regarding assisting struggling students.  Suggested actions included phone calls to parents by teachers to discuss which class(es) students may be struggling in and potentially schedule meetings with those teachers.

Finley Middle School Principal Michael Harrington stated, “It’s important for parents to remember that anytime they have concerns they can and should contact the middle school office of their child’s teacher.  We’re here to help.”

Families and friends showed up in support of the Finley band program’s first performance of the year on Thursday, December 15 in the Finley Elementary School gymnasium.  The winter music performance featured the fifth grade beginning band class, the middle/high school band, and the kindergarten class’ Christmas performance.

The program began with the fifth grade band class who played several short songs.  The beginning band class includes roughly 45 fifth grade students who meet four days a week for approximately 25 minutes per day.  This is the second year of the beginning band class, which Finley music teacher, Mrs. Debbie Dohaniuk, formed during the last school year.

The fifth grade class was followed by the middle/high school band class who also performed several songs.  This is the first year for the newly-formed secondary band, and much of the group includes sixth grade students who had participated in the beginning class as fifth graders the prior year.