The Agnes Irwin School Parents’ Council
Middle School Parent Coffee
Wednesday, September 14th, 2022 • 8:00 a.m.
The purpose of the Agnes Irwin Parents’ Council is to foster a positive spirit within the Agnes Irwin community, and to provide financial support for education facilities, opportunities, and enrichment. The Agnes Irwin Parents’ Council communicates with the school’s administration to ensure that all activities and financial contributions support the school’s mission and create the best possible environment for all Agnes Irwin students to grow and thrive.
Welcome - Elizabeth Rossini – Assistant Head of School
· Middle school leadership keys (CAG), builds upon leadership toolkit from lower school.
· Portrait of a graduate – thru line from pre-k experiences thru grade 12
· Middle School Leadership Keys – Developed in conjunction with the Center for the Advancement of Girls (CAG)
o Builds upon the leadership toolkit from the Lower School.
· Portrait of a graduate – gives us a picture of experiences from Pre-K thru Grade 12
o Parents will be receiving a copy of the Portrait of a graduate
Middle School Overview
● Corey Willingham - Interim Director of Middle School
o Meet girls where they are. Science curriculum that teaches about changes in their body. Wellness program – decision making. Presented to the board
o Presented to the board this past weekend about what makes middle school at AIS so great.
§ Meet girls where they are.
§ Science curriculum that teaches about changes in their body.
§ Wellness program – decision making as they start to use more advanced areas of their brains
● Ali Monzo -Center for the Advancement of Girls (CAG)
o Middle School Leadership Key Program
§ 2 years to develop this program
§ Built very specifically to be authentic to AIS
§ The girls are involved in leading the key program
o CAG leads and presents a speaker series. This years theme is striving for excellence
§ October 13th – Janice Kaplan - The Genius of Women: From Overlooked to Changing the World
Cocktail reception and speaker series Mark this date on your calendar
● Susan Maroto - Middle School Counselor
o Teaches “Courage to Be Me” to all of 5th grade (similar to let’s care in lower school) and half of 5th grade in wellness
o Drops in on parliament and VPA classes, chaperone field trips
o 3 Recommendations for Middle school Girls
§ Sleep – American Academy of Pediatrics recommends 9-11 hours of sleep a night
§ Nutrition – You can monitor what your daughter is ordering in the dining hall
§ Cell Phone – not in their room when they sleep
● Katie Cooper - 7th and 8th Grade Dean
o Added level of support for the girls and parents
o Holds class meeting once a week – regarding upcoming events, trips, issues
o Middle school student council – Core leaders from 8th and each parliament has a representative. They plan events like theme days, winter service bazaar and food drives
o Overnight Trips – will be receiving more info for your daughters grade in the coming weeks
§ 6th grade - 10/3-4 Outdoor School -horsham
§ 7th grade – 11/3-11/4 – DC
§ 8th Grade – 10/12-10/14 - NYC
o Change to uniform – can choose to wear khaki style navy pants, if they choose to wear pants they do not need to wear their kilt
● Clare Mahoney, Middle School Theater Teacher
o VPA (Visual Performing Arts) 5-8th
o 5th intro to theater – building interpersonal skills. Culminates in the 5th grade musical
o 6th grade – greater focus on empathy and embodies others experiences. Culminates in medieval day celebration
o 7th grade – public speaking class (girls required to make 3 speeches)
o 8th grade – performance requirement (1 act play – performed for the entire middle school)
o 7th & 8th grade Musical – Other ways to get involved beyond performance; costumes, props, set design, backstage, and stage management
● Courtney Lubbe, Athletics Director
o Physical Education is built into the academic rotation for 5th & 6th grades
o 7th & 8th grade PE moves into end of the day and the girls are required to participate in a sport or a PE class
o 6th grade - participation in sports is optional. They may choose to attend an additional study hall at the end of the day.
o Fall Sports – Field Hockey, Soccer, Tennis, Volleyball and Cross Country
o Winter Sports - Squash, Basketball, Swimming, Dance
o Spring Sports - Softball, Lacrosse, 6th – 8th grade running club (1 day a week run on track at Villanova) and 8th grade learn to row
o Middle School sports pick up is Dorrance entrance of middle school loop
o Team schedules on agnesirwin.org, can view every schedule for all teams for the entire season
o Sports will sometimes practice off campus. Field Hockey and Soccer at Radnor Memorial Field, Tennis at Sullivan Court at Villanova. Transportation to and from is provided.
o Parents can pick up offsite but must be there when practice ends or your daughter will be required to ride bus back to school.
o Girls cannot be dismissed to anyone other than a parent/guardian without permission
o Schedule alerts – website – AIS – athletic page
● Meghan Halberstadt, MS DEIB Coordinator and Wellness Teacher
o 5th & 6th PE and Wellness,
o 7th & 8th Wellness
o Coaches MS JV Volleyball
o DEIB coordinator for MS – help faculty and staff to ensure their lesson plans are representative of different communities and cultures, navigate situations regarding current events
Supporting Agnes Irwin
● Allison Hough, Associate Director of Development
o Parents relations program – way to get involved and volunteer
o Annual fund – way to financially support the school
o 9/29 – EITC (earned income tax credit) breakfast at 672. Different than giving to annual fund
Agnes Irwin Parents’ Council and Events
Nissa O’Mara - Parents’ Council President
· Parents’ Council is run by a 11 member Executive Committee
· As a parent you are automatically a member of Parents’ Council
· Parents’ Council oversees the Class Parents and New Parent Liaison program
· One Parents’ Council meeting a month in October, February, March, and April
· In September and January these meetings are Divisional coffees
· All meetings will be live-streamed and posted online afterwards Minutes will be distributed through class parents and are posted on AIS On
· Parents’ council section on AIS-ON has info about meetings and upcoming events
Events - Ann Thorkelson - Events Coordinator
● Band, Bubbles and Beer – September 24 4:30-6:30
o Lower School Field
o Babysitting available for ages 4+, reservations required
o Listen to music, sip some Prosecco or beer and enjoy some delicious food from the common good pizza truck!
· Agnes Irwin Cup Golf Outing – October 12th
o Sunnybrook Golf Club
o 1:00 Shotgun start
o 5:00-7:00 cocktails ceremony and dinner. May attend even if not playing golf
· Spirit Fair – November 4th
· Owlidays – November 16th
o Cocktail Party and shopping event at Valley Forge Flowers
· Spirit Week -November 7th -11th
o AIS/EA Day – November 11th at EA
o New spirit gear from lululemon will be available for purchase this year
Alice Bullitt, Middle School Coordinator
Breakouts – Facilitated by the Class Parents
· 5th Grade: Tracy Viola, Emily Ho
· 6th Grade: Lesley Coulson, Amy Calabrese
· 7th Grade: Kam Bongiorno, Cole Costa
· 8th Grade: Amy Cooper, Sarah Miller
