Excerpts from The Hall Weekly Bulletin - November 12, 2007
Calendar		Principal's Message
This Week Tuesday, November 13 • Lunch Orders Due for Second Session Wednesday, November 14 • 8:15am | 529 Plans | NC Staff Rm. Thursday, November 15 • 9am | Child Safety Panel | NC Staff Rm. • 3:30-5pm | School Site Council Mtg. Saturday, November 17 • 8:30-12 | Parent and Community Input Workshop Regarding District Strategic Priorities for 2008-2010 | Hall Library • 11am | Campus Improvement Day Upcoming Monday, November 19 • 6pm | Facilities Master Planning Committee Meeting | Hall Library Wednesday November 21 • 1pm | Minimum Day, Early Release November 22 thru November 23 • NO SCHOOL | Thanksgiving Recess Tuesday, November 27 • 7-9pm | Foundation Appreciation Night | Corte Madera Rec. Center Wednesday November 28 • 6pm | Board Meeting | Hall Library Friday, November 30 • First Lunch Session Ends • 7pm | High School Musical | Red Cast Saturday, December 1 • 2 pm | High School Musical | Red Cast • 7 pm | High School Musical | Wht. Cast Sunday, December 2 • 2 pm | High School Musical | Wht. Cast Monday, December 3 • Second Lunch Session Begins		Homework Data The amount of homework at Hall Middle School has been a topic of discussion for students, parents and staff for several years. To begin to address the issue, the staff at Hall has redefined the purpose of homework and reconfirmed the expectations for homework at each grade level (see Binder Reminder). The next step in the process is to gather more detailed information. The School Site Council, working in conjunction with the Lead Team has devised a data-gathering tool to further our study of homework. Our goal is to add specificity to the generalization of there being too much homework.   Additional data can inform us about the student homework experience over time and across subjects.  If our students are indeed spending three or more hours a night on homework, it would behoove us to understand where they are spending those hours. And if they are spending reasonable amounts of time on homework, it will be helpful for us to have that data to add to our study and discussion. The plan devised by Site Council and Lead Team is to survey one homeroom per grade level each day for ten consecutive days and have students report how much time they spent on homework for each subject the night before.  We will compile and share this information and use it to guide our discussion.  At the end of this data collection process we will also be conducting focus group discussions with students to expand our data. - Daniel Norbutas - Hall Principal
		School News
		Hall Middle School Musical Don't miss your opportunity to see Disney's High School Musical on stage at the Hall gym!  Mark your calendars now for Friday, November 30 at 7pm, Saturday, December 1 at 2pm and 7pm, and Sunday, December 2 at 2pm.  All cast members are in all shows but leads are featured when their cast is "on."  For information on casts and tickets, please see flyer in backpack mail, school website, or call Margie Reis at 927-3635. "This could be the start of something new..." District Advisory Health and Safety Committee The next District Advisory Health and Safety Committee Meeting is scheduled for December 4 at 9am at Hall Middle School, Room 607.  The last meeting was packed with discussions about various safety drills, safety manuals and updates, staph infection prevention, bus safety, uses of ConnectEd and much, much more.  We were lucky enough to have the juvenile detective from the Twin Cities Police Department and the Larkspur Fire Chief attend our meeting and provide us with valuable information.  If you are interested in participating and helping with these efforts, please join us.