Dear Parent/Guardian,
Our Parent-Teacher Conferences are scheduled for Nov. 18, 21, and 22. Parent-Teacher Conferences present an excellent opportunity for both home and school to partner together for the benefit of your child.
It is through this vital communication and partnership that we can create something truly special...an Attales Family, which will help continue to make the Emma C. Attales Middle School and the Absecon Public School District a place of excellence and a “home away from home” to our students.
While ambitious, it is our goal to provide every Attales parent/guardian the opportunity to meet with their child’s teacher(s) during these conferences. To help facilitate this goal, please note that conferences may be conducted in a grade level/team format. Additionally, in some situations, a teacher or grade level may reach out to a parent/guardian to request that they attend a conference to address concerns regarding academic performance, behavior, attendance, etc. We ask that you please make every effort to attend your scheduled conference so that we may work together with the success of your child as our primary goal.
To best accommodate parent/guardian schedules, we will continue to offer virtual conferences (by phone or video) in addition to traditional in-person conferences. We ask for your patience and flexibility as we try to accommodate and schedule every parent/guardian conference request. The following is our schedule for 2022-2023 Parent-Teacher Conferences:
- Friday, Nov. 18 (8 a.m.-2:45 p.m.) will be available for both in-person and/or virtual conferences.
- Monday, Nov. 21 (after-school hours) will be available for both in-person and/or virtual conferences. Individual teachers/grade levels will provide further details on structure and times for conferences on Monday.
- In addition to the public Board of Education meeting where the new Comprehensive Health & PE Standards were discussed with our community, we will also hold the following two events in the STEAM Lab during Parent-Teacher Conferences:
- 6-6:20 p.m.: Our Nurse and Health & PE staff will be modeling the lesson that will outline the new 5th grade Comprehensive Health & PE Standards. This event is open to 5th-grade parents.
- 7-7:20 p.m.: Our Nurse and Health & PE staff will be modeling the lesson that will outline the new 8th grade Comprehensive Health & PE Standards. This event is open to 8th-grade parents.
- Tuesday, Nov. 22 (after-school hours) will be available for both in-person and/or virtual conferences. Individual teachers/grade levels will provide further details on structure and times for conferences on Monday.
Virtual Conferences
In response to the positive feedback the last few years, we will continue to offer virtual conferences this year. We experienced two surprising benefits the last few years with our virtual conferences. First, we found that we were able to conference with more parents virtually than we could in person. Second, many parents told us that they appreciated being able to have their conference from the comfort of their own homes or without having to leave their place of employment to attend. Virtual conferences will be conducted via Google Meet and/or traditional phone conferences. Your child’s teacher(s) will communicate the specific details for accessing these conferences. It is recommended that you attend your Google Meet Parent-Teacher Conference through your child’s Chromebook to prevent any filtering or access issues. Please communicate directly with your child’s teacher prior to your conference date/time if you have any questions or anticipate any issues accessing your scheduled Google Meet or phone conference.
In-Person Conferences
Parents/guardians will also have the option for in-person conferences this year. For safety and security reasons, parents/guardians will need to adhere to the following in order to attend in-person conferences at the Attales Middle School:
- Parents/guardians will be required to enter through the Attales main entrance, have their government-issued identification, and sign in.
- They will receive a printed visitor badge.
- Parents/guardians will also be required to sign out and exit through the same Attales main entrance at the conclusion of the conference.
To schedule conferences, please find the "Parent-Teacher Conferences" link on the "Student/Parent" dropdown menu. Here, you will be able to click on a link to specific teachers or grade levels to schedule your conference(s).
- Special Areas: Special Area teachers will also be available for virtual conferences on the above dates as needed. Please reach out to your child’s Art/Spanish/STEAM/Computer Science/Health & PE teacher directly if you wish to request a conference and/or to set up a virtual conference date/time:
- School Counselor: Our school counselor, Mrs. Jessica Carver, will also be available during these virtual conference days. If you are interested in setting up a virtual conference with Mrs. Carver, please reach out to her directly at (609) 641-5375, ext. 1023 or [email protected].
Should you require any special accommodations or requests during conferences, please communicate with your child’s teacher or Mrs. Janice Clarke in the Attales Main Office ([email protected] or (609) 641-5375, ext.1017).
If you are having trouble scheduling your conference using the links mentioned above or on the website, please reach out to Mrs. Clarke (ext. 1017 or [email protected]) or Mrs. Karen Chubb (ext. 1018 or [email protected]) in the Attales Main Office at (609) 641-5375 for assistance.
We look forward to seeing everyone either virtually or in person during our conferences. Thank you for your continued support.
Sincerely,
Kevin Burns
Proud Principal
Emma C. Attales Middle School
609-641-5375, ext. 1017