Happy Holidays, Tigers! Remember to read each day during the Winter Break.
Many students have other holiday work in mathematics, band/chorus,
science, social studies, and/or reading. These assignments will be due on
January 3, 2006. Please ask your child about these assignments.

As always, do not hesitate to call upon me if I can assist you in any
matter.

Michelle Gayle,
Proud Principal of Griffin Middle School

Griffin Middle School loves and appreciates our awesome PTO and SAC!


Calendar Reminders:
December 19, 2005 - January 2, 2006   Winter Holidays for Tigers
January 2, 2006   Teacher Planning Day - No School for students
January 3, 206    Tigers return at 8:20 AM  (It's "A" Week!)
                  GSOC Tryouts begin (Coach Cindy Osborne)
                  BBB Tryouts begin  (Coach William Gilmore)
                  SAC  6:00 PM in the Media Center
                  PTO  7:00 PM in the Media Center
January 7, 2006   FCAT Saturday School begins  9:00 AM
January 9, 2006   Report Card Pick-Up Night  6:00 PM
January 10, 2006  Report Cards go home with each Tiger
January 12, 2006  Pre-AP Showcase
January 24, 2006  Pre-AP Open House & Elementary School BBB Game Night


Challenge of the Week:

My son does not get along with his teacher. He complains about her every
day. What should I do?

Conflicts with teachers are a normal part of growing up. Believe it or
not, your child will learn some invaluable life skills by trying to work
out the problem. But that doesn't make it any easier to live through the
process of working things out. Start by scheduling a meeting with the
teacher. Odds are that if your child is unhappy, the teacher is probably
having a problem, too.

Sometimes, you may find out that the problem between your child and the
teacher grows out of a simple misunderstanding. Or, you may find that the
problem rests with your child. (I'll never forget one conference I
scheduled to ask about the low grade a teacher had given my son. I found
out he hadn't handed in several assignments.)

Talk with your child about why he needs to learn to get along with
different kinds of people. You might talk about times in your life when
you had to get along with a difficult boss or a difficult neighbor.

You should also reinforce in your child the importance of working out
problems rather than running away from them. Say, "I'm sure you can handle
this."

Your child can gain independence and some valuable people skills by
working through this problem. Once my son had handed in his missed
assignments (and figured out that I wasn't going to move him out of the
class), he buckled down. The teacher became one of his favorites.