FEBRUARY 6, 2023

Black History Month

The MHSA joins the community in celebrating and exploring the history of Black Americans. The month is full of opportunities to learn and engage, both around the city and at Masterman.

Check out this guide to events and exhibits to explore in the coming weeks at the African American Museum, the National Constitution Center, and more.

And click here or scroll down to find out what is planned at school!

HSA MEETING TOMORROW

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 6:00 PM IN PERSON

This meeting is planned as a public forum for discussion of the mission and future of Masterman, facilitated by our school administration.

Please join us for this important moment on the eve of the HSA's meeting with SDP officials.

Plus, there will be pizza! Join us at school at 6 pm.

FUTURE HSA MEETINGS

March 7 | 7:30 pm | Zoom

April 11 | 7:30 pm | Zoom

May 9 | 7:30 pm | Zoom

HSA and SDP Leaders to Meet Wednesday

This week, members of Masterman HSA's executive board will meet with SDP Superintendent Dr. Watlington and School Board President Streater to discuss the current state and future of Masterman. They will have received an expanded version of the preliminary report presented at our last HSA meeting. The full report will also be available on the HSA website on Wednesday morning.

The 51-page report, the result of months of research and community input, calls out the SDP for systematically dismantling one of the top public magnet schools in the nation. Recent changes put at risk the enriched curriculum aligned with Masterman's mission, while seeding division, reducing choice, and lowering morale--and all the while failing to address the equity concerns that ostensibly drove the new process.

The report also makes recommendations to the SDP, including: fixing the selection process, increasing access by moving the overcrowded school to a new building and expanding the high school, and funding steps to address a wider variety of student needs. We look forward to working together with our school and District leadership, teachers, and families to secure a strong future and clear vision for Masterman, and provide a positive experience for all of our students.

SCHOOL SELECTION PROCESS SURVEY IS STILL OPEN

We invite anyone—parents/guardians, students, teachers, and administrators—at Masterman and beyond to use this Google form to express your opinion and recount your experience of the lottery system and process.

Please help spread the word!

The HSA will continue to share these comments with the School District at and after our February 8 meeting with top officials.

Selection Process Feedback

IT'S AUCTION SEASON!

The Auction Committee needs your help to make the 2023 Masterman auction a success!

Join us for pizza and planning in the Masterman library at 5pm on February 13 or on Zoom every Monday at 8pm.

To learn more about what is needed, click here or email auction@mastermanhsa.org.

Important Dates Coming Up

Friday, February 17: HALF DAY

Monday, February 20: NO SCHOOL, Presidents Day

Friday, March 3: HALF DAY

Friday, March 17: HALF DAY

Saturday, March 18: Masterman Auction! Stay tuned for ticket information

Friday, March 24: Sixth grade family social, after school at Masterman

GET ACCESS TO YOUR CHILD’S GOOGLE CLASSROOM

The HSA is coordinating with the middle school and high school deans to facilitate adding guardians to students’ Google Classroom accounts.

This is a great way to stay informed about your child's activities and opportunities at school. Once you are entered in the system as a guardian, you can choose to receive a daily or weekly summary of posts to the Google Classroom feeds for each subject your child is enrolled in, as well as grade-wide announcements about events, activities, and other things you need to know. Once you are added, it stays in place from year to year throughout your child’s time at Masterman.

What you need to do:

Enter basic info—child’s full name, grade, advisory, and student ID, as well as the guardian’s name and email—in THIS GOOGLE FORM. (FYI: This form is hosted by Dean Gilken, not the HSA. The HSA is merely helping to facilitate the process, not collecting this data itself.)
Help spread the word! We hope every guardian who wants access will be able to find out about this initiative. So please forward, text, share on Facebook. Teachers, please tell your kids to tell their parents!

The sooner you submit your info, the sooner you can get access. The school will soon begin entering guardian emails on a rolling basis and we will send you instructions for completing the process and choosing your settings.

AROUND MASTERMAN

Black History Month at Masterman

Masterman is excited to invite students and families to join us in celebrating the triumphs, progress, and innovation of the Black community during this year's Black History Month!

Check out our actions and opportunities that are available to students in the flyer to the right and in this slide deck.

Thank you, Ms. Robinson!

Middle School Robotics Team

Congratulations to the Masterman Dragons Robotics Team, which competed in the Mid-Atlantic regional championship on January 28!

Members of the team ranged from fifth through eighth grade and all were new to robotics this year, so it was an especially great achievement to advance this far in the competition.

Looking forward to more great things ahead for this team! Special thanks to club sponsors Dr. Alberti and Ms. Romeo.

High School Winter Formal

The school still needs chaperones! Volunteers must have clearances and can have children in any grade. Sign up here to volunteer to chaperone on February 18, 6–9 pm.

Mastermanners for Good

Students have organized two drives this month:

Plastic Drive

Masterman’s Youth Volunteer Corps Club is collecting Type 1 plastic. This includes mainly plastic water bottles or food containers. Please clean your bottles and drop them off in the collection box near the stairwell close to the main office. Thank you from YVC!

Canned Food and Personal Care Product Drive

Now through the end of February, HS Student Government is running a canned food and personal care product drive for Feast of Justice, a Philly-based food bank run by a Masterman parent! Canned food and personal care items (soap, shampoo, body wash, menstrual products) will be collected every morning from 7:50 to 8:15 in the first floor hallway.

Thanks to the generosity of Masterman students and families, last year they were able to collect over 1,000 cans and products. If you are able to donate this year, we encourage you to do so!

Masterman is a SpeakUp! School

Save the date! Masterman will be hosting a night of conversation through SpeakUp! on Thursday, February 16, at 6:00 pm.

This is an opportunity for students, parents, and school adults to have safe and brave conversations on topics that are important to and selected by students. A registration link will be shared at a later time.

Meanwhile, Ms Robinson is recruiting students for the Student Leadership Team. Team members will guide the school in building an honest and inclusive culture, develop speaking skills, decide what topics are important to them and their peers, and help create space to discuss them.

Please contact mrobinson@steppingstonescholars.org for information.

RESOURCES & OPPORTUNITIES

Mental Health Corner

As we hit the middle of the school year and the long cold of midwinter, we are sharing a resource for stress relief. It’s so important for students to know how to relax intentionally so they won’t get over-stressed—and it can’t hurt for parents and teachers either!

Reminder: NHS Tutoring Always Available!

Students in all grades can drop in as needed for help from Masterman HS student members of the National Honor Society during these hours:

Mondays, 7:30am – 8:15am in Room 214 (for everyone)

Tuesdays, 8th Period in Room 312 (for HS students)

Wednesdays, 8th Period in Room 305 (for 5th- and 6th-grade students)

Thursdays, 8th Period in Room 312 (for 7th- and 8th-grade students)

This is a free resource for everyone! If you have any questions please contact the HS Dean, Mr. Gilken, at jgilken@philasd.org.

Spread the Word

Do you have news or announcements that you want to share with the school community? Is there information you'd like to see featured here?

Email newsletter@mastermanhsa.org.

Connect others with the HSA by forwarding this email or sharing this link to subscribe to the newsletter!

SUPPORT

There are many ways to give to the Masterman community. Here are a few.

HSA ANNUAL FUND

Donations fund the many programs and initiatives of the HSA that support our school, teachers, families, and students. Whether you are able to give $5 or $500, your gift is meaningful, and signals your commitment to our community.

TEACHER WISH LISTS

Want to give direct support to specific teachers or your child’s classroom? Masterman teachers have updated their Amazon Wish Lists with the items they need to supplement the HSA’s Teacher Grant program.