Principal's Weekly Update

Dear Parent(s)/ Guardian(s):

I'm going to begin this week with a reference to the "final photo" at the end, with the hope that you will still read everything in between. On Tuesday night the Board of Education formally introduced Jimmy Sapia as the next Assistant Principal of Madison Middle School. We still await his official start date later in October, but it was nice to have Jimmy and several of his family members present for this occasion. Jimmy was able to express his gratitude for his selection and the enthusiasm he has as he joins the Madison family. I know that he looks forward to meeting as many of you as he can once he begins his work with us.

When your eyes do descend toward that final photo, you will notice a "bonus big photo" which captures the excitement of some of our 6th graders at their first Madison dance, an outdoor event held last night. We have come to realize that it is much more fun as an outdoor event-- among other things, it allows those who are less interested in dancing to run around and/or toss a football in the grassy areas. As always there were many tasty treats available as well. As in other years, we plan to hold another outdoor dance once the weather warms up in the spring.

Update from our PTA:

The Fall FUN-a-thon is in full swing, and there’s still time to get in on the action!

Register today and if your student receives at least one donation, they’ll be entered into a raffle to win a $10 gift card to a local business!

But that’s not all—once the fundraiser ends, the students who receive the most donations (not dollar amount) will be entered to win one of our BIG prizes:

$50 Amazon gift card
Owala water bottle
Beats earbuds
Wireless speaker

We’re aiming high this year: if each student raises just $25, we’ll hit our goal of $20,000!

Last year, with just 184 students registered, we raised $16,867.
Right now, we have 136 students registered and have raised $4,220.

We know Madison can do this! Let’s keep the momentum going and continue supporting our PTA programs that make such a big impact for our students.

Ski and Snowboard Club Registration

Click here for important information for ski club.

Each grade will have a MAX capacity of 50 students per bus. The registration schedule is:

8th Grade - Monday, 10/06/25 @ 6:00 AM

7th Grade - Wednesday, 10/08/25 @ 6:00 AM

6th Grade - Friday, 10/10/25 @ 6:00 AM

All Go-Live sessions close at 11:59 PM

A waitlist will open at 12:00 PM or once capacity is reached.

The Scholastic Book Fair begins next Tuesday, October 7! Don't forget to set up your eWallet for cashless shopping! Check out the book selections this year and set up your eWallet through Madison's Scholastic website. The schedule is as follows:

Grade 6: Tuesday, October 7

Grade 7: Wednesday, October 8

Grade 8: Thursday, October 9

Friday, October 10: Open during ELB

This year during ELB we have some designated reading days which we promote with the catchy slogan: D.E.A.R.– Drop Everything and Read. The teachers ask the students to record the number of pages which they have read. We have decided to acknowledge the readers in each grade who have read the most. Our inaugural “winners” for the month of September are:

6th grade Nuria O’Donald 329 pages

7th grade Shaan Chhblani 768 pages

8th grade Julia Joseph 729 pages

Our ELA Instructional Leader Mrs. Cenatiempo has prizes for these students. Though we continue to promote pleasure reading as its own reward, we know that a little incentivizing goes a long way with middle school students. Keep reading Panthers !!

Announcements:

🏀Registration for middle school basketball tryouts is now open! Tryouts will be scheduled for early November. Please make sure you are registered on Final Forms if you are planning on trying out. 🏀

Save the date

The 8th grade open house at Trumbull High School will be on Monday, 10/22 beginning at 6pm.

Scouts BSA Troop 65 is holding an Open House Sunday Oct. 12th from 7-8:30pm at the Church of the Apostles (LHUM). Any boys 5th grade or older are welcome to attend. Please see this flyer for more information.

Clubs & Activities:

Chess Club will meet Monday, October 6th in room 122.

Pokemon Club will be meeting weekly starting October 6th in room 216.

Dungeons & Dragons Club will meet Monday, October 6th in room 206.

The next Science Club Meeting will be on Wednesday, October 8th in Room 217. See you there!

The first Panther Pals meeting will be held in room 109 on October 8th. If you are interested in learning more about being a pal, stop by and meet our returning members. Any questions see Mrs. Oman.

Video Game club will meet next Wednesday October 8th in room 108.

Workout Wednesday Club will be meeting next Wednesday. Please see Mrs. DiScala or google classroom to find the permission slip to join!

The next Science Club Meeting will be on Wednesday, October 8th in Room 217. See you there!

You may have caught on by now that October is one of our busiest months on the calendar-- there is so much to share and highlight in these letters. And I haven't yet even mentioned the big annual event on this week's schedule-- our Madison's Got Talent showcase will take place Thursday night at 7pm (usually runs about an hour and a half). Tickets are $5 and all proceeds go to charity. You can pay either online through Infinite Campus or at the door. Get ready for an amazing show that truly showcases some amazing Panther talent. Our 8th graders and their parents look forward next week to our "Career Night" event-- though, on my end, I really need to take things one week at a time, at least until Mr. Sapia arrives to help us out. Have a great weekend !!

Take care,

Peter Sullivan