Middle School Newsletter

Transcription

1 Middle School Newsletter From: Dr. Flaherty Week of: March 28, 2016 March 2016 Monday, March 28 Tuesday, March 29 Wednesday, March 30 Thursday, March 31 Friday, April 1 D day E Day F Day A Day B Day After school help 2:20-2:50 p.m. Annie rehearsal: Annie, Orphans, Hannigan, Lt. Ward, Dogcatcher, Apple Seller, NYC ensemble & Grace Scenes 1-3 Auditorium After school help 2:20-2:50 p.m. MathCounts 2:15 3:15 p.m. Annie rehearsal: Full Cast I Think I m Gonna Like It Here NYC 3:00 5:00 p.m./auditorium After school help 2:20-2:50 p.m. NO ANNIE REHEARSAL International Dinner, 5:30 p.m. After school help 2:20-2:50 p.m. Annie rehearsal: Rooster, Lily, Hannigan; Easy Street 3:00 4:30 p.m/auditorium MS Science Fair, 7:00 8:00 p.m. STEM 2:30 3:30 p.m. Messages from Principal Flaherty: Join Us on Middle School student Mak Graves wins National Honor! Middle School student Mak Graves piece, Funky Fish, earned a Gold Medal at the national level! All Gold Key winners from Massachusetts go on to compete at the national level. Approximately 1% of all submitted work is recognized at the national level. Mak won a gold medal at the national level the highest honor! Mak and Middle School Art Teacher Ursina Amsler will be invited to the ceremony at Carnegie Hall on June 2! Congratulations, Mak! We are proud of you! Masconomet Middle School Newsletter 1

2 8 th Grade student artwork at Topsfield Town Library Mrs. Malinowsk s 8 th grade student artwork is on display April until June in the teen room on the second floor of the Library at 1 South Common Street, Topsfield. The library hours are: Sunday: Closed Monday and Thursday: 10am to 8pm Tuesday and Saturday: 10am to 5pm Wednesday and Friday: Noon to 5pm The special exhibit pieces were chosen based on excellent craftsmanship, originality and for the creative effort put into each project. This work is a wonderful reflection of the pride we take in our art department here at Masconomet. Masco Excels Paperwork for Trimeseter 3 Excels programs went home with students on Friday, March 25 th. Space is limited in some of the programs, so participation is first-come, first-served process. All programs will run for six consecutive weeks (unless otherwise noted). Registration will end on Monday, April 4 th. Excel programs will begin the week of April 11 th. (See attachment below) Update from the School Nurse Influenza (Flu) is widespread in Massachusetts so it is not surprise that many students at Masco have developed flu-like illness. The latest flu report on March 18th indicates an increase in rates of flu-like illness in Massachusetts in the past seven days. It s not too late to protect yourself and your family from getting sick this flu season. Call your health care provider or your local board of health, or visit a local pharmacy, and get vaccinated against the flu. The main symptoms of influenza (flu) include fever and cough and/or sore throat. Some people also have a runny nose, body aches, headache, chills, and feel tired. Some people also have diarrhea and vomiting. Please keep your child home if they have a fever of degrees or higher with a cough OR sore throat. Your child should be fever-free for 24 hours without acetaminophen (Tylenol) or ibuprofen (Motrin or Advil) before sending them back to school. More resources for parents and others about the Flu can be found on the CDC flu web site. Below is a great resource about the Flu specifically developed for parents: The Flu Guide for Parents Please contact the School Nurse if you have any further questions Masconomet Middle School Newsletter

3 PARCC/MCAS Testing Schedule As was announced in January, the School Committee voted for the Masconomet Middle School to move to PARCC online testing this Spring instead of MCAS for our ELA and Mathematics assessments. Grade 8 students will continue to take the MCAS Science & Technology test. Please disregard the dates listed on the School Calendar in the Calendar Handbook. The testing dates are as follows: Grade 7 May 10, 11 and 12: May 16, 17 and 18: PARCC ELA PARCC Mathematics Grade 8 May 3, 4, & 5: May 17 & 18: PARCC ELA MCAS Science & Technology May 23, 24 & 25: PARCC Mathematics Show Your Masco Pride and Support Your School! Excited about moving up to high school? Why not show your pride with items especially created for Masco students by the manufacturers of Alex and Ani. Available through Masconomet Education Foundation (MEF), these bracelets, necklaces, and key chains offer a unique way to show your school spirit while supporting the construction of the new STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) lab for Masco. Prices range from $15 for key chains, $32 for necklaces and $36 for bracelets. Masco Pride jewelry can be ordered at the MEF website, the first 50 orders can be picked up at the Masco superintendent s office on Friday March 18. Items ordered after that, or at MEF s upcoming Spring Online Auction (the weekend of April 2 and 3) should be ready for pickup by May 4. Ordering closes April 4 so that items can be delivered in time for graduation. Be the first to show your pride and kick off an exciting new chapter for you and your school! Masconomet Middle School Newsletter

4 Masco Millions The March Challenge Boys vs. Girls continues and the 7 th grade boys once again submitted the most pages, but the overall page total goes to the girls this week. The results March 17-24: 7 th grade boys 2,826 pages, 7 th grade girls 2,469 pages and 8 th grade boys 469 pages and 8 th grade girls 1,402 pages. The Grand Total: Boys: 3,295 pages and Girls: 3,871 pages. Keep up the good work as racing fans wonder; will it be the Boys or the Girls, who will claim fame on this challenge at the end of the month? Speaking of the finish line, 7 Red is the first team to cross the finish line. 7 Red will help determine the Masco Million event on June 14, This is the first time the seventh graders have been the first to cross the finish line. Congratulations 7 Red. The race however is NOT over, as we still need to reach our school goal of 1,000,055 pages so this event may take place. Congratulations to all teams for their effort on this week s Masco Million. All teams posted great page totals for the week. Please remind the students to enter their pages for any reading they do for school or independent reading. Results: All Team weekly results 7,166 pages and the Grand total: 742,376 pages. Our two trophy winners for the week are 7 White (3,162) and 8 Blue (786). Please continue to encourage your students to enter pages read from their textbooks, short stories, or any other reading you do as a class. These figures represent the numbers logged in by 3:00 PM Thursday, March 24, Team Week Total Total 7 Blue ,534 7 Red 1, ,213 7 White 3, ,763 8 Blue ,739 8 Red ,364 8 White ,763 Upcoming Dates of Importance: April 11, 2016 April 18- April 22,2016 May 5, 2016 May 9, 2016 Early Release Day, 12:20 p.m. Spring Vacation (HW Free Vacation) Trimester 3 Midpoint Early Dismissal, 12:20 p.m. Masconomet Middle School Newsletter

5 MASCO EXCELS SESSION III OFFERINGS Film Makers Calling all actors, directors, writers, and any student interested in creating movies. In this excel, you will learn (Wrobel ) B-120 how to make your own movies. You will learn how to storyboard, film, and edit a short film. Students can Tuesday 3;00-4:00 use their own video cameras, cell phones(with video), or check out flip cameras from the library when available. Film Makers will meet on Tuesdays. Old School Video Game (Bisceglia) C-212 Tuesday 3:00-4:00 Do you like to play video games, old school ones! In this excel we will be dusting off our Nintendo 64 and playing games like Mario Kart 64, Tetris, and Super Smash Bros. Participants are encouraged to bring in any games if they have any. Participation is limited to 6, so sign up early! Magic the Gathering (Tzortzis) C-203 Tuesday 3;00-4:00 Come learn how to play, or sharpen your skills playing one of the most popular card games in the world. We will take the time to teach new players how to play, and will run tournaments to declare the ultimate Magic champion. Excels Robotics Club (Malio) B-123 Tuesday 3:00-4:00 ROBO Catapults!!!!! Are you interested in designing robots and competing in a catapult competition against your fellow classmates? In this session, students will explore robotics by creating and controlling various robots using the LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT kit. This session will familiarize the students with the various components of the system including the NXT Intelligent Brick and its ability to control robots using pc based computers and Bluetooth technology. We will provide the Mindstorm kits. This session will be limited to 12 students. Walking Club How would you like to get outside and get some fresh air? We will be going for a walk every Tuesday (Fowler) C-207 afternoon. We will stretch and do a little yoga warm up and then take a relaxing walk around the school. Tuesdays 3:00-4:00 Name: Board Games Are you interested in learning, playing, and/or teaching new strategy games, word games, and C- Yeung) C- 218 card games? Come join us for a little collaboration and friendly competition with games including Tuesday 3:00-4:00 Settlers of Catan, Munchkin, Dominion, Blokus, Bananagrams, and Ticket to Ride. Risk (Wilson) B-116 Wednesday 3:00-4:00 If you have ever dreamed of world domination it is about time that you signed up to play Risk with your friends and Mr. Cobb. We have room for 8 and games continue on each week until someone has conquered the world! Book Club Do you like to read? Are you hiding under the covers at night with a flashlight finishing a good (Green) Library book? Do you enjoy talking with friends about the book you are reading? Do you recommend Wednesday 3:00-4:00 books to friends or family? Then, book club is for you. We will meet three more times this year, 2 nd Wed of every month one Wednesday in April, May and June to discuss various books. These books will be read outside of school and we will choose our next book at each meeting. Selections will be age appropriate for middle school students.

6 Excels CAD and 3D Printing ROBO Catapults!!!!! (Malio()C-123 Are you interested in using computers to create CAD drawing and then printing your 3D models? Wednesday 3:00-4:00 In this session, students will explore CAD using Tinkercad software running on the Chromebooks. This session will familiarize the students with an overview of the software and then provide an opportunity to print their designs on our Makerbot Replicator 3D printer. This session will be limited to 12 students. Ultimate Frisbee Thursday 3:00-4:00 (Tzortzis)C-203 Looking for the ultimate game to be played on two feet? Sign up and come learn what it is all about. All levels and ages are welcome. Intro to Signing (Collins) B104 Thursday 3: Interested in learning the basics of American Sign Language? Join this excel to develop some beginner techniques, alphabet and words that will get you started with this incredible language. Italian (Mirra) C-207 Thursday 3:00 4:00 Buon giorno! Ti piace l'italiano? Sei confuso? Che peccato! Would you like to learn Italian? Would you like to order in an Italian restaurant while speaking Italian? Are you planning on visiting Italy someday and would like to know how to communicate with the people there? Then join signor Mirra on Thursdays! A presto! Old School Video Game (Brown) C-212 Thursday 3:00-4:00 Writers Club (LeBlanc) C-201 Thursday 3:00-4:00 Fitness Walking (Green) Library Thursday 3:00-4:00 RC Car Club (Thurlow)B-127 Friday 2:30-3:30 Intramurals (Xenos) Gym Do you like to play video games, old school ones! In this excel we will be dusting off our Nintendo 64 and playing games like Mario Kart 64, Tetris, and Super Smash Bros. Participants are encouraged to bring in any games if they have any. Participation is limited to 6, so sign up early! If you are a writer looking for a place to share and improve your writing, then come to the Writer s Club! If you re a budding novelist, a lover of short stories, a poet, or have always thought about writing but never tried, this is the club for you. Each week we ll do writing exercises, look at what advice & tips great writers have for writing, work on our own pieces, receive constructive feedback, and work towards creating an amazing final product. We ll also look into ways we can publish our work and learn about the submission process. If you ve got a creative spark, come let it grow & burn brightly. Spring is coming and it is a great time to begin a fitness walking regime. We will walk around the outside of the school varying our pace and distance to gain the most from our walk. Enjoy the sights and sounds of spring while we walk rain or shine. Interested in building and modifying a radio controlled car? Students will need to bring a radio control car. Student can buy additional parts to modify their vehicle but will be encouraged to find alternative ways to modify their vehicles. Students will need to bring in basic tools i.e. screwdrivers, wrenches, pliers, to put the car together but I will also bring in tools for students to use. When students have completed their vehicles we will hold various competitions to test the skill of the vehicles and students. (Limited to 12) Tuesday through Thursday 3:00-4:00 and Friday 2:30-3:30. Do you like to play sports with your friends? Each week will be a different activity. The sports will be touch football, basketball, floor hockey, ultimate Frisbee, waffle ball and knee hockey. You may sign up for one, two, three or all four days. Please specify what day/days you are attending

7

8

9