Jackson Hole MiddleSchool
March 2010 Newsletter
March is a busy month! Parent teacherconferences, the book fair, PAWS testing, the end of 3rd quarter andour quarterly recognition program will all be happening in the nextthree weeks.
PAWS testing starts on Monday, March 8, and will continue until March 23. PAWS, or the Proficiency Assessments for Wyoming Students, are ourstate standards tests. All students grades 3 - 8 and grade 11 aretested in Reading, Writing, and Math. Eighth grade students will also be testing in science. These tests are required under the federal law,No Child Left Behind, and are used for school improvement purposes. Asa staff we analyze how are students are performing in these threeareas, and develop our professional development plans and school goalspartly based on this data. You will receive your child's scores inAugust. You can help by being sure your child gets enough sleep and agood breakfast! You may also pack healthy snacks for some energyduring testing. Your child's attendance is critical for this testing,as the state requires nearly 100% participation.
Conferences are half way over. If you missed conferences on Monday, please come today, Tuesday March 9at the Middle School, from 3:00 - 7:00. 6th graders will be in thecommons, 7th graders in the large gym, and 8th graders in the smallgym. We look forward to seeing you and your child there!
The media center has been hosting a book fair, and the last day is Tuesday, March 9. Ask your kids to tell you about the books they have heard about!
The end of the third quarter is March 19th,so the quarterly recognitions will be coming up. Sixth and Seventhgraders will be going to the rec center. They will have the opportunityto swim, play basketball, dodgeball or soccer in the gyms. Seventhgraders will go on the 19th, and sixth graders will be going on the24th. Eighth graders will be going to Snow King on the 19th, forskiing, skating or tubing. There will be a small cost for the eighthgraders. More information to come. (Students who have not completedtheir PAWS testing may have to make up their testing during this time)
Get your yearbook order in today! The price of a yearbook before spring break is $15.00, after SpringBreak the cost goes up to $18.00! You may pick up a form at theoffice.
Beyond Dances: Deb Wagner, oneof our parent volunteer coordinators, is heading up a group to exploreadditional social opportunities for students. If you are interested inhelping plan this activity, please email Deb at sunketchum@yahoo.com.
Reminders:
No school on Friday, March 12.
Spring break starts on Sat. March 27th.
School begins on Monday, April 12.
February 2010
Please cometo our annual spelling bee on Wed., Feb.10 at 1:20 in the large gym. Each homebase has conducted a spelling bee to determine the two spellersthat will compete in the school wide competition. The top three winners will go on to the statecompetition, and if a student does well there, he/she will be sent toWashington D.C. to compete in the national spelling bee!
As you haveprobably already heard, there is a dance tonight at the Middle School from7:00 – 9:30 p.m. The cost is $3.00 and the proceeds will go to Haiti aspart of the student council fund raiser. As always, we will be emphasizing tostudents our three (plus one) major expectations for all Middle Schoolactivities: to be safe, respectful and responsible, and appropriate, and haveseveral teachers and administrators monitoring the dance. The kids have a lot of fun!
We are alsolooking at expanding beyond dances for evening activities for students. Our parent volunteer coordinators, TeresaNye, Trish Mayer, and Deb Wagner are looking for interested parents to helporganize these events. We areaiming for one in the spring, and then expanding the opportunities for nextyear.
We are JHMS! You have probable noticed our various banners and postersaround the school celebrating the students, staff and parents of JHMS. There is a lot of pride at JHMS, and wewant to celebrate our great students and staff as we continually strive to bebetter. For the next few months we will have a strong focus on student responsibilityto their own learning; by being prepared for learning, taking pride in their workand by asking questions when they don’t understand something. Watch out for new posters, and help yourchild understand that it is their educationand their responsibility.
Another waywe keep JHMS a great place for learning is by continually re-teaching ourexpectations for behavior. This ispart of our Positive Behavioral Support system, developed at the University ofOregon. For instance, soon afterthe winter break Bo Miller, Jeff Parrott and I visited all the classrooms totalk about lunch cleanup, cell phones, coming to class prepared, “PDA” – orpublic displays of affection (romantic in nature), and snowballs. Student council will be coming up withour next reteaching activity, and will put together some skits to be videotaped.
Yearbooks are on sale now, and if you buy them before springbreak you will save three dollars! Ask your child for the form!
ATTENTION 8th grade parents! Dr. Scott Crisp, the new principal of Jackson Hole High School will have monthlyopen house sessions for any 8th grade parent from 12:00 – 1:00pmon March 2, April13, May 4, and June 1. Feel freeto drop in JHHS to meet our administration, counselors, or specific teachers.
Parent-teacher conferences will be on Monday March 8, andTuesday March 9 from 3:00 – 7:00. We will be sending home more information closer to the conferences.
PAWS testing also begins on March 8th,and will continue through March 26th. These tests are required by the No Child Left BehindLaw. We continually do well onthis test, and use this data to help up set school improvement goals and tomonitor student achievement. We need all students here!
As always,we appreciate your help and support of your child’s learning! Parents Involved in Education meetingsare the first Wed. of each month at 12:00. I hope to see you there!