We
hope your family has had a wonderful start to 2008. As our staff continues our work to provide a
rich, engaging, safe environment for every student, every day, we are also
involved in planning and looking ahead.
At this time of year we are devoting attention to building our budget
for 2008-2009. The budget building
process involves re-iteration of the priorities and assumptions which guide our
work. The budget is the financial
blueprint of our district’s goals and mission.
We need to allocate resources to reflect our commitment to equity and
excellence for every child.
Our
recent staff meetings and School Council meetings have focused on various
aspects of our goal for high student achievement for every child. The three areas we are currently discussing
are the budget, MCAS and challenge for every child.
BUDGET: We
are developing a budget for next school year as well as looking ahead to long
range planning for the next three years. We are discussing all aspects of our
school program as means to the end goal of high academic achievement for every
child. Priorities identified by the
staff focus on class size and re-building the team structure. We are exploring various ways to respond to
these priorities.
MCAS: As
you know we developed and implemented a comprehensive response plan to the fact
that two of our subgroups did not make adequate yearly progress (AYP) on MCAS
in spring 2006. We made AYP in all
subgroups in 2007, and need to again in 2008 to be in good standing with the
state. We will continue to implement our
plan (hopefully including your generous donations of snacks for testing days!)
which involves explicit teaching of vocabulary (content and “power words” i.e.
compare, contrast, explain), practice with multiple choice and open response
formats, and various other “good practice” instructional techniques.
Additionally, our teachers continue to review and analyze test data to become
more familiar with specific curricula areas of concern as well as individual
performance of their students.
CHALLENGE for all students: This is an area of focus identified in our
’07-’08 School Improvement Plan. For
this year one of the agenda item for each of our departments is to explicitly
articulate their plan for challenging and supporting students at every
level. Although there are many ways in
which teachers are already providing challenging opportunities, we recognize
the need for continued work in this area.
In particular, we need a more consistent approach within the
departments, between grade levels and across teams.
Thank you for your on-going support and
partnership in our work with your children.
We have appreciated those of you who have contacted us about the
successful experiences your children are having, as well as areas in which we
need to devote attention. Some of you
have communicated with us about ways we can make the environment safer for your
child and others. We have been pleased
to hear from many of you that you find the middle school to be a welcoming
place for you and your families. We
thank you for being in touch with us.
Fran Ziperstein and
Mike Hayes
THE
GRADING INQUIRY GROUP WANTS YOUR INPUT
On Late Start mornings,
Middle School teachers are at work developing ways to do things better in a
number of areas we have deemed as needing improvement. One such area is how we
grade our students and how we report that information to the community,
including, of course, parents. The Grading Inquiry Group has dissected the
school’s vision statement into ten areas that could possibly be included on a
report card. You will be receiving an email with a link to a survey. If you are not on our email list, you will
receive a paper copy in the mail. There
you can give us your input on which aspects of the vision statement you feel
are most important to be reflected in our report card. Thank you for your interest. Members of the
Grading Inquiry Group are: Abigail Barlow, Dave Ranen, Jennifer Welborn, Marc
Guillaume, Robin Clifford (chair), Steve Guy, Tom Fanning.
MUSIC
NOTES
The Music Department made it through a busy
December schedule with concerts being presented by both 7th and 8th
Grade Band, Orchestra, and Chorus. The
music was exciting and the students did a wonderful job. Applaud the young musicians that live in your
house.
Please remember that all concerts are mandatory
attendance. If there is a problem
getting a ride foe your child to a concert contact the director of the ensemble
that your child is in. Usually a ride
can be arranged with other students.
CHORUS
NOTES
Thanks to all of the parents who volunteered the
morning that the coffee cakes arrived.
The fundraiser went quite well.
Once again, all of the funds raised will be used to support the Chorus
end of the year trip to
In January, I hope to have all of the students in
Chorus 8 participating in an assembly/presentation with the High School
Choruses. This will give the MS
musicians a chance to see what the HS groups do and allow the HS students a
trip down memory lane.
March will be a busy month for the both Chorus 7
and 8. They will perform their March
concert on the same evening, Thursday, March 6th. Please make sure that date is posted on your
calendar.
March will also see the presentation of the Ice
Cream Social and Choral Review. Please
remember that this concert has been changed to March 27 for the the dress
rehearsal and March 28th for the actual show. This annual
show includes a make your own Ice Cream Sundae Bar followed by a vaudeville
styled show performed by the Chorus.
Information will be sent home that will include: a Volunteer sheet,
Ticket information, and rehearsal/performance schedule that the students in
Chorus 8 will have to follow. For
questions, contact Mr. Ranen.
Students in chorus due to colds go through a lot
of Kleenex. We are looking for donations
of boxes of Kleenex for the Chorus. They
can be brought in to the main office or chorus class.
Thanks for all of your support. Dave
Ranen
GEOGRAPHY
BEE RESULTS
On Thursday, January
10th, 2 students from each team competed in the 2007-2008 National Geographic
Society Geography Bee. Those students
were: Will Vederman, Gabe Fishman, Ira Teveleva, Nick Johnson, Dylan Hebert,
Angelica Santiago, Sai He, Reed Elkinton, Isa Braun, Matt Langdon, Shelby
Cutting and Aidan Chesworth. Each of
these 12 students qualified for this school wide competition by way of
"pre-competitions" held on their respective teams.
On Thursday afternoon we
saw an exciting and close competition and all of these students excelled. Aidan Chesworth and Isa Braun went into
"overtime" and eventually Isa Braun prevailed. Congratulations Isa!!! And congratulations to all of the kids who
represented their teams, their school and themselves well!!! Isa will go on and compete sometime in
February in a state wide National Geography Bee.
Good luck Isa!!!
SENSATIONAL SALSA SOCIAL!!
ARMS
community members are invited to join us for a social for the whole
family. This will take place on Friday,
January 25th, 2008 from 7-10 PM in the MS Cafeteria. Cost is between $5 and $15 (whatever you can
pay) and all funds will go towards the 8th grade Spanish class trip to
WESTERN
MASSACHUSETTS DISTRICT MUSIC FESTIVAL PARTICIPANTS
The
following 7th and 8th graders were accepted into the Western Massachusetts Jr.
District Music Festival:
Curtis
Barnes - Orchestra
Rachael
Beard - Orchestra
Walter
Benson - Orchestra
Noah Blier - Band
Mariana Brena - Orchestra
Conlan Brown - Orchestra
Rebecca Cooley - Chorus
Tess Domb
Sadof - Band
Samuel Duncan - Orchestra
Dorian Elgers-Lo - Orchestra
Reed Elkinton - Orchestra
Ian Emerson – Band
Rose Gibson - Orchestra
Solomon Goldstein-Rose - Orchestra
Thomas Jeffries - Band
Katherine Kayser-Hirsh - Orchestra
Chava Lansky - Orchestra
Heeseob Lee - Orchestra
Delbar Mamedzade - Band
Thomas Naughton - Orchestra
Richard Nguyen - Orchestra
Sophia Normark - Band
Caroline Norton - Orchestra
Zoe Perot - Orchestra
Sourav Podder - Orchestra
Emma Sevene - Band
Emma Snope - Orchestra
Suyin Taunton - Orchestra
Janko Tomasic – Band
Joshua Whitaker - Orchestra
HOST
FAMILIES NEEDED
ELL NEWS!
The year
2008 began with a group of students rested and ready to learn! We welcome a new
8th grade student from El Salvador- Bienvenida!
She joins the middle school community in Team Sapphire. ELLs will be taking the state mandated MEPA
test in March. We will keep you posted.
This is the
time of year where kids are in greater need of tissues. Would you be able to send a box of tissue to
C-12A? We would appreciate it tremendously.
Also, if you could donate any type of healthy snack for the twenty
something kids that attend the ELL Homework Club every week, it would be
greatly appreciated. Any concerns or questions give us a call at 362-1929, we
would like to hear from you. Have a peaceful and healthy year, Mrs. Ortiz (ELL
7th) and Ms. Reyes (ELL 8th)
7TH GRADE COMPUTER RESOURCES EXPLORATORY
– Instructor: Tom Fanning
The purpose of the Computer Resources Exploratory
is to orient 7th graders to the computer network that they will be
using for their six years in the Amherst-Pelham Regional District. Since this is the only mandated computer
course offered in the Regional District, the goal of this orientation is to
give students an opportunity to integrate the resources of the network with their
everyday academic work.
In this second trimester students have learned to
download and upload their school files over the Internet using the District’s
NetStorage website (www2.arps.org). This resource is an alternative to using
email to transfer files to and from school. We will continue to have students
use this web site through our Independent Study assignments. These assignments
require that students work with spreadsheets, slide presentations, and word
processing applications at a remote location and upload completed files to
their accounts (we call them “Home Directories”) on the ARPS school network.
Families that do not have access to these
applications can download the Open Office suite from the Internet. If Internet access is not possible, we provide
installation disks to students to allow them to upgrade their home computers. If you would like more information, please contact
Tom Fanning (fanningt@arps.org)
LETTER FROM JERE HOCHMAN, SUPERINTENDENT OF
SCHOOLS
Dear Amherst-Pelham Community:
Businesses send out "annual
reports." Politicians present the
"State of the City" reports.
Schools communicate routinely through teachers' weekly updates to
parents, the principal's newsletter, student report cards, school and district
testing report cards, presentations to the School Committees, and budget
background information.
On Wednesday, January 23, Superintendent Jere
Hochman will present an overview of the Amherst-Pelham schools.
This brief presentation will be followed by and
important hour of dialogue about our school districts'
It has been several years since our schools
adopted a mission statement. I imagine
if you ask several individuals within the schools what our mission is, they
would respond "Every student, Every day!" That simple phrase is packed with meaning
and understandings -- yet we must ask ourselves if there is consensus in its
meaning and does it serve as a valued ends upon which we direct all means?
Please join us on January 23! Meetings will occur in the
Sincerely,
Jere Hochman
SPRING SPORTS REGISTRATION
There will be a MS and HS Spring Sports
Registration meeting on Tuesday, February 26, 2008 in the H.S. Gymnasium from
5:00 – 6:30 p.m. Participation fees must
accompany registration. All fees must
be paid prior to the first day of practice/tryouts. The MS offers Track & Field (for boys and
girls), Ultimate (for boys and girls) and Softball (for girls). Spring sports begin March 17. Tryout/Practice/game information is available
online at www.highschoolsports.net. The sports cancellation line is
362-1798. Participants must have a valid
sports physical on file with the school nurse to participate in tryouts,
practices and/or games. Please check
with the health room to verify your child’s records – 362-1974. Any additional questions, please call the
Athletic Office at 362-1747 or 362-1746.
MCAS TESTING – PLEASE NOTE THE DATES
We have finalized the MCAS schedule for March,
April and May. Following are the dates
that we will be administering MCAS tests:
EARLY SPRING SESSIONS
Tuesday,
March 25 – GRADE 7 ONLY – ELA Composition
Wednesday,
March 26 – Grades 7 and 8 – ELA Language & Literature
Tuesday,
March 28 – Grades 7 and 8 – ELA Language & Literature
Tuesday,
April 1 – Grades 7 and 8 – ELA Language & Literature
MAY SESSIONS
Tuesday, May 13 – Grades 7 and 8 - Mathematics
Thursday, May 15 – Grades 7 and 8 - Mathematics
Tuesday,
May 20 – Grade 7 – Social Science & History; Grade 8 – Science
Wednesday,
May 21 – Grade 7 – Social Science & History; Grade 8 – Science
More information to follow in future newsletters.
GirlsEyeView Works-in-Progress Exhibition
January 24 – February 7, 2008 –
On January 24, 2008, from 4:00-6:30, members of
Youth Action Coalition’s GirlsEyeView project will present their Works-in-Progress
Exhibition. The exhibition will be held
in the Amherst Regional Middle School Library and will remain up until February
7, 2008. At 5:30 p.m. the youth
participants will give a presentation about their work. Sample projects include self portraits, “the
Cambodia Project” and family traditions/celebrations. Come out to view the newest works from our
Amherst GEV girls.
VOLUNTEER
FOR THE STAFF APPRECIATION LUNCHEON!
Your Chance to Thank the Middle School
Staff for All the Wonderful Work They Do For Our Children
_____________________________________________________________
to express our gratitude for their generous services.
This special luncheon will be held on Curriculum Day,
Monday, January 28th in the school cafeteria.
We Really
Need Your Help to Make This Happen!
Can You Do Any of the Following To Help?
or
Please call or email parent Andrea Turcatti at amturcatti@qmail.com or 253-2913
to help out with set-up or clean-up
Together We Can Make This Luncheon
Memorable
OFRÉZCASE VOLUNTARIO EN EL ALMUERZO DE APRECIO AL PERSONAL ESCOLAR
Aqui tiene la oportunidad de agradecer al personal de la escuela intermedia
el buen trabajo que hace por nuestros jóvenes
Las familias de la escuela intermedia regional de Amherst patrocinan un almuerzo “potluck” para expresar al personal nuestro
agradecimiento por su generoso servicio
El
almuerzo se servirá en el comedor de la escuela el dia curricular lunes, 29 de
enero
¡Necesitamos su
ayuda para tener éxito!
¿Puede
hacer alguna de las tareas siguientes?
. donar
comida casera ¡¡traíga su receta preferida! para ésto, contacte a
Diana Spurgin al 256-4748 o por correo electrónico: diana@spurginfamily.com
o
ayude.a preparar el comedor de 9:00 a11:00 am
o a calentar la comida
y recoger el comedor de11:00 a 2:00
para
ésto, contacte a Andrea Turcatti al 253-2913 o por correo
electrónico: amturcatti@qmail.com
-Juntos celebraremos un almuerzo
inolvidable-