EAST PAULDING MIDDLE SCHOOL
August 30, 2019
PARENT NEWSLETTER
Upcoming Events
8/30 - Progress Reports Issued
9/2 - Labor Day Holiday - No School
9/10 - Step-It-Up Fundraiser Ends
9/11 - 2-Hour Early Release - 1:35pm
9/13 - Fall Pictures with Lifetouch
9/17 - PTSA Meeting and Fall Chorus Concert - 6:45pm at the EPHS Auditorium
9/23-9/27 - Fall Break
10/4 - Day of Awesomeness
10/23 - Fall Picture Retake Date
Progress Reports
Progress Reports were sent home with students today. If you do not have a Parent Portal account, this will be your first glimpse at how your student is progressing in their classes. If a student has a score below 75, an individual grade report for that course should be attached to the progress report.
It is our goal to consistently communicate with you regarding your child's progress. If you have questions about your student's progress in any of their classes, please contact their individual teachers.
If you don't like waiting for Progress Reports to view your student's progress, there is a way that you can receive instant updates as grades are entered into Infinite Campus. I want to encourage you to sign up for Parent Portal and download the CampusPortal app. As a parent, I can view my own students' grades and attendance. I can also set up push notifications that inform me when grades have been entered, what those grades are, when class averages are updated, and attendance updates.
As a parent myself, I cannot stress how great this access is. Information for accessing Parent Portal is below.
Parent Portal
Don't forget to visit the link below to learn about Parent Portal. If you visit the portal now, you can find detailed information about your students historical testing data, including Milestones results. New courses will open to parents and students on Tuesday, August 13, 2018.
Student Attendance
In my last newsletter, I set a goal of having 97% student attendance each month of school. Our August student attendance percentage is below. The information you will see is the average percent of students present at school each day.
6th Grade - 97.23%
7th Grade - 96.04%
8th Grade - 96.27%
Total School - 96.49%
Monthly Goal - 97%
Congratulations to 6th Grade for exceeding our monthly goal. While we did not meet our monthly goal as a school, I am excited that we have started the year on a positive note. I look forward to growth in September. With the shorter month because of Fall Break, I believe we can meet our 97% goal!
Step It Up Fundraiser
Thank you to everyone who has participated in our Step It Up fundraiser so far. This has been an exciting week, and we have been able to give our some really cool prizes. Our goal is for every student to raise at least $60. The Step It Up donation process makes it very simple to reach that goal.
Students could receive a $6 donation from 10 people to meet their goal.
Students could receive a $10 donation from 6 people to meet their goal.
My goal is for every student to participate in our Day of Awesomeness, so let's work together to reach the goal of averaging $60 raised per student.
The possibilities are endless, and the best part is that students don't have to try to sell anything in an already saturated fundraising market. look forward to seeing our kids work together to help every student participate in the Day of Awesomeness!
We have until September 10th to continue to accept donations.
If you have not already set up your student's Step It Up Fundraising page, you can do so by clicking the link below!
2019-2020 School Improvement Plan
The beginning of the year brings about a lot of responsibilities for all PCSD schools. One of our main responsibilities is to develop and implement a school -wide improvement plan. While we have not finalized our plan quite yet, I thought I would share our focus for the 2019-2020 school year. In a future newsletter, I will provide some additional, parent-friendly information that will provide some additional insight to our goals.
Goal #1 - We will increase the number of students who read at a proficient or advanced level.
Goal #2 - We will increase the number of students who score a Level 3 (proficient) or Level 4 (distinguished) on the Language Arts EOG Assessment.
Goal #3 - We will increase the number of students with disabilities who score a Level 3 (proficient) or Level 4 (distinguished) on the Language Arts EOG Assessment.
Goal #4 - We will increase the number of students who score at a proficient or advanced level on the Math Inventory assessment.
Goal #5 - We will increase the number of students who score a Level 3 (proficient) or Level 4 (distinguished) on the Math EOG Assessment.
Goal #6 - We will increase the number of students with disabilities who score a Level 3 (proficient) or Level 4 (distinguished) on the Math EOG Assessment.
Goal #7 - We will utilize our PBIS (Positive Behaviors Interventions and Support) strategies and Capturing Kids Hearts to build positive relationships with our students and help students build positive relationships with their peers in an effort to grow and maintain a positive school climate an culture.
I would appreciate any feedback regarding the current information I have shared. A school improvement plan is a "living" document that can be revised throughout the year to meet our building and student needs. You can provide your feedback by emailing Mr. Alverson at the email address listed below. We want to hear from you!
Canvas Parent Observer Account
Updated Vaping Policy
Revtrak
Arriving and Leaving Campus
We have had a great start to the 2019-2020 school year! Thank you for your support and help in making the start of this school year awesome. Below, are a couple reminders:
Morning Arrival
Please remember that students may not enter the building until 8:10 AM each morning. If you arrive before 8:10 AM, your student may enter the building and report to the cafeteria beginning at 7:40 AM. Anyone who needs to arrive on campus prior to 7:40 AM should utilize the bus for transportation.
As you arrive at the front curve of our building, please pull all the way forward before letting your student(s) out. If we are all letting our student(s) out at the front door, we are only able to empty 3 or 4 cars at a time. If we pull all the way forward, we can double the amount of students being let out of cars and speed up the process.
Afternoon Dismissal
Student Walkers - During afternoon dismissal, the only students who will be allowed to walk from our campus are students who:
1. Live in a surrounding neighborhood and are walking home.2. Participate in an after-school sport at East Paulding High School and must walk to practice.
3. Have a parent who teaches at East Paulding High School and must walk to the high school for transportation.
4. Has a sibling who is a student driver at East Paulding High School and relies on that sibling for transportation.
We appreciate your patience through the afternoon dismissal process. There is additional information about that process along with a map, below. Our goal is to make sure that every student makes it home safely, and we appreciate your support of our dismissal process.
Overall, if sitting in traffic is not your idea of a good time, I want to encourage you to utilize the bus. Our Transportation Department provides a great service with outstanding, experienced drivers who are very good at what they do.
Below, you will find information for "Here Comes The Bus", an app that will allow you the opportunity to track your student(s) bus. You will also find a link that will help you identify your student's bus stop location, bus number, and pick-up/drop-off times.
Follow or Like us on Social Media
Contact Information for Tom Alverson
Email: talverson@paulding.k12.ga.us
Website: http://www.paulding.k12.ga.us/Domain/29
Phone: 770-443-7000
Facebook: facebook.com/eastpauldingmiddleschool
Twitter: @epmsraiders