Amboy Middle School Newsletter
October 2019
SAFE, RESPONSIBLE, RESPECTFUL
Dear Families,
Our staff has spent the last two months determining our vision statement for Amboy Middle School. As a team, we had to first start with the WHY, and our Why is your child's learning each day. Together, through quality discourse, we came up with a proud vision statement to operate under each day your child comes through our doors.
"Committed to creating an engaging environment to inspire lifelong learning for all"
Along with our new vision we put together a list of actions that will support this work. Some examples are creating an engaging classroom, creating quality discussion among students, how to use data to drive instruction, project based learning, etc. We are committed to grow in the action areas through professional development this year. As education changes and kids change, it is important for all of us to have a growth mindset and be willing to learn each day in order for us to provide for the students in our community. If you ever want to sit down and chat about how we are doing at Amboy, please feel free to stop by, make a call, or send an email. Thank you for all of your community support. We are a team.
YOU ALL ROCK!!!
Mr. Krause and Mrs. Vonderharr
SOCKTOBER
SCHOLASTIC BOOK FAIR
Monday, September 30th - Friday, October 4th
Go cash free!
Shop online or set up a student eWallet at bookfairs.scholastic.com
Available now - October 4th
5TH GRADE FOCUS
Math: Working on multiples.
Reading: In reading students are learning vocabulary and becoming familiar with the Storyworks magazine.
Science: In science students are finishing up our unit about structure and properties of matter. The focus is on how matter can change, what matter is made of, and identifying materials based on their properties. We are also going to be switching gears and moving onto social studies starting the first week in October.
Thanks for a great start to the 2019-20 school year! Check for missing assignment sheets (or Congratulations! No missing assignments sheets) that go home with students every Friday. These need to be returned to the homeroom teacher with a parent/guardian signature.
6TH GRADE STATUS
- Our expectation is that each student will have their Chromebook at school and charged every day. We are asking for your help in helping your student get into a routine to charge his/her Chromebook each night. We also want to remind families that Chromebooks should be used for educational purposes only.
- Please encourage your student to use Study Island at home as much as possible. The program is aligned with Common Core standards in reading and math. The more students practice, the more success they will find in class.
- Grade sheets are sent home at least every other week. You can also check Family Access any time.
- Assignment Calendars - filled out daily by students and signed by the teacher. Please check those if you are wondering what your child needs to do each afternoon/evening. Also, students are expected to get them signed by a parent over the weekend and returned on Monday.
- Eagle Talon Challenge - As a grade level, students are working towards earning a popcorn party and hat day. Our goal is 1000 talons. We're about halfway there already!
- Conferences - We'll have four half days at the end of the month to conference with parents and students. Be looking for more information to be sent home in the next week or so. As a reminder, students are expected to be at their conference.
7TH GRADE SCOOP
ELA: Students are beginning their writing curriculum with Narrative writing, learning to write dialogue and stories with interesting story lines and vivid vocabulary. They are also learning how to cite text and explain in their responses to reading how to cite text and explain in their responses to reading a variety of informational and fictional texts.
HISTORY: Students are moving from the fall of the Roman Empire to the rise of the Islamic Empire. They will be doing a variety of projects and work that include drawing a map of the empire and geographical highlights.
SCIENCE: We are enjoying getting to know the new crop of scientists. In 7th grade science we are currently getting started on Chemistry. We are learning the names and symbols for 50 elements - all students should now have completed the flash cards and should be studying at home. We are also learning the differences between chemical and physical properties, energy, and energy transformations. We will continue to practice the scientific process throughout the year.
8TH GRADE UPDATE
This new school year has been a busy one. Short summer and jumping into school before a major holiday. One concern that we are seeing is not being prepared for classes especially when it comes to their Chromebooks. How? Not charging them nightly or bringing them to class. We have lots of great ideas for your child using the Chromebook, but the ideas work better with the use of this technology. So, have your child find a routine that works and please have them come to class prepared.
At the end of the month, we will have Parent/Teacher Conferences. The homeroom teacher will be sending a form home for you to fill out at least two weeks before the conference. If you have other children in school, we will try to set it up so you will be at the school all on the same day, but we need to get the information as soon as possible. We would prefer that your child attend the conference. We would all like to be on the same page when it comes to what we can do to help with your child's grades and behavior.
PBIS AT AMBOY
PBIS stands for Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports. At Amboy it is our goal to use PBIS to support the promotion of positive behaviors in our school to improve academic learning. PBIS is broken down into different Tiers to help support the varying needs of all our students.
What does PBIS look like at Amboy?
Every student at Amboy is taught the same classroom and school-wide expectations. There are posters with stated rules throughout the school to help remind students of what is expected behavior in a particular location. To help reinforce these expectations, we give students eagle talons. These talons can then be traded for eagle bucks (5 talons=1 eagle buck). Students can use their eagle bucks on the last Friday of the month for prizes from our student store.
What can my student do to earn talons?
- Be respectful
- Be responsible
- Be safe
- Follow all expectations on campus
- Show kindness
- Help others
What can I do to help the store?
If you have the ability to donate, feel free to bring donations to the front office or send monetary donations through the Square Cash app. The following are the items we are looking for:
- $5 gift cards from local businesses
- Bags of candy, small bags of chips, gum, pop (especially Mt. Dew), erasers, pencils, mugs, highlighters, footballs, basketballs, etc...
- Larger donations such as a Kindle Fire, Beats headphones, iPod, etc. (These can be used for a large drawing at the end of the year.)
- If you would like to donate money, we will use it wisely to purchase items that students request. For Square Cash donations type: $yacambpta with a memo: PBIS
- For tax purposes use Battle Ground School District Tax ID #91-6010122
School Wide Support Through PBIS
All student behavior is tracked within PBIS, and when students receive three or more referrals within one month they are referred to what we call our Tier II team. Our Tier II team then sets students up to receive Skill Building lessons for three weeks as an intervention and support. While students are receiving Skill Building lessons they are working to identify their individual strengths, handle emotions, and set personal goals to support their success at school. Students will also have the opportunity to meet with an adult mentor weekly to help monitor and track the goals they have set for themselves. It is our hope that through Skill Building lessons and adult mentors students will be able to believe in themselves as individuals and contribute to the well being of our school by being safe, responsible, and respectful.
GATZ'S GALLERY
Ariana Grebyonkin
Kyerstin Hauzenberger
Neva Matson
PTO PRESS
Don't forget to turn in your PTO membership and payments by October 4th. If you need another membership form, please ask the office to send one home with your student.
PTO HAS 2 SQUARE CASH ACCOUNTS! Membership payments, bazaar payments, Yacolt popcorn donations, Watchdog donations, and PBIS donations can all be sent to either $PTOYACOLTAMBOY or $yacambpta. If your deposit to an account is denied please deposit to the other account.
Our Fall Festival will be held on Friday, October 18, from 5:30 to 8:00. Volunteers are needed for this fun family event! Please visit https://signup.com/group/195368702018 and click on Fall Festival to sign up. Watch for more information to come home soon!
WATCH D.O.G.S. PIZZA NIGHT
FREE AND REDUCED LUNCH APPLICATIONS DUE
ATTENTION FAMILIES! Free and reduced meal benefits expire October 8 for students who have not renewed their application from last year. Families must apply for meal benefits each year to continue receiving lunch and breakfast at a reduced rate. Only one application is required for each family, and the information will be kept confidential.
You can apply or reapply for meal benefits by:
- Completing the meal application online through Skyward.
- Picking up a meal benefits application at your student's school and returning it.
Please remember that we need time to process the application, so do not delay!