Mooresville Middle School
Community Newsletter -- November 4, 2022
A Message from Mr. Kosal:
Together we make a family!
Here's what's in this week's newsletter:
- Revision to MMS air pod / headphone policy
- Sign up for Early College info session on 11/15
- Feed NC food drive during Imp Time
- free online tutoring for 8th grade Math / Science
- Loss of Privilege list
- this week's home athletic events
- PTSO announcements / upcoming events
- policy on blankets at MMS
- how to be a Mooresville Motivator
- EC parent night for MGSD - 11/15
- and more!
Remember that next week is also shortened, due to no school on Friday, 11/11, due to the Veteran's Day holiday. Thanks so much for reading, and I wish every Red Imp family a truly terrific (long) weekend!
Mr. Kosal, interim principal (pkosal@mgsd.k12.nc.us)
Ms. Brown, 7th grade assistant principal (kbrown@mgsd.k12.nc.us)
Ms. Richardson, 8th grade assistant principal (tabitharichardson@mgsd.k12.nc.us)
Mr. Miller, assistant principal intern & MMS media center coordinator (justinmiller@mgsd.k12.nc.us)
Ms. Clark, MMS Athletic Director (annclark@mgsd.k12.nc.us)
Early College Information Session - sign up your student today
Also, there will be a parent information session on Tuesday, November 15 at 6pm where he will present information and answer questions. Both sessions will be held in our MMS media center. If you have any questions, please see Ms. Buff.
Feed NC Food Drive - sponsored by Student Government Imp Time
Parents: the MMS Student Government Imp Time will be hosting the Feed NC food drive for this holiday season. We will kick off the food drive on November 2nd and it runs through November 18th..
The food drive competition will be through homeroom (Imp Time). The Student Council will be collecting and tallying food drive items on Tuesdays and Fridays (with the exception of Thursday 11.10 since we are out on that Friday) for the duration of the food drive.
We have homeroom prizes for the top 3 leaders for participation. Thank you in advance for helping our community.
Week #1 standings:
3rd Place-Mr Wright’s Homeroom
2nd Place- Mrs. Ketchie’s Homeroom
1st Place- Ms. Adam’s Homeroom
Thank you to all of the Homerooms participating!
Find the Feed NC Wishlist linked below, and as always, please contact Ms. Orlando (8th grade social studies teacher) with any questions or concerns. I will place a flyer in your mailbox with these wish list items found on the Feed NC website. Thanks!
Attention: revision to Air Pod policy at MMS
(revised from notice in October 7th newsletter)
Notice to Parents: it is not necessary to send Airpods or other Bluetooth headphones to school with your students. With cell phones required to be OFF during the school day, there's simply no need for students to use Bluetooth headphones without teacher permission in the classroom. In addition, bluetooth headphones are frequently lost by students during the school day and can be quite expensive to replace.
Beginning Monday, November 7th, Air Pods & headphones should be used for instructional purposes only. Students also must obtain teacher permission first before using them. This supports our School Improvement Plan of eliminating distractions from the classroom. MMS staff is directing students to remove non-wired headphones from their ears during lunch, SHAC, and transition times (when laptops are not used and cell phones should be powered off). Students found using Air Pods or headphones without teacher permission will be subject to the same consequences as the MMS cell phone policy, which began September 26th.
If your student needs to purchase wired headphones, some are available at the PBIS school store (open before school / during Imp Time) for only $1 or $2. The MMS media center also has some available. Thanks for your help in supporting our learning environment!
Science Club Field Trip
Here is the information that was passed out to all science club members but the trip is open to anyone at MMS. Please email Mrs. McAllister (jaclynmcallister@mgsd.k12.nc.us) if you have any questions. We hope to see some new Red Imps at our next Science Club meeting!
Free Online Tutoring for Students
When they sign up, they will get an email from NCVPS with the link for their session, and a link to cancel or reschedule if needed. Please reinforce to students that they should be respectful of tutors' time and not be "no-shows" if they sign up for a time.
Students who do not have Internet access at home or need a quiet place to attend tutoring are welcome at the Selma Burke Community Center.
We hope your students will take advantage of this "EDvantage"!!
This week's message from our MMS PTSO:
Thanks to all for supporting the PTSO boo gram sales and Halloween Fright Fest party last week. The students had a great time giving and receiving treats and getting dressed up for our spooktacular party!
This is the last week to buy Little Caesar's Pizza Kits! Our sale ends Sunday, November 13. Chances are if you’ve already bought a Pizza Kit, it’s been made, baked and eaten, so order more now before time runs out! Pizza Kits are great to have on hand during the holiday season. Everyone appreciates the convenience of a delicious meal that your family will love. Buy your favorites today and re-send the link to your family and friends who may have forgotten to order! Pizza kits ship directly to your customers so it's super easy to ask anyone to support you! If you haven't already you can still sign up and help us reach our goal! https://bit.ly/MMS-Pizza The top 12 sellers Mon-Sun will get a donut during IMP time! And remember that the top seller overall will get to be principal for the day with our very own interim principal Mr. Kosal! Thank you for your help and support!
Save the date for our next PTSO Spirit Night fundraiser. On Tuesday, November 15th, from 5:00-8:30pm take the night off from cooking and join us at Alino's Pizzeria. Enjoy a great dinner while supporting MMS and MMS PTSO! Note: make sure you order & pay in person -- online orders don't count towards our proceeds!
Change Wars is coming November 14-18. This will be a 7th grade vs. 8th grade challenge. Start saving up change now. Coins are positive points for your grade level and paper money will count against your points -- put paper bills in the other grade level's container to make them lose! Which grade will win the challenge? Stay tuned to find out. If we meet the goal, the winning grade level will receive a treat and the ever important bragging rights! Also, Mr. Kosal will shave his beard for the first time in over a decade!! Do you want to see that? We need parent volunteers to help us with the collections. If you can help us please sign up here. Change Wars Sign Up
We still have plenty of Red Imp items for sale. To purchase, visit our online Square online store. Items will be given to your student at school. Contact us via email redimpsptso@gmail.com to purchase with cash. Thank you for supporting and showing off your Red Imp spirit! PTSO store
Please join our PTSO facebook group. This online community is for parents/guardians of MMS students and MMS staff. We will share information from the PTSO, MMS and MGSD. It is also a place for you to connect with other parents/guardians and the PTSO. We hope you'll join us! Follow us on Facebook!
Thank you for your support! Questions for the PTSO? E-mail us at redimpsptso@gmail.com
Loss of Privilege List (LoP)
Effective today, Mooresville Middle School will be implementing a Loss of Privilege list. By being placed on the Loss of Privilege (LoP) List, students are identified as having forfeited the privilege to participate in any and all extracurricular activities involving Mooresville Middle School and Mooresville Graded School District. Assignment to the LoP list will last for 45 school days (One school quarter). Students are placed on the LoP List in one of two ways:
1) Being assigned Out of School Suspension in a school quarter
2) Being assigned In School Suspension three times in a school quarter.
3) Inappropriate behavior at any after-school activity.
At the end of the 45 days, students will automatically be removed from the LoP list and privileges will be restored.
This LoP list is very similar to the program at Mooresville High School - we believe this loss of privileges will be an incentive for students to act in a positive fashion at school AND will help them transition to the high school in a year or two. Any questions? Email or call Ms. Kim Brown (7th grade assistant principal).
Next Week's Winter Sports home events + news:
- Monday, November 7th - home Wrestling vs. Knox
- Thursday, November 10th - home Varsity Basketball vs. West Rowan
Also, tryouts for 7th grade girls basketball continue on Monday, November 7th from 5:30 - 7:00pm. Any girl trying out must be enrolled in Final Forms and both a parent and athlete must sign all the required forms. In addition, you must have a valid athletic physical on the State required form. If you have any questions please email annclark@mgsd.k12.nc.us
Blankets
Parents: if students bring blankets into the building when temperatures get colder (which is understandable: it's cold waiting for a late bus), please direct them to deliver blankets to their 7th period classroom during Imp Time OR store the blankets in their backpack.
Students can collect the blanket at the end of the day; they should not be walking around the school draped in them. Ms. Brown (7th grade assistant principal) has recorded a message to reinforce this policy for students that will air on the ImpTV news periodically.
EC parent night @ EMIS -- November 15th
The Exceptional Children's Acceptance Center (ECAC) will present and discuss the philosophy, legal issues, barriers and strategies related to the inclusion of students with disabilities in regular classroom settings. Participants will have a better understanding of how to partner with teachers to create inclusive school environments for students, including students with significant disabilities.
Please see this SMORE for more details and RSVP if you plan on attending. Thank you!
Are you a Motivator??
The Motivators are ways for family / community members to volunteer time during the school day to monitor hallways and our campus grounds while also getting to know MMS students and staff. We love to have extra adult presence in the building to support our students and help out when needed. If you have at least one hour a week, we would love to have you volunteer.
Email Ms. Brown for more information. kbrown@mgsd.k12.nc.us
How to alert MMS of a student absence:
The email address for parents to alert MMS about student absences is: MMSAttendance@MGSD.k12.nc.us
Parents can upload doctor's notes as well. We hope this process will be easier on everyone instead of always sending a note with the student that gets lost so easily!
MMS Social Media Handles - follow us!
Facebook: @mooresvillems
Instagram: mooresvillems
Twitter: @mooresvillems
Website: https://mms.mgsd.k12.nc.us/
Thanks for reading!
Have a great weekend, Red Imp families! Please feel free to contact the interim principal, Mr. Kosal if you have questions or concerns. We appreciate all of the community support of the hard work we do for students here at Mooresville Middle School!
Email: pkosal@mgsd.k12.nc.us
Website: https://mms.mgsd.k12.nc.us/
Location: 233 Kistler Farm Road, Mooresville, NC, USA
Phone: (704) 658-2720