Around the Realm Knightly News
ACP MIDDLE SCHOOL - August 20, 2021
Message from the Principal
Dear Knights,
We had yet another exciting week at ACP Middle School!. The highlight of the week was the assembly on Thursday. Students participated in a prewriting assessment as part of our Journey 2025 plan with a short Assembly break in between writing and completing peer review evaluations. The data from these assessments will serve as a blueprint for our instructional foci for this school year.
Fall conferences were also very successful! We hope, if you attended fall conferences, that they were fruitful.
As the school year is slowly unfolding, we are continuing to see some dress code issues. As a reminder, the dress code language regarding skirt lengths changed from 'mid-thigh' to 'approaches the knee' i.e., it should be about knee length. While there is a bit of flexibility, the intent is to remove some of the subjectivity and make clear that the length should be observably closer to the knee than waist. So far, we have only issued warnings and allowed students time to invest in uniforms that meet the guidelines. Beginning Monday, we will be enforcing the dress code policy. We need your help in monitoring and reinforcing this expectation. Please ensure that your student is equipped with the needed attire. If you need assistance, please reach out to me.
We have gotten drop off and pick up down to a science where the average wait time from start to finish is about 4 minutes. Thank you to all of you for bearing with us while we worked out the kinks. As an additional request, when dropping off, if entering from Alma School Rd., please exit from Alma School Rd as that will make it even more efficient.
Please communicate with teachers for any absences to coordinate making up of missed work as well as calling in the absence through our attendance line 480-883-5403.
Action Item(s) for you:
If you have not complete the Broadband & Connectivity survey yet, the deadline has been extended, please complete it ASAP. It is available on the parent portal. Please also complete the annual verification/registration also available on the parent portal.
Thank you,
Manjula K Reddy
Principal – ACP Middle School
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Parent Roundtables
Our most recent Parent Roundtable was on Wednesday, 08/18/2021. Our theme was around interventions/enrichment. I reviewed our school's performance on the most recent AzM2 scores (available on our school website) and how we are using the data to provided targeted interventions in the classroom and outside of classroom. We also discussed the following items:
COVID Dashboard - Since the last board meeting, decision was made to update the COVID Dashboard daily at 10:00am so at this time it is being updated daily at 10:00am.
Teacher Websites - All teachers websites should be up and being updated. Please let me know if you have any concerns regarding this.
Please see below for the dates of times of the remaining Parent Roundtables:
Parent Roundtable #3: Wednesday, 09/15/2021 at 5:30pm: Zoom Link
Parent Roundtable #4: Wednesday, 10/27/2021 at 5:30pm: Zoom Link
Parent Roundtable #5: Wednesday, 11/17/2021 at 5:30pm: Zoom Link
Parent Roundtable #6: Wednesday, 01/12/2022 at 5:30pm: Zoom Link
Parent Roundtable #7: Wednesday, 02/23/2021 at 5:30pm: Zoom Link
Parent Roundtable #8: Wednesday, 04/13/2022 at 5:30pm: Zoom Link
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DO YOU HAVE A CHESS GAME TO DONATE?
Any donations can be dropped off in the front office marked Attention: Mr. Phillips. He will be holding Chess Club every Wednesday starting next week.
We appreciate all that our parents do for ACP and our students!
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Athletics
Monday, Aug 23rd
Girls Volleyball vs Eastmark Jr. High- AWAY 4:30/5:30
Flag Football vs Eastmark Jr. High- HOME 4:30/5:30
Baseball vs Eastmark Jr. High- AWAY 4:30
Eastmark Jr. High
9560 E Ray Rd.
Mesa, AZ 85212
Tuesday, Aug 24th
Girls Volleyball vs Payne Jr. High- HOME 4:30/5:30
Flag Football vs Payne Jr. High-AWAY 4:30/5:30
Baseball vs Payne Jr. High- HOME (played at AJHS) 4:30
Payne Jr. High
7655 S Higley Rd
Queen Creek, AZ 85142
Andersen Jr. High
1255 N Dobson Rd.
Chandler, AZ 85224
Thursday, Aug 26th
Girls Volleyball vs Santan Jr. High- AWAY 4:30/5:30
Flag Football vs Santan Jr. High-HOME 4:30/5:30
Baseball vs Santan Jr. High- AWAY 4:30
Santan Jr. High
1550 E Chandler Heights Rd.
Chandler, AZ 85249
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ACP EVENTS FOR THE WEEK
Regular Schedule Periods 1-6
Lunch w/Ms. Reddy during lunches
6th Grade Special 1 elective
Tuesday, Aug 24
Regular Schedule Periods 1-6
6th Grade Special 2 elective
Power Hour 2:50-3:50 pm Room D104 w/ Kaiser (Pre-registration Required)
Yearbook Pictures (Taken during Spanish class or Mrs. Tatar's class).
Wednesday, Aug 25
Block Schedule Periods 1, 3, 5
6th Grade Special 1 + 2 elective
Power Hour 2:50-3:50 pm Room C106 w/ Nassar (Pre-registration Required)
Thursday, Aug 26
Block Schedule Periods 2, 4, 6
No 6th Grade Specials
Power Hour 2:50-3:50 pm Room E101 w/ Filiere (Pre-registration Required)
Friday, Aug 27
Regular Schedule Periods 1-6
6th Grade Special 1 elective
On the Horizon:
August 24th Yearbook Pictures Taken - Students must be in their ACP Polo Uniform
September 6th - NO SCHOOL - Holiday - Labor Day
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Yearbook Pictures - August 24th
PICTURE DAY CODE: EVTMCBRKP
Note: Picture proofs from the student ID card pictures will be sent home soon should a parent wish to order prints. Yearbook Picture proofs will be sent home sometime in September.
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YEARBOOK SALES BY PREORDER ONLY - JOSTENS
Early is good! Get ahead-of-the-game and check "order yearbook" off your list today. Order your yearbook today before prices increase.
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POWER HOUR REGISTRATION - AUGUST
Power Hour is an academic support we provide at ACPO on most Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays throughout the school year. It is a time where students can go to study and work on any of their academic classes. If needed, there is a classroom teacher available to answer questions. Space is limited to 28 students and pre-registration is required. All students must have a reserved a spot prior to attending a session. Power Hour runs from 2:50 pm to 3:50 pm Tuesday-Thursday's. Room locations are listed in the Upcoming Events section above and in the Signup Genius.
Students must be picked up promptly at 3:50 pm at parent pick-up. As a reminder, ACP Middle School does not have afterschool care. Students continually picked up late may lose the privilege of participating in Power Hour.
Notes:
- These are not instructor led sessions and parents must provide student transportation.
- In order to attend, all students must signup weekly through signup genius to ensure sufficient space is available.To ensure that all students have the opportunity to attend Power Hour as needed, students may only be signed-up for 1 week at a time.
To ensure that all students have the opportunity to attend Power Hour as needed, student may only sign up for a few weeks at a time.
CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THE POWER HOUR SIGNUP GENIUS REGISTRATION FOR AUGUST
NOTE: PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU PICKUP YOUR STUDENT PROMPTLY AT 3:50 PM.
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ACP MIDDLE SCHOOL- BOOSTER CLUB BOARD MEMBERS
See below a message from Booster Club president regarding Copy Room volunteers:
Below is the sign up for the Copy room for August/September 2021. Please plan on being at the school for at least one hour when signing up for the copy room. Call the office (480-883-5400) the day prior, between 3:00pm - 3:30pm to ask if any papers are in the copy basket. The copy room basket has been organized by day in the teacher work room. Thank you for your help. If you would like to be on the list of those to call when we need a fill-in, please email us at acpobooster@gmail.com. Questions? Please contact the ACP Middle School Booster Club at acpobooster@gmail.com.
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ACP Middle School Site Council Meeting
We held our 1st meeting to review AzM2 results, Site Council By Laws, Tax Credit Expenditures and general norms and guidelines. Our 2nd meeting will be on Thursday, September 16, 2021@5:30pm in the ACP Middle School Media Center.
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FREE SCHOOL MEALS
Families may view the ala carte menu items with prices and view the daily lunch menu using the link below. Should you have any additional questions, you may contact ACP Middle School's cafeteria manager at: collison.melissa@cusd80.com
Please click on the link below for more information on the school nutritional program and frequently asked questions.
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Opportunities
See below opportunities:
My company, Behind the Vision, runs a series of different writing contests that all result in the winning authors having their chosen poems or short stories published in a collection so that they can experience what it's like to be a real published author. These contests are open to people of all ages, and so far we've had many students participate and get chosen, and the feedback we've gotten from them and their parents has been outstanding!
We decided to create a contest specifically for Middle School and High School students, partially so they too could feel the joy of being a published author, but also to help ignite and grow their passion for creativity and writing. This contest is called The Next Generation and will be held at the state level - one contest for Middle Schoolers, one for High Schoolers, so that both groups can compete against their peers statewide. Like with our other contests, the winners will have their work included in our The Next Generation: 2021 Collection book, and we will also take the best of the best from across the nation and feature those exemplary young writers in a National edition.
Participation is FREE and students are limited to TWO submissions per prompt. I have attached a flyer for the contest with more info that you are welcome to circulate throughout your schools and share with teachers, students, and their parents. As this is a state-level contest, we would love to see big participation numbers from your schools!! We are hoping to feature 50 poems and 20 short stories at both the Middle School and High School level, so that's plenty of opportunity for a wide selection of students to be featured!
Here is a link to the contest page on our website - Contest page
Here is a link to our recently published The C.R.W.P. Collection: The Story Behind the Poems, Volume One, which is a compilation of the winners from our very first Completely Random Writing Prompts: Poetry contest - which includes a handful of students from across the country! - Amazon link
The submission deadline is November 1st, 2021 so that we have the time to judge the contest, choose our winners, and then have the collection published by the end of the school year so that the winning authors can share and celebrate the accomplishment with their friends and family while still at school.
Student Leadership Opportunity:
The Youth Arts Council has a unique leadership program that focuses on the skills needed to be an arts leader and advocate with no cost to students. Lasting 6 months, participants, ages 13 - 17, engage in 13 three-hour sessions, starting in September and going through March. Applications are due on September 8, 2021. Find more information here.
Essay competition:
American Essay Contest’s ambition and goal is to quicken the spirit of American patriotism and to stimulate an awareness — a genuine feeling of pride and respect toward patriotism. As such the Chandler Elks Lodge #2429 would like to provide a special opportunity for 5th, 6th, 7th & 8th grade teachers and students to participate in our Annual Americanism Essay Contest. This year’s theme is “What does it mean to love your country?”.
There are two divisions for judging essays: Division 1 (combined fifth and sixth grades) and Division 2 (combined seventh and eighth grades). The local lodge will select a 1st, 2nd & 3rd place winner from each Division. Local lodge essay winners and sponsoring teachers will receive an Award Dinner in their honor at the Chandler Elks Lodge in late May 2020. Local winning essays will be forwarded on to District, State and National competitions respectively. Awards and/or plaques will be awarded at each level. National Winners will be announced at the Grand Lodge Session in July 2022.
Entry Rules:
1. Eligible participants must be students enrolled in 5th, 6th, 7th or 8th Grades.
2. Essay length is not to exceed 300 words.
3. Essay must be typed.
4. Essay must be submitted for judging to the Chandler Elks Lodge Essay Chairman, Taleen Carpenter.
5. Entrants must attach a completed 2020-2021 Americanism Essay Contest Cover Sheet (Section I Only) with the essay.
6. Deadline: must be submitted to Local Lodge by December 15, 2021.
7. Judging Criteria:
· Originality: avoids the use of trite or worn out words and phrases.
· Development of theme: stays focused on ideas and thoughts don’t ramble.
· Mechanics and neatness: uses proper spelling, grammar and punctuation. (1 or 2 grammatical errors can disqualify a student from moving on to Divisional, State and National levels.)