Mustang News

Greetings, Mustang Families!

We are finally entering into the home stretch. We have thirteen days left of learning and finishing up this current school year. I personally try my best to never wish my days away, and I am intentional about enjoying each of the moments I get to spend with our students and staff. I hope our students are putting in their best efforts academically and socially during these last few weeks. We are working hard to finish strong and students need to be present at school for the full day. We begin our day at 7:53am and end at 2:46pm. Please do not call to pick up your student within the last hour of school unless it has been prearranged. Together, we can do this!

We have noticed some behaviors as the year draws to a close that are putting a shadow over the joy of the end of the school year. Phones are becoming more and more of a problem. Please speak to your student about our rule requiring cell phones to be off and out of sight during the school day. This includes in the hallways during passing times and more importantly, in the restrooms. We have had students calling parents during instructional time. We also have students taking videos and photos in the restroom. Some students have been taking unauthorized photos and videos during classes as well. This is not acceptable and is very disruptive to the learning environment. Please check your child’s phone regularly. Social media and the internet are not safe spaces for our young people.

Eighth Grade Bridging Ceremony!

We are very excited to celebrate our 8th grade students on June 8th from 6-8pm. We are asking 6th and 7th grade families to provide dessert treats for our celebration. A sign-up genius will be sent out next week. We are pleased to be able to host our celebration on the football field. We do have very limited seating on the bleachers so we are asking families to bring their own chairs or a blanket to sit on. This is a multi-generational event and we look forward to accommodating families of all kinds. We do ask that small children stay with their families for safety reasons. We will also have a professional photographer and pictures will be available so you can sit back and enjoy the show. We would like to remind students that they will be walking over the field and a bridge to greet the Avondale High School administrative team and Central Office Administration. High heels may be problematic for this event.

Any student who gets suspended beginning on 5/22/23 through the date of the bridging ceremony will be excluded from this event. Please remind students about appropriate school behaviors.

Review of the Week

We finished our regular testing days this week! WooHoo! Students have pushed through these tests and done a great job. We had a lot of fun passing out treats and congratulating students who met or exceeded their growth goal for the NWEA.

We filled our CJ Barrymore trip for next week and are excited to celebrate students who did not have their GO cards taken for the entire school year.

Preview of Upcoming Events

Next week we are taking five busloads of students to CJ Barrymores on Wednesday to celebrate their excellent behavior throughout the school year.

A reminder that there is no school next Friday for the extended Memorial Day Weekend. We look forward to welcoming everyone back on Tuesday, May 30th.

Coming Soon!

We are excited to begin preparing for next school year already! We are working on building teams for better communication and connections for next year. Students will be working with a team of teachers and smaller cohorts of students.

The Best Thing

The Best Thing this week was finishing up my teacher observations and seeing all of the great projects and learning going on in classrooms.

Respectfully,

Katie Gomez

Mark Your Calendar!

May 26 - No School

May 29 - No School - Memorial Day

June 8 - 8th Grade Bridging Ceremony 6-8pm

Attendance Line

The attendance line phone number is (248)537-6310. Please give the office at least one hour to process your request if your student needs to be picked up. Thank you!

Reminder

No outside food is allowed to be delivered to the school building during the school day. In addition, we ask that students only carry water to drink in the classrooms and the hallway.

*Athletic News and School Procedures

*Mustang Boosters

*New Avondale Apparel
*Middle School Basketball Night at AHS
*8th Grade Band - Memorial Day Parade
*Buy a Yearbook!
*Host Families Needed for International Students
*Dream Night at the Detroit Zoo - June 2

*Current 7th Graders - DC Trip Information

*Lunch Menu for May 22-25

*Birthdays This Week

*Free Resource for Parents

*Blessings in a Backpack
*Summer Camps and Programs

*Community and District News

Be part of the MUSTANG BOOSTERS!!!!

AMS has been very fortunate to have had some outstanding PTO groups. In the spirit of that tradition we have rebranded our PTO to the MUSTANG BOOSTERS! This is be a group of volunteer parents and teachers collaboratively working to promote and support the outstanding groups, teams, clubs and school initiatives we have.

Please email Mrs. Robin Bovensiep at rrbovensiep@gmail.com to have your name added to the list. We hope to see you there!

New Avondale Apparel

Visit the link below for Avondale Apparel for students, parents, and other Avondale friends and supporters! 10% of all sales will go back to Avondale!

Note: "women's fit" sizes run small.

https://spiritwear.avondaleschools.org/

8th Grade Band Members Performing in Memorial Day Parade

The Avondale Yellow Jacket Marching Band, joined by 8th grade band members, will be performing in the Auburn Hills Memorial Day Parade on Monday, May 29 in downtown Auburn Hills. The parade is expected to start at Avondale High School at 11 am. It will then continue down Waukegan, progress through downtown Auburn Hills, and ultimately end at the American Legion. Come on out and cheer them on!

Host Families Needed for International Students

Student Management Group, in partnership with Avondale Community Schools and Oakland Schools, is looking for host families for international students arriving in August 2023. The students speak English, have their own health insurance and spending money. They are between 15 and 18 years old and will attend Avondale High School for one year. A host family provides three nutritious meals a day, a safe living environment, passes a background check, and receives $400 a month to offset the expense of hosting.

For more information about hosting, please contact Heather Roberts at 269-674-8379 or hroberts@student-management.com

Dream Night is an after-hours event from 6 to 9 p.m, geared specifically toward families of children with chronic or terminal illnesses. This event provides children and their families a no-cost, stress-free evening surrounded by their favorite animals and fun activities. We want to make dreams come true and create lasting memories that will be cherished during these very stressful times for the children and their families.

To accomplish this, Dream Night will be limited to 1,000 pre-approved guests to ensure a smooth, safe and enjoyable experience for all. We will have exciting and educational habitat chats with animal care staff, great refreshments, access to BRICKLIVE, an immersive walk-through experience featuring sculptures made of more than 2 million toy bricks and many more fun and exciting opportunities for these special guests.

We want to make this experience as easy to navigate and as inclusive as possible, so we also will have reduced/altered music and effects throughout the Zoo’s footprint, free wheelchair, wagon and electric convenience vehicles and KultureCity sensory bags equipped with noise-canceling headphones, fidget tools and verbal cue cards. There will be other inclusive accommodations available as well for guests who may feel overwhelmed by the environment.

For more information, please visit the Dream Night website.

Birthdays This Week!

5/20- Nicole

5/21- Jordan

5/22- Anthony

5/23- Tre'Shaun, Adrian

5/24- Gryffin, Carson

5/26- Nolan, Avelino, Jovanni

Free Resource for Parents

In November, our administrators attended the K-12 Wellness Conference at Oakland Schools. The conference was packed with state, county, and local leaders all there to learn how to support our students and their families.

We want to share a valuable and trusted resource with you that we learned about at the conference: https://parentguidance.org

This is a free source for parenting support that is full of information and education to help you support your student and address tough issues they may be dealing with.

Blessings in a Backpack

Considering the tough economic times and the rising food costs facing our area, we are attempting to help Avondale families by making sure all our children have enough food.

“Blessings in a Backpack” is a program designed to provide students on the free and reduced lunch program with enough food for three meals a day during the weekends. Sign your child(ren) up to receive Blessings in a Backpack online at: https://forms.gle/PenBsXw6fhZ7opKz5.

For more information, please see our Mustang News from Nov. 18.

MASC/MAHS Summer Leadership Camp at Albion College

Current 8th Graders attend High School Level Camp and may apply for scholarship opportunities for the High School Level

High School Camp Information: https://mascmahs.org/camp
Scholarship Application (due May 22): https://setseg.org/camp

Current 6th and 7th Graders attend the Middle School Level Camp program.

Middle School Camp Information: https://mascmahs.org/camp