Poplar Grove Post
December 2019
NOTES FROM THE ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL:
Hello PGMS families,
We hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving Break, and that students and teachers are coming back to school well rested. It may seem like we just started, but we are quickly moving through the 2019-2020 school year! We are just a few weeks away from the halfway point, and hope you are seeing lots of student growth and great things around the school. The first semester has seen PGMS championship sports, a very successful fundraiser, lots of awesome House day activities, an amazing showing of talent at Coffee House, and much more. While December is a short month due to winter break, we are going to pack A LOT into the time we have! PGMS will be working through play production and auditions, basketball season, Winter Concerts, and having another Pride Time, just to name a few things. Your continued support of all things PGS make this school the amazing place it has become and will continue to be. Thank you all for your dedication and teamwork! We look forward to the next half of the school year being even more amazing.
We know December will be busy, so please be sure to mark your calendar for the following events:
December 6 – Art Crawl Downtown Franklin 6:00pm-8:00pm
December 10 – 5th/6th Grade Choir Concert 6:00pm-6:30pm
December 10 – Band Concert 7:00pm
December 12 – 7/8 Grade Choir Concert 6:00pm-6:30pm
December 12 – Strings Concert 7:00pm
December 16 – Lion King Jr. Auditions 2:30pm
December 20 – Winter Parties
December 20 – Abbreviated day (2 hours)
December 23 – Winter Break!
CLINIC NEWS FROM NURSE LIZ:
The Williamson County Health Department nurses administered Flu shots to PGS students, whose parents registered them on November 5. Tiz the season of the Flu and other respiratory viruses. The CDC reports that confirmed cases of the flu are increasing in the south. If you have not received your Flu shot, get it now, it’s never too late! Children can receive their Flu shots from their healthcare provider, or the WMC Health Dept. Established patients at Mercy Clinic can receive their Flu shot during their Flu shot Clinic, Tuesday or Thursdays from 2-4:30. You do not need an appt.
According the American Academy of Pediatrics, more than half of children ages 6-17 years are not getting the recommended 9 hours of sleep most nights. “Insufficient sleep is associated with physical and mental health issues that include increased risk of depression and obesity and negative effects on mood, attention and academic performance.”
Wishing everyone a happy, healthy and safe holiday season!
Nurse Liz
COUNSELOR'S CORNER
Things I am thankful for
In this season of giving thanks for what we have I would like to share some things I am thankful for as the counselor at PGMS.
The NOOK volunteers for selflessly working so hard to meet our students' needs.
Graceworks for helping feed our families and students and for donating school supplies.
The United Way of Williamson County for providing many of our families with a Thanksgiving meal.
Teachers and staff for always giving of themselves to serve the PGMS community.
Parent volunteers for working tirelessly to coordinate so many of our school programs.
Students for facing the ups and downs of being in middle school and being a pre-teen/teen with a willingness to learn and helping to create a positive culture at PGMS.
Community organizations and members who donate their time and money to improve PGMS.
I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving break!
GRADE LEVEL NEWS:
5TH GRADE NEWS:
5th graders are busy filling their writer's notebooks from the perspective of Wanda from the novel, The Hundred Dresses. Wanda is a silent character in the novel, so they are giving her a voice.
6TH GRADE NEWS:
6th graders went to the zoo last month! We got to see many of the new animals and enjoyed the Zoolumination Lights Exhibit. We also had our 6th grade Tailgate Night full of fun, s'mores, and a movie!
7TH GRADE NEWS:
7th grade ELA Honors classes participated in one of 4 stations for their "Book Club Time." They are either working on Perspective, Mood, Point of View, or Conflict. They work together with their group to cite evidence to support their claims. They will visit the other three stations throughout the month of December.
8TH GRADE NEWS:
RELATED ARTS NEWS:
SPANISH NEWS:
Hola!
You are invited to our fourth annual Senor Elfo mercado. Students will be creating handmade arts and crafts and using technology to explain their items. You will be able to "shop" and all items will be free. We hope to see you there!
7th grade 12:30-1:30 p.m.
8th grade 9:45-10:30 a.m.
Thanks for your ongoing support,
Senorita Lavery
5TH GRADE STEM NEWS:
We took a short break from our Solar System unit to work on a logic puzzle with cards and blocks. Our 5th graders, were very successful and had fun!
6TH GRADE STEM NEWS:
We have been learning about ecosystems using lot of different models (embodied, computational, and physical). Amidst our ecosystem studies, Snowflake, the snake, visited our classroom and was a big hit! On Thursdays and Fridays, we learn about gear ratios via motorized toy cars. On this particular day, they were taught how to use a spring scale to measure rim force in Newtons by our fundraising winner, Dennis Morrison.
EXTRACURRICULAR NEWS:
POSITIVE BEHAVIOR SUPPORT NEWS:
The Tennessee Behavior Supports Project (TBSP) is proud to announce that Poplar Grove Middle School has been selected as a 2019-2020 Silver level RTI2-B Model of Demonstration School. There are over 1,800 schools across the state of Tennessee and this year less than 2% of schools meet criteria to be selected as an RTI2-B Model of Demonstration School! Thanks to everyone’s hard work PGMS will also be recognized at the Tennessee Partners in Education Conference at the end of January.
We have had an exciting House competition underway this fall to support the Ronald McDonald House. They are able to turn donated pull tabs into monetary donations for their program. Here are the results:
1st place- Coraticus with 18 pounds
2nd place- Sapenta with 13 pounds
3rd place- Reverentum with 7.5 pounds
4th place - Almitas with 7 pounds
Way to go PGMS! Working together we collected a total of 45.5 pounds!
Lastly, as the holidays approach and schedules begin to get full and hectic, please continue to have those important discussions with your child about how it is important to still remain focused and follow school rules. Together we can make EACH day a positive one!
SOCCER:
FALL FEST TEACHER EXPERIENCES:
PGS COMPETITION CHEER:
The competition cheerleaders honored Emily Phy during the month of October at their competitions by wearing pink bows.
They had a successful month competing. They won grand champions at Blackman high school and won 1st place in their Game Day routine in Louisville, Ky. The girls are working hard and preparing for Nationals in Orlando, Florida in February.
Look for them on December 20 at Pride Time when they will perform both routines for the school!
8TH GRADE TECH FIT NEWS:
Kaleb Martin is working on our YouTube channel for TECHFIT. He is part of our Social Media Team. Ella Holt and Blake Green are part of our Building Team. This portion of our exergame is ready for our Wiring Team!
USED BOOK SALE COLLECTION:
Starting at the beginning of December, we are collecting gently used children's and adult books and movies for our annual Used Book Sale (March 2-6). All proceeds will go directly to the PGS library media centers. Please consider donating any books and/or movies you no longer want. Look for collection bins in the front lobbies from December through February.
POPLAR GROVE MIDDLE SCHOOL
Email: treadwaychr@fssd.org
Website: poplargrovemiddle.fssd.org
Location: 2959 Del Rio Pike, Franklin, TN, United States
Phone: 615-790-4721
Twitter: @FSSDpgms