Happy 2023 to all of our Middle School families! We are so excited to begin a new year of new possibilities for our students to learn and grow. It is hard to believe this school year is already into its 5th month!

As we start January, we will be heading into our mid-year testing session of NWEA. It is important for us as educators to constantly reevaluate how we teach content to our students. What may work for one student may not work for another. It is imperative that we use the NWEA to see which kids may need different strategies or help based on how they are doing in various areas of our curriculum. After students are finished taking the NWEA, our staff will sit down and look at the data and make a plan for all of our students and ways to best meet the needs. Please take a minute to talk with your students about how important it is for us to see where your child is in their learning. Doing their best gives us a picture and insight as we analyze and create lessons/small groups to educate all of our high achievers here at the MS.

Also, as we head into winter, please make sure the office has an up to date phone number so that you can receive alerts in the case of a school closure due to weather.

Stay Warm Tigers!

Mrs. Danielson

¡Feliz 2023 a todas nuestras familias de Middle School! Estamos muy emocionados de comenzar un nuevo año de nuevas posibilidades para que nuestros estudiantes aprendan y crezcan. ¡Es difícil creer que este año escolar ya está en su quinto mes!

A medida que comencemos enero, nos dirigiremos a nuestra sesión de prueba de mitad de año de NWEA. Es importante para nosotros como educadores reevaluar constantemente cómo enseñamos contenido a nuestros estudiantes. Lo que puede funcionar para un estudiante puede no funcionar para otro. Es imperativo que usemos la NWEA para ver qué niños pueden necesitar diferentes estrategias o ayuda en función de cómo les está yendo en varias áreas de nuestro plan de estudios. Una vez que los estudiantes hayan terminado de tomar la NWEA, nuestro personal se sentará y observará los datos y hará un plan para todos nuestros estudiantes y las formas de satisfacer mejor las necesidades. Tómese un minuto para hablar con sus estudiantes sobre lo importante que es para nosotros ver dónde se encuentra su hijo en su aprendizaje. Hacer lo mejor que pueden nos da una imagen y una idea a medida que analizamos y creamos lecciones/grupos pequeños para educar a todos nuestros alumnos de alto rendimiento aquí en MS.

Además, a medida que nos acercamos al invierno, asegúrese de que la oficina tenga un número de teléfono actualizado para que pueda recibir alertas en caso de que la escuela cierre debido al clima.

¡Manténganse abrigados tigres!

Sra. Danielson

Swatting. The act of 'swatting' is nothing new. It's really just a new term for false reports of school threats that are made directly to local law enforcement. But what does make 'swatting' different from other false reports is that with 'swatting,' the objective is to get the largest public safety response possible. It is becoming more and more common in the cyber world as online predators try to find someone's name, address, and other personal information, and then make reports as if they were that person. These incidents, because of the large response wanted, are actually considered acts of terrorism because of wasting public safety resources that could be used in other places for real emergencies. 'Swatting' is a federal crime in many countries and punishable by heavy fines and/or time in prison.

Please consider having conversations with your children about maintaining online safety and security and to not give out any identifiable information while gaming online. If your child has been threatened with 'swatting,' contact your local police or sheriff department to file a report. Make sure to get the screen name of the person, day/time, game being played/live stream, and what was said. Also, tell your child to stop communicating with the person making the threat. There are Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) available for households to keep online activity private, if you are interested in an additional layer of online security. For more information and to watch a short informative video or listen to a brief podcast on the topic, please see the following website and video: What is Swatting?

https://smartsocial.com/post/swatting?utm_source=Smart+Social+Mailing+List&utm_campaign=c804eb0c8a-Tuesday+1%2F3+swatting+%26+live+events&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_40b34a3ccb-c804eb0c8a-196317936

Other Apps for families to be aware of:

Gas App (Safety Concerns): https://youtu.be/XaOt7pKH0kg

Send It App (Raises red flags for bullying): https://smartsocial.com/post/sendit-app

Tuesday afternoons: 3-4pm in Ms. Swanson's classroom

Thursday mornings: 7-7:45am in Mrs. Schucardt's room (when students arrive, knock on Mrs. Schucardt's window).