Poplar Grove Post
September 2017
NOTE FROM THE PRINCIPAL:
Hello Everyone,
Wow! We have had an amazing start to this school year. Seeing so many smiling faces on the first day gave me goosebumps. Our House drawing was spectacular and fun was had by all, including the adults. Special thanks to our M.C. Dr. Catherine Stephens. On August 21, we all had the privilege of viewing the eclipse as a PGMS faculty and student body. We were also fortunate to have several parents and community members join us for this monumental occasion. Thanks to Dr. Snowden for allowing us to partake in such an amazing activity.
I know this is going to be a fantastic year with many learning opportunities for our wonderful students. The PGMS faculty and staff looks forward to serving our students and families this school year. Thank you and please let us know if we can assist you.
Important Dates:
September 1- PRIDE Time, 1st House Day, and Early Dismissal Day
Septemer 4 - Labor Day Holiday - No School
September 22 - PBS Lock-in
September 18 - FSSD Board Meeting at JES
Interested in our event calendar? Click here.
NEWS FROM NURSE LIZ:
Hello parents!
I hope that each of you had a fun-filled and healthy summer break. It has been a wonderful start to the school year! I have enjoyed re-connecting with students and meeting new ones!
All of us at PGMS wish to provide a healthy and safe learning environment for your children. You can help us in doing so by reading and familiarizing yourselves with the following policies and procedures.
FIRST AID AND HEALTHCARE BY THE SCHOOL NURSE IS FOR ILLNESS AND INJURIES THAT OCCUR DURING THE SCHOOL DAY.
I am not able to diagnose, prescribe treatment or administer any over the counter, prescription or complimentary alternative medications (CAM’S), without a completed FSSD Medication Administration Form. These forms are located in the clinic, or can be downloaded from the FSSD website. Please notify me of any health changes with your child that occurs during the school year. I must have a current phone number to reach you, in the event that your child becomes ill or injured while at school.
FSSD MEDICATION POLICY
All medications must be brought to the middle school clinic by a parent or legal guardian. It is a violation of the district medication policy and Tennessee State Law for students to bring or have in their possession any medication on the bus or school property. The only exception to this is a rescue inhaler prescribed for asthma or an Epipen prescribed for either a food or insect sting allergy. I must have a completed FSSD Medication Form, before I can accept and administer any prescription, non-prescription, or CAM’S to a child during the school day. This also applies to students that carry their rescue inhalers or Epipens themselves. Please DO NOT send medications in a baggy, with a handwritten note asking me to administer the medication to your child during the day.
UNLESS YOU OPTED OUT, WELL CHILD WILL BE AT PGMS ON 9-26, TO DO STATE REQUIRED VISION AND HEARING SCREENINGS ON OUR 6TH AND 8TH GRADERS.
Nurse Liz
COUNSELOR'S CORNER:
Welcome Back!
My name is Keith Welch and I will be your student's middle school counselor. I am beginning my 12th year as the school counselor at Poplar Grove Middle. I have been married for 20 years and have 3 daughters ages 15, 13 and 9. I have lived in Franklin for 19 years and feel blessed to be able to work with the families in this great community.
I know starting a new school year can be fun and exciting. It can also be a time of anxiety and stress, as students (and parents) get back into their school routines. I look forward to working with you and your children to help them succeed in their academic goals, as well as, support social and emotional growth throughout the school year. I like to focus on solutions to help your child succeed in all areas of their development.
Counseling activities can include individual and group counseling or whole class presentations and observations. Many of these activities will focus on helping students learn ways to build positive social skills, gain confidence in their ability to interact with others and learn ways to deal with problems and conflicts constructively.
Please call the counseling office at 615-472-3993 or email at welchkei@fssd.org if you have any questions or concerns. I am excited to be working with the PGMS students and their families! I hope everyone has a great school year!
GRADE LEVEL NEWS:
5TH GRADE NEWS:
6TH GRADE NEWS:
Students are already racking up their PBS tickets for this quarter and were able to use tickets for an extra recess.
We did a team building activity that required ALL of the sixth graders to line up in order of their birthdays from January to December. The trick was that they had to do this silently and they did an amazing job! It was encouraging to watch the students work together toward the goal of team building.
7TH GRADE NEWS:
7th grade science classes have done the Escape classroom to practice teamwork and all of us enjoyed Eclipse Day!
7th grade math is working on adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing integers the first few weeks of school. Ask your student to give you a real life example and an answer for the problem -7 + -12. Students who bring me their problem/answer in written form to show you discussed this will earn 2 tickets for showing extra responsibility with math. Thanks for your support from home!
In Language Arts, we have been learning signposts while reading. These cause us to "Stop, Notice, and Note." This reading strategy helps to alert readers to significant moments in a work of literature and encourage students to read closely. Learning first to spot these signposts and then to question them, enables readers to explore the text, any text, finding evidence to support their interpretations. We have learned how to use "accountable talk" with our peers. This involves respectfully agreeing/disagreeing with them and backing up with evidence why we agree/disagree. We have had some amazing conversations!
8TH GRADE NEWS:
Welcome back! We have enjoyed getting to know the 8th graders. We would like to give a shout out to our new 8th grade team member, Mrs. Cara Pearson!
This Friday we will have our first Pride Time and House Day. We are looking forward to a great year!
RELATED ARTS NEWS:
LIBRARY NEWS
If you would like to donate a dedication book to the library media center, checkout the Book Dedication form on the library's homepage for more information:
SPANISH NEWS
Welcome to the 2017-2018 school year. I am Ssenorita Lavery and teach Spanish here at PGMS. All classes are using the iPads and Chromebooks on a daily basis. 5th and 6th graders are learning about the alphabet, numbers, colors, cognates, and many other introductory Spanish concepts. 7th graders are learning about classroom commands, and 8th graders are learning about the preterite tense. Both 7th and 8th grade Spanish students will present their first speech on August 31st. All family members are welcome. Thank you for allowing me to your educate your child.
FRENCH NEWS
Performing the National Anthem
EXTRACURRICULAR NEWS:
BOX TOPS
To help our school, just look for pink Box Tops on products, clip them, and send them to school! I hope you're excited for everything we can do this year with Box Tops! If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me at noblitt93@comcast.net. Thanks for your help!
STEM
Shout out to NISSAN for a generous donation to Franklin Special School District! Funds were provided for Gravity Cruisers, Motorized Toy Cars, and Fuel Cell Model Cars! More information on this new, motorized addition to our STEM Program coming soon!
PBS NEWS
HOUSE NEWS
We are getting excited about our very first House Day that is coming up on September 1st! We will be busy digging deeper into our Pride Time character trait – Respect, learning more about House Days at PGMS, voting for our new 8th grade House Captains, and enjoying some friendly House Competitions. Students will also be able to enjoy socializing with their new housemates during recess and lunch. It should be a fun day for students and staff!
Please feel free to discuss what respect is with your student before and/or after House Day. Showing respect for others is one of the key ingredients to being the best person you can be. We may show respect in many ways everyday and not even realize it. Respecting others occurs when you listen to others, play fair, use good manners, wait your turn, compliment someone, pick up after yourself, and simply how you treat others.
ACCREDITATION NEWS
Hello PGMS families!
FSSD is currently accredited through AdvancED, an international accrediting agency, and is seeking re-accreditation this year. This process of pursuing re-accreditation occurs every five years. As we are committed to continuous improvement, we will be spending time reviewing and analyzing our practices to uncover our strengths and areas to improve. To do this, PGMS is asking students, school staff, teachers, and parents to help! Your voice is valued and your participation desired! In the days and weeks to come you will be receiving links to complete surveys about school climate, participation, purpose, school supports, etc. During this first semester as we analyze various forms of data, you may be asked to be a part of a team working through this process and discussing various elements of the work. When the AdvancED Engagement Review Team comes to the FSSD, you may be invited to come in to meet with members of this team and talk about PGMS. Your views, thoughts and ideas are important in this re-accreditation journey! There will be more information to follow in the near future. We wanted to make you aware of this continuous improvement journey and we look forward to working together to better our school!
Thank you,
PGMS Administration
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