MONDAY - SEPTEMBER 25

• AMS Curriculum Night (AMS in Action)

TUESDAY - SEPTEMBER 26

• AMS Football - Bearcats take on Stephenville! 7th Grade @ AMS - 8th Grade will travel to Stephenville
• AMS Tennis vs. Weatherford Hall (AHS)
• Spirit Lunches

WEDNESDAY - SEPTEMBER 27

• AMS XC @ Brock

THURSDAY - SEPTEMBER 28

• SOS/Lifelines
• AMS VB @ Stephenville - Games begin @ 5:00 - Henderson Junior High

FRIDAY - SEPTEMBER 29

• AHS Football @ The Colony

Start With Hello was started by the Non-profit Sandy Hook Promise that is led by several family members whose loved ones were killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School on December 14, 2012. The organization’s goal is to empower youth to “know the signs” and unite all people. We hope to encourage our middle school students to get to know each other and start each day with a friendly hello. It just takes a second to impact a life. We will observe Start With Hello the week of September 25!

Skye exhibits a profound curiosity for not only band, but everything in her life. She is patient, observant, and forms intelligent questions. Skye has a clear thirst for knowledge, and I think she deserves to be the AMS Bearcat of Character for September.

The adolescent years are marked by a roller-coaster ride of emotions—challenging for students and their parents. It can be hard to tell the difference between normal adolescent turmoil and what might be a mental health concern. Depression is becoming more common among young people and appears to be affecting students at an earlier age. Depression is treatable, but untreated depression is a leading risk factor for suicide.

To proactively address these issues, our school is offering suicide prevention education using SOS Signs of Suicide. SOS encourages students to seek help if they are concerned about themselves or a friend. SOS is an evidence-based program that has demonstrated an improvement in students’ knowledge and adaptive attitudes about suicide risk and depression, as well as a reduction in actual suicide attempts.

As always, you are welcome to preview these materials. Please contact Bailey Roy (broy@aledoisd.org) for 8th Grade or Maggie Alexander (malexander@aledoisd.org) to schedule an appointment to view the materials.

The student program will be conducted on Thursday, September 28. Please click the links below for the parent information guide and the parent permission form.

Only students who have OPTED IN may participate in the program. To opt your student in, you must complete the SOS permission form by Tuesday, September 26.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out!

Suicide is one of the leading causes of death, even among children this young. The Lifelines Suicide Prevention Program focuses predominantly around recognizing signs of suicide in friends and becoming a proactive peer to assist someone in need. This program has been used in thousands of schools since it was first published in 2009. It has proved successful at increasing help-seeking behaviors by students concerned about the potential of a suicide attempt, either by themselves or by a friend.

As always, you are welcome to preview the material. Please contact Elisha Drake (edrake@aledoisd.org) to schedule an appointment.

On September 28, 2023, all sixth-grade students will participate in the Lifelines Prevention lessons during their 1st period class. The presentation will be shown electronically on the promethean board in the classroom with a teacher in the classroom to facilitate. If you have any questions or concerns about the program, please contact the AMS 6th Grade Counselor, Elisha Drake (edrake@aledoisd.org).

The Aledo Independent School District wants its students, staff, and parents to know the priority we place on safety and security. Proactive measures include extensive emergency operations plans, regularly scheduled safety drills, video camera monitoring throughout the district, controlled access to all facilities, and School-Based Law Enforcement at all district campuses. Inan additional effort to prioritize school safety Aledo ISD will require all 6th - 12th grade studentsto wear ID badges whenever present on school property during the school day.

Each 6th - 12th grade student will receive a photo ID badge and a lanyard at the beginning of

each school year. Throughout the school day, students will be required to clearly display their

ID around the neck with school-issued lanyard. Students will be required to wear the lanyard

and ID at all times unless the lanyard and ID pose a potential safety concern for a class activity, such as PE/athletics or in a science lab. Teachers will instruct students to remove their lanyard and ID if there is a safety concern for the class activity.

Requirements:

• ID badges must be worn with the picture facing out.

• ID badges must not be defaced or altered in any way

• ID badges must be worn on top of the outermost layer of clothing.

What that means - prioritize school attendance!

What that does not mean - we are NOT encouraging students to come to school sick!

We are monitoring attendance rates for each grading cycle. If your grade level improves your percentage for the cycle - your grade level wins a FLEX party!

Here's our percentages to BEAT! (These are the Cycle 1 percentages from last year)

• 6th Grade --> 96.9%
• 7th Grade --> 97.6%
• 8th Grade --> 97.1%

Here's our percentages from this week:

• 6th Grade --> 98.2%
• 7th Grade --> 97.6%
• 8th Grade --> 97.6%
• AMS --> 97.8% AWESOME JOB!

Keep up the great work - SEE YOU ON MONDAY!

The Aledo ISD + Parker County Hospital District Bearcat Care Clinics are open for business on each AISD campus! Bearcat Care Clinics are a convenient option for students and employees when getting into your primary care physician isn't and option. Each school nurse's clinic are now essentially minor care clinics able to facilitate telemedicine visits with family doctors or nurse practitioners as well as making flu, strep, and COVID testing available (all with parent consent, of course) right at school.

If a Bearcat Care visit determines that kids or staff may need to go home or get some prescription medicine, the prescription can be called in to your chosen pharmacy to be picked up as soon as possible and eliminate additional stops or appointments when not feeling well!

Access to Bearcat Care is for any student or staff member. Registration is necessary before a visit can take place and we encourage all parents to register your students right away to avoid any delays in having to register in a pinch when your child may be sick and needing a quick telemedicine visit. Registration also must occur each year, so if you registered last year, you will need to update your registration this year. AISD staff are also encouraged to register now to be ready later. It only takes a few minutes!

Find more information at: aledoisd.org/bearcatcare

7th Grade students will be given the opportunity to hear a powerful, live presentation by Youth Equipped to Succeed. The program titled, Aim For Success, focuses on the health benefits of waiting for sexual activity. The student presentation will be on October 6, 2023. Students will be separated into groups by gender. The groups for this presentation are listed below.

Groups

• Session 1 - Girls A - L (9:30 - 10:25)
• Session 2 - Girls M - Z (10:30 - 11:20)
• Session 3 - Boys A - L (11:30 - 12:!5)
• Session 4 - Boys M - Z (12:20 - 1:14)

To attend this program, students must have a signed permission slip. The signed permission slip acts as an admission ticket to view the program, so please be sure your student has his or her signed slip in hand on Friday, October 6. You may view the permission slip by clicking here and students will receive a hard copy on Monday, September 18. If you have questions about this presentation please contact Maggie Alexander, 7th Grade Counselor, at malexander@aledoisd.org.

There will also a parent preview on September 27 via WebEx beginning at 6:00 P.M.

Link: https://aledoisd.webex.com/meet/mfitzpatrick

Passcode: No password

Our Parent-Teacher Organization is a volunteer group dedicated to supplementing the needs of every campus in the district.

Aledo PTO strives to provide exceptional educational experiences for AISD students through community building, partnerships with local sponsors, school supplies for classrooms, scholarships, and staff appreciation throughout the district. Aledo ISD staff can join the Aledo PTO for only $5!

More about Aledo PTO | Follow the Aledo PTO Facebook page

Check out the schedules below:

6th Grade

• Tuesday - Jones (RLA) and Bernard (Science)
• Wednesday - Shifflett (Math) and Griffith (SS)
• Thursday - Penner (RLA) and Click (Math)
• Friday- Lasater (Science) and Blanton (SS)

7th Grade

• Tuesday - Newkirk (Science) and Cantu (Math)
• Wednesday - Jenkins (Science) and Jones (RLA)
• Thursday - Watson (Math) and Tom (RLA)

8th Grade

• Monday - Pokrifcsak (RLA)
• Tuesday - Lyle (Math) and Daves (Science)
• Wednesday - Seals (RLA) and Winn (Math)
• Thursday - Shreck (SS) and Cook (Science)
• Friday - Coyne (RLA)

Please see link below for the following forms:

1. Medication Form
2. Authorization for Self-Administration/ Self-Carry of Asthma or Anaphylaxis Medication
3. Special Dietary Needs

https://www.aledoisd.org/Page/3028

https://www.aledoisd.org/Page/4320

In the event that you need to deliver lunch to your student, please follow the steps below:

1. Please be sure that the lunch is clearly labeled with your student's first and last name.
2. Upon entering AMS, please place your student's lunch in the bin assigned to your student's grade level lunch.
3. The bins will be delivered at the start of each lunch period. Students will be responsible for getting their lunches from the bin.

Again, we request that you limit lunch deliveries when possible. Also, in order to limit distractions, we will not call students out of class to receive lunches.

Thank you for your help with this!