Poplar Grove Post
September 2018
NOTE FROM THE PRINCIPAL:
Parents,
We are off to an amazing start! Thank you for your continued support and dedication to ensuring our school is an inviting and loving environment for our children. Poplar Grove Middle School was recently awarded a level five for academic growth as measured by TNReady. Level five is the highest growth category a school can earn. We are extremely proud of our students, faculty, staff, and families. It takes a village to educate a child, so we all have a reason to celebrate this success. Our recent Meet and Greet and Back to School Bash were well attended and provided attendees with opportunities to connect with other PGS families and staff. I am looking forward to a fantastic school year!
September Important Dates
September 3, 2018 Labor Day
September 4, 2018 Room Parent Meeting 7:00 am PGMS Cafeteria
September 5, 2018 Picture Day
CLINIC NEWS FROM NURSE LIZ:
CLINIC NEWS FROM NURSE LIZ
Hello parents! My name is Liz Cowan, R.N., and this is my 9th year as the school nurse at PGMS. I have been a nurse for 33 years, 31 specializing in pediatrics. I am married with 2 grown sons and 2 dogs. As your school nurse, I encompass both health and educational goals for your child, and I am committed to ensure each student arrives at PGMS each day healthy, safe and ready to learn!
It has been a wonderful start to the 2018-2019 school year! To help us provide a safe learning environment for your child, please read and familiarize yourself with the following policies. FIRST AID AND HEALTHCARE BY THE SCHOOL NURSE IS FOR ILLNESS AND INJURIES THAT OCCUR DURING THE SCHOOL DAY. I am unable to diagnose, prescribe treatment or administer over the counter, prescription or complimentary alternative medications without a completed FSSD Medication Administration Form. I am unable to accept any medication, unless I have 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 occur during the school year. It is also very important that we have a current phone number to reach you, in the event that your child becomes ill or injured while in school. Review the district Medication Policy on the FSSD website or your child’s planner. It is against Tennessee state law and our district medication policy, for students to bring or have in their possession any medication. This includes cough drops and Essential oils. If we have a current medication administration form on file, students can carry an Epipen for their food or insect sting allergy or a rescue inhaler if they have asthma.
Unless you opted out, our SLP’s did state required hearing screening on our 6th and 8th graders on Tuesday, August 15. Parents will be notified by our school audiologist of any failures.
COUNSELOR'S CORNER
Welcome Back!
I would like to take this opportunity to introduce myself. My name is Keith Welch and I am the Poplar Grove Middle School Counselor. I am beginning my 13th year at PGMS and 23rd year as an educator. I am blessed to work in a great school district and school. While PGMS is a great school, that doesn't mean that our students won't face challenges while they are here. I try to help students with their challenges by striving to create an atmosphere where students feel included and know that there is an adult at school who supports them.
As a School Counselor, my primary responsibility is to promote the academic, personal and social development of all students. I plan on working with students at the classroom level, small group level and individual level. I will also be meeting with parents, collaborating with teachers and staff, and consulting with community organizations to meet the needs of all PGMS students. I look forward to offering support to the students, staff and families of this community.
Feel free to contact me or stop by my office for a visit if you have any questions or need my help. 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:
Fifth grade celebrated the new year with a lot of excitement and grace. The first week and half was spent acclimating the kids to Middle School life, and they excelled our expectations! We are always so happy to see the kids rise to the level of expectations set for them! They truly are our heroes for this! This week we really started to get in the groove with lessons and learning. Your sweet children should have their Homework Binders brought home every day to have you look over their planners and initial the bottom. This will have their homework written in it for each class.
On a larger scale, I'm sure you've heard about which House your child is in! We got to know some members of our assigned Houses this past Friday in our first Advisory Group. I hope your child came home talking about some of the new friends they've made. September brings more learning and activities and we will keep you posted on what's coming through our weekly emails as well as through the post:)
6TH GRADE NEWS:
We are off to a fabulous start in 6th grade! Students have displayed great work ethic and excitement for the new school year. Our sixth graders have been busy setting goals, making passports, using a new interactive, online informational text resource called Achieve 3000, and learning about ratios in math. We are looking forward to a successful school year.
We would like to give a warm welcome to our new 6th grade Language Arts teacher, Ms. MacKenzie Hollis. We are thrilled that she has joined our PGMS family and that she is our girls volleyball coach this year. Welcome, Ms. Hollis!
7TH GRADE NEWS:
In 7th grade science, students played the Escape Game, classroom edition, to build teamwork. We have also focused on the science and engineering practice involving planning and carrying out investigations by using Diet Coke and mentos. We tested to see if caffeine affects the chemical reaction by comparing Caffeine-free Diet Coke with regular Diet Coke when reacting with mentos.
8TH GRADE NEWS:
You should be receiving an 8th grade team email every Friday from Mr. Reimer. If you are not receiving the teams email, please contact Mr. Reimer via email at: reimerdre@fssd.org
8th grade is off to a great start! The team has enjoyed getting to know each student and we look forward to a great year.
RELATED ARTS NEWS:
Ms. Lavery's Spanish Class
Welcome Back Students and Families. I am excited to teach your child this school year. Please feel free to come visit anytime your schedule permits. We have tons of parent involvement events held in our classroom. Follow our classroom on twitter @fssdpgmslavery. Photographed here is a picture of my eighth graders.
Choir News
Welcome back to school, everyone! We're off to a great start here in the choir room. Students have been learning several songs and activities, but are most excited about singing songs from The Greatest Showman. We can't wait to perform them at the Winter Concert. (See below for concert dates.) Also, I'm looking forward to working with the students who chose to be a part of Poplar Grove Singers. If your child is a part of the group, please remember that rehearsals are on Thursdays from 2:30-3:30.
Choir Concert Dates (in the Multi-Purpose Room):
December 11, 6:00-6:30, 5th/6th grade only
December 13, 6:00-6:30, 7th/8th grade only
May 7, 6:00-6:30, 5th/6th grade only
May 9, 6:00-6:30, 7th/8th grade only
French News
In French class, we start out the year talking about what it means to learn a language and how language proficiency is measured. In the first image, students practiced talking about summer at the different proficiency levels, starting at Novice Low and going up to Intermediate High. Once students had an idea of where they are and what they need to do to get to the next level, they were about to set attainable goals for themselves. These goals are featured in the second picture with the phrase "Je vais" which means "I am going to", referring to what they are going to accomplish this year.
Stem News
Library News
The Volunteer State Book Award (VSBA) is sponsored annually by the Tennessee Library Association and the Tennessee Association of School Librarians. Each year, children across Tennessee are asked to read books from a list of nominated titles. In the spring, those students who have read or listened to at least three of the titles from the list are eligible to vote for their favorite titles. These votes are tabulated and sent to the state organization. The book with the most votes statewide wins the award. PGMS students who participate in the VSBA program can receive PBS tickets and an opportunity for a dessert party or a pizza/dessert party. Students can find out more about the program in the library media center.
EXTRACURRICULAR NEWS:
Green Team News
BRIXX BUXX FUNDRAISER
Picture Day!
PBS News:
Positive Behavior Support
August was a busy month getting back into the swing of things, and here at school your child was learning all about PGMS behavior expectations all around the building. Our three behavior expectations are 1) Be Responsible 2) Be Respectful 3) Show Pride! You should have received information about the PGMS behavior plan last month. The packet also included the PGMS Behavior Expectation Matrix and a suggested At-Home Behavior Matrix. Your students will be earning PBS tickets for demonstrating excellent behavior and our PBS Store is now open! Also, our grade level PBS drawings happen every Friday, so there are lots of opportunities for your child to spend those tickets.
We are very excited about a new addition to House Days this year! PGMS will also be having Advisor Group Fridays where students are able to spend valuable time really getting to know all the students in their Advisor Group. This is a great time to build relationships and community within our school.
Coming up…our Pride Time character trait for October is Kindness. One way to show kindness as the school year gets going is to ask someone sitting alone at lunch to sit with you, or helping someone who looks like they are having a bad day.
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