The Weekly Ramsey Update
Week 17
Upcoming events
Jan. 16th - No School - Martin Luther King Day
Jan. 17th - First day of boys' basketball practice
Jan. 19th - SCIT Meeting - 5-6pm
Jan. 19th - PTO Meeting - 6:30-7:30pm
Jan. 26th - End of Quarter 2
Jan. 26th - Open House at Ramsey - 5:30-7pm
Jan. 27th - No School - Grading day
MYP update of the week
Some parents may wonder what makes the IB a good fit for Ramsey. One of the strengths of the IB Middle Years Programme is the strong teaching practices that are an integral part of the program. According to the IB document From Principles into Practice, teaching in IB programmes is:
• inquiry-based—provoking curiosity in order to structure and sustain exploration
• concept-driven—planning and teaching through concepts that are transferable to new contexts
• contextualized—reaching beyond the scope of individual subjects to establish relevance
• collaborative—promoting effective teamwork and purposeful/productive collaboration
• differentiated—providing access to learning for a diversity of learners
• informed by assessment—balancing assessment of, and for, learning.
These are best practices for teaching and help ensure that students are engaged and successful in classes.
This week at Ramsey
In Ms. Fontana's ELA Workshop 7 class, we started a literary essay unit by reading a short story called, "Riding the Tiger," to use as a model for writing literary essays. Over the next few days, we will be reading a few short stories from which students will choose to write their essay.
In French immersion social studies, as we approach the end of the month, students in 7th and 8th grade are working hard on their History Day projects in order to display their work during open house on January 26th. We are looking for volunteers, who are fluent in French, to help judge the projects on that night. If you would like to participate, please contact Mme. Folley.
In French immersion social studies, as we approach the end of the month, students in 7th and 8th grade are working hard on their History Day projects in order to display their work during our open house on January 26th. We are looking for volunteers, who are fluent in French, to help judge the projects on that night. If you would like to participate, please contact Mme. Folley.
Registration for the national French contest "Le Grand Concours" is this month. Madame Thibault will get it done for all 6 and 8 graders. There is a fee and in the next newsletter, we will let you know how much it cost. The actual contest (testing) in early March. We believe it is a valuable contest as it brings only positive feedbacks: it compares the Immersion program at Ramsey with similar program across the nation and it will give our students a chance to be recognized for their effort in becoming multilingual. The many that get to the top 10 are invited to a ceremony at the University of Minnesota (in early May). But all the others get a glimpse of how well they perform (and it's often better than what they thought). Our students need positive support!
All French Immersion students are EXITED about going to the French day at the Minnesota Zoo February 3rd. Check additional information next week.
6th-grade students in Ms. Sawyer, Mr. Roberts, and Ms. Forstrom's ELA workshop classes have finished up a social issues book club reading unit. We are starting a literary essay writing unit where we are learning to make claims about texts we read and support our claims with textual evidence. Students have read one anchor text together so far called 'On the Bridge' by Todd Strasser and are already busy discussing its possible themes. Our first homework reading bookmark assignment will be due Friday, January 13.
Counselors' Corner
*End of Quarter 2 is fast approaching (roughly 15 school days remain). Students should be working diligently to stay on top of their class work and prepare for the end of the semester by month’s end. Grades will be sent shortly thereafter.
*Students will be receiving new schedules for semester 2 (Quarters 3 & 4) during Foundations on Monday, January 30th. All students should be mindful that there schedule will likely have some different features from they schedule they had in Semester 1.
*School Choice Selection Guides for the 2017-2018 school year are in the Counseling office. Families who currently have an 8th-grade student should review the selection guide. In it, there is a school choice form. A school choice form must be completed and sent to the district offices prior to the SPPS February 15th deadline (especially for families of students who do not want to attend the high school in their attendance area).
Update from PTO
There was no PTO meeting in December so we"ll see you at January's meeting. More details to come!
Ollie and Ann
A note about technology
Families able to make a donation toward the cost of purchasing replacement bricks and cords would help the school defray the overall cost.
Thanks in advance for your support!
Important Notices
National African American Parent Involvement Day is coming up on Monday, February 6th. We are looking for parents that are interested in helping with the planning of this special event! Please call Dede Hammond at 651-744-6825 or email her at patricia.hammond@spps.org if you are interested in helping make this a meaningful event.
Winter Weather Information - As we sit in the thick of the cold weather of MN, here is a reminder of SPPS winter weather. SPPS Winter Weather Link.
Transportation Information - Here is a reminder to access SPPS' bus tracker through your SmartPhone. SPPS Bus App.
From the desk of Joyce Jones (6th-grade science) - Thanks to many families and community members our roller coaster project is fully funded and the students are excited to get to work in January on this cool Science engineering challenge.
NJHS - Volunteer with NJHS at Ramsey's Open House
National Junior Honor Society is hosting a Sole Hope Shoe Cutting Party on January 26th during Open House from 5-7pm in the Cafeteria. We will have materials on hand and anyone who can drop in and cut out or trace a few patterns is welcome! Volunteer for 15 minutes or for the whole 2 hours! NJHS students will be on hand to show you what to do!
"It all started with an encounter with a YouTube video – a video that broke our Founder’s heart, took us WAY out of our comfort zones, and led us to Uganda. Along the way, we realized we could not only help Ugandan children live lives free from jiggers, but we could help Ugandan men and women earn a fair wage by making the shoes that go on the feet of the children we treat. Jiggers are not like any other parasite. The health implications and social stigma that comes with them is crippling to those affected by them. We believe there is hope for the problem of jiggers in Uganda, and the way Sole Hope makes a difference is by helping the “next two feet” at a time become jigger free and remain that way."
Right now we are asking for donations of denim jeans/clothing (they can be in ANY condition!) to support the Sole Hope Project occurring that night. Drop them off in the office or send them to school with your student. If you are able, please consider also donating a few dollars for shipping, education and medical treatment by Sole Hope in Uganda. Please contact Ms. Ludwig or Mr. Haugen if you have any questions.
Here is a video with more information. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-3UlkCGExw&authuser=0
Science Department - The science department is still in need of empty 2L bottles with caps. Please send them with your student to bring to their science teacher!
Yearbook Update: Yearbooks make great holiday gifts! Yearbooks are on sale now for $21. Order online at jostensyearbooks.com.
About Us
Website: ramsey.spps.org
Location: 1700 Summit Avenue, Saint Paul, MN, United States
Phone: (651) 293-8860