Randall Middle School
Newsletter, April 2023
News From the Principal
Dear Parents, Caregivers, and Community members,
It seems like just yesterday that I wrote the March newsletter note to you, and now we’re into April! We have so many great things happening here in the Cortland Enlarged City School District. Our students are constantly being academically challenged with rigorous lessons and curriculum materials, and we are amazed by their high levels of learning and growth. Our musicians are busy preparing for spring concerts and performances, our artists continue to learn new methods and techniques, and our athletes are learning new sports and activities to foster physical activity and healthy recreation.
We recently hosted an “I Want to be an Engineer” STEM Event for our 6th graders where engineers from Lockheed-Martin came to Randall and gave our 6th graders an opportunity to build their own Lego robot, program it, and do some creative problem solving to experience how much fun engineering can be. Special shout out to Monika Angerer, a Randall Middle School parent and Lockheed Martin representative who arranged our event. Our students loved it, and we hope to make it an annual event.
Thank you for your support of Randall Middle School. We hope that you enjoy making memories with your loved ones this spring!
With Purple Tiger Pride,
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Upcoming Dates
Now that Spring has sprung, we have some important dates to note on the calendar:
April 3-7, 2023: No School: Spring Break
April 12, 2023: PTO Meeting, 6PM
April 19 & 20, 2023: NYS ELA Testing Grade 6
April 24 & 25, 2023: NYS ELA Testing Grade 5
May 3 & 4, 2023: NYS Math Testing Grade 6
May 8 & 9, 2023: NYS Math Testing Grade 5
May 10, 2023: PTO Meeting, 6PM
May 11, 2023: May Music Concert, 6pm CHS
May 19-25, 2023: Book Fair
May 23, 2023: Book Fair in evening for families/caregivers
May 26-May 29, 2023: No School: Memorial Day Weekend
June 14, 2023: 6th Grade Musical performance, 6pm
June 16, 2023: Evidence of Learning Day during the day: Parents/Caregivers/Community members invited - early in planning stages, more details to come!
June 19, 2023: No School: Juneteenth
June 22, 2023: Last Day of School, Report Cards sent home
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News From the Nurse
They say April showers bring May flowers! With that being said…keep in mind a change of clothes is still a good idea!
Business:
Physicals for New Admits and the 5th grade continue every Thursday AM. If you do not want your child to receive a school physical please contact the Health Office at 607-758-4174.
Immunizations are required for 6th and 7th grades. Please check with your child's Primary Care Provider and schedule an appointment. Students will not be allowed to attend school after 14 days without the required immunizations. (Tdap for 6th grade and Meningitis for 7th grade.)
Sickness will either have the opportunity to wither away, or spread without concern! Please keep your child at home if they are sick!
As always–If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to call me.
Stay well,
Nurse Neuman
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Randall PTO
Our Randall Middle School PTO continues to support all students at Randall Middle School. Most recently, the PTO provided lunch for a group of volunteers that came to Randall for an “I Want to be an Engineer” STEM event. The PTO is also in the midst of ordering tee-shirts for all 6th graders who will be moving on to 7th grade next year. If you have not provided a tee shirt size for your 6th grader for the order, please do so asap using this form: https://bit.ly/Randall6thgradeshirt
The PTO is currently hosting a discount card fundraiser. There are two cards that are available for purchase, one is a Cortland County Card with various discounts around Cortland County, and the other is a Tompkins County Card with various discounts around Tompkins County. The cards cost $10.
Our next Randall Middle School PTO meeting will be on Wednesday, April 12, 2023 at 6PM. This will be a hybrid meeting, so participants are welcomed to come in person to Room B-11, or participate online via Google Meet at meet.google.com/abf-xech-zdw.
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Art News
We’ve been busy in and out of the studio making stop-motion videos and participating in a local art show. We are so proud to have several Randall artists represented in the Imagination Celebration at SUNY Cortland. Stop by the DOWD Gallery from 10-5 any weekday until April 14th to see their artwork! A few students also submitted designs to the Doodle for Google contest.
Mrs. Hegedus
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P2 News
The Positivity Project continues to be a priority at Randall as part of our Social Emotional Learning, a.k.a SEL. Perspective, Humor, and Humility were elaborated on in the morning announcements and in the classrooms this past month. Next up, we will examine Fairness. Ask your child to define and discuss these terms. You may be pleasantly surprised at the level of understanding he/she can exhibit.
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Music News
NYSSMA festival
Some of our 6th graders are participating in the NYSSMA festival at Cortland High School on Saturday, March 25th. They have worked hard to prepare a solo or duet to perform for an adjudicator for feedback. Congratulations to Miles Bacigalupi, Daniel Caragher, Emmaleigh Eckstrom, Autumn Horton, Reid Kline, Kaylee Loveall-Whittin, Abigail Martin, and Maggie Ramiza for their hard work and preparation for this festival!
All County: The Cortland All County Band will rehearse and perform on Thursday, April 13th at the Cortland High School. Keep an eye out for more details coming after break!
5th/6th Grade Band: All band students have started a clean slate with the new trimester in terms of lesson attendance - please encourage students to keep up with their lessons so there isn’t a mad rush for make up lessons at the end of the trimester! Rehearsals for both groups are going well, and we’re looking forward to our spring concert in May!
Orchestra News
Sixth Grade Orchestra is working on learning key signature and time signature. We are also focusing on tuning our instruments with fine tuners using a tuner or app. We are practicing our Randall Orchestra songs Legend of Dark Mountain and March of the Metro Gnome. We are also working on memorized songs and harmonies in lessons and rehearsals.
Several students participated in the New York State School Music Association (NYSSMA) Solo Festival held at Cortland High School on Sat., March 25th. The following 6th graders performed a solo, scales, and did sight reading: Makayla Brown, Anneke Coats, Reid Kline, Sadie Marshall, and Johanna Tagliavento. Congratulations to all students who participated and showed their hard work and dedication to their instrument!
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Number Ninjas
The solutions are listed below.
Diamond= 2 Star= 1
Shamrock= 3 Moon= 4
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PE News
Handball Unit
5th and 6th grade students are working on a Team Handball Unit in PE. They will work together, show good sportsmanship, throw towards a target, move into open space, play defense and goalie. After break we will be working on our bowling unit.
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Library News
Library for the second trimester has come to a close! To finish our time together, fifth graders planned, wrote, and recorded stories for our second grade students! They had fun creating characters, settings, plots, and cover art for spooky stories based around “The Mysteries of Harris Burdick”, and then recording those stories using fun voices and effects.
Sixth graders had a very successful career fair with many professionals, showing off their research completion and their professional skills. They also had a chance to learn about 3D printing and all of the awesome things it can be used for!
Ask your student about the Iditarod in Alaska, we all followed and cheered on the musher as a school! Iditarod.com
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Parenting Wisely
Parenting Wisely is an evidence-based program that helps families improve communication and decrease conflict. It teaches effective strategies that have been proven to reduce school and homework problems, problem behaviors, family conflict and also lessen drug and alcohol abuse in youth.
Parent Wisely is a free program through Cortland Prevention Resources, one of our community partners. It can be completed in 2 to 3 sessions and scheduling is flexible. This program is offered online.
How to sign up:
1. Read the descriptions below and choose which version you would like (Young Child or Teen).
2. View a demo video for that version to make sure it is a good fit for you.
3. To register, click here or contact Bailey Marks (bmarks@familycs.org, 607-756-8970 x254).
Do NOT sign up directly on the Parenting Wisely website; we will provide you with a free account!
There are two separate versions of the program based on the age of the youth in the family:
Parents with children ages 3-9
Interrupting phone calls
Refusing to go to bed
Acting up in public
Sibling conflict
Poor remarks
Conflict with other children
Getting ready for school
Parents with youth ages 10-18
Sibling conflict
Getting up on time
Sharing the computer
Curfew
Criticizing
Loud music
Incomplete chores
Finding drugs
Monitoring school, homework, and friends