7th Grade Knights Team
New Mark Middle School, NKCSD
Announcements
We were glad to meet so many of you at Back to School Night on August 22nd. We appreciated you taking time out of your evening to have some parent-teacher time with us. Some of the information in this email will serve as a reminder for those of you who were able to attend on the 22nd, but will be important first-time information for those of you who were not able to join us.
Powerschool is a key resource for both parents and students. We update grades consistently, but please be patient if an assignment or assessment is not posted right away. We work hard to grade and respond to students in a meaningful way but that takes a bit of time. Please encourage your child to be proactive and check their grades several times per week on PowerSchool. If you are unable to access PowerSchool, we ask that you call the school office for information about logins and passwords.
www.nkcschools.org is the district website. Calendars, updates, cafeteria payments, school hours, etc can be found here. There is also a link to the New Mark Home page on the district page, along with a link to the parent handbook.
Parents who attended Back to School Night on August 22nd were given the opportunity to sign up for Parent Teacher Conferences to be held October 1, 3 & 9. If you did not sign up yet, we sent home a form on Friday with available days and times. Encore teachers are available for drop in visits on those nights as well. SAGE teachers typically schedule a time to meet with you also, we are happy to accommodate you in terms of backing those conferences up to each other when we are able. Students are expected to attend the conferences with their parents. They, being the learner, will be playing a significant part in the conference.
You and your child were given a list of school supplies at enrollment, it can be accessed on the New Mark website. We would greatly appreciate you helping your child to be prepared for class. Being prepared goes a long way in helping your child to be successful. We do have a request: we are not supplied with tissues for our classroom, we depend on donations from families. If you are able to donate a box or boxes to help up through the year that would be great!
One last note – all content areas use reading and writing and encourage literacy. Please know that your child is expected to have a SSR (Self-Selected Reading book) with them for all classes. This should be a book that they are currently reading and are making progress with. ELA homework is to read a minimum of 20-30 minutes at least 5 days per week outside of school. The research is very clear – students who read find more success in school, activities, college, and careers. PLEASE support your child by helping them find a quiet place to read at home. Talk to your child about their reading and monitor their progress. Your child has a Book Log in their ELA binder where they are required to log their books consistently. Books can come from home, school, friends, family, libraries- we just want them to read. The reading material should be #1- approved by parents, #2- age and reading level appropriate.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read this LONG newsletter. Be assured that we will not fill your inbox with long winded newsletters often! The best way to contact us is by email, as phone messages are not retrieved as often as emails. The first few weeks are off to a busy start. We are looking forward to a successful school year!
CORE Classes
English Language Arts (ELA)
Many students have been finishing books and have had their reading log signed off on... very exciting and encouraging to see motivated students at work every day! Keep it up!
Social Studies: World Geography
Math
In Mr. Anwander's classroom he is putting together a bulletin board that has pictures of the students doing something that they enjoy outside of school. Sports, music, or any other activity they enjoy. He would appreciate the students bringing him a picture that he can keep of them to put on the board.