Middletown Messenger
December 2019
From the Principal's Pen
Middletown Families,
As we approach the holiday season, I want to thank our staff and families for their dedication to education and to student success. I am thankful for our school community and for the collaboration with families. Our goal is to inspire creativity, develop leadership, build academic resilience and proficiency, and enable students to discover their talents. This is what our mission statement of “Discovering the Brilliance in Each Child” means to us. I appreciate the support and collaboration of our community partners, the Parent Teacher Student Association (PTA), the School-Based Decision Making (SBDM) Committee, and families to achieve this goal.
Students will be taking the second round of Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) assessments on Tuesday, December 10, through Friday, December 13. Teachers will discuss the schedule with students on Monday, December 9.
Our SBDM is meeting on December 10 to finalize our School Improvement plan. Each year, this committee collaborates with school staff to refine school improvement plans and progress monitoring methods for the school year. Feel free to contact your parent representatives if you would like to give input or if you have questions.
Jen Baker--bakerjen@gmail.com
Sarah Mertz-- kentandsarah@msn.com
Thanks to Ms. Skirvin, our music teacher, for dedicating her time and talents to prepare our choir and all students for their grade-level performances throughout the year! The Middletown Choir will be performing throughout the town, including at Light Up Middletown on December 6 and at our second-grade and choir concert on December 12.
Also, don’t forget about the PTA Winter Pancake Breakfast on December 7 from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. in the Middletown Café. We look forward to seeing you at one of the many upcoming events this month!
Thank you for your commitment to our students and to our mission of discovering the brilliance in every child! Happy holidays!
Justin Matson
Ms. Mettling's Systems & Facilities Updates
Dear Parents and Guardians,
The Gifted and Talented Committee has been working to develop a holistic system to identify students for the Primary Talent Pool (PTP, K–3). It is important to cast a wide net to identify high potential learners. These may include students who learn and comprehend at a faster pace and more complex level than their same-age peers. These children often acquire skills earlier and progress at an accelerated rate in the areas of creativity, leadership, visual and performing arts, and/or specific academic areas (language arts/reading, math, science, social studies).
To ensure that Middletown is providing differentiated and enriching experiences for all students who are high-potential learners, we are seeking parent input. Please complete the Google survey if you would like to nominate your child for consideration with the Gifted and Talented Committee. The survey will close on December 7, 2019.
Once identified for PTP, the classroom teacher is primarily responsible for seeing that the individual needs of every student are met through differentiated instructional practices. The Academic Instructional Coach, Tina Morris, and the Gifted and Talented Itinerary Resource Teacher, Dr. Williams-Hill, are available to help grade-level teachers with strategies and resources. Students may also have different learning opportunities during PAWS Time.
Bus and Car Rider Safety Reminder: Please be mindful of the safety of our students during drop-off and pick-up times at school. There have been multiple occasions in which cars have pulled around and passed buses as they are loading/unloading students in the front drive of the school. Not only is this dangerous for our students, but it is also against the law. By using the carpool lines before and after school, these potentially dangerous situations can be avoided. Please do not drive into the front of the school as posted as these are the bus drop-off and pick-up times. Students being dropped off for Band on Monday and Wednesday mornings should go through the intermediate carpool at 8:30 a.m., as buses begin arriving at 8:25 a.m. If you do arrive after 9 a.m or after 4 p.m. and the car-rider line is closed, please do not drive past school buses as they drop off or pick up students. We also ask that you are mindful of staff arrival to school and parking during these times, as staff must cross the car rider line to enter/exit the building. Thank you so much for your assistance in keeping all of our Bulldogs safe!
“Begin With the End in Mind” means to think about how you would like something to turn out before getting it started. Someone who thinks with the end in mind says, “I plan ahead and set goals. I do things that have meaning and make a difference; I am an important part of my classroom. I can make a difference and contribute to the vision and goals of my school and in my classroom. I look for ways to be a good citizen.” Future skills that can be learned by beginning with the end in mind: Use critical thinking to organize information. Develop the intrapersonal skills of self-confidence and self-management. Use creative thinking to solve problems. Develop the ability to set goals and follow through. Develop strong oral and written communication skills. “We may be young and we may not know everything, but we are our own person and we have our own mind and our own thoughts. We know what is most important to us.” —Jorge Ways to practice Habit 2 at home Encourage your child(ren) to use words and phrases like “Begin With the End in Mind,” goals, choices, and “sticking with it” at school and at home. Lay out your clothes the night before so you don’t have to rush for school the next day. Tell your mom and dad what you want to be when you grow up. Get out a pencil and a piece of paper and write down three goals you want to do. Put the paper in a safe place where you can see it. We all have something we need to get better at, like doing homework, brushing and flossing our teeth, or obeying our parents. Pick one thing you need to do better. START DOING IT!
Below is a list of books to read together in December that go along with Habit 2: Begin with the End in Mind.
Whistle for Willie by Ezra Jack Keats
The Very Busy Spider by Eric Carle
Click, Clack, Moo by Doreen Cronin
Inch by Inch by Leo Lionni
Galimoto by Karen Lynn Williams
The School Story by Andrew Clements
Pancakes, Pancakes by Eric Carle
Where Do You Think You’re Going, Christopher Columbus? By Jean Fritz
Lucy Mastermind by Alan Feldman
Eddie, the Incorporated by Phyllis Naylor
Bobby Baseball by Robert Kimmel Smith
Counselor's Corner
Hello Parents/Guardians,
I really enjoyed entering classrooms and talking with students about setting goals and providing a framework for steps toward achieving those goals. Students were very engaged and revealed a lot of ambitious goals they are setting for themselves.
We will be continuing to focus on Habit 2: Begin With the End in Mind and goal setting. I encourage parents/guardians to speak with their children about the goals they are setting and asking them about the steps they are taking toward achieving those goals. A suggestion for a family activity with the holiday season and new year approaching would be to have everyone in the family create a goal for themselves and discuss the steps toward achieving those goals. It can be either a personal goal, academic/career goal, community service goal, etc. This would be a wonderful way to become more engaged with your child and connect with something meaningful to each other. Here is a suggested template to use when making goals: SMART Goal Template.
Operation Parent—We are continuing to partner with Operation Parent, an organization that offers numerous resources and webinars for parents to address various topics and issues impacting families. Please visit the website for more information: https://operationparent.org/
If you have any questions or concerns regarding the services I provide or if you need more information regarding the mentioned events, please feel free to contact me through email at chas.meinecke@jefferson.kyschools.us or by phone at 485-8300. I thoroughly enjoy serving the students, parents, staff, and community as the school counselor in Middletown and will continue to do so to the best of my ability.
Sincerely,
Chas Meinecke, School Counselor
The Hite/Middletown Family Resource Center
HMFRC Mission: “To mobilize and coordinate students and family-focused activities at times and in locations appropriate to their needs. Through the creation of a local source of information and support, the HMFRC will strive to support students and their families in order to overcome barriers to achievement. By providing this support, the center will assist children to reach their full human potential as caring, competent, lifelong learners who contribute to the community in a positive manner.”
Vision Pre-Screenings
On Wednesday, December 11, with the help of trained volunteers, the HMFRC will be conducting vision pre-screenings for all first-, third-, and fifth-grade students. This pre-screening does not replace the eye examination performed by an optometrist or ophthalmologist but it does help identify students who may need to follow up.
If you DO NOT want your child to participate, please sign and return the attached non-consent form. Please be aware that the non-consent form also applies to hearing and dental screenings as well as physical examinations that can be provided by JCPS. (This form has previously been sent home. If you have already returned it to school, there is no need to send another one.)
Volunteers needed—If you are willing and able to help with the vision pre-screenings on Wednesday, December 11, we would love to have you! All you have to do fill out the Vision Pre-Screening Volunteer Sign-Up. It should not take more than three hours to complete all screenings. Thank you!
Holiday Cards Needed for Local Senior Citizens
One-fourth of senior citizens living in care facilities don’t have immediate family or anyone to spend the holidays with. So, Signature HealthCARE is calling on the help of people in the Louisville area to send local seniors holiday cards. We would like for our Middletown Family to help out if they are willing and able! If you and your family would like to help out, store-bought or handmade cards will be sent out to area seniors least likely to receive a gift this holiday season. For more information please view this story by Wave 3 News:
https://www.wave3.com/2019/11/26/holiday-cards-needed-local-senior-citizens/
Cards can be sent directly, or send them into school to the HMFRC and we will be sure they get to Signature HealthCARE.
Hour of Code
The Hour of Code started as a one-hour introduction to computer science, designed to demystify "code", to show that anybody can learn the basics, and to broaden participation in the field of computer science. It has since become a worldwide effort to celebrate computer science, starting with 1-hour coding activities but expanding to all sorts of community efforts. Check out the tutorials and activities and join us at Hite Elementary on Wednesday, December 11, 6-7pm!!
Middletown Gives Back!
During the upcoming holiday season, we will make a special effort to assist some of our students and families through our Blessings in a Backpack Program. Read below to learn how your family can help Middletown give back.
Our Blessings in a Backpack Program provides food for students to have over the weekends. Unfortunately, we are not given additional food to provide to students for long weekends/holidays/breaks from school. We are asking for donations of supplemental food, such as fruit cups and other ready to eat, non-perishable, individualized meals that young children would not have trouble “making” or heating up for themselves. Please see below for a list of needed items.
Attendance
Planning a trip for the holidays? Don’t be tempted to “cheat” and take a few school days off. We realize family time is important but keep in mind what the cost to your child’s education is if they miss too much school (and the message you send about the importance of showing up every day). There is no way to make up for the interaction and hands-on learning that happen in our classrooms each day.
Our teachers will be teaching and our students will be learning right up until the holiday break begins. Let’s see your student here, on time by nine, every day.
Parent/Guardian Needs Assessment
One of the goals for the Hite/Middletown Family Resource Center’s (HMFRC) partnership with Hite is to provide needed support, programs, and services to students and families. In order to have the best chance of succeeding in that goal and plan programming that will be most beneficial for your students and families, your feedback is necessary. Thank you for completing the following survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/JCPS_FRCParent
HMFRC Compliments, Concerns, Questions or Suggestions...
The HMFRC is always looking for volunteers and donations; if you have items to donate, feel free to send them my way.
My office door is always open, please come visit Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, you can find me at Hite Elementary.
The Center’s hours are 8:30am-4:30pm.
email: elvira.paguada@jefferson.kyschools.us
Phone: 502.313.4504 (M, W, & F) or 502.313.4473 (T & Th)
Follow the center on Social Media:
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A Word from the PTA
Grandparents Day
A BIG thank you goes
to all who came and spent valuable time with our precious Bulldogs.
We appreciate you very much.
FIRST ANNUAL PANCAKE BREAKFAST
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 7
8:30–10:30 a.m.
MES CAFETERIA
$5 DOLLARS | ALL YOU CAN EAT!
(Please come and support your MES Bulldogs and the fifth-grade class field trip.)
Calling all fifth graders:
Sign up below and help us stock and serve at the cocoa/coffee bar.
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0c45a5a723a13-5thgrade
MemberHub | SWAG shop
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Did you know?
Enroll your Kroger Plus Card number in the Kroger Community Rewards Program.
Go to www.krogercommunityrewards.com to enroll today! Our organization number is 14817.
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Application Period to Apply for Magnet Schools
Oct. 28 - Dec. 18, 2019
1st Annual Pancake Breakfast
Dec. 7 | 8:30-10:30
MES Cafeteria
Hour of Code
Dec. 11 | 6pm
Hite Elementary
2nd Grade/Choir Concert
Dec. 12 | 6:30pm
Winter Break--No School
Dec. 23 - Jan. 6
About Us
Email: JCPS.Middletown-Office@jefferson.kyschools.us
Website: www.middletownelementary.org
Location: 218 North Madison Avenue, Louisville, KY, USA
Phone: 502-485-8300
Facebook: facebook.com/middletownelementary
Twitter: @MiddletownES