Junior Pilot Flash
Dec. 2016 ~ Franklin Township Middle School East
JPF Staff - Grace Lyons, Hannah Poindexter, Jacy Thomas, Kelsey Johnson, and Riley Hall
Chase Huotari - Principal
Website: www.ftcsc.k12.in.us/FTMS-E
Location: 10440 Indian Creek Road South, Indianapolis, IN, United States
Phone: 317-803-8100
Twitter: @MSE_MRHUOTARI
Reminders
WINTER INTERCESSION: DEC. 17, 2016 - JAN. 3, 2017
M, T, TH & F: 7:00 AM - 2:15PM
W: 7:00 AM - 1:40 (Early Release)
Attendance phone number: 317-803-8190.
From the Principal'S Desk
The 2016 ISTEP+ test was the second year of a new state assessment for grades 3-8 based on Indiana’s more rigorous college and career-ready standards. Additionally, for the first time in more than 20 years, Indiana had a new state assessment vendor for the ISTEP+ assessment. This change had additional impacts for students and educators during this implementation and transition year.
The Indiana Department of Education released results of the 2016 ISTEP+ earlier this month and there were decreases in scores across the state. 71.0% of FTMS East students in grades 6-8 passed the English/Language Arts section of the ISTEP+. The state average for grades 3-8 in English/Language Arts was 66.1%. 71.6% of FTMS East students in grades 6-8 passed the Math section of the ISTEP+. The state average for grades 3-8 in Math was 58.9%. I am incredibly proud of our staff and students for outpacing the state in every category in spite of all of the testing changes they endured.
In conjunction with ISTEP+ scores the Department of Education also assigns letter grades to each school. Even though we outscored the state in every category, our letter grade for 2015-2016 is a B.
We are spending time as a staff analyzing our 2015-2016 ISTEP+ data in addition to other assessments we have given this year to build a plan to increase our scores and letter grade. Our focus will always be to 1) provide rigorous instruction in every classroom and 2) systematically respond when students struggle with the content. Starting in January you will see some small tweaks to ensure that we are accomplishing both of those things as efficiently as we can.
I am extremely proud of our school. Each week I put together this newsletter and am amazed at what our students accomplish. While we will continue to work to improve our ISTEP+ scores, we will also work just as hard to create and encourage the student experiences highlighted below.
Together we can make a difference with every student, every day!
Chase Huotari, Principal
Franklin Township Middle School East
FTMS East BeastBots by Riley Hall and Kelsey Johnson
The VEX Robotics Competition, presented by the Robotics Education and Competition Foundation, is the largest and fastest growing middle school and high school robotics program globally with more than 16000 teams from 40 countries playing in over 1350 competitions worldwide. Each year, an exciting engineering challenge is presented in the form of a game. So far, on November 19th, the victorious team advanced to finals in Noblesville. They did an excellent job and had just as much fun as they had success. As far as Girl Power goes, the East robotic team has it in abundance! On December 3rd, the girls took first in their robots team. These talented students include Shelby Lock, Amanda Medina-Hernandez, Taylor Waterman, Gabby Keaton, Madura Kawar, and Mackenzie Richey. Most recently, the Robots A Team won the excellence award on the 10th of December, and will be advancing to state! The East Robotics Team always makes it be good to be a flash, so come and join.
Lady Bots: 20048E
A Team: 20048A
20048C
FTMS East Athletics
Greetings Flashes Fans,
Attention all student-athletes must have current IHSAA athletic physical must be on file in order to be able to participate.
Informational flyers for the 2017 Winter Warriors Season can be picked up outside Mrs. Cody’s classroom, room 1406, between now and winter break. This running club is open to anyone (6th-8th) interested in staying in shape during the winter months; however, this year there will be a cap of no more than 40 participants. Interested runners need to get their permission slips signed and turned into Mrs. Cody BEFORE the first practice on January 5th.
FTMS East 7th and 8th Grade Boys Basketball dropped away contests this past week to Chapel Hill and Belzer. FTMS East 8th grade basketball picked up a nice win this past Monday by defeating Creston at home, 41-15. The 7th grade lost their contest to the Indians. East 7th and 8th also traveled to Perry Meridian this past Tuesday, 12/13 and fell to the Falcons. The East Flashes will return from break and host St. Jude on January 4th in A&B games.
FTMS West 8th grade basketball picked up a solid win this past Tuesday, 12/13 over Decatur Central, 45-35. The 7th-grade team traveled to Decatur Central and lost a close contest to the host Hawks, 32-37. The West Flashes will return from break and will do a home/away A&B with Shelbyville on Thursday, 1/5 with the 7th-grade hosting and the 8th grade traveling.
The Annual East vs. West Chick Fil A Challenge will occur January 19th
– January 23rd at Southport Road Chick Fil A. Make sure to show your patronage and school spirit when placing your order and mention “East is Beast” or “West is Best” to have your order counted in the challenge. The school with the most sales will win the annual challenge. The winner will be crowned at the East vs.West Boys Basketball game on January 23rd, hosted this year at FTMS East, with a special halftime presentation in the main gym during the 8th Grade “A” game.
FTMS Athletics wishes everyone a safe and relaxing winter break.
Mr. Ryan Brammer
Athletic Coordinator
317-803-8096
Around FTMS East
News from the Clinic
We are heading into winter and flu season. I am already seeing an increase in the number of visits from students during the school day. Please evaluate your student for illness before sending them to school. The following is part of the health services information listed in your student’s agenda book. Please follow these guidelines regarding illness.
ILLNESS: General guidelines for illness follow the guidelines, laws, and recommendations of the IN Dept. of Health, the Marion County Health Dept., Community Health Network, and IN Code to prevent the spread of communicable diseases. When the nurse calls the parent to pick up the child, it is in accordance with these laws and directives. Parents should make every effort to come to the school to pick up their students in a timely manner. Bus transportation cannot be utilized if the child exhibits symptoms of a contagious illness.
Please do NOT send your child to school if one or more of the following symptoms are present: diarrhea, vomiting two or more times in a 24 hour period, undiagnosed body rash, sore throat with swollen lymph nodes, severe coughing, eye discharge or redness, or fever of 100 º or more. Please do NOT send the child back to school until he/she has been fever-free (without fever-reducing medications) and with no vomiting/diarrhea for 24 hours. Antibiotics prescribed for eye or throat infections must be given for 24 hours before the student returns to school. The school nurse may request a doctor’s note for return to school if there are symptoms of communicable disease. This will help prevent the spread of infection to others and ensure that the student is feeling better to learn. Students who have had surgery may be asked to provide a doctor’s release to return to school.
In addition, all medications must be transported to and from school by a parent or guardian for grades K-8. Medications must be picked up by the last day of school, or they will be discarded.
Lastly, Community Health Network is providing FREE asthma education classes once a month throughout the year. The information and class dates are listed below.
Thank you. Kerra Waters, RN
FTMS East Guidance Counselors
317-803-8109
David.Thompson@ftcsc.k12.in.us
6th Grade Counselor Last Name N-Z
8th Grade Counselor
Mrs. Kyle McClarnon
317-803-8108
kyle.mcclarnon@ftcsc.k12.in.us
6th Grade Counselor Last Name A-M
7th Grade Counselor
Website: http://ftms-east-guidance.webs.com/
Phone: 317-803-8100
Twitter: @FTMSE_Counselor
Guidance Counselor News
At Middle School East, we are always trying to utilize technology to better improve the student experience. For this reason, we have added the Bullying Report Form for the district to the guidance website to make it easier for students to be able to fill out in a more anonymous way. This will allow the students to fill out the form in the comfort and security of their own home with their parent or guardian. This form is set up with notifications so that it will notify the school counselors upon the completion of the form.
Also available is a school counselor sign up form. The school counselor will be notified at the completion of this form as well.
Stay Connected!
Infinite Campus
For more information, email ichelp@ftcsc.k12.in.us