Patriot Press
December 2021
Principal Press
Thank you to all who donated food to our food drive. We have been able to start a food pantry for any of our students/parents in need. As we were helping with holiday meals for Thanksgiving we were also able to have our parents access the pantry for any food they may have needed for their families to get by this month. Initially, we had intended to donate the food to the food pantry at Jordan High School, but when we found the need in our school, we decided to keep it to help out our own families. If you are in need at any time, please reach out to our school administration or counselors and we can arrange help.
Over the past month, we were able to celebrate student successes at our Patriot of the Month Assembly. We had the opportunity to take our 6th-grade students and students in our theater and choir classes to Jordan High to watch part of their musical. We were also fortunate enough to get to watch our fall performing arts classes perform. We are so grateful to have these opportunities in our school.
Due to the short month, and winter break, I will not be sending a separate newsletter for January before we return, but will include information we know about January events within this letter.
I hope you and your families enjoy the time together during the winter break and have some time to relax and have fun.
Mrs. Kurtzhals
Report Cards
What's happening in TA?
Our TA classes meet on Monday and Tuesday 1st period. In TA each week, we hand out grades and help students make plans for success. We also have a community focus on a skill or topic for each month. Here are our themes for the upcoming months.
- Activities in TA will consist of showing acts of kindness to others and service projects.
January is all about self-care
- stress management, goal setting, and ways you can care for yourself.
After School Tutoring
Eastmont will be providing after-school tutoring support weekly. Students can attend any tutoring session regardless of the teacher. The schedule will be as follows:
Math Support:
Ms. Schott, Monday and Wednesday from 3 - 4 in room 201.
Ms. MIckelsen, Tuesday and Thursday from 3 - 4 in room 208
Ms. Barker, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 3 - 4 in room 315
All other subjects:
Ms. Miles, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 3-4 in the library.
Additional college and high school tutors will also be in the library to support these days.
From the School Community Council
One plan we discussed was our digital citizenship plan, which I discussed in my previous newsletter. In conjunction with our digital citizenship plan, we also wrote our school safety plan. The school community council was tasked with identifying safety concerns regarding our students. After a long discussion of things we have noticed within and outside the school, we determined our top priority was additional cameras for the stairwells and one on the marquee facing the walking bridge. Our second priority was having the bicycle and scooter racks moved from the top drop-off parking lot to the top park and wait lot so students weren't riding through the cars. In previous years, these plans have helped us to get our door system to help keep our students safe since there is no office near our front doors and helped with additional lighting for our parking areas.
In addition to our school safety plan, we have to discuss our safe walking route plan. We looked at changes that have taken place within our community and what changes those create in our walking routes. In conjunction with Sandy City and Salt Lake County, we were able to identify any changes that will be upcoming. In previous years with these plans, we have been able to get Salt Lake County (they facilitate the roadway on Sego Lily) to install flashing lights for the crosswalk near the upper lot and Sandy City (they facilitate 1300 East) to install the pedestrian bridge for students to cross to the library. There are always concerns with the crosswalk on Sego Lily presented each year, and the County is not willing to put a crossing guard there nor remove the crosswalk.
An additional conversation from our School Community Council was the discussion of why Eastmont made the decision to move forward and not have stand-alone honors classes but instead offers the ability for all students to achieve the honors certificate through the additional learning. This decision was made two years ago with the blessing of the School Community Council. There were many points of data that led to and through this discussion not only with our school but also with the district. Many of the middle schools have and are moving towards this model with their students, each of us at our own pace. In the data we have collected during this implementation, we have seen an increased level of proficiency in all of our students, and a decrease in our office discipline referrals for disruption in classes. If you would like to have additional conversations regarding this, please email Mrs. Kurtzhals to set up an appointment, she would be proud and happy to show you their growth.
December/January Events
- Virtual Learning Friday - All assignments for Friday will be due by Sunday, December 5th at Midnight. There will be no late work accepted for virtual Fridays.
Friday, December 10
- PTSA Meeting 9:30 in room 305
Tuesday, December 14
- Patriot of the Month Assembly and Winter Concert
Thursday, December 16
- Snow Brawl Debate Tournament at Indian Hills
Friday, December 17
- Winter break activity at the end of the day
Saturday, December 18 - January 2
- Winter Break
Friday, January 7
- Virtual Learning Friday - All assignments for Friday will be due by Sunday, December 5th at Midnight. There will be no late work accepted for virtual Fridays.
Tuesday, January 11
- Patriot of the Month Assembly
Thursday, January 13
- End of 2nd Term
- Student PBIS activity
Friday, January 14
- No school for students
- PTSA meeting 9:30 in room 305
Monday, January 17
- No school, Martin Luther King Jr.
Wednesday, January 19
- School Community Council Meeting 5:30 in room 305
Wednesday, January 26
- Jordan High School Digger Fair for 8th-grade students attending Jordan
Thursday, January 27
- 8th-grade students tour of Jordan High
About Us
Email: stacy.kurtzhals@canyonsdistrict.org
Website: eastmont.canyonsdistrict.org
Location: 10100 South 1300 East, Sandy, UT, USA
Phone: 801-826-7000
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/eastmontmiddleschool
Twitter: @eastmontms