VAMS Panther Press Newsletter
December 15, 2022
Calendar
- Friday, December 16 - No School
- December 16 - January 3 - Christmas Break
- Wednesday, January 4 - Students return from break
- Thursday, January 5 - Report cards go home
- Friday, January 6 - Star Card hat day
- Wednesday, January 11 - VAMS Spelling Bee
- Friday, January 13 - Star Card treat after school
- January 13 & 14 - All-Region Band Clinic & Concert
- Monday, January 16 - NO SCHOOL
- Friday, January 20 - Star Card break the dress code
NO SCHOOL ON FRIDAY, DECEMBER 16
Conversation At Home About Behavior At School
Parents & Guardians,
Our top priority at Van Alstyne Middle School is to provide all of our students with a safe learning environment. In order to do so, we need your help. Please take time to talk about the following things with your child.
- Everyone will be treated with kindness and respect. Name-calling and teasing are unkind. Racial slurs will not be tolerated.
- Students need to understand that saying anything about violence towards the school or others will be taken seriously.
- Students should always keep their hands and feet to themselves. Physical violence will not be tolerated.
- Please talk to your child about the responsibility that comes with social media. Students need to be careful about the things they say on social media, the posts they comment on, and the people they interact with.
- Please know that if a student’s behavior in or out of school disrupts the learning environment, that student could receive a consequence.
We appreciate your partnership at home to help educate your child about appropriate behaviors at school. We encourage students to be kind, respectful, and friendly to all students and staff at all times. You are always welcome to contact the school if you have any concerns.
Sincerely,
Dr. Kelly Moore
Spelling Bee
Academic UIL Compeition
We wanted to update you all about our academic UIL competition plans for this school year. Last year we competed with Princeton, Melissa, and Celina. Princeton is hosting the competition again this year, however, the competition is scheduled for Friday, February 24, which is a no school day for us. We have spent a lot of time reaching out to several surrounding districts in hopes of joining their UIL competition. Unfortunately, we were not able to find an academic UIL competition for our school to compete in this year. We know our students and UIL coaches have invested time in preparing for this year's competition, therefore, we are going to have an intramural competition this year where our VAMS students will compete against each other. We know this is not ideal, however, it still provides our students with an opportunity to compete for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place. We will recognize our students who place at our end-of-year awards ceremony and they will receive a medal. We will also have our annual UIL pizza party on Thursday, March 9 to reward our UIL students for their dedication and hard work.
UIL coaches will schedule a morning or afternoon for students to test/compete. The test/competition can be between January 9 - March 3. This will allow us to work around the schedule of students who compete on different teams. We will schedule a day for speaking events since that involves judges. We will communicate about the speaking events date once we have a day scheduled.
News From Nurse Wilson
FCA
What: Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA)
When: Friday mornings at 7:15
Where: Mr. Pierce's classroom (Outdoor Science Room #2)
Who: Any 6th, 7th or 8th grade student. You do not have to be an athlete to attend.
Join Remind for announcements and updates: https://www.remind.com/join/fh86a2 or text the message @fh86a2 to 81010.
Parent Volunteer Group
2022-2023 Yearbook Orders
Buy early and save money!
Secure your memories!
Cost: $42.00 if you order by Monday, November 21, 2022
Panther sports
Athletics Livestream
Click the link below to view Van Alstyne Athletics Livestream, which includes all Varsity Basketball and Volleyball games played at home in the main gym. Includes ALL home football games played in Panther Stadium (including middle school). The stream will begin 15 minutes prior to the event.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmhDOaLSpKozAXVhCfCLfFw/videos?view=57
Click the link below to view the livestream broadcast for Varsity Football (home and away games) .
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEGpBsLGwALyW1zX_TSfuKA
Girls Basketball
Thursday, January 5 at Melissa at 5:00
Main Gym - 7A & 8A
Aux Gym - 8B & 7B
Thursday, January 12 at VAMS vs. Clark Middle School at 5:00
Main Gym - 7A & 8A
Aux Gym - 8B & 7B
Boys Basketball
Monday, December 19 at VAMS vs. Anna
Main Gym - 8C @ 4:15, 7A @ 5:30 & 8A @ 6:30
Aux Gym - 7C @ 4:15, 8B @ 5:30 & 7B @ 6:30
Thursday, January 5 at VAMS vs. Anna
Main Gym - 8C @ 4:15, 7A @ 5:30 & 8A @ 6:30
Aux Gym - 7C @ 4:15, 8B @ 5:30 & 7B @ 6:30
Saturday, January 7 - 7A & 8A Basketball Tournament at VAMS
Thursday, January 12 at Clark Middle School in Princeton
Gym 1 - 7A @ 5:30 & 8A @ 6:30
Gym 2 - 8B @ 5:30 & 7B @ 6:30
Coach Ingram, Middle School Girls Athletic Coordinator - kingram@vanalstyneisd.org
Coach Sedlacek, Middle School Boys Athletic Coordinator - dsedlacek@vanalstyneisd.org
Lunch Accounts
Parents can deposit money into their child’s lunch account online through www.myschoolbucks.com. **In accordance with state law, parents are not allowed to provide food for any child other than their own. This includes dropped-off lunches, sharing of pizza, cupcakes for their friends, etc.
Feed My Sheep Program
Backpack food programs provide nutritious, non-perishable, easy-to-prepare food to
children to ensure they get enough food on weekends and holidays in an effort to avoid hunger
when they are unable to depend on school meals. By providing kids with the nutrients they need when they’re away from school, they show up on Monday morning healthy and ready to learn. Each student will typically receive 2 breakfast items, 2 lunches, 2 dinners and 2 snack type items.
If your family would benefit from the Feed My Sheep program, then click the link below to view the Feed My Sheep flyer. Complete the bottom portion of the page and return it to our VAMS counselor, Mrs. Cady.
Attendance
Covid Absences
If your child tests positive for Covid with an at-home test, please email a picture of the positive at-home test along with the dates your child will miss school to our office at vamsoffice@vanalstyneisd.org and our nurse at lwilson@vanalstyneisd.org.
Students Calling Home
Cell Phone Policy
Students are allowed to bring cell phones to school. They are allowed to listen to music and play games on their cell phones before school, during lunch, and after school. Students must keep cell phones out of sight and turned off (not on silent) during the school day. Please reinforce this rule with your child so they are well aware.
Also, please do not allow your child to call or text you from school using their cell phone for any reason, including to come pick them up when they do not feel well. Proper procedure is to report to Nurse Wilson and allow her to use her training to make that determination. Misuse will result in confiscation of the cell phone and the parent will be required to come pick up the phone. If the student continues to misuse their cell phone, the student will be required to check their cell phone into the office each morning.
Community Service Hour Log
Promoting community service is a goal of VAMS! In order to promote and foster serving our community and others, students can earn a community service award at the end of the year awards assemblies to recognize students who give their time, talents, and hearts.
Find opportunities throughout the school year for your child to work on their community service hours. Make sure your child is documenting their community service time on their hour log.
VAMS Community Service Hour Logs are due on Friday, May 1st. Hours are documented digitally. Click the link below to access the digital hour log.
Click on the link below "VAMS Community Service FAQ Flyer" for more information.
Communication throughout the year
Middle School Website: Click HERE to access the VAMS webpage.
Social Media: Want to see what goes on at VAMS during the week? Want to see pictures of students doing awesome things? Want to see what learning looks like on our campus? Be sure to like us on Facebook, Van Alstyne Middle School.
Digital Newsletter: We email parents a digital campus newsletter every Friday. If you are not currently signed up to receive our weekly newsletter, click HERE.
Grade-level Remind Accounts: Please sign up for the appropriate Remind accounts below to help keep you informed. We also recommend having your child sign up as well. Teachers use Remind to communicate important dates and information.
A Note From Our Nurse....
Our clinics must have a Medication Parent Consent Form on file for students requiring medication administered during school hours. This form must be signed by parent/legal guardian. Medication must be kept in the ORIGINAL bottle. (see links below)
Children who have the following symptoms should stay home and not come to school until these symptoms have been gone for at least 24 hours without the help of medication.
- Fever (100 degrees or higher)
- Sore Throat (with fever or swollen neck)
- Persistent Vomiting or Diarrhea
- Rash (with fever and itching)
- Conjunctivitis/Pink Eye (your child can attend school 24 hours after starting medical treatment)
A child with a typical cold, but no fever or green drainage, may come to school.
If a student becomes ill during the school day, he or she must receive permission from the teacher before reporting to the school nurse. If the nurse determines that the child should go home, the nurse will contact the parent.
Volunteer Approval Form
Click the button below to access the Volunteer Approval Form. We appreciate our volunteers!
Van Alstyne Middle School
Website: www.ms.vanalstyneisd.org
Location: 1314 N. Waco Van Alstyne, TX
Phone: 903-482-8804
Facebook: facebook.com/pages/VanAlstyneMiddleSchool
Twitter: @vamiddleschool