AMS Weekly Update

Happy Monday, AMS families! Welcome back after a week of winter weather! As you may know, February is Black History Month. Throughout this month, we will celebrate the contributions that African Americans have made to America's history. We will have daily announcements as well as activities and tasks in daily instruction.

Also, this week we will celebrate SUPER BOWL Friday! On Friday, students and staff are encouraged to support the KC Chiefs, Philadelphia Eagles, or the team YOU WISH was in the Super Bowl. We can't wait to see your NFL spirit!

Lastly, we will be announcing our next round of Community Champions and Difference Makers next week. Please enter your nominations below!

As always, if you have additional questions, please do not hesitate to contact me. Remember, be the difference and have a great Bearcat Day!

At AMS, our motto is Be the Difference! Each month, we recognize students who are living out this motto and making a difference in our community. To nominate a Community Champion, please click the link below!

Monday:

AMS Basketball

Games begin at 5:00 - Ladycats will play at AMS and Bearcats will travel to Everman.

MAP Testing

Tuesday:

MAP Testing

Friday:

SUPER BOWL Spirit Day

Saturday:

AMS Dance Team competes @ Midlothian

Color Guard competes @ Weatherford HS

SHOTS FOR CURRENT 6th GRADERS PREPARING for 7th GRADE

Parents of current 6th graders, please continue to turn in the two shots required for 7th grade. Turning in early is always appreciated and helps prevent a hold on your child’s schedule

What shots are needed for 7th Grade? TDAP (adacel) and MCV4 (menactra or meningococcal)

Where can parents see the immunizations once turned in? These shots are entered electronically after a record is provided and can be found in your child’s parent portal

The Aledo ISD Board of Trustees approved the 2023-2024 Instructional Calendar during their Regular January meeting on January 17.

The first day of school for 2023-2024 will be Wednesday, August 16, 2023 with the last day for students being Friday, May 24, 2024. The calendar includes 9 ½ staff development days and 12 days for planning and preparation for teachers and staff.

The 23-24 Instructional Calendar was reviewed by the Districtwide Effectiveness Improvement Committee (DWEIC) and shared with staff and community members for feedback via an online survey. Because of that feedback, the DWEIC kept the extended Fall Break - similar to the new Fall Break on the 22-23 calendar - for October 12-17. DWEIC also adjusted the Winter Break days based on feedback received; Winter Break will be December 21, 2023 through January 7, 2024.

Click here to download a copy of the 2023-2024 Instructional Calendar.

Dear Families,

This week our school community will be focusing on the Other People Mindset of Cheering Others’ Successes. This means when other people succeed, I am happy for them and cheer them on.

Being happy for other people when they succeed isn’t always everyone’s initial reaction. Often, it’s easy to become jealous or envious of others’ victories -- or even to experience schadenfreude, which is deriving pleasure from witnessing (or learning about) another person’s misfortune. People who have these reactions to the success or misfortune of others are colloquially known as “haters.” It’s important to note that these are natural emotions and in small doses can be helpful in allowing us to see what we care about -- and motivate us to pursue those goals.

But making a commitment towards cheering on other people’s successes can be a great way to improve our own health, happiness, and relationships. People can take active steps to be more genuinely happy for the achievements of others. Ways to do this include; telling others about the success of your modest friend; noticing when your reaction to a sibling’s success is envy or jealousy -- and asking yourself why that is; reminding yourself that appreciating the excellence in another is a character strength; asking your successful teammates and classmates what they do to prepare for games or tests.

Being supportive of people who succeed is good for our mental, physical, and emotional well-being and when people cheer each other on it begins a reciprocal process that forges stronger relationships. Those relationships are the foundation for a strong culture in teams, schools, and businesses.

To practice and encourage the character strength of perspective with your child, please visit the Positivity Project’s P2 for Families (password: P2), where together you will watch a video, read a quote, and talk about the answers to three questions.

Have a wonderful week!

We are proud to celebrate Caden Seaberry as our Bearcat of Character for self-control!

Caden is a smart, caring young man with a big, sensitive heart, who exercises his ability to control his emotions and to stay calm in stressful situations. He has developed this essential characteristic through hard work and by facing every single challenge that comes his way, including lots of times when he didn’t really want to.

In class, Caden has made incredible gains, but it was a long, slow, cognitively and emotionally demanding process. Facing a task that is overwhelmingly difficult and that is sure to expose all of one’s weaknesses would make anyone feel vulnerable. Those are exactly the kinds of tasks that Caden faced each day in class. There were plenty of times when he was discouraged and probably would have liked to quit and just walk away, but Caden stayed at it. Sometimes he got pretty quiet, but over time he found his voice and he began to speak up about those feelings and those impulses. And as he spoke, he began to master those thoughts and behaviors that had kept him down and made him feel small and incapable. Caden learned self-awareness and self-control and he practiced it day after day until he began to conquer his fears, and his challenges, and some pretty big goals!

Caden uses his power for good; he will speak up to help resolve an argument between friends, calming emotions without taking sides, and is kind enough to make sure both parties feel seen and heard.

Order yours in InTouch now. Forms are also available in the Front Office!

Students can turn in forms and money to the Front Office, Library, or Mrs. Shelton.

Orders are now due WEDNESDAY!

EXCITE! finishes 2nd at Nationals!

Congratulations Aledo EXCITE! on a 2nd place finish at the National Cheerleaders Association High School National Championships!

Your entire community is proud of you!

The end of the year and colder weather often means illnesses going around and, with that, busy doctors offices and clinics. Please remember that the Aledo ISD is proud to offer Bearcat Care Clinics at each campus to our students and employees as a convenient option when getting into your primary care doctor or going to a stand alone clinic isn’t an option for your family. We know Bearcat Care Clinics do not replace our local pediatricians, and we are so grateful for them! Bearcat Care instead is a partnership with the Parker County Hospital District where each school nurse’s clinic is set up with a medical cart similar to what you would find in a hospital setting. This Bearcat Care setup essentially turns our school nurse offices into minor care clinics able to facilitate telemedicine visits with family doctors or nurse practitioners as well as making flu, strep, and COVID testing available (all with parent consent, of course) right at school.

Parents are even able to join the telemedicine visit with the nurse and doctor from the convenience of home or work or elsewhere. If a Bearcat Care visit determines that kids or staff may need to go home or get some prescription medicine, the prescription can be called in to your chosen pharmacy to be picked up as soon as possible and eliminate additional stops or appointments when not feeling well!

Access to Bearcat Care is for any student or staff member. Registration is necessary before a visit can take place and we encourage all parents to register your students right away to avoid any delays in having to register in a pinch when your child may be sick and needing a quick telemedicine visit. Registration also must occur each year, so if you registered last year, you will need to update your registration this year. AISD staff are also encouraged to register now to be ready later. It only takes a few minutes!

Registration for Bearcat Care can be done quickly and easily here; simply scroll down and click ENROLL NOW!

Please remember that 1st Period starts at 8:40 - please make every effort to be on time! If students arrive after 9:00, they must have a medical note or a parent/guardian must escort them into the building.

In the event that you need to deliver lunch to your student, please follow the steps below:

1. Please be sure that the lunch is clearly labeled with your student's first and last name.
2. Upon entering AMS, please place your student's lunch in the bin assigned to your student's grade level lunch.
3. The bins will be delivered at the start of each lunch period. Students will be responsible for getting their lunches from the bin.

Again, we request that you limit lunch deliveries when possible. Also, in order to limit distractions, we will not call students out of class to receive lunches.

Thank you for your help with this!

Email: mmusselwhite@aledoisd.org
Website: https://www.aledoisd.org/AMS
Location: 416 FM 1187, Aledo, TX, USA
Phone: (817)441-5198
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AledoMSBearcats
Twitter: @aledo_ms