EPMS Express
East Pennsboro Area Middle School Newsletter
Congratulations!
We survived a year filled with transitions, uncertainty, and lots of Zoom meetings. Thank you to all parents and teachers who worked together for the betterment of our students. Have a wonderful summer, and we look forward to seeing everyone back in August.
Over the last few weeks in 7th Grade STEM, we have been working through our 3D printer unit. Students learned how to program 3D printed objects and how 3D printers are going to impact our future! Students had an opportunity to create their own 3D printed projects! See some of the pictures below!
7th Grade History Mystery
To wrap up 7th grade ancient history, Detectives Lenz and Naughton have recruited their students as investigators in the murder of Julius Caesar. Ask your student if they were able to crack the case and solve this Roman mystery.
Spheros, Spheros, Everywhere!
Sixth grade Jaguars are having a blast learning with Sphero Minis in Computer Programming. Students are applying their coding knowledge to tackle new challenges and solve problems with their coding robots.
Yearbook Orders
Last call for yearbooks! If you wish to order, please follow these steps.
1. Go to balfour.com2. Select Shop My School3. Type in East Pennsboro MS4. It will then prompt you “order now” Parents- do you have candids of students from this year to included in the yearbook. Please visit this site to upload your pictures.
https://studio.balfour.com/ezpix/
Yearbook project number 116760
Upload: no code
A friendly reminder that the upper bus loop is closed from 7:30-8:10am and 2:30-3:30pm every day so that busses can enter and exit safely. Parents that are dropping off or picking up students between those times need to use the lower lot. Thank you for your understanding.
School Counselors
Your school counselors, Ms. Baker and Ms. Libby, remind you that they are here for students and available to meet in-person or via Zoom. Reach out if you have questions or concerns. Ms. Baker can be reached at
cbaker@epasd.org or (717) 287-8538. Ms. Libby can be reached at
dlibby@epasd.org or (717) 732-0771.
As we move closer to summer break, you might be wondering what to do to keep your child learning. WeAreTeachers offers the suggestion of summer "real life" lessons in the article "15 Life Skills For Teens That Help Them Be Successful." Help your teen learn these lessons, and you might find that they help you, too!
Preseason Football Workouts
Attention all current 8th graders interested in playing high school football:
Pre-season weightlifting begins Monday, March 1st from 3:30 until 5:00 pm at the high school weight room. Meet outside the high school near the tennis courts. Please wear a mask and dress warmly as workouts are both inside and outside.
The schedule for March and April: Monday, Wednesday and Friday 3:30 to 5:00 pm.
Please contact Coach Denniston with any questions. Phone/text 717-756-3460 or john.denniston@comcast.net
High School Basketball
Any 8th grade student, interested in playing high school basketball next year, should consider attending our upcoming open gyms:
Boys - Mondays, 5:30-7:00; Tuesdays, 4:00-5:30
Contact Coach Rowe for additional details (uncfsu1@aol.com).
Girls - Wednesdays, 6:00-7:30
Contact Coach Atkinson for additional details (katkinson@epasd.org).
Field Hockey
Please see the form below regarding Summer Field Hockey Camp.
Golf Team
Current 8th grade students, interested in playing golf next year, should contact Coach Barlup (
jbarlup@epasd.org) for details.
EP Cross Country Summer Information 2021
1. Stay in touch:
- Runners and parents, sign-up for Cross Country Remind messages: i. Text 81010 with the message @ep-xc or e-mail ep-xc@mail.remind.com
- Runners, sign-up for our Google Classroom EP Cross Country: hni5by4
- Parents, we will be discontinuing our email chain. Please be sure your email information with the district is up-to-date and you accept any invite for Google Classroom guardian access. Google Classroom will be used to send out parent emails about Cross Country.
- If you want info about all EP sports, follow EP athletics on twitter to receive messages from our athletic director (see the school website under the athletics tab).
2. Stay in shape- Rest is an important part of any running calendar. Overtraining can cause disillusionment, fatigue, and injury. The time between Track/Field and the start of Summer Runs is a great time to rest, recover and recharge! If you start to get antsy, consider some cross-training activities; go for a bike ride, hike, swim if you have a pool, do some yoga, mow the lawn, whatever! As always, please be certain you are following all safety protocols.
- Summer Runs will start on June 28th. We will meet in person for Summer Run workouts. We meet in the parking lot behind the Middle School every Monday through Friday from 7:30 AM until 9:30 AM.
- Be sure to bring a water bottle filled with a lot of water. We will not have extra water. You must have your own water-filled water bottle!
- All information related to Summer Runs (including cancellations due to lightning or Covid) will be communicated through Remind.
- All athletes are welcome. This includes Middle School and High School athletes. Athletes who want to “give running a try” are welcome to come see why cross country is so much fun! We also welcome all athletes who want to stay in shape.
- Summer Runs are voluntary but… Running requires consistency! If you want to be successful, you need to spend the summer getting in shape for the season. We gradually build miles in the summer. The first days and weeks of official practice build on a summer of running.
3. Be eligible for the start of the season:
- You do not need to be signed-up with the school to participate in off-season Summer Run workouts. If a form related to Covid protocols is required, I will send that information out over Remind and post the form on Google Classroom.
- You do need to be signed-up with the school before our first official fall practice in August.
- Check the school website, under the athletics tab, for all relevant information and due dates related to signing up for a fall sport as well as the date of the first official fall practice.
In order to participate in a fall sport, you will need:
- Online paperwork.
- A physical form filled out by a doctor. The school website may indicate dates and times when physicals can be obtained if you are unable to secure one on your own.
- A pay to participate fee.
- An impact test (which is part of concussion protocol) once in Middle School and once in High School.
A successful season starts in the summer!
Otis Platform for Parents/Guardians
Great news, East Pennsboro Area School District is happy to announce that parents / guardians have access to an online program that offers a variety of videos and tutorials pertaining to numerous topics. The online platform is called Otis. https://otis.teq.com/
Currently, employees of East Pennsboro Area School District utilize Otis as a professional development tool.
Parents may access the platform to find information about troubleshooting and using iPads for learning, troubleshooting and using Chromebooks as learning tools, how to use and understand Google Classroom, how to help your student(s) with remote learning, how to apply for college loans, and much more.
We encourage parents and guardians of students in East Pennsboro Area School District to take advantage of this free and helpful online learning tool.
Please use the attached information to create a free account.
Upcoming Dates
June 11th- Report Cards Posted
