Jaguar Journal Vol. 15
December 2, 2022
Hello Merrill Families,
Happy Friday! We are only 2 weeks away from Winter Break and the end of Quarter 2. Please ensure you are checking in with your student and their Schoology to support them in finishing strong.
Flag Football and Volleyball won their Thursday games and are playing today. Go Jaguars!
We have many extra-curricular opportunities for students. Next week are School Musical auditions and Basketball tryouts.
For information about Basketball, click here.
We are starting our renewal application for Innovation status. Merrill has been an Innovation school for the last 4 years, and seen our highest growth in this time. We will apply for the same flexibilities to best support our model and school. In January we will host a dedicated CSC meeting to explain our proposal and ask for feedback. Please join us! Meeting information will be posted in January.
Have a fantastic weekend!
Here is the 6th Grade December Newsletter
Here is the 7th Grade December Newsletter
Here is the 8th Grade December Newsletter
Here is the Electives/SSP December Newsletter
In Partnership,
Patrice Underwood, Molly Zick, Ellie Foust, and Vince Franklin
Happy Birthday, Ms. Alex!
Please submit any great photos you have taken of Merrill Students for the yearbook.
HAPPENINGS AROUND THE NEIGHBORHOOD
Shadow Tours at Denver South High School
SCHOOL OPPORTUNITIES
Holiday Gifts Needed!
Greetings, Parents!
It’s that time of year again, and we’re asking parents to assist Merrill families in need by
donating holiday gifts!
This year, we have made it easy to participate by using Amazon’s Wish List platform and having
gifts shipped directly to Merrill Middle School. You heard that right. No more driving to the
store, finding the gift, wrapping it, and dropping it off. Simply select a gift or two from the list of
needed items and ship it to the school. The talented Merrill staff will ensure that the gift(s)
reaches the appropriate student.
We are hoping to provide approximately 40 Merrill students with two holiday gifts (one “want”
and one “need”), and we greatly appreciate your participation in reaching this goal.
The holiday season means slow shipping times. Please purchase all gifts by no later than Friday,
Dec 9 th to ensure that we can wrap and distribute them to students before the holiday break.
Please help families in need by donating gifts on Merrill’s Holiday Gift Wish List page.
We’re grateful for our generous community. Please have them sent to Merrill Middle School, 1551 S Monroe St. Denver, CO 80210 Attention: Kathy Swigle on the label.
Butter Braids Pick Up and Winter Concert Deets from DiMarzio
Butter Braids Pick up
If you ordered any Butter Braids, they will be delivered next week, Wednesday Dec 7th. Remind your student to go to room 122 at the end of the day for pick up. Thank you all again so much for your support of the Music Department!
Winter Concert
Our first concert of the year is fast approaching! All music students will attend the concert, which is free and open to all families and friends- no tickets required. Music students must return to school by 4:30, or remain in the band room after school to warm up and tune. Concert attire is black dress pants, leggings, skirts/dresses, and plain black, white, or red shirt.
December 13th, 5:00pm
Merrill Auditorium
BEFORE AND AFTER SCHOOL CLUB OFFERINGS
International Club Information
The goal of International Club is to learn about different cultures and countries around the world. Club is held on Mondays from 3:45 to 4:30 in the library.
Activities include:
- Watching and discussing international-themed movies
- Trying international snacks/food
- Researching and sharing interesting facts about countries and cultures
- Field trips to restaurants within walking distance of Merrill
*Note on field trips: Field trips will be on Mondays (normal club day) with an extended end time of around 5:30. Permission/information forms will be sent home 2 weeks in advance. Unless otherwise noted on the permission/information form, all field trips will be within walking distance of Merrill (i.e. Teachers and students will walk to a restaurant or location a couple blocks from Merrill.)
8th Grade Language Arts Field Trip Fundraising!!!!
Our 8th grade students will be reading To Kill A Mockingbird, and the touring Broadway production will be here performing To Kill A Mockingbird at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts in February. Each ticket costs $40. Please log on to your MySchoolBucks account and select 8th grade Language Arts Field Trip, and if you can sponsor a student in need, we would appreciate it! When you go to MySchoolBucks and add the 8th grade language arts Field trip you can simply include as many in the quantity field as you like to contribute funds for additional students.
We are writing grants as well to hopefully raise enough for all 8th graders to have this incredible experience. Here’s a video preview of the tour
Replay of the School Play
Community Resources
- Denver Community Resources-Here
- Virtual English Classes from the Denver Public Library-Here
- i-Ready-Here
- Sora (DPS digital library)-Here
- DPS Community Hubs-Here
If you have any questions, please reach out to Molly Zick at molly_zick@dpsk12.net
MERRILL PTSA
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Spread some cheer to the staff!
Can you contribute food items and gift cards to send off our teachers on a warm winter break?
Please view the sign up for Teacher Appreciate Breakfast Here
Dine Out for Merrill on 12/8
All day fundraiser dine in or order to go at Reivers on
Gaylord next Thursday, 12/8. Mention Merrill to earn
10% back for our school.
Holiday Coffee is a Must Have
Holiday coffee gifts deadline extended to Sunday 12/4 and will be delivered Merrill
on 12/8! CLICK HERE to order coffee beans or grounds bags and use code LOCAL
and your coffee gifts will be delivered for free to your kiddo at Merrill on 12/8, just
in time for holiday gift giving. Gift yourself and your favorite Merrill teacher a bag!
SUPPORT MERRILL WITH YOUR HOLIDAY SHOPPING
Shop for Merrill Spirit Gear 10% off with CODE: GIFT
Coffee beans make fantastic holiday gifts.
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MERRILL JAGUAR ATHLETICS
SPORTS SCHEDULE AND INFO:
Volleyball:
Upcoming 6th Grade Games:
Saturday, Dec. 3rd at Lake Middle School - Please be there at 8:30 AM
Contact Wendy_Shepard@dpsk12.net if you have any questions.
Go cheer on the volleyball team at Manual today for the championship! Go Jaguars!
12/2 championship game, 4:00 Manual High School.
BANQUET DETAILS:
The volleyball banquet will be held on Monday, December 5th at 6:00 in the Merrill cafeteria.
Please make checks payable to Ms. Wendy Shepard. Cost is $18.00 per person. RSVP and payment due by November 30th.
Your athlete will be bringing home a sign up sheet to fill out.
Basketball-
Basketball practices can start on December 5, 2022 so we are still finalizing the 2 dates for tryouts. When those dates are confirmed it will be sent out in our Jag Journal, posted on our website, shared in Advisement, and sent out via school messenger.
The Basketball Season starts on December 12, 2022 and DPS Athletics is finalizing the game schedule.
Please use the following link to register your student for tryouts.
Student Basketball registration: Students must be registered in order to tryout as well as having an updated physical on file.
Coach Anna Wilkin anna_wilkin@dpsk12.net
Coach Vince Franklin vincent_franklin@dpsk12.net
Please send all athletic questions to vincent_franklin@dpsk12.net or call 720.424.0621
Cool Classroom:
Cool Classroom: 8th grade Spanish~ Ms. Jackson
Students in Ms. Jackson’s 8th-grade Spanish class are engaged in a year-long PBL project to write an engaging story entirely in Spanish. To help with this process, Ms. Jackson had a local author come in to speak about the writing process as well as give our students some incredible feedback. Thanks, Ms. Jackson, for creating a real-world connection to Spanish!
AT HOME CONVERSATION STARTERS
Who is someone new at school you could introduce yourself to and how likely are you to do it?