NRMS Family Newsletter

North Rockford Middle School

Principal: Lissa Weidenfeller

Assistant Principal: Al Reickard

Student Activities/AD: Jen Domagalski

Counselors: Karla Koops-Fikse and Angie Ohlman

397 East Division Street Northeast, Rockford, MI, USA lweidenfeller@rockfordschools.org (616) 863-6300 rockfordschools.org

IMPORTANT UPCOMING DATES:

March 23: Early Release Day for Students
March 31-April 8: Spring Break
April 13: 8th Grade PSAT Testing
April 13: 7th Grade Students--Remote Learning Day
April 26 & 28: 6th-8th grade MSTEP Testing Dates
April 27: Early Release Day for Students
May 24: Graduation – Class of 2022
May 27: No School
May 30: Memorial Day – No School
June 2 & 3: Half-Day Dismissal
June 2: 8th Grade Michigan Adventure Trip
June 3: Tentative last day of school

Wacky Wednesday

03/16: Wear Green

03/21-03/25: Spirit Week

03/30: Jersey Day

04/13: Superhero/Villain Day

04/27: Backwards Day

8th Grade Michigan Adventure Trip

Check out the flyer for all of the details on the 8th grade Michigan adventure trip! The deadline to turn in the permission slip and payment is March 24, 2022.

Date: June 2, 2022

Where: Michigan Adventure

Cost: $45.00 (if paid by March 24th, after March 24th the cost will be March 25th)

Trimester III Updates

NRMS Furniture Pilots: Based on the passing of our 2019 bond (Thank You!), we are moving forward with our furniture pilots to determine what our classrooms will look like in the future. We have two teachers piloting furniture at North, Mr. Thompson and Mrs. Cronin. We are excited to see the students in their new environment when they return from Spring Break.
ELA/Math Curriculum Pilots: As we transition into the 2022/2023 school year, we are updating the curriculum in our math and ELA Departments. During Trimester III, we have several teachers piloting math and ELA curriculum. All staff members are continuing to focus on our essential standards that every student needs to know for their current grade level.

8th Grade PSAT Testing, April 13th

8th Grade Students:

On April 13th, 8th-grade students will be taking the PSAT. This is a College Board assessment that provides information to our schools and families on how proficient students are in math and reading. It also helps to predict how our students will do on the SAT assessment, which is given to all 11th-grade students. Please try to avoid scheduling appointments during this time. THANK YOU!

7th Grade Students:

Because of the administration of the PSAT requirements, our 7th-grade students will take part in remote learning through asynchronous lessons at home through Schoology and are not required to attend in person. The recommended schedule is included in the letter below; however, it can be flexible because there will be no live sessions that day.

6th Grade Students:

Our 6th-grade students will attend school and remain on a traditional schedule on April 13th.

6th-8th Grade M-STEP Testing Dates

Our dates have been set for M-Step Testing, which will be on April 26th and 28th.

Grade and Subjects:

6th and 7th-grade students will be assessed in Reading and Math

8th-grade students will be assessed in Science and Social Studies.

Please try to avoid appointments during this time. THANK YOU!

7th & 8th Grade ROCK Information

The AAP Department oversees the academically advanced program placement in the middle school ROCK classes. The attached flyer will provide you with more information. If you have any questions, please let us know.

ROCK PLACEMENT FLYER

Sonia Andrews

Advanced Academic Programs Specialist

Rockford Public Schools

616.863.6363 x4530

Developing Healthy Kids--Save the Date!

Please join the virtual Developing Healthy Kids Community Education and Prevention presentation by Kelly McGonigal highlighting “The Upside of Stress”. The event will take place on March 22nd from 6:30 to 7:30 pm. For additional information see the attached advertisement!

The Upside of Stress is an empowering guide, revealing practical strategies for transforming anxiety into courage, isolation into connection, and adversity into meaning.

Check out Kelly’s Ted Talk!

https://www.ted.com/talks/kelly_mcgonigal_how_to_make_stress_your_friend?language=en

7th Grade Perception Survey

Kent County Superintendents are working to gather perception data on school experiences from our seventh-grade students. Students will take this 10-15 minute survey in their social studies class during the week of March 21st. If you would prefer that your child does not take this survey, they will be afforded the opportunity to read or work on homework. This is not a mandatory survey. Please feel free to take a look at the survey questions below.

Survey Information

NRMS Counseling Support

Mrs. Koops-Fikse and Mrs. Ohlman are working on scheduling and planning for our coming state assessments. We are here to support your child! If your child is in need of academic, social, or emotional support, please have them come to our office. We are also available by contacting (616) 863-6313.

NRMS Counselors

Last Names A - L: Karla Koops-Fikse

Last Names M-Z: Angie Olhman

NRMS Counseling Dog

Chillie

GRASP

GRASP is a correspondence program for students in Kindergarten through 8th grades which helps students maintain reading and math skills while they are on summer break. Students will receive a packet of materials with a booklet containing 9 lessons. It should take your student approximately one hour to complete each weekly lesson. They can complete one lesson a week or work at their own pace, as long as all lessons are submitted before August 5th. The students can mail the lessons to GRASP for scoring and they will be returned to them with comments. There is also an on-line version of GRASP for students in 4th through 8th grade and these students will receive feedback immediately.

Students who successfully complete and submit at least 7 lessons with 70% accuracy are awarded a certificate. Those who successfully complete and submit all 9 lessons with 70% accuracy will receive a medal! Certificates and medals will be distributed by your student’s school at the beginning of the next school year.

Please order your student’s CURRENT grade level. If there are extenuating circumstances, order the level that is appropriate for your student. The fees for the summer of 2022 are $26 for one subject or $48 for both subjects for each student. You can enroll your student for the book version (grades K-8) or the optional online version (grades 4-8) by completing the registration and payment online.

Lets Raise Some Dough

Thursday, March 17, this is a uniform fundraiser for our athletes with 15% of your total bill for dine in and take out applied to our fundraiser. Bring the printed flyer or show a digital copy to participate. Thank you for your support!

NRMS Spanish Immersion Families

Are you a Spanish Immersion family? If so, please use the links below for additional details.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RockfordSIBoosters/

Email: rockfordsiboosters@gmail.com

RPS Spanish Speaking Families

On the Rockford Public Schools' website, under the Family Resources tab and then under “Family Access” is a bullet titled “Herramientas de Recursos” which translates to “Resource Tools”. This link provides Spanish-speaking families and students an FAQ and several 60-second videos navigating many facets of Family Access/Skyward. Please note there are some videos that do not pertain to what our district offers in English, however, we do not have the ability to edit the contents of this specific link. If you have any questions, please don’t contact our any of the RPS schools.