The Spear
November 15-19 | Austin Middle School
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- Doors open at 7:00 am. Breakfast is available until 7:25 am. Tardy Bell at 7:30 am.
- The school day ends at 3:10 pm.
- Early Dismissal Days end at 11:15 am.
- Dress Code in Effect. Remember Hoodies/Sweaters/Sweatshirts worn inside the building MUST BE SOLID Grade-level COLOR (no emblems, logos, patterns, etc.)
- Bring your supplies, GISD Chromebook, Earbuds/Headphones, and a clear or mesh backpack.
- Snack Bar Open- https://www2.mypaymentsplus.com/welcome
November 15-19 @ AUSTIN
Monday, November 15
- Benchmark Testing Week
- BOOKFAIR - send $ or set up an e-wallet for your child
- 5th-7th Math Benchmark
- 8th Reading Benchmark
- 7th Grade Girls Basketball vs. Santa Fe @ Austin 5:00-7:00pm
- 8th Grade Girls Basketball vs. Santa Fe @ Santa Fe 5:00-7:00pm
Tuesday, November 16
- No A+ due to Benchmarks
- 5th-7th Reading Benchmark
- 8th Math Benchmark
- BOOKFAIR - send $ or set up an e-wallet for your child
Wednesday, November 17
- 5th and 8th Science Benchmark
- Fall Into Reading Night at Austin (see flyer below for details) 5:00-6:30 pm
- BOOKFAIR - send $ or set up an e-wallet for your child
Thursday, November 18
- No A+ due to Benchmarks
- 8th Social Studies Benchmark
- BOOKFAIR - send $ or set up an e-wallet for your child
- 7th Grade Artist Boat
- Thanksgiving Luncheon For Faculty hosted by the PTO 11:00-1:30
- 7th Grade Boys Basketball vs. Santa Fe @ Santa Fe 5:00-7:00pm
- 8th Grade Boys Basketball vs. Santa Fe @ Austin 5:00-7:00pm
Friday, November 19
- PTO Free Dress Day $2 (unless you bought the full year for $10)
- BOOKFAIR - send $ or set up an e-wallet for your child
- 7th Grade Artist Boat
Weekend
Rest & Relax
- November 22-26: No School, Thanksgiving Holidays
IMPORTANT REMINDERS:
- Bring a Water Bottle!
- Austin will no longer accept lunch deliveries from restaurants, fast food, or delivery services. If lunch is forgotten, a parent/guardian may drop off lunch at the front office.
- If your child would like to wear a mask during the school day, please provide one.
Students must have their ID badges around their necks before entering the building. If students forget their ID, they can get a temporary one at the front office. The charge is $1 per day. Students that do not have the money will be charged. Students that need a new badge can purchase one for $5.
**All Device forms must be completed through Skyward before a device can be checked out to a student.
Science Fair
Science Fair at Austin is now in full swing for our 7th and 8th graders! We are excited to see our students challenge themselves and apply scientific processes outside of the classroom.
We are moving the AMS Science Fair Date to January 7th to give students more time to produce quality products that could go on to our District Science Fair, Houston Science Fair, or even further. Below, you will find a broad schedule of what students have and will be doing at the AMS Science Fair.
Nov 1-5
Complete Proposal and Registration: Students and parents register through the Scienteer website to begin the project. Students submit ideas for the project to a teacher for approval.
Nov 8-12
Background Research: Research into their topic area to see what has been done before and begin getting ideas for designing their experiments.
Nov 15-19
Experimental Design: Complete all forms and submit a Research Plan in Scienteer, reviewed by teachers and safety committees.
Nov 29-Dec 3
Approval and Feedback: Teachers and safety committees review projects (in Scienteer) and provide approval or feedback for revisions. Once a project has been approved, students may begin experimentation.
Dec 6-17
Experimentation: Students are performing experiments, documenting progress, and preparing fair materials. Teachers are checking in on progress.
Jan 3-7
Submitting Final Project: Students submit all their finalized materials.
Jan 7
Science Fair: Students present their projects to judges.
Jan 14
District Science Fair: Students who won the AMS Science Fair present their projects.
*** Please note that this schedule does not reflect all the required assignments or due dates associated with the AMS Science Fair. Please visit the science teachers Canvas class for those details.***
All Science Fair projects will need the following:
- 1/2 or 1 inch 3-Ring Binder
- Composition Notebook
- Display Board, the project can be no larger than: Depth (front to back) 30in. Width (side to side) 48in. Height (floor to top) 108in.
Science Fair Interest Form
Has Your Child Been Absent?
The note should contain the following items:
- Student’s printed first and last name and GISD identification number
- Date of absence
- Reason for absence
Absentee notes must be received by the attendance clerk no later than three (3) days after the student’s return to school.
Austin Middle School's Academic Week At A Glance
ATTN: Parents/Guardians
RE: Canvas Observer Account Recommended
To view the Week At Glance Links below, you may need to set up your Parent Observer Account for Canvas. Many of you did this last year and will not need to set up a new account. If you need an account, please Click Here and go to the link under CANVAS OBSERVER GUIDE - TABLE OF CONTENTS for instructions.
- Math: Mrs. Mancil
- Science: Ms. Trevino
- Social Studies: Mr. Grasso
- Writing: Ms. Gonzales
- Reading: Ms. Salinas
- Tech Apps: Ms. Lee
- ELAR/MATH Co-Teach: Ms. Murphy
- Bilingual: Ms. Jones
6th Grade
- Math: Ms. Reyes
- Science: Ms. Diaz De Leon
- Social Studies: Ms. Terrell
- Reading: Ms. Root
- Writing: Mr. Murray
- Robotics: Ms. Marks
7th Grade
- Pre-Algebra: Mr. Ungurean
- Science: Ms. Costigan
- Social Studies: Ms. Ross
- Reading: Ms. Williams
- Writing: Dr. Cappiello
- PLTW: Mr. Burke
- VEX Competition Robotics: Ms. Marks
8th Grade
- Algebra I: Ms. Cartmell
- Science: Ms. Carranza
- Social Studies: Mr. Williams
- ELAR: Mrs. Taras
- PLTW: Mr. Puccetti
Intervention
Electives
- Ms. Wallace
- Ms. Robare
- Ms. Boxley
- Mr. Bari
Athletics
Planning to Volunteer this year??
Please turn in completed forms to Mrs. Zavala in the front office of AMS. Thank you.
AMS PTO
Please support our PTO which in return supports our teachers by purchasing a Marios pizza card for $10. They are available for purchase in the office. These cards offer a buy one get one free large pizza for carry out at Marios on the Seawall! Makes dinner easy! We appreciate all your continued support. Next meeting date to be announced.
Thanks!
PTO President
INTRODUCING OUR AUSTEM AMS FACULTY
Ms. Crystal Rodriguez, Life Skills Instructional Aide
Hello, my name is Crystal Rodriguez. I'm an instructional aide with one of our life skills classes. I graduated from Ball High School and attended Galveston College where I earned my AA degree. I plan on going back to school to get my bachelor's degree soon. I have 3 wonderful children and I'm B.O.I. I started working at Austin in the beginning of the 2020-2021 school year and absolutely love it.
Associate of Arts General Studies from Galveston College
Mrs. Virginia Zavala, Front Office
Hi! I am the Office Assistant here at Austin Middle School. I am so excited to be here! I have always wanted to work in this school district.
Mrs. Elizabeth Brown, Advanced Academic Specialist
Hello! I have been with GISD since 2019 serving Austin as the Advanced Academic Specialist. I love working with middle school students! My career in education began in 1998 as a kindergarten teacher in San Antonio. After 3 years in the classroom, I moved up to Early Childhood Director (PK-2nd). I continued in that role for several years before being asked to step up as the Elementary Assistant Principal where I stayed until my husband accepted a job in Houston and we needed to move. We moved to Houston in 2008, shortly after the birth of our second daughter. I took some time off from the field of education to focus on raising our two daughters. We moved to Galveston on a whim in the summer of 2012 and it is my favorite place to live! I re-entered the education field in 2016 at Trinity Episcopal before landing in GISD.
I married my high school sweetheart in 1998. We have two daughters, 18 & 13, one dog, and two cats. My oldest is flying the nest for a language study program in Seoul, Korea in January, and plans to attend NYU next fall. My youngest is a 7th grade student here at Austin. My husband is an international event & editorial photographer. My hobbies include photography, travel, and interior decorating.
Bachelor of Science in Interdisciplinary Studies with a Reading Specialization from Texas A&M University, College Station. Texas Teacher Lifetime Certification all subjects PK-6, GT Supplemental Certification
Teen Health Offers Vaccines
Moderna and Pfizer vaccines are in stock at all Teen Health Center Medical clinics.
In order to receive their vaccinations, minors (ages 12- 17) must have a Teen Health Consent Form (GISD families completed during school registration) and a Covid-19 Vaccine Consent Form signed by a parent or guardian. The Covid-19 consent may also be completed in Skyward Family Access.
Call (409) 761-3530 to schedule an appointment at the Teen Health clinic of your choice.
SEL at AMS!
Goal Setting#2
Research around SMART goals shows that taking the time to define and write down goals leads to a higher rate of success and higher overall achievement.
1.) Creating SMART Goals:
Specific: Instead of “I want to get better grades,” try “I will get all Bs or higher on my report card.”
Measurable: By looking at grades regularly & on the next report card.
Attainable: Keep goals achievable; Instead of “ making straight As on my next report card,” try “ raising my grades by one letter grade before grading closes.”
Realistic & Relevant: Goals should matter. If the student doesn’t care about their grades, they won’t care about the goal.
Time-bound & trackable: Encourage realistic time frames; instead of “trying to raise grades by next week or next year”, set a goal to “raise them by the next progress report or the end of the term”.
2.) Identify a “Goal Buddy”
Another major factor in success is sharing goals with someone and creating check-ins to communicate and track progress.
Don’t be offended if you’re not the chosen “goal buddy:” It's a great sign if your student can identify others they can depend on
3.) Name Setbacks
Identify potential challenges and prepare. Studies show that anticipating roadblocks can increase productivity and engagement, improve time management, and reduce stress.
(Ex) “My friends might want me to hang out with them after school instead of practicing gymnastics.” → “Tell my friends in advance the days I need to practice and when I’m free to hang out.”
Give opportunities to see if their goal is still relevant. (Ex) They initially set a goal to master a skill in math class. After a month, they’re doing fine in math but struggling in science. Try celebrating the success and set a new goal, teaching that abandoning a goal because it’s no longer appropriate is not failure, but is responsible.
SMART goals video (~4 min)
Sources: https://positivepsychology.com/goal-setting-students-kids/
Thank you so much!
Social Emotional Learning Specialist
Email: AmyArgubright@gisd.org
Principal's Corner
I cannot wait to see all our poets at the Fall into Reading Night! Our students are amazing. Keep up the Amazing work!!
Principal
Austin Middle School
Gratitude November at Austin
Gratitude has been shown to increase feelings of happiness, social connection, mental health, and physical health while decreasing feelings of depression. With these amazing benefits, how can we add more gratefulness in our everyday lives?
Here are a couple of ways to bring more gratitude into your lives:
To orient your focus toward positive aspects of life, consider a brief journaling exercise to write down three things that went well each day, and to include a cause for each of the 3 things reflected upon. This typically takes less than 5 minutes but has been shown to have a great impact on increasing feelings of happiness and decreasing feelings of depression. This could even become a dinnertime reflection as a family. Consider implementing it as “Three Things Thursday” when each family shares about the 3 things that went well that day.
Consider taking a walk as a family and each member taking a turn sharing about something on the walk that person is grateful for. Getting into a focus on the present moment can help calm our racing thoughts that can sometimes get stuck in past issues or worry about potential future situations. Bringing attention to the present moment, being outdoors, and connecting with loved ones can all add benefits to the practice of selecting things that we are grateful for.
Email: ErikaPuccetti@gisd.org
CONGRATULATIONS to our Winner of the Patriot's Pen Essay Contest, 6th grader Justin Gomez!
Post winners advance, one for every 15 entries, to
the VFW District (regional) level where the one first-place winner is
advanced to the VFW Department (state) level. The one first-place
winner at the Department level is then advanced into the VFW
national competition. The winner from each Department (state) then goes on to the National competition.
Austin STEM Magnet Middle School
Principal
Kathy Aaron
Assistant Principal
Erika Puccetti
Counselor
Email: stephaniemendoza@gisd.org
Website: https://austin.gisd.org/
Location: 1514 Ave N 1/2, Galveston, TX, USA
Phone: 409-761-3500
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/austinmiddleschoolgisd/