Randall Middle School
Newsletter, May 2023
News From the Principal
Dear Students, Parents, Caregivers, and Community Members,
We have had a terrific spring season so far at Randall Middle School! Our 5th and 6th graders have shown tremendous effort and stamina as they completed the NYS ELA and Math Assessments. Our musicians have been busy preparing for our Spring Concert on May 11, 2023 at 6pm at CHS. Our artists will have artwork on display in the commons outside the auditorium. Feel free to take a picture of your artist in front of their artwork!
We had a “Penny Wars” friendly competition between our homeroom classes to raise money for the PTO and Student Council. Each penny was worth one cent and a positive value. Each silver coin put in was worth a negative value, so often students and staff were “sabotaging” other homerooms and putting silver coins in to counter the value of the pennies. Although one class had the most coins, they did not have the most value. It was a fun contest which raised money for our PTO and Student Council.
We look forward to an upcoming school wide field trip to Cort-Lanes where we will go bowling! We will have three different sessions of students so that each student will have an opportunity to practice their bowling skills they learned in their recent PE unit.
Mark your calendars! We have our First Annual Randall Middle School Evidence of Learning Day on Friday, June 16, 2023. We are inviting parents, caregivers, and community members to attend and see our students demonstrate the high levels of learning they’ve achieved this year! We will provide more details soon, but we anticipate that it will go from approximately 9:00 am until 11:30 am.
6th grade parents and caregivers, mark your calendars! We will have our annual “Moving Up Day” parade from Randall Middle School up to the Junior High School on Tuesday, June 20, 2023 at approximately 9:15am. Our 6th graders will walk from Randall up to the Junior High. We encourage you to line our parade route and cheer your 6th grader on as they walk with their peers. Once they reach the Junior High, they will tour the building, meet their 7th grade teachers, have lunch, then they will walk back down to Randall. We will provide our parade route and more details soon.
Have a magnificent May!
With Purple Tiger Pride,
~Juli Quinn, Randall Middle School Principal
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Upcoming Dates
May 8 & 9, 2023: NYS Math Testing Grade 5
May 10, 2023: PTO Meeting, 6PM
May 11, 2023: May Music Concert, 6pm CHS
May 19-25, 2023: Book Fair
May 23, 2023: Book Fair in evening for families/caregivers
May 26-May 29, 2023: No School: Memorial Day Weekend
June 7, 2023: PTO Meeting, 6PM
June 14, 2023: 6th Grade Musical performance, 6pm
June 16, 2023: Evidence of Learning Day during the day: Parents/Caregivers/Community members invited - early in planning stages, more details to come!
June 19, 2023: No School: Juneteenth
June 20, 2023: 6th to 7th Moving Up Day: 6th Graders Parade from Randall to CJSHS, visit Junior High, tour, and meet teachers
June 21, 2023: 5th and 6th Grade Track and Field Days at CHS
June 22, 2023: HALF DAY - Last Day of School, Report Cards sent home
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News From the Nurse
The May flowers are in full bloom! I hope the beauty of this time of year brings happiness and smiles to you and your families.
Business:
Physicals continue weekly for New Admits and all 5th grade students every Monday afternoon. If you do not want your child to receive a school physical please contact the Health Office at 607-758-4174.
Immunizations are required for 6th and 7th grades. Please check with your child's Primary Care Provider and schedule an appointment. Students will not be allowed to attend school after 14 days without the required immunizations. (Tdap for 6th grade and Meningitis for 7th grade.)
Sickness will either have the opportunity to wither away, or spread without concern! Please keep your child at home if they are sick!
As always–If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to call me.
Stay well,
Nurse Neuman
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Randall PTO
Our Randall Middle School PTO recently held our last fundraiser for the school year. Cortland County and Tompkins County discount cards were sold. Taylor Buck from Miss Mendelson’s 6th grade class was our top salesperson, and she was able to be Mrs. Quinn’s “Assistant Principal!”
Our PTO supports many of our activities for our students at Randall Middle School. The Class of 2029 6th Grade tee-shirt to wear during our Parade and walk up to CHS on Moving Up Day is one of the upcoming expenses that PTO will support. They will also support our end of year activities.
The majority of our active PTO parents and caregivers are 6th grade parents. We would love to have more participation from 5th grade parents who will have 6th graders in the 23-24 school year. We have an upcoming PTO meeting on Wednesday, May 12, 2023 from 6-7pm. Our meetings are hybrid, meaning you can attend in person or via Google Meet. The Google meet link for Wednesday’s meeting is here: meet.google.com/abf-xech-zdw.
If you are unable to attend, but wish to be involved, please email Mrs. Quinn at jquinn@cortlandschools.org._________________
P2 News
This past month in P2, we have delved into Fairness, Appreciation of Beauty and Excellence and Purpose. Just a reminder that you can access the parent toolkit here (password is P2)! https://posproject.org/p2-for-families/
It is hard to believe that there are only two more traits left to discuss. In just 15-minutes a day, The Positivity Project has helped the students at Randall school develop a common vocabulary to become self-aware, empathetic individuals.
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Band News
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6th Grade Orchestra
Randall 6th Grade Orchestra members are working on more advanced techniques in rehearsals. We are also learning to lead and conduct the orchestra. In this photo, Anthony is conducting the March of the Metro Gnome by Fred Hubbell.
Both of our 5th & 6th Grade Orchestras are preparing for the spring concert on May 11th at the Cortland High School.
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Select Chorus
Don’t forget our Spring Concert on May 11th!!!
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Library News
Library has started for the third trimester, and our students are off to a running start! Sixth graders have learned about plagiarism and citations, as well as starting to work on their career projects leading to a career fair. Fifth grade started off with lessons and practice on evaluating websites and online sources, and now are using that knowledge to research endangered animals. Both grades have also had makerspace days in which they have explored different hands on activities like Legos, PixBrix, Perler Beads, Yarn projects, Gravity Maze, and much more.
A few of our sixth graders had a chance to attend the Syracuse Maker Faire with the JSHS students on April 1. They saw lots of innovations and creations in the maker community, tried their hand at VR and rocket making, and supported their 7-12th grade peers.
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Art News
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PE NEWS
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Number Ninjas
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Literary Specialists
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News from the Counselor
In the month of April, classroom lessons focused on Career Exploration in the 5th grade classrooms. During the lesson the students were focused on their interests and how these interests connect to careers.
In 6th grade we have begun meeting individually to check in on how students are feeling about 7th grade and school overall. The students have been enjoying these quick 3-5 minute meetings.