ROMS Family Newsletter
November, 2015
Principal's Update
ROMS Families~
The October-November stretch until Thanksgiving is a long one for students and teachers. Pushing toward excellence in the areas of teaching and learning requires levels of diligence and perseverance that can lead to successes and frustrations. As a middle school parent, you undoubtedly have borne witness to both the joy and dejection that this time of year brings.
Let’s work together to keep our kids motivated by leveraging the momentum of academic success and by remembering the invaluable profit of mistakes. Middle school students are developmentally programmed to make mistakes, just like we were when we were their age. It’s our job to make sure to illuminate their mistakes as a foundation for growth, not a starting point for failure. (A suggestion for those difficult conversations at home: Don’t begin with “Why did you do that?” or “What were you thinking?” Instead, try “How are you going to do better tomorrow?” or “Can I work with you on a plan to improve?”)
Lean on us when you need help, and don’t be surprised when we do the same. We’re sharing a large job, and it takes a partnership.
Enjoy your November.
Important Dates
November 2: PTA Council meeting (7pm)
November 3: No school for students - Professional development & election day
November 5: ROMS band concert (6pm)
November 6: End of 1st marking period
November 11: Late start for students (9:00am)
November 13: Report cards go live at 12:00am
November 16: PTA meeting (7pm)
November 17-19: Blue Lake Camp auditions (all day)
November 18: Late start (9:00am)November 25-27: Thanksgiving break
Dawg Walk
Our first annual Dawg Walk was a tremendous success, surpassing our $25,000 goal raising over $45,000! Thank you to all of the students and parents that worked so diligently to make this event happen; thank you as well to the ROMS PTA for spearheading this new venture and organizing all of the activities, prizes, and volunteers. We are all excited to see the impact this will have on our classrooms and students. Please click here for photos of the event (courtesy of Mrs. Landis).
Reality Store Activity Volunteers Needed
Learning in Action
Character Education
Dawg Dollars & Neon Dawg Store Update
Throughout their day, our students have many opportunities to collect “Dawg Dollars” for behaviors which display the ROMS Way. In turn, these dollars can be turned in for classroom rewards from teachers or can be used as currency in our Neon Dawg Store. The store will be open on Thursdays during lunch periods and is full of spirit wear, school supplies, and fun knick-knacks.
Growth Mindset Training
We have embarked on a school wide learning about how having the right mindset can increase capacity for learning. Based on the research of Dr. Carolyn Dweck, our students have the opportunity to strengthen their “Non-Academic Skills” by learning how the brain can become stronger and faster, the benefits of perseverance, and how to respond when presented with a challenge.
For a great overview of her research, a Ted Talk on Carolyn Dweck’s research can be found here: https://www.ted.com/talks/carol_dweck_the_power_of_believing_that_you_can_improve?language=en
Attendance
Chronic Absenteeism is defined as missing at least 10 percent of school days during an entire school year. This equates to missing approximately 18 days in a school year. We believe, and research supports, that regular school attendance is essential to comprehensive academic success and helps develop valuable personal habits that prepare students for adulthood and future career endeavors.
Beyond the obvious academic effects of chronic absenteeism, current research shows that students who miss more than 18 days per school year, averaging two absences per month, are more likely to:
develop substance abuse habits
engage in risky behaviors
enter into the criminal justice system
drop out of high school
have negative adult health outcomes
ROMS will send letters of notice when students begin to show patterns of absenteeism. We realize that absences are necessary at times. If you deliver documentation for unavoidable absences, we can remove them from our truancy reports. Refer to the ROMS School Information and Student Handbook for full details of our attendance expectations.
Athletic Snapshot
Girls Basketball
The team started the season with 4 straight victories, slowly learning how to play as a team.. The first four games were away from ROMS as well, which always helps a team bond. The team's first loss was against Farmington East at home, who they played a decent game against but definitely played a little intimated because of their size and ability. They knew they would face Farmington East again and used this as motivation in future practices and other games.
The girls won their next 2 games and were ready for Farmington East at their place. This time it was a classic showdown, a fantastic game--unfortunately ROMS came up 3 points short but the whole team walked away with smiles on their faces knowing how much better they played and how much they'd grown.
ROMS ended the season winning the last 3 games. Most important was not the wins and losses, but how the girls came together as a team. Mr. Betman received the best compliment he could hope for as a coach when, in one of the last games, the referee stopped by the bench and told the team how well they played together as a team--mission accomplished.
Pink it Out Day
Pennies for Patients
Parent Workshops
MYP Corner
Greetings ROMS families!
Hard to believe there are only a few days until Halloween--time is flying and students are off to a great start. Thank you all again for your contributions to the Dawg Walk, the generosity of the ROMS community is the essence of IB service and action. With your example, it is no wonder we have so many caring, principled students!
As we embark on this first year as an official IB World School, I wanted to share with you today a little about our progress as a school community with IB MYP Assessment. In previous years I have shared with PTA, at curriculum night, and in our newsletter about all of the staff training in IB MYP and the collaborative work teachers have done to create MYP units and to share common language and the IB Learner Profile with our students. We have done great work and we are now beginning to dig further into IB assessments. This is a big and important piece of the IB pie, and we will share specific details with parents in a meeting in the future as our progress continues. Currently, we have many IB assessments in the works and teachers are working together in professional development with our principals to gain knowledge and perspective about how to best implement the assessments. We have an IB trained consultant, Bob Smith who will be working with teachers on Election Day, and several staff will attend IB assessment training this year.
IB MYP gives our students the best learning experiences possible for their future in our interconnected world. IB MYP assessments, which are meant to be engaging, performance-based critical thinking tasks are helping to ensure that is happening.
On a related note, here is quotation from the State of Michigan Department of Education on the changes in state testing to ensure students are college and career ready:. “Whiston said the M-STEP measures the state’s standards that give students a deeper understanding to what they are learning. It requires students to move beyond bubble sheets and multiple choice questions to a more interactive, engaging assessment. Students also must demonstrate critical thinking, problem solving, and deeper knowledge through written responses.”
ROMS students will be ready.
More to come!
Mia Gutierrez (gutierrezm@royaloakschools.org)
IB MYP Coordinator
Royal Oak Schools
Contact us
Mrs. Bockhausen @mrsbockhausenro
Mr. Conklin @romsartmrc
Mr. Corridor @michaelcorridor
Mrs. Davis @MrsDavisROMS
Mrs. Derminer @MrsDerminerROMS
Mr. Duncan @K10Duncan
Mrs. Durham @durhamroms
Mrs. Ernatt @ROMS6_7science
Mr. Foreman @mrforemanroms
Mrs. Gutierrez @KaramiaG
Mrs. Hill @jmgardyhill
Mr. Icsman @IcsmanROMS
Mr. Jones @WilliamJones222
Mr. Noonan @TBN_Education
Mr. Quinlan @qball2304
Mrs. Quinn @mrsquinnscience
Mrs. Schultz @Mrs.SchultzROMS
Mr. Sopata @bmsopata
Mrs. Taylor @MrsTaylorROMS
Mr. White @Mr_White_ROMS
Mr. Wright @wrightsci1122
Mrs. Mehringer @mimishug13
Learning Center @ROMS_Learning
Website: http://www.royaloakschools.org/middle-school/
Location: 709 N Washington Ave, Royal Oak, MI, United States
Phone: 248-541-7100
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RoyalOakMiddleSchool