Cougar News
The Weekly Newsletter of Clint Small, Jr. Middle School
March 27th - March 31th
Letter from Principal Nelson
Welcome back!
Your students came back to us on Monday alert, energized, and ready to attack the rest of the semester! As for their teachers, all I know is that we typically have to throw out half a carafe of coffee around 11:30 each day, but this week we have gone through the entire pot well before 9 a.m. Perhaps our alertness is more of the gradual transition sort.
STAAR Tests: Next week on Tuesday and Wednesday, with make-ups on Thursday, we will be administering the STAAR tests to all 7th and 8th grade students. During these days we have to insist that no parents come to campus during testing as all hands will be on deck and we need to ensure the safety and security of our testing environment. It is important you ensure your student knows that he or she will do fine, as we have been preparing for them since early August. There is no reason to get stressed out or worked up about them; they are merely testing to see if we have covered the necessary content in our curriculum. As for how to best prepare for these tests, our resident STAAR Tsar, De’Sean Roby Wan-Kenobi, has some advice:
“Firstly, it’s important everybody gets a good night’s sleep on Monday night. Try to stick to as close to your routine as possible. Remember, there’s no point in cramming since we have been covering what we will be tested on since August. The best way to prepare the night before is by getting plenty of sleep and waking up to a nice, healthy breakfast. It’s important to eat in the morning and to also bring a healthy snack for the test; not only for fuel but also for a chance to take a break. As for the test, it’s imperative you take your time. Multiple choice tests are the easiest tests we can take because the answer is on the page...you just have to figure out which one it is. Make sure to read the question first, then try to come up with your own answer before you see the choices. After you read through all the choices, eliminate the ones you know aren’t right. Then, make your best educated guess with the remaining choices.”
Thanks Roby Wan
Go Love Now at PTA: This Tuesday at 6:30 in the cafeteria we are honored to host the Go Love Now group in our cafeteria. These guys have been spreading their positive message to our kids and community these last few weeks and want to share the joy with you as well. Come here how their message has affected our students and what it is we can all do to make sure our kids feel safe, secure, special, and respectful of one another. We hope to see y’all there.
Matthew Nelson
Principal
Small Middle School
(512) 841-6505
@smallprincipal www.smallmiddleschool.org
8th Grade Fun in the Sun!!
The 8th grade students will be headed out on a fun excursion to Schlitterbahn on Wednesday, May 31, 2017. Attached you will find the information letter that the students received this week, along with a request for parent volunteers, and a medical form. Please take a moment and look over all the information about the trip and feel free to contact Pamela Komnick (pamela.komnick@austinisd.org) with any questions.
Letter From School Nurse
Hello Parents!
It is never too early to start preparing for the beginning of the 2017-2018 school year. August is only 5 months away. Now is a good time to make sure your children are up to date with their immunizations. Students entering 7th grade will need to have a Tdap (tetanus, diphtheria and acellular pertussis) within the past 5 years and a Meningococcal vaccine (meningitis). Now is a good time to get your child vaccinated.
Attached are some resources of where you can get immunizations for your child. Vaccinate your child now to avoid the last minute rush in August. Having your child up to date will also avoid them from being excluded from school on the first day of school. All students need to be up to date by the first day of school in August or they will be excluded from school per state law and AISD policy.
If there is a conscientious objection to your child receiving immunizations, please contact the Texas Department of Health to obtain the appropriate paperwork.
If there is a medical reason your child may not be immunized, a written letter from a licensed physician is required.
If your child has already received these vaccines please send a copy of your child’s immunization record to the Small Health Room or fax a copy to 512-841-6745.
Feel free to contact the Small Middle School Health Room with any questions- 512-841-6716
Reminder From the Coaches: Any students who want to participate in sports next school year will need to have a physical on file dated after April 15, 2017.
Thank you in advance from the Small Health Room Team
Kathy Stanton, RN Kathleen.m.stanton@austinisd.org
Tait Olufsen-Morgan, SHA Tait.olufsen-morgan@austinisd.org
FREE PHYSICALS ON APRIL 20TH AT BURGER
If you would like to take advantage of the Free Physicals that are offered by the District, please follow the steps below.
· PRE-REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED - To Pre-Register:
- Email or Call Coach Hernandez/Coach J Moore for a packet
512-841-6758/6759
- Complete Packet in INK
Next year’s grade level, student ID, school name included
- Medical History questions answered by PARENT
- Sports circled
- SIGNATURE of Parents and Students on ALL BLANKS
- ACCESS FORM signed BY PARENTS
- If student has asthma include asthma action plan from Nurse
- The Packet is DUE BACK TO COACH HERNANDEZ BY APRIL 4TH NO EXCEPTIONS
- When you come to the Burger Center on the 20th. The Physicians will fill out the Physical form in the Packet.
Go Love Now for Parents
The Go Love Now team was here the week before spring break giving talks to the kids about embracing kindness.
Join us, Tuesday, March 28th at 6:30 PM
Come on down to Small Cafeteria for a brief PTA meeting and to meet the Go Love Now team and learn more about this amazing program and how they are going to continue to work with our students.
Coupons/In-Kind Donations/Sponsorships
We asked the kids what they want for prizes at the carnival for games and they overwhelmingly said... Free Food (Teenagers!) - Since our Carnival is a fundraiser, offering food as prizes is out of our budget. So, we asked, would they like coupons for free food instead. The answer was a resounding YES!!!!
This is where you can help...
Do you have a connection to a local business that would be willing to donate to our Carnival?
We are looking for...
- Coupons - Free or buy 1 get 1 free coupon to local restaurants or middle school friendly businesses (Think: Altitudes or Wendy's Frosty)
- In-Kind Donations - items we can raffle off that the kids would be interested in (Think: Party packages to Paint Ball, Gift cards to clothing stores...)
- Sponsorships - Monetary sponsorships of Booths or activities at our Carnival to help underwrite our carnival expenses. (We will offer sponsorship packages to build a partnership with local businesses and Clint Small Middle School
Please send all leads for this part of Carnival to our PTA President and Silent Auction Chair Ms. Alyson Spier at alysonspier@icloud.com or Carnival Chair Jennifer Newell at jennifer.newell@austinisd.org
Thank you!!!!
Patton Carnival - April 1st
All proceeds benefit Patton Elementary!
Latest Cougar TV
CSMS Track Meet Results
South Austin Mountain Bike Team
The South Austin MTB Team just completed the third race in their five race series. The MTB Dawgs came in 4th overall against all the middle school teams from all over Texas. We had the following top 10 finishers:
Bella Ramsay 7th Grade Girls 2nd place - Logan Poore 8th Grade Boys 2nd place - Andre Kachkine 8th Grade Boys 3rd place - Cristian Vockell 7th Grade Boys 8th place - Ethan Doucette 6th Grade Boys 7th place - Derrick Neptune 6th Grade Boys 10th place
- Full schedule at: http://www.texasmtb.org/events/races/
- Additional info at: http://www.bowiemtb.com
Go Dawgs!!
2017-2018 Registration
Online registration for school year 2017-18 begins March 1st.
All current\new to AISD students need to register for the upcoming school year.
Please click here for step by step instructions.
Any questions? Call Diane Ewing 512-841-6710
Austin High School Football
Mark Your Calendars NOW
AHS Football Booster Club Meeting THURSDAY, MARCH 30 at 6:30 pm
Where: Maroon Room at AHS
Get All the Scoop from Head Coach Mike Rosenthal about the Freshman, JV & Varsity Teams
Hear from the Boosters Chairs about Membership, Volunteer Opportunities & More
BE INFORMED, JOIN THE BOOSTER CLUB, WIN PRIZES (Oh Yea)
The next meeting will not be until August, so here’s your chance to be ON THE BALL!
Questions: Contact AHS Football Booster Club Chairs
Ashley Unbehagen--ashleyunbehagen@yahoo.com or Jill Scott- jill@icheckout.com
Clint Small, Jr. Middle School
Email: jennifer.newell@austinisd.org
Website: http://www.smallmiddleschool.org/
Location: 4801 Monterey Oaks Boulevard, Austin, TX, United States
Phone: (512) 841-6700