Middle School Matters
Family Edition, December 21, 2020
Dear Families,
With all these changes some things have stayed the same. Our teachers continue to provide engaging lessons that target our student needs and standards, and work to build positive connections with our students, our students continue to work hard in the instructional setting and our families continue to support our students in their learning and our teachers in their instruction. These things are true for Hybrid and Distance learners.
I believe perseverance, patience and kindness have gotten us this far. We started the year with a great number of technology issues and our students, staff and families persevered as we worked through many of them. We exercised a great deal of patience as our students struggled to attend regularly with their remote classes and more patience as the requests to make changes from Hybrid to Distance or Distance to Hybrid took longer than families thought it should. We showed patience as phone calls were made sharing that students or staff needed to quarantine as we worked to keep our school community healthy and safe. A great deal of kindness has been shared throughout. Kindness has come in the many emails and phone calls that have been received from our students and families, and the positive thoughts that have been shared on social media.
While this continues to be a 'different kind of school year.' We will continue to find value in the consistency of our PRIDE expectations, and teaching and learning in Hybrid and Distance learning models. Continuing to use perseverance, patience and kindness as our compass will allow us to continue navigating the unknowns that we will face in the second half of this school year. Remaining positive at home about coming back to school and learning through the Hybrid and Distance learning models, practicing social distancing and wearing our masks over the nose and mouth regularly will make such a difference.
As we look to celebrate the Holidays and welcome in the New Year on behalf the Middle School Staff, I hope the very best for you and your family!
Teresa
Middle School Student Priorities
1. Mandatory attendance at PRIDE 7:30 every morning and 10:10 on Wednesday.
2. Do your work and submit it everyday.
3. Email your teachers if you need help. Join Office Hours on Wednesdays for additional support.
4. Complete iReady requirements for ELA and Math.
Distance Learning Monday and Tuesday
Holiday Recess
PRIDE Recognitions
12/16/20
42.11% of 6th graders received at least one badge.
11.95% of 7th graders received at least one badge.
20.73% of 8th graders received at least one badge.
24.63% of the total student body received at least one badge.
40.66% of the Middle School staff participated in our PRIDE recognition system.
Fun Family Activities for the Holiday Break
https://respectfulways.com/wp-content/uploads/Family-Holiday-Activities-Respectful-Ways.pdf
Our students are in the News!
Attendance Matters!
https://www.attendanceworks.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/ATT_1PG_Middle_Highschool_102720.pdf
i-Ready
i-Ready allows your teacher(s) to meet your student exactly where they are and provides data to increase your student’s learning gains. i-Ready consists of two parts: Diagnostic and Personalized Instruction.
The i-Ready Diagnostic is an adaptive assessment that adjusts its questions to suit your student’s needs. Each item a student sees is individualized based on their answer to the previous question. For example, a series of correct answers will result in slightly harder questions, while a series of incorrect answers will yield slightly easier questions.
i-Ready Personalized Instruction provides students with lessons based on their individual skill level and needs, so your student can learn at a pace that is just right for them.
Our 2nd diagnostic will be administered Jan. 11th - Jan. 29th. Students need to take this seriously and do their best as their results will match the lessons they are given on iReady. It is important to note that iReady and our Ready Math program work together to support our students in Math.
We are helping our students to focus on two important aspects with regard to iReady: time on task and lessons passed.
Time-on-Task: The number of minutes your student has spent this week on i-Ready Personalized Instruction.
Lessons Passed: The total number of lessons your student has passed this school year.
It is important that our students understand that working on i-Ready will help them continue their learning while they are away from school, prepare them and their teachers for coming back to school, and help ensure they are ready for their next grade level.
Newark Middle School
Email: teresa.prinzi@newarkcsd.org
Website: newarkcsd.org
Location: 701 Peirson Avenue, Newark, NY, USA
Phone: 3153323290
Twitter: @newark_ms