Illing Insider
May 2, 2021
Greetings IMS Families!
I hope you are all enjoying the beautiful weather today! Below are some reminders for the upcoming weeks.
Mid-term Progress Reports:
It's mid-term progress reports time! Teachers will be entering grades through Wednesday, May 5th. You will receive an email letting you know when progress reports are available through HAC. We encourage students to reach out to their teachers, counselors, or behavior technicians if they need any assistance completing or submitting missing work.
RAMS Expectations:
As we enter the last 6 weeks of school, we would like to remind students to continue to follow RAMS expectations of being Responsible, High Achieving, Role Models, who are Safe!
MPS Summer Camp Experience:
This year's MPS Summer Camp experience is free of charge and is open to all students across the district. Check out the flyers and register by clicking on the link below. Families of students who are strongly encouraged to attend will receive a phone call this week. Please do not hesitate to contact the school at 860-647-3400 if you need assistance with registration or if you have any questions.
End-of-year Activities:
We are excited at the prospect of culminating the school year with some fun and memorable activities for our students while following CDC and district safety guidelines.
While 8th graders do not have a graduation per se, as graduations are reserved for high school seniors, we will be commemorating their transition to the high school with an end-of-year celebration. If you are interested in assisting with planning efforts for our 8th-grade class, please contact Mrs. Deryann King, our 8th grade AP at b59dking@mpspride.org
Have a great week!
Iris Gomero,
Principal
#ThankATeacher
Upcoming Testing
Quarter 3 Honor Roll
A Message From Our School Counselors:
We just successfully wrapped up our first week with block schedules for our students (both in person full-time and remote). For your convenience team schedules can be accessed via this link . As always, please don't hesitate to reach out to your student's school counselor should you have any questions or concerns:
Mrs. Justine Kiely - Dartmouth & URI - jkiely@mpspride.org
Mr. Ricky Clark - Tufts & CCSU - rclark@mpspride.org
Mrs. Justine Meyer - Cornell & Princeton - jmeyer@mpspride.org
Mr. Patrick Biggins - UConn & Syracuse - pbiggins@mpspride.org
7th Grade
In Social Studies, seventh-grade students have begun their Modern Africa Projects. This project will be a month-long inquiry experience where students investigate an issue they are interested in related to modern Africa. Students begin this process by creating questions about their issue. Then, they will conduct research to gather information answering their questions. They will then create a project presenting their findings. Students will work on this project during class, however, it is important that they continue their work independently at home. All resources for this project are available on Google Classroom.
All seventh-grade students have the opportunity to participate in a Virtual Showcase on FlipGrid to earn extra credit on their project. To earn the extra credit, students must present their project in a video and share it with their teacher.
If you have questions please reach out to your students’ Social Studies teacher.
Chelsea Constantino (Tufts) - cconstantino@mpspride.org
Benjamin Foran (CCSU) - bforan@mpspride.org
Noelle Avakian (Dartmouth) - b25navak@mpspride.org
Clyde Ettienne-Modeste (URI) - b25cmode@mpspride.org
8th Grade
In Social Studies, eighth-grade students have begun their unit on Westward Expansion. To begin, students analyzed John Gast’s painting titled, “American Progress” (seen below) to understand the concept of Manifest Destiny that drove American expansion. Students will analyze the consequences of Westward Expansion, including the dislocation of Native Americans by the Indian Removal Act.
Students will then study industrialization in the United States and how cottage industries transitioned to factories. They will learn about the reliance on agriculture in southern states, and how this increased reliance on the labor of enslaved people. This will lead students to learn about resistance organized by enslaved people, such as that organized by Harriett Tubman and other abolitionists.
If you have questions please reach out to your students’ social studies teacher.
Greg Vickers (Princeton) - b25gvic@mpspride.org
Gary Tracey (Syracuse) - b21gtrac@mpspride.org
Dan Bebyn (Cornell) - b21dbeby@mpspride.org
Jeffery Yep (UConn) - jyep@mpspride.org
Dear Illing Families,
We are so excited to start in-person learning! This gives our students the opportunity to safely engage in hands-on activities to see science in action and spark wonder and awe. As always, when we engage in hands-on activities, safety is our number one priority. You received an email from your student's science teacher with safety guidelines in the science classroom. If you have not yet, please read through the guidelines with your student. Next, complete the Google Form linked in the email. If you would like a paper copy, please let your student's science teacher know! It is a pleasure working with you to best support your student!
Below you will find a brief description of the current topic your student is exploring in science class.
7th Grade
Simon Forcucci
Team CCSU
Tracy Nsonwaah
Team CCSU
Phaniah Somuah
Team CCSU
8th Grade
Illing is hosting a Spring Virtual Book Fair through Scholastic! Keep your children reading and help support our school. The fair will run May 17-30.
Music
Math
Social Studies
Science
Language Arts
Students in Language Arts are beginning research projects on a debatable issue they have been studying for three weeks. The general topics include video games, social media, activism, and the environment. Students can choose to create a community flyer, a community meeting playlist, an infographic, an annotated bibliography, or a collaborative e-book.
ELL
Social Studies
In Social Studies students have begun their Modern Africa Projects. This project will be a month-long inquiry experience where students investigate an issue they are interested in pertaining to modern Africa. Students begin this process by creating questions about their issue. Then, they will conduct research to gather information answering their questions. They will then create a project presenting their findings. Students will work on this project during Social Studies class, however, it is important that they continue their work independently at home.
All seventh-grade students have the opportunity to participate in a Virtual Showcase on FlipGrid to earn extra credit on their project. To earn the extra credit, students must present their project in a video and share it with their teacher.
Science
SEM-R (Accelerated Reading Enrichment)
Math
Language Arts
Social Studies
Social Studies classes on Team Syracuse have been studying the US Constitution and the Electoral College. During the spring, students will be using their accumulated practice with primary sources to complete a common assessment project. This project is designed to simulate the rigors of the High School proficiency projects. Social Studies classes will be exploring the period of time leading up to the American Civil War through the period of Reconstruction. This is an incredibly important period of history and will help our students learn the many growing pains of our democracy.
Science
In Science prior to spring break we learned why we have four distinct seasons in Manchester. Currently, we are learning what we can do personally to help the earth. Next we will begin a unit helping us understand the diversity of living things.
ELA
Math
LAS Links Assessment Schedule:
To Our English Learning Families,
LAS Links Testing schedule has been extended through April 30th
What's coming up?
Fri April 30th - Q4 Progress Reports
Fri 5/7 - Deadline to Order YearbooksSun 5/9 - Mother's Day
Thurs 5/13 - NO School - Eid al Fitr
Mon 5/24 - Wed 5/26 - 7th & 8th Grade SBAC Testing
Thurs 5/27 - 8th Grade only, NGSS Science Assessment
Mon May 31st - NO School - Memorial Day
Technology Support
The Library Media Center continues to support hybrid and remote students and families with Chromebook swap outs and troubleshooting any issues. Remote students should continue to use the IT Helpdesk to report issues and hybrid students will have issues taken care of while in school.
Still having issues?
Email infosys@mpspride.org OR
Call or Text 860-682-0607,
Monday - Friday from 8:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
For all other questions, email support@mpspride.org or call 860-647-5041,
Monday - Friday from 8:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Please refrain from calling individual schools.
Free Meal Pickup for Students
- Bennet -- 11:00 a.m.- Noon
- Buckley, Waddell & Illing -- Noon -1 p.m.
- Bennet -- 3-4 p.m.
- Frozen meals will still be distributed at MHS from 3-4 p.m. but just on Mondays and Wednesdays instead of five days a week. (Monday distribution will be for meals through Wednesday lunch; Wednesday distribution through Friday dinner.) The pick up area at MHS is on the Freshman Center side of the building; use the parking lot off of Summit Street and follow the bus loop to the first set of doors.
CT Food Bank
Connecticut Food Bank/Foodshare Emergency Drive-Thru Sites Continue into April
Connecticut Food Bank/Foodshare has announced that it will continue its emergency drive-thru distributions into April. The food bank will provide updates on final distribution dates for the rest of the drive-thru sites as they become available.
Thursdays – East Hartford
Address: Rentschler Field, 615 Silver Lane, East Hartford, CT 06118 – Silver Lane Entrance
Hours: 9:30 am – 1:00 pm
Last scheduled distribution, Thursday, April 29.
Summer Programs
Starting May 3rd, Manchester residents will be able to register for the upcoming Summer Day Camp season. Camps are scheduled to run weekdays from 9:00 AM – 4:00 PM for a six week season, starting on the week of June 28-July 2 and ending on the week of August 2-August 6. Registration will be held online starting on Monday, May 3rd at 9:00 AM. Registration is open to any children between the ages of 5-13 who reside in Manchester.
Contact Us
Email: igomero@mpspride.org
Website: www.mpspride.org/illing
Location: 227 Middle Turnpike East, Manchester, CT, USA
Phone: (860) 647-3400
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Illing-Middle-School/802258026499553
Twitter: @MPS_Illing