Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
George McGovern Middle School
6221 W. Maple St., Sioux Falls, SD 57107
Where attitude is everything, and the attitude is one of respect.
January 2019 Principal Mr. Tim Koehler Assistant Principal Mr. Richie Hutchinson Intern Asst. Principal Ms. Beckie VanDrongelen
Important Phone Numbers
Main Office 367-4440 Office Hours 7:45-5:00 Attendance 367-4438 and Health 24 hr voicemail Counseling 367-4435 and Registration Kitchen Manager 367-4492 Fax 367-4434 IEP Facilitator 367-4481
Facebook Page: George McGovern Middle
School PTA
Publ ished Monthly
Issue No.0041
Important Dates
GMMS Annuals for Sale $15.00 each Order forms at room H606 Or Pro-time Teacher
“See Something, Say Something” and “StandUp!” by Dr. Brian Maher, Superintendent
The start of a new year is always a good time to reflect on the past and renew our commitments for the future. For many adults, those commitments might be to a healthier lifestyle, stronger relationships, or a better work/life balance. For students, those commitments might be to improve attendance, nudge up a grade in one of their most challenging courses, or simply to spread more kindness in the hallways and classrooms of their schools.
May I also suggest that the start of a new year is also a great time to renew our commitment to school safety and to the wellness of our students and staff? Following several large-scale incidents, the Office of Homeland Security adopted the slogan “See Something, Say Something.” It is a simple, but memorable phrase that we are called to remember when something we see or hear makes us uneasy. It is a reminder that each of us plays an im-portant part in the prevention of things that can easily sidetrack students and take them down paths that rarely lead to successful completion of high school – things like drugs, alcohol, gun violence, bullying, and so much more.
Without a doubt, the “See Something, Say Something” slogan has re-sulted in the early intervention of hundreds of potential safety concerns in the Sioux Falls School District over the past several years. Students, staff and parents are reporting conversations they’ve heard, social media posts they’ve seen, and sometimes just “hunches” they get when something doesn’t seem right.
Your schools – along with the help of our School Resource Officers provided by the City of Sioux Falls – extensively investigate each concern. Staff spends a considerable amount of time each day building positive relationships with students so that when a concern arises, there is trust and understanding. In addition, the Sioux Falls School District also joined Project StandUp for School Safety – a statewide online tip tool where concerns can be reported either anonymously or by leaving your name.
Even with these actions, this is work we cannot do alone. We need
parents, students, and every member of our community to step up to play a role in prevention. By working together, we can be more successful at keeping our students safe.
School Related Cancellations and Postponements It is important to be prepared for the winter storms and extreme cold that every South Dakota winter brings. Please read the following information so you are aware of the procedures for school related cancellations and postponements. District leaders rely on experts from the National Weather Service and city/county officials when we make decisions on school cancellations, late starts or early dismissals. Cancelling School/Late Start When a severe storm hits the area, or is forecast, we start contacting local officials as early as 3:00 a.m. We communicate with our Operational Services Department, the Weather Bureau, the City Street Department, Sioux Falls Transit, and our transportation contractors. It is our goal to decide whether or not to cancel school by 5 a.m. to allow time for parking lots and sidewalks to be cleared, food services to prepare meals and the bus company to begin operations. In the event that school needs to be cancelled or delayed, families will be alerted via a ParentLink phone call. These calls will generally be sent between the hours of 6 a.m. and 6:30 a.m. to accommodate families whose children are picked up by buses at 6:45 a.m. Announcements are also made on the District’s website, the app and over the local radio and television stations. Because the public schools have a limited rural area, it is often possible for Sioux Falls to have school when nearby towns may not. Early Dismissal Storms occasionally move in during the day, making it necessary to assess whether or not to dismiss school early. We choose early dismissal only under the most extreme circumstances. In most cases, it is safer for students to remain at school due to the need for transportation and proper supervision. In the rare instances when schools are dismissed early, families will receive a ParentLink phone call and the information will appear on the District’s website at www.sf.k12.sd.us. Announcements are also made over the local radio and television stations. Notifications refer to dismissal “one hour early” or “two hours early” because of the number of different building schedules. In addition to noting the early dismissal, announcements about evening activities are normally included.
It is very important that every family has a plan for early dismissal. Be sure your student knows where to go in case no one is at home. Parents/Guardians are urged to talk with their student about his/her safety during winter weather emergencies. Be Safe This Winter The school system offers these suggestions concerning cold weather and emergency situations: 1. Listen for a ParentLink phone call regarding school closings, late starts, or early dismissals. Check the District’s website at www.sf.k12.sd.us for updated information. Announcements will also be made on local radio and television stations. (Please avoid calling schools or the Instructional Planning Center. Phone lines are needed for emergency communications.)
We will continue discovering how animals and humans can relate to one another. We will study poetry, nonfiction stories, and literature to accomplish this task.
Looking forward to the next unit, we will be adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing fractions.
We will be starting our chapter on ancient China. Students will be learning about the geography, daily life, and the different dynasties. We will also learn about the history of the Great Wall of China, Chinese inventions, and so much more. At the end of the month, we will start learning about ancient Greece.
We will be finishing up our study of Earth’s surface by learning about the rock cycle. We will have a district science test and then start our new area of focus, Earth’s water and atmosphere.
LANGUAGE ARTS/READING: brigid.berger@k12/sd/us
[email protected] [email protected]
MATH: [email protected] [email protected]
[email protected] [email protected]
SCIENCE: [email protected] [email protected]
SOCIAL STUDIES: [email protected] [email protected]
We hope that everyone is rested and recharged as we get started with 2018!!! Please make sure that your student has plenty of pens and pencils, as some of their
supplies need to be replenished.
C O U G A R S
V I K I N G
Science Terry Helget and Tim Josephson During the month of December the students learned about Land, Air and Water resources.
It then carried over to looking at the Earth’s non renewable and renewable energy
resources. The students also took a closer look at cells. They had the opportunity to learn about the parts of a cell and designing their own cell model based on their knowledge of
those cell parts. January will focus on the different cell processes along with creating a better understanding of genetics and DNA.
Math Pam Hieronimus, Ms. Wenzel and Mrs. Hancock
Students began their unit Comparing and Scaling. This is our 3rd unit as it continues with our work from the using ratios for comparison unit. We will extend the thinking in this
new unit by “scaling” two ratios to make them equivalent (called proportions). We will also “compare” our data using fractions, percents, differences, and ratios. We will use
mental math to find benchmark percentages (1%, 10%, 25%, 50%, etc.) to help us solve
problems involving percentages of numbers.
This Comparing and Scaling unit will last until the first week of February.
Please, check with your student to make sure they have enough supplies
(especially pencils and paper) as we start the second semester. Thank you!!
Geography (Social Studies) Mr. Flock and Mr. Moulton In December Mr, Moulton and Mr. Flock will be finishing their research project about a
culture they wanted to learn more about and present to the class.
The classes also learned about the Christmas Truce of World War I. The Christmas
Truce was a cease-fire on Christmas Day 1914 between the German soldiers and the British soldiers. We performed some reader’s theater to reenact the events. Third
quarter we will be focusing on some very serious topics with Human Migration, Global
Conflicts, Human Rights/Social Justice. Around the world people are treated unfairly based on their religion, nationality, color of skin, etc. We will look into past and present
injustices against humanity by answering the following essential questions.
1. What issues cause people to move?
2. What causes conflict? 3. How and why do people struggle for social justice (being treated fair)?
Language Arts (ELA) Mrs. Dossett, Mrs. Huwe, Ms. DeRoos and Ms. Merritt
Greetings from the Coyotes/Jack Rabbits Eighth Grade Teams
Welcome back, eighth graders, to a new year and the fresh start of a new
semester beginning on the 11th of January. Parents, with the beginning of the second semester, this is a good time of the year to sit down with your child and review the progress made so far and set goals for the end of the year. The pace and responsibilities are going to pick up this quarter as we begin to make the final preparations for high school.
The students will begin preparing for high school registration during the month of January. Our counseling staff will begin meeting with the students once a week to guide them through the registration process beginning on the 14th and ending February 4th.
The students will be treated to a live music performance on the history of Jazz on the 24th. Jazz Diversity performs for us every year. They put on an educational and entertaining show that the students enjoy very much.
Here is the news from the core courses:
Social Studies—Mrs. Case & Mr.McIntyre --After break, we will continue our study
of the Constitution. We will finish up the quarter by studying the presidency of George
Washington. We will be comparing the accomplishments of Washington to other
presidents.
Math—Mr. Knapp & Ms. Schrier — After break we will be finishing up our Looking for
Pythagoreous unit by talking about irrational and rational numbers. Then we will start our
Growing, Growing, Growing unit which talks about exponential growth functions.
Students will learn the properties of exponents, perform operations in scientific notation,
and compare linear to exponential functions. In Algebra, we will be taking our semester
test on Jan. 9th and 10th. It is very important that those students are at school those
days and are well rested and ready to rock that test!
Science—Mrs. Schroeder & Mrs. Kruger-- After break we will be diving into the
world of Physics! Students will start by taking a pre-test over the Forces and Energy
book and then we will start learning! Students will get to learn about speed and
acceleration and show off their skills by recording their own speed and acceleration in
the hallways. Measuring and calculation will be big in this unit, especially in all of our
physics labs. Lets get ready to run!
English Language Arts—Ms. VanMaanen & Mrs. Freese— After break, we will
be finishing our unit on “What Matters”. The next unit we will start will be covering “The
Holocaust”. We will learn many things about that time period by reading and looking at
webquests. We will also read, “The Diary of Anne Frank”. We continue to read Harry
Potter. Harry has been chosen to be a Gryffendor, and he’s meeting all kinds of
interesting people at Hogwarts. Keep reading!
Paxten Britton Esther Ford Trinity Snapper Keenan Aman
Nyanthan Arop Lyn EagleStar Ajab Komi Anializ DeJesus
Kelsey Hybertson Ian Miller
Brianna Herndon
Unable to
Post
Unable to
Post
Unable to
Post
January athletics brings the end of the girls’ basketball season and the beginning of the boys’ basketball season. The first day of practice for the boys will be Monday, January 14th.
Stay Connected: All schedules and information (Including team photos orders) can be found on the GMMS bogspot
http://sfgmms.blogspot.com/ Click on the Athletics Information Tab.
The first practice will be after school on Wednesday, February 13th
All George McGovern 7th and 8th grade girls are eligible to compete. There will be a bus that will take the girls from McGovern to Roosevelt High School after school every day where the high school gymnastics coaches will coach the practices. Parents will need to pick your children up at RHS after practice at 5:45. A complete schedule and signups will be available after the girls’ basketball season. The end of any season does not mean the end of playing. Good players and good skills are made during the off-season. Be sure to get to a camp at one of the high schools this summer. It is a great opportunity for 8th graders especially to get into the high school and start getting to know the teammates you will be playing with if you continue athletics at the high school level. All athletes need to be sure they are picking up a ball in the offseason and working on those skills they learned. The city of Sioux Falls offers many opportunities to play. Contact the YMCA, Embe, SEBA, Pentagon, etc. for information about opportunities. Many of these programs in town have financial assistance and scholarship programs available to help with the cost.
Sioux Falls has a number of recreation centers like Oyate Community Center located at Garfield Elementary School that are also a good place to go to practice your skills and get some exercise. The most important thing is to stay involved and keep active!
Important Transportation Reminder for After Games and Practices • Players and Fans should have transportation by 6:00 pm after a game.
• Players should have transportation by 5:15 pm after a practice.
This past month, the students worked on passing, setting and serving a volley-ball. After spending some time working on volleyball skills, the students were
placed on teams and participated in a volleyball tournament.
If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to email your child’s teacher:
Mr. Nugteren - [email protected] Mr. Sannes - [email protected] Mrs. Smith - [email protected]
G Y M
C L A S S E S
Siouxland Libraries is doing a reading program incorporating the
SD Teen Choice Awards titles from now until April 1, 2019. For each
book a teen reads, they can enter for one of 16 raffle
baskets. Pictures of the raffle baskets are here
https://siouxlandlib.readsquared.com/ProgramInfo.aspx?ID=46, and
they range in themes from Harry Potter to Fortnite to Table-Top
Games to Art.
It is open for all 6th - 12th graders who either live in the Siouxland Libraries
service area or have a card. For teens to participate, they just need to turn in a
completed bookmark to any of the library branches. Bookmarks are found at the
public libraries.
Middle School List
"Refugee" by Alan Gratz
"Restart" by Gordon Korman
"Scar Island" by Dan Gemeinhart
"Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus"
by Dusti Bowling
"Warcross" by Marie Lu
"All's Faire in Middle School" by Victoria
Jamieson
"Hunted" by Meagan Spooner
"Lone Stars" by Mike Lupica
"Mars One" by Jonathan Maberry
"Speed of Life" by Carol Weston
"Slider" by Pete Hautman
"Amina's Voice" by Hena Khan
High School List
"Aftermath" by Clara Kensie
"Eliza and Her Monsters" by Francesca Zappia
"Goodbye Days" by Jeff Zentner
"Orange" by Ichigo Takano
"This Is Our Story" by Ashley Elston
"A Hope More Powerful Than the Sea" by
Melissa Fleming
"One of Us Is Lying" by Karen M. McManus
"The Hate U Give" by Angie Thomas
"Scythe" by Neal Shusterman
"When Dimple Met Rishi" by Sandhya Menon
"Dallas" by Sam Moussavi
"Caraval" by Stephanie Garber
A huge shout
out and thank
you to Shirley
Wolles,
mother-in-law
of Mrs.
Wolles, our
librarian, for
the making
and donating
of this quilt
that is now
proudly hung
in the library.
Thank you!!!
GMMS MUSIC
Chorus: Mark your calendars for January 17th and 18th at 7:00 pm and come see our musical! We are putting on Through the Looking Glass, the story of Alice and her adventures in Wonderland. It is a truly funny show and our cast is working extremely hard to bring the story to life! Our cast for the musical is below: Alice: Lily Koch Troubadour/Humpty Dumpty: Tyson Anema White Queen: Kelsey Newell Red Queen: Samantha Anderson Daisy: Riley Fisher Tiger-Lily: Melita Portillo-Monge Rose: Kailey Richards Announcer: Madison Morgan Ump: Kendra Anderson Catcher: Caitlyn McKee Vendor: Vincent DelVecchio Tweedledum: Daisy Pascual Tweedledee: Sofia Leiss Train Conductor: Anna Wurtz Ticket Seller: Kiara Anderson White Knight: Aiden Schaefer Red Knight: Jorge Gonzales-Marin Emcee: Lily Perry Red Pawn: Kelsey Hybertson White Pawn: Chloe Maddy Chess Pieces: Gabi Becerra, Micke’L Johnson, Jesse FranciscoAndres, Ava Alexander, Lamoni Spencer, Shanelle Cross, Macie Haensel, Emily Boecker, Ester Ndayikeza, Valeria Sotelo
Music Staff
──── Band – Rick Jensen
──── Band – Marian Beck
──── Chorus - Barb Wasberg [email protected]
──── Chorus – Erin McFarland
──── Orchestra–Andrew Travers
MUSIC DEPT WEBSITE (click below!)
https://sites.google.com/site/
mcgovmus
Band: Congratulations band students on a great concert performance on December 17! We are very proud of their hard work and learning for the first semester. Thank you for attending our concert and supporting our band students. 7th and 8th grade band students are encouraged to participate in the Solo/Ensemble Contest held on Saturday, March 16 at Patrick Henry Middle School. We will begin choosing music soon so the students will have plenty of time to practice.
Orchestra: Congratulations to our 6th Grade Orchestra, Gryphon Ensemble, and our combined 7th & 8th Grade Orchestra performance on Thursday December 13th! The concert was well attended, and well played. Thank you very much to all of our students for showing up with your best selves! I felt under dressed in my tuxedo! I look forward to the new year with new music, and the creation of the GMMS Festival Orchestra (open to all grades) for performance at the MS Festival of Orchestras at Brandon Valley High School on March 7th, 2019. Look for more details after our Winter Break.
contact the counseling office Please call 367-4435
COUNSELORS’ CORNER
To contact the counseling office, please call 367-4435
Counselor Assignments:
6th Grade: Mr. Fisher
7th Grade: Last Name A-I: Mr. Fisher
Last Name J-Z: Mrs. Hawkins
8th Grade: Mrs. Hawkins
Kids’ Closet
At George McGovern Middle School we have a “Kids’ Closet”. In there we have winter coats,
hats, gloves and other articles of clothing. If your child needs winter clothing, please call the
counseling office or have him/her stop by the counseling office.
Important Dates for 8th Graders
Dec – Jan: Students will complete career related activities and begin to learn more
about high School during Pro-Time.
December 3, 2018: Open enrollment application submission begins.
December 20, 2018: Initial HS open enrollment decisions made by school district. For those
wanting to open enroll, please apply for open enrollment as soon as possible. Applications are
to be turned into the Instructional Planning Center. Open enrollment forms are available in the
Counselor’s office at George McGovern.
January 14, 2019: GMMS Counselors visit ELA classes to give Introduction to High School.
January 21, 2019: High School Counselors visit Science classes to work with students making
class choices.
January 28, 2019: GMMS Counselors visit Science classes to work with students finalizing class
choices.
January/February 2019: High Schools host information/registration meetings for parents and
students. (Please see below for High School Open House Information)
February 4, 2019: Online High School Registration with High School Counselors
Please contact your high school for additional information.
High School Open Houses
WHS: January 29, 2019 6:30-8:00 pm
February 2, 2019 9:00-11:00 am
RHS: January 31, 2019 6:30–8:00pm
February 2, 2019 9:30-11:00 am
LHS: January 5, 2019 9:00-10:30am
January 7, 2019 7:00-8:30 pm
NTH: January 24, 2019 6:00-7:00 pm
Therer will be a CTE Academy table with staff available on these evenings to answer any questions about CTE
Academy programs.
There will also be a CTE Academy open house on January 29th (4:00-7:00 p.m.) All parents and interested students are invited to attend. Please visit our CTE Academy website for more information about our programs. http://www.sf.k12.sd.us/schools/high-schools/career-and-technical-education-academy Information on Bullying Prevention……
The staff at George McGovern Middle School cares about the safety and well-being of our
students. We want to make sure our school is a safe and comfortable learning environment.
One of the ways we do this is through a program called the Olweus Bullying Prevention
Program. The Olweus program is one of the best-known bullying prevention programs and has
been proven to prevent or reduce bullying.
The goals of OBPP are to reduce bullying problems and prevent new bullying problems from
happening. The program also works to make relationships better among students. The
program is for all students, not just those who are being bullied or who are bullying others.
Parents and guardians play a key role in this program. Your child will be asked to tell an adult at
school and at home if he or she is bullied or sees bullying happening at school. It is very
important that you take any bullying seriously and tell our school staff. Our staff has been
trained to deal with bullying situations when we are told about them.
Bullying should not be seen as “kids being kids” or something that students just need to deal
with. Having a safe school experience is something that all students should be able to enjoy.
These are the anti-bullying rules at George McGovern. Please review them with your child.
We will not bully others.
We will try to help students who are bullied.
We will try to include students who are left out.
If we know that someone is being bullied, we will tell an adult at school and at home.
Our Bully Reporting Form is located on the George McGovern Blog Spot at: http://www.sfgmms.blogspot.com/
We take clothing orders at all times by emailing
order to: [email protected]
PTA MEETING WILL BE January 8, 2018, 6:30 pm
HyVee at 10th St. and Kiwanis Ave.
HyVee Market Grill 10th St. and Kiwanis Ave.
Join us at HyVee Market Grille
JOIN GEORGE MCGOVERN FACEBOOK PAGE:
George McGovern Middle School PTA
PTA Board 2018-19
President: Randi Baker
Vice President: tbd
Secretary: Lisa Teas
Treasurer: Nichole Schlueter
Items to be purchased for Christmas Gifts are:
Sweatshirts
Sweatpants
T Shirts (long and short sleeved)
Lanyards
Shorts
2018-2019 IEP INFORMATION SESSIONS
Session 1
Transition Between Levels
When your child is ready to transition to another level, you may
feel like you need more information. Come to this session to ask
questions and get some reassurance to ease your mind.
• Early Childhood to Kindergarten
• 5th grade to 6th grade
• 8th grade to 9th grade
Session 2
Guardianship for Youth Preparing to turn 18 years old
You’ve heard about it at IEP meetings and just when you thought
you had it all figured out, you start to try to make sense of what
guardianship really means as your child moves forward.
Session 3
Determining Eligibility for Special Education
It can be difficult to understand all the evaluation documents and
the “jargon” that goes with them. This session will answer your
questions and will help define what happens when there is a
dismissal or a change in related services your child receives.
────
Session 1
October 16, 2018
6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
At the Instructional
Planning Center
────
Session 2
January 15, 2019
6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
At the Instructional
Planning Center
────
Session 3
April 16, 2019
6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
At the Instructional
Planning Center
────
INSTRUCTIONAL
PLANNING CENTER
201 East 38th Street
Sioux Falls, SD 57105
605.367.7689
