Your Help is Needed This academic year we have seen a concerning increase in grades of insufficient work submitted (IWS), especially in the eighth grade. This is significant as this is the lowest grade on our district grading scale and represents that a student has not handed in any work to be graded. There are many reasons for this from a student needing more time to submit an assignment after an absence to a student ignoring multiple prompts from the teacher to get their work done.

Page 1 Volume 4 Issue 6 2/14/2020

Upcoming Events

2/14 - Read In # 6

2/15 - Saturday School (8:00 AM)

2/18 - Maker Club Meeting (2:30 PM - Mrs. Warren’s Classroom)

2/21 - Staff / Student Basketball Game

2/24 - 2/28 - Winter Break (No School)

2/24 - RMS Closed - No Access to Building

3/3 - Maker Club Meeting (2:30 PM - Mrs. Warren’s Classroom)

3/6 - Girls STEM Club (2:30 PM - Ms. Boyle’s Classroom)

3/9 - Dodgeball Tournament (2:30 PM - Gymnasium)

3/12 - Grades Close for Progress Report B2

3/13 - Term B UA Classes End

3/13 - Girls STEM Club (2:30 PM - Ms. Boyle’s Classroom)

3/16 - Term C UA Classes Begin

3/16 - 3/20 - Book Fair (Library)

3/17 - Maker Club Meeting (2:30 PM - Mrs. Warren’s Classroom)

3/18 - Early Release

WINTER BREAK February 24 - 28

1ATTENDANCE

Please ensure that your student is at school every day!

2LUNCH MONEY

Please ensure that your student’s lunch account

refreshed regularly

3

THE H WLER News from the Den of Rochester Middle School to Yours

3 THIN

GS TO

KNOW

I am writing to ask all families for your assistance in helping our school address this concerning academic behavior. Firstly, we ask that all families review your student’s progress report each time it is sent home. Grades can also be checked through the Infinite Campus parent portal that is available to each Rochester Middle School family. We ask through your review that you discuss with your student about their academic progress to that point in time. Grades below competent of Not Yet Competent (NYC) or IWS will require academic intervention with your student’s teacher and we ask that you work with your student to determine how they will get the assistance they need. Thirdly, we ask that you actively engage with your student to ensure that they are meeting the academic demands being placed upon them. Students are regularly receiving these messages at school and it is essential that they receive these same messages at home.

As a school, we are concerned about the number of students falling behind at this point of the year. In years past, familieshave helped engage their students in the need to pass their classes as the spring has dawned with summer school as a fallbackoption. As we look ahead this year, we may not have the capacity to address the number of students needing assistance if theywait leaving us to have to make some very difficult decisions in regards to promotion for the 2020 / 2021 school year. So, weneed your help in helping our students get more engaged with their studies. It is critical that schools and families partnertogether to ensure that our students succeed each and every day.

Infinite Campus Tutorials Checking Infinite Campus is the easiest way to stay connected with your student’s academic progress. Earlier in the year as a part of her graduate course work, Ms. Boyle had created some Infinite Campus tutorials for families to more effectively use it. The tutorials can be accessed at the following links:

Infinite Campus Tips Page - http://bit.ly/ICUserTips

Infinite Campus Web Based User Tutorial - http://bit.ly/RMSICWebUser

Infinite Campus App Tutorial - http://bit.ly/RMSICApp

Honeywell Instant Alert Reminder Honeywell Instant Alert is our district’s primary tool for critical family communication that we use for important messages such as school cancellation and delays. Given the importance of communication sent using this tool, I try to use it only when necessary to communicate important messages to families. I am recommending to all families to check their Instant Alert accounts in the near future. Unlike many electronic systems the Rochester Schools use, Honeywell is unique in that it requires you to maintain both your contact information as well as your contact preferences. Here are some brief tutorials on how to do this:

Register and create your account: Go to the Honeywell Instant Alert for Schools website, https://instantalert.honeywell.com/.If you are not a staff member in the school, click on 'New User' below the login boxes.If you are a staff member in the school, use the user ID and password given to you by the school.Complete the Student information form. (Fields marked with * are mandatory) Click 'Submit'.Complete the corresponding Parent information form. (Fields marked with * are mandatory) Click 'Submit'.After receiving the Confirmation message, click on Proceed to get started with Instant Alert.Note: Remember your Login Name and Password so you may use it to update your profile.

View and check details about yourself and your family members: Upon successful login, click on 'Account Details'.Click on 'Parent Profile' and then your name to view and edit details about yourself and your family members.Click on 'Student Profiles' to view details about your children enrolled in this school.

Configure alert settings for yourself:

Page 2 Volume 4 Issue 6 2/14/2020

THE ROCHESTER MIDDLE SCHOOL HOWLER 2/14/2020

Click on 'Alerts'. Click on 'Alert Configuration'.Click on the name of a contact from the list.Click on the tabs (Phone, Email, Text Messaging, and Pager) to view this person's contact device information.Enter contact device information within the gray box and click 'Add' to add more contact devices.Click on the check boxes in the appropriate column to select which alert type you would like to have sent to which device.Click on 'Save' when complete.Note: Phones only receive ‘School Closing’ Alerts.For e-mail, text messaging and pagers you may send yourself a test message. Click on 'Send Test Message' to check if theaddress has been entered correctly. Common cell phone text messaging addresses are located in the Help section - click on'Help' while on the' Text Messaging' screen. You can also contact your cell provider to receive your text messaging address.

Head Lice Reminder It’s every parent’s nightmare, but it is important to remember that head lice is a nuisance, not a serious disease or a sign of poor hygiene or cleanliness in the home or school. Regular observation by parents can also be an effective way to detect and quickly treat head lice.  A weekly check at home is recommended. We are not able to check whole classrooms/teams due to the sheer number of students in the school. Children should be taught not to share personal items such as combs, brushes & hats. It is recommended that if your student has long hair that it is tied back at home every day. If you need help with treatment plans please contact the nursing office at extension 4106, 4107, or 4108.

Academic Interventions It is essential that students are making adequate yearly progress in order for us to ensure that students are college and career ready by the time they graduate from high school. Middle School is a critical time for students to develop these important self-direction skills. We want to do everything we can as a school to help students to achieve this and we need our families support as well to encourage students to do their best and to take advantage of the many opportunities available to students to become competent or better in all of their classes. Being competent or better in all classes is required for athletic participation during all seasons.

It is essential that students be reminded to maximize their academic time each day. Often, we find students waiting for something to happen or for the teacher to make them do it. Please speak with your student about the proper use of their time each day. For students still requiring additional time and support, we have the following options available this winter:

Team Academic Support Boston College (6) - Boston College has set aside Tuesdays for our team support day.  Mr. Black takes appointments on other days of the week as well. Boston University (7) - Our official days are Monday (Kelley / Skafidas) and Tuesday (Costello / Buzzell). Teachers are flexible in cases where a student needs to stay on a Thursday, they will stay with advanced notice. Colby (6) - Monday – Ms. Woolley, Ms. Studer, Tuesday – Mr. Williams, Ms. Todd, Thursday – Mr. Williams, and Mr. Gray – By appt. or during lunch, Georgetown (7) - Science, Math, ELA, and Social Studies are Tuesday and Thursdays on team or by appointment as needed. We also offer working lunch. Hawaii (8) - Ms. Bratter stays most Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays. Other staff members are available with prior notice. Plymouth State University (8) - is available after school on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays. SNHU (6) - ALL SNHU teachers are available to stay on Thursdays from 2:30-3:30 with parent permission. Stanford (6) - Available by appointment only. We will send home forms to parents requesting their kids stay with us! Stanford (7) - Stanford 7 Teachers are available after school Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday by appointment. Stanford (8) - Science: Monday, English: Tuesday, History: Thursday, Math: by appointment. Teachers accept and encourage students to stay after they when they are able to; it doesn’t matter what subject they need to work on, they can stay and get help on anyone’s “day”. Texas (Multi) - Tuesday and Thursday 2:30-3:30 pm, UA (All) - Art - Tuesdays and Thursdays 2:30-3-30 pm, STEM - Tuesdays and Thursdays 2:30-3-30 pm, Digital Arts - Monday and Thurs 2:30 - 3:30 pm, and All Other Classes - By Appointment as Needed, University of New Hampshire (8) - Our after school hours are by appointment. We ask that students come at the beginning of the week and check in with us.  University of Vermont (Multi) - offers after school support on Tuesday and/or Thursday if a student sets it up with the teacher in advance. Villanova (7) - Muzzey – Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday, Smith – Monday, and Tuesday, and Margey, Woodman, Dangora – By appointment.

After School Homework Club After school homework club is another option for students to get assistance when their teachers are not able to stay after school. The club will run Monday through Thursday in the Library and it is open to any student wishing to participate.

Page 3 Volume 4 Issue 6 2/14/2020

Students are required to sign up in the Main Office each day in order to attend. This club is meant to serve as an adjunct to Team Academic Support listed above.

Saturday School We are offering the Saturday School academic intervention again this school year. The remaining Saturday School dates are on February 15, March 21, April 4, April 18, May 9, and May 30. Each Saturday School session will run from 8:00 AM through 12:00 PM. These sessions will focus on students with academic concerns with, but the sessions are available to all students. Our expectation will be that students will come knowing what they need to be working on with assistance being provided, where needed, by the available staff. I will be reaching out directly to families via phone, letter, and email to invite students with significant academic concerns to these sessions and to ensure that families clearly understand what our expectations for Saturday School will be.

A reminder to all families to make sure that your student is taking advantage of these opportunities weekly. They have been put into place to ensure that your student has every opportunity to succeed this school year. All of these opportunities are available at no cost to families including the late bus transportation. I would remind all families that Summer School courses are $50 per course per student, which makes these opportunities much more cost efficient for families.

Help Wanted Rochester Middle School is in real need of substitute teachers and paraprofessionals for the 2019 / 2020 school year. We are struggling to fill these essential positions in our school and we need your help. Having a fully staffed school each day allows us to maintain our strong instructional program while ensuring that our staff is able to attend valuable professional learning opportunities.

Both positions offer the opportunity for people to,• A great way to get experience for teachers new to the profession or returning to the profession.• Opportunity to experience multiple subjects at multiple grade levels.• Ability to build relationships with our awesome staff and students.• Excellent opportunity to gain priority in our hiring pool when we are looking for new teachers to join our awesome staff

To apply, please contact: Adam Houghton, PrincipalRochester Middle School47 Brock Street, Rochester, NH(603) 332-4090 / houghton.a@rochesterschools.com

Page 4 Volume 4 Issue 6 2/14/2020

Personalized Learning in the Rochester School Department

Page 5 Volume 4 Issue 6 2/14/2020