Assessment Update

This year, we have many shifts in the assessments that will be administered for students. Because of this, I wanted to make sure to communicate to you what your child will be assessed on throughout the year. If you have any questions regarding any of the below assessments please do not hesitate to contact me.

7^th grade MiPHY (Michigan Profile for Healthy Youth)

This is a research survey that asks about health behaviors for 7^th, 9^th, and 11^th grade students. If you have a 7^th grade student, a letter will be included in this envelope covering all details about the MiPHY. Student privacy is a key part of this survey. It is completely anonymous, and used to simply look at a range of health risk behaviors and attitudes that as a district and county we need to be aware of when it comes to our students. 7^th grade students will be taking the MiPHY on December 9^th in Mr. Kevin Townsend’s Health class.

8^th grade PSAT

Last year, the state of Michigan made a significant shift in testing when they adopted the new Redesigned SAT as the college and career readiness tool to be used for students. This test replaces the ACT that has been taken in previous years. To help students prepare for the shift, Michigan is offering schools the option to take the Redesigned PSAT in 8^th, 9^th, and 10^th grade. Freeland Middle School 8^th grade students will be taking the redesigned PSAT on December 9^th. There are many tools available to your child when it comes to practicing for this new test. Please visit the website below for more details on how to support your child as this testing transition takes place for students in Michigan.

https://collegereadiness.collegeboard.org/state-partnerships/michigan

M-Step

During the 2014-2015 school year, Freeland Middle School successfully tested all students on the new state test, the M-Step. Tests were administered online in the spring of 2015. The state of Michigan has communicated with schools that individual student test results will be made available to students and parents sometime in the near future. Further communication for the distribution of these individual test scores will be communicated to you as we gather more information from the state.

This year, the M-Step testing will take place for 8^th grade students between April 11^th-April 29^th. 7^th grade testing will be between May 9^th-May 27^th. The testing cycle is three weeks long for each grade level; however, your child will not be testing during the entire three weeks. Last year, we were able to create a schedule where students only tested for 2.5 days, and then were able to resume classes as normal. Please plan on making attendance a priority for your child during the testing period. A testing schedule will be sent out to you in the spring. The M-Step test this year will cover Math and English/Language Arts for both 7^th and 8^th grade students, and will test 7^th grade Science, and 8^th grade Social Studies. State test results for the 2014-2015 school year have been released, and can be accessed at the link below if you are interested in how the state performed on the M-Step.

http://www.michigan.gov/mde/0,4615,7-140--368037--,00.html 

2nd marking period starts off with a... pie.

This Friday, we had our first SOAR assembly to celebrate student's who showed positive and respectful attitudes first marking period, as well as maintained good academic standing. The 7th and 8th grade teachers selected several students to recognize at this assembly, and the student council executive board planned many fun games to celebrate the end of a very successful first marking period. The best part of the assembly was the continued tradition of incorporating PIE! A special thanks to Ms. Heckman for participating in the pie contest to find the hidden gummy worm in the mud pie!

Students also had a make up decorating contest that was a huge hit, and had the audience laughing a ton!

The best part of the SOAR assemblies is always celebrating the students in 7th and 8th grade who are showing great leadership in the building. Below are the 1st marking period SOAR recipients. Each recipient received a certificate, recognition in front of the entire school, and a choice prize to celebrate their success. Thank you for all you do middle school student leaders!

This marking period the focus was all about RESPECT. In every class students learned about how to show respect. For second marking period, students will be learning about HELPFULNESS. The focus will be on how to help others, how to ask for help, and how to be a helpful person. The key question we will be asking students is, "How have you helped today?". All homeroom activities, pep assemblies, and positive incentives will revolve around being helpful.

2nd Marking Period General Announcements

• Thursday, November 19th - 7th Grade Vision Screening
• Monday, November 23rd - 7th Grade Holocaust Trip
• Tuesday, November 24th - Helpfulness Homeroom
• November 25th-27th - No School: HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
• Tuesday, December 8th - PTO Meeting 7:00pm in the high school office (CIC room)
• Wednesday, December 9th - 7th grade MiPHY test administration
• Wednesday, December 9th - 8th grade PSAT test administration 
• December 24th-January 1st - No School for winter break

1st marking period recap

What a marking period! Our students were very busy here at the middle school. Here is a picture recap of some of what we did this marking period to celebrate students in all different ways!

Exploratory Rotations
Our students have just finished up, or are finishing up their first round of exploratory rotations. Students explore lots of different topics in these classes, and through these classes, they are able to see what areas are of high interest to them, and what areas are not something they are interested in.

Homecoming Parade

On top of a great week of homecoming celebrations, we also had several middle school students who were in a float for homecoming. We had great representation from our teachers, middle school pom team, and football team! Many other groups were also represented from the middle school during the homecoming parade.

Donkey Basketball

Mrs. Hannon as well as tons of student and parent volunteers had a very successful Donkey Basketball event to raise money for the Travel Club's Washington D.C. trip in April. There were over 1,000 people who attended this event. A HUGE thank you goes out to all of the parents and volunteers who made this event happen. Without you, Donkey Basketball would not have been nearly as successful. 

Optimist Club

This year we had two 8th grade students who were chosen for our Optimist Club recognition. These students represent eternal optimism at Freeland Middle School, and are also leaders in multiple areas in the school. Thank you to Madelyn Snider and Austyn Smith for representing Freeland Middle School well this year, and keep up the hard work as you continue to be optimistic and shine as a leader in the Freeland community.

Thank you to all the students, teachers, parents, and other community and staff members for making first marking period a HUGE success!