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! 

Donkey Basketball!

Donkey Basketball Tickets are now for sale! Purchase your tickets today at Freeland State Bank, Pat's Food Center, Freeland Sports Zone, and during both the high school and middle school lunch. Tickets are also available through the Freeland Travel Club.

Watch this promotional video to find out more about what Donkey Basketball is!

Donkey Basketball Details

Date: November 4th

Time: Carnival 5:30pm; Basketball Game 6:30pm

Location: 

• Kids Carnival - High School Cafeteria
• Basketball Game - High School Gym

Price: 

• $6.00 in advance
• $8.00 at the door
• NO athletic passes

Coin Drive:
To raise money for the travel club, there is also a coin drive taking place. The purpose of this coin drive is to determine which principal at Freeland gets the privilege of being this year's pooper scooper at Donkey Basketball! Make sure to drop any extra change you have into a principals bin. Coin drive locations are wherever tickets are sold, all of the schools in Freeland, and various local businesses. 

Middle School Happenings...

There has been so much going on at the middle school that the blog has taken a back seat for the last week or two! Here at school, there are some general announcements that you will want to keep in mind, as well as some updates on what else is going on at FMS!

Announcements

• October 21st 7:00pm at the high school CIC room 
• PTO meeting 
• October 22nd at 7:00pm in the auditorium
• Middle School Band Concert
• October 29th-November 5th 
• Book Fair
• We are still in need of volunteers for the book fair! Contact our secretary, Kelly Hartwick, at hartwickk@freelandschools.net if interested.
• October 29th 2:30-4:30pm in the middle school gym
• School Dance!
• We need several volunteers for this school dance. Please email Ms. Hartwick if you are interested.
• November 5th
• Last day of Marking Period One
• Grades will be posted ELECTRONICALLY only for this progress report. No paper report cards will be sent home. Please contact Ms. Hartwick with questions.
• Grades will be posted on Skyward the week of November 9th. 
• November 12th 4:00-6:30pm
• Student Led Conferences

Travel Club Update

Our travel club has been doing a ton to fund raise for the spring Washington D.C. trip. Make sure to mark your calendars because on November 4th the travel club will be hosting a Donkey Basketball game in the high school gym. Please watch the announcements for more details. 

Also, the travel club recently had a car wash and raised a ton of money to support their spring trip! It was a beautiful day, and the students did a great job representing Freeland Middle School. 

Board Presentation Update

Mr. Schwedler will be bringing a group of 8th grade students to the next board meeting on October 28th to present work that they just completed in 8th grade US History on the First Amendment. Students went through a Project Based Learning experience, and will be presenting their learning to the board of education on the 28th.

Trimester End Date Reminder

For all students who are in an 8th grade 1st hour exploratory rotation, or 7th grade students in a 7th hour exploratory rotation this is a reminder that your child in this exploratory is on a trimester schedule instead of a quarter schedule. They will receive a progress report later than all of the other classes. The end date for the first trimester is Friday, December 4th. Expect trimester grades to be posted by Thursday, December 10th. 

Homecoming week!

What a great group of 7th and 8th grade students we have this year. They represented Freeland Middle School so well over the course of Homecoming Week. We had a spirit day every day and students were able to dress up as twins, western, camo, and even got the chance to wear their PJ's one day!

The greatest part about working in the middle school is that not only do our students get involved with our spirit weeks, so do our staff! 

Week Three Highlights

What a busy week at Freeland Middle School! Here are a few snapshots of what your students are doing this week.

Mrs. Hannon's 7th grade Eastern Hemisphere Class

In Mrs. Hannon's class this week students were practicing their geography skills. Students have been learning about how geographers see the world.  As part of their study, students discussed advantages and disadvantages of maps and globes.  They got first-hand experience in the difficulties of making a 3D object (a globe) into a 2D image (a map) and came up with strategies a cartographer might have to use to make a useful map.

Mrs. Gott's Life Skills Class

In Mrs. Gott's Life Skills class students are continue to work on their citizenship skills by getting involved in two school related events. First, students are helping to create a positive climate and culture at school during homecoming week by putting together a Spirit Week for the school, as well as decorating lockers to support all students in the school.

Secondly, they are working on how to be a part of a larger community by beginning a Box Tops campaign on Monday, October 5th. They will be collecting box tops for a week to support our PE department equipment purchases for this year. More information on this fundraiser will be found in future blog posts.

Student Council Vote on Friday

We had over 20 people run for student council positions this year! It was an incredible pool, with 14 students who ran for the Executive Board, and many more run for grade level representatives. This year, all students who run have the opportunity to be a part of the student council representatives so that we can get as many leaders as possible involved in our school! Students did a fantastic job on their speeches Friday, and voting took place Friday afternoon. Ballots have been counted, and the Executive Board for the middle school will be announced on Monday, September 28th!

Middle School Parent Math Presentation Update

Did you miss the middle school math parent meeting? If so, attached is the PowerPoint that we used during the presentation. Also, we are putting together a Question & Answer document right now for some of the most commonly asked questions we have gotten about our math curriculum, and the Michigan math standards. In the near future, this will be available on the blog, as well as under the "Curriculum" tab of the "Parents and Community" section of the district website.

Homecoming Spirit Week

Remember, next week is HOMECOMING WEEK! We will be having a spirit week for the week. Dress up days are the following:

• Monday - Pajama Day
• Tuesday - Twin Day
• Wednesday - Superhero Day
• Thursday - Western/Camo Day
• Friday - Falcon pride Day!

There will be a certificate for best dressed on each day. If your child is interested in the "best dressed" award for a specific day, they need to see Mrs. Gotts in room 80 before school on that day!