Welcome to the 2016-2017 School Year

Welcome back to school students, parents, and the Freeland Community. We are so excited to start the 2016-2017 school year at Freeland Middle School! This year, our theme is GRIT. Each marking period we will focus in on a word that defines GRIT. We will be using the acronym GRIT to guide us through this year - GRIT stands for Growth, Resilience, Integrity, and Tenacity. We cannot wait to use these words to help us be successful at FMS this year!

There are some important dates coming up that you may want to be aware of:

• Monday, August 29th from 5:00-6:30pm is the middle school open house
• Tuesday, September 6th is the first day of school! School starts at 7:35am and ends at 2:23pm
• Friday, September 9th is picture day

Additionally, here are some athletic announcements:

• Cross country practice will start on Tuesday, September 6th at 2:30pm Meet right outside the middle school front doors if you are interested in cross country
• Volleyball practice (7th and 8th) will start on Tuesday, September 6th. 8th grade will practice from 2:45-4:15pm and 7th grade will practice from 4:30-6:00pm. Both practices will be held in the middle school gym

Wondering what to purchase for the school year? Attached is a welcome back packet that has open house information, a middle school checklist, and a supplies list that you can use to help you prepare for the school year. This packet will be sent home in the mail the week of August 9th.  Middle School Welcome Back Packet

Anxious about your schedule for the year? All schedules will be available electronically on Monday, August 22nd. Schedules will NOT be sent home in the mail. Simply go to your Skyward account and you will see your schedule for the year under the schedule tab. If you need a printed schedule we will have them available for you at the open house on August 29th, or you can come into the office anytime after August 22nd to pick up your schedule. 

STEM and Arts Night!

Last night the middle school had a fantastic STEM and Arts night in which students had a chance to showcase all the work they have done this year in STEM and Arts areas.

A big thank you goes out to Mrs. Klida for putting together an Art Wall showcasing all of the beautiful art that students did this year at the middle school.

Students began the night with a Choir concert. Mrs. Williamson conducted a beautiful concert that showcased many of the choir students' talents!

Additionally, Ms. Shea and her Gateway students showcased work they have been doing in both Design and Modeling, and Automation and Robotics this year. Students had a great time working with the 3D printer, and racing their engineered cars!

The 8th grade Science Fair was also going on during the STEM evening. In the cafeteria 150 science boards were set up to showcase all the work students had done on their Science Fair Projects. Ms. Heckman and her students have been working diligently on these science fair projects for several months now, and they were a huge success!

Finally, Mr. Shaw directed our Middle School Jazz Band, 6th, 7th, and 8th grade bands who had the chance to perform in the auditorium for a packed house! Tons of families from the community attended the event, and we are so thankful for the support for our band program. 

None of these events would have been possible without the teacher leaders who guided students throughout the year in the amazing STEM, Arts, and Musical Performance work that was done! Thank you teachers for your continued support and passion for our Middle School students!

2017 New York City Travel Club Trip

Freeland Middle School has a very exciting announcement to make regarding our travel club. Next year, for the 2016-17 school trip, Ms. Hannon will be taking up to 24 students to the Big Apple! The trip will be from April 26-May 1, 2017 (Walleye Weekend 2017). There will be an information meeting coming up on Tuesday, May 31 at 6:00pm for all students interested in attending this trip. The information meeting will be in Ms. Hannon's room (85). The enrollment deadline for the NYC trip is September 30, 2016.

Please use the link below to access all documents regarding the spring 2017 New York City trip! Email Ms. Hannon with questions at hannonm@freelandschools.net


Spring 2017 New York City Trip Information Folder

8th grade Career Center Field Trip

All 8th grade students recently went on a field trip to the Bay/Arenac Career Center. They had a great time exploring the different career pathways offered at the center, and each student was able to experience a variety of different educational and career options at the career center!

Freeland Middle School - Independent Bank Investing in Youth Contest VOTE NOW!!!

Freeland Middle School is competing with 67 other schools in Independent Bank's Investing in Youth Contest. Please consider going to the link below (every 24 hours) and voting for FMS. The $5000 award would be used to purchase needed choral risers and sheet music for our students in the new FMS Choir Program. Please support our students, our school, our vocal music program, and the Freeland community, by voting for FMS.

http://bit.ly/1VQgYOE

7th grade PBL Service Learning Project

Yesterday, our entire 7th grade team worked with Freeland Township members to help prepare for Walleye Festival this weekend. This project was done to be able to fund raise for their project based learning field trip to the Skyzone later this year. A huge thank you goes out to the 7th grade team for supporting the students in this project based learning experience. The students had a blast yesterday supporting their community!

Freeland Robotics Shape the Future Campaign

Our Middle School Robotics team needs your help to possibly win $5,000 for their team. Simply follow the Twitter or Facebook links below to vote for the Freeland Middle School Robotics team!

Facebook:  This is the direct link:    http://bit.ly/1VQMFHAVote NOW for our Freeland Robotics FTC Team #5386 video to help us win a $5,000 grant from @Dow365. Please VOTE and SHARE our video! Voting is open until end of day on April 24th. Remember you can vote once every 24 hours! 

#ShapeTheFuture #MoreThanRobots

Have you voted for Freeland Robotics FTC Team #5386 video in the #ShapeTheFuture Video Contest? It’s not too late! Voting is open until end of day on April 24th. Remember to vote once every 24 hours! #MoreThanRobots

Twitter

VOTE for our Video in the #ShapeTheFuture Contest & help us win a $5k grant from @Dow365! Vote every 24 hours.

My @FIRSTtweets team has entered the #ShapeTheFuture Video contest and we need your VOTE to help us win $5k.

VOTE every 24 hours to help my @FIRSTtweets team win a $5k grant from @Dow365 #ShapeTheFutureContest