M-Step Spring 2017

M-Step Reminders

Below are several reminders for the M-Step Spring 2017 testing:

• Please make sure you are in attendance during testing times. Contact Mrs. Wulff if you will be absent at wulffr@freelandschools.net or 989-692-4032.
• Headphones are required for portions of the M-Step. Please bring your own headphones with you if you have them. 

M-Step Schedule

8th grade
April 12th

• English tests from 8:30-10:15am and 11:00-1:00pm

April 13th

• Social Studies tests from 8:30-10:15am

April 26th

• Math testing from 8:00-10:15am and 11:00-1:00pm

7th grade

May 3rd 

• English testing from 8:30-10:15am
• Science testing from 11:00-1:00pm

May 9th

• Math testing from 11:00-1:00pm

May 10th

• Math testing from 8:30-9:30am 

Important Documents

• Parent information sheet regarding assessments
• How to prepare your child for state assessments
• Parent MDE letter 2017

Celebrating the Arrival of Spring Break!

The middle school had a great and eventful last day before spring break.

We started the morning with a Pure Pro Wrestling tournament to encourage students to reach for their dreams, show integrity, and earn respect! This was an assembly to provide more information about our Pure Pro Wrestling tournament coming up on April 7th at 7:00pm in the high school gym. Tickets can be purchased in the middle and high school front offices for $10.00 a piece, or you can go online to purchase tickets and ticket packages at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/freeland-pure-pro-wrestling-event-tickets-31586677603. All ticket proceeds go towards purchasing more technology for our Freeland middle and high school students!

At lunch, students finished up their March Madness 3 on 3 tournament. The championship game consisted of two 8th grade teams. It was a close game, but The Average Joe's came out on top defeating The Burds 14-10. A huge shout out to Mrs. Gotts and Mr. Townsend for coordinating this tournament, and a big thank you to all student participants for this great event!

The Burds

Brendan Maly, Nolan VanLoo, Easton Armstrong (Not pictured: Kayla Irrer)

The Average Joe's

Breyden Vasold, Logan Kuhn, Ben Wellnitz (Not pictured: Joe Brewster)

Have a wonderful spring break Freeland Middle School students and parents! See you in a week!

General Spring Updates for Freeland Middle School

Pro Wrestling Event

The Freeland Parent Support Organization is hosting a Pure Pro Wrestling Event to raise money for technology purchases at the middle and high school on Friday, April 7^th at 7:00pm. Ticket prices start at $10.00 a ticket. To purchase your tickets for this event please go to this site: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/freeland-pure-pro-wrestling-event-tickets-31586677603 

M-Step

Our M-Step testing for 8^th grade students will begin on Wednesday, April 12^th. Students will test the full day on the 12^th, and will also test for partial days on Mary 13^th and May 26^th. It is very important that your child attend school on these days. Please email Mrs. Wulff if your child has to miss a test date for any reason. 7^th grade M-Step testing will begin on May 9^th.

End of Marking Period

The end of the marking period is on Thursday, April 13^th. We will not have school on Friday, April 14^th. 

Parent Teacher Conferences

Our final parent teacher conferences for the year will take place on April 20^th from 4:30-6:30pm. These will be student-led conferences focusing on transitioning to the next grade level. 

Field Trip – April 20^th

Our 8^th grade students will be attending a ½ day field trip on April 20^th to the Bay Arenac Career Center. While this is taking place, our 7^th grade students will be hosting a Career Fair in the middle school. We are looking forward to both events that will better prepare our middle school students to think about the choices that are out their for their careers!

PSAT 8/9 Information For Parents

Parents of 8th grade students below are some very important tutorials and announcements in regards to your child's PSAT 8/9 reports!

Did you know your child took the PSAT 8/9 in the Fall of 2016 this year as an initial way to prepare for the SAT they will take in their 11th grade year? The PSAT and ACT replaced the Explore ACT and ACT testing that Michigan use to use as their college readiness assessment. What we love about the PSAT is the fact that there are many ways for your child to prepare and practice for these high stakes college and career readiness assessments.

Mrs. Tomsich, our College and Career Advisor recently met with all 8th grade students to get them connected to their College Board account and their Khan Academy account which are both available for free to all students who have taken the PSAT or SAT. Students are able to utilize these reports and practice sites to help guide them throughout the next three years as they prepare for the SAT. Below is a short tutorial for all of you that provides a summary of what Mrs. Tomsich presented to our 8th grade students earlier this month.

PSAT - College Board and Khan Academy Tutorial 

Additionally, your child was given a paper copy of their reports during their PSAT session with Mrs. Tomsich. This paper report provides basic information on their readiness level for the PSAT and SAT assessments. All students will take the PSAT as an 8th, 9th, and 10th grade student to help be as prepared as possible for the SAT their 11th grade year.

If you are confused on how to read your child's paper or online report please use this document as a guide. It goes over the basics of how to read and analyze the report that the PSAT provides for each student who takes the PSAT.

We know navigating through these tests can be confusing, so feel free to contact us at any time.

• Mrs. Wulff - wulffr@freelandschools.net
• Mrs. Tomsich - tomsichl@freelandschools.net

Or contact our counselors at:

• Mrs. Townsend - townsendk@freelandschools.net
• Mrs. Essex  - essexh@freelandschools.net 

We hope that this provides you some good information as you continue to learn about the PSAT and SAT testing your child will take. In the next few years expect more tutorials and information to come out in regards to how you can continue to support your child as they practice for their SAT testing that will take place in 11th grade.

MathCounts Competition

We had a great Saturday at SVSU.  Freeland took 4th place out of 7 schools and we received a Team Trophy and a coaches plaque.  All students received certificates of participation.  The runner-up for Freeland Middle School was Connor Parker and the top Freeland Middle School student was Brandon Fritz.  The students who competed over the weekend were Brandon Fritz, Connor Parker, Lukas Johnson, Riley Newbold, Abby Johnson, Jocelyn Chislea, Ainsley Miller, Gerald Schalau, Garett Savage, and Hana Pan.  Some of the pictures were taken at SVSU's engineering lab, former Freeland High School student and graduate Keegan Reimus talked with us about the engineering opportunities at SVSU.  A couple of the pictures were taken after the competition when we received the trophies.

Freshman Orientation Night

Last night, our high school guidance counselors and high school administrator walked all of our 8th grade students and parents through what to expect in their Freshman year. Thank you to all who were able to attend the Freshman Orientation night last night. If you were unable to attend, the PowerPoint presentation from last night is attached to this blog post so that you can get all the information needed about Freshman year.

As always... if you have questions on anything regarding the Freshman transition feel free to contact me, or one of the high school administrators or counselors!

• Renee Wulff, Middle School Principal - wulffr@freelandschools.net
• Traci Smith, High School Principal - smitht@freelandschools.net
• Katie Townsend, High School Guidance Counselor - townsendk@freelandschools.net
• Heather Essex, High School Guidance Counselor - essexh@freelandschools.net 

Freshman Transition Night PowerPoint

FMS Celebrates During Michigan's Winter Wonderland!

It is that time of year when we are ALL ready to be done with the dreary, gray winter that Michigan loves to present us with in January and February. To power through this sometimes difficult time of the year we are doing a lot of celebrating, and engaging in some fun and exciting activities!

Special Olympics

Mrs. Child's room recently went to the 2017 Special Olympics. Students had an absolutely wonderful time engaging in a variety of outdoor winter activities at Apple Mountain. Thank you to Mrs. Childs, volunteers, and Apple Mountain for supporting our students with this incredible event.

Talent Show

A huge congratulations goes out to those students who participated in the talent show this year. We had some amazing groups and individuals participate in the show this year. From comedy acts to piano duets, to rock bands, and more, all students did an incredible job showcasing their talents during the 2017 Freeland Middle School talent show!

Geography Bee
We had eight students participate in our first ever Freeland Middle School Geography Bee recently. Congratulations to all students who participated, and to our middle school first place winner, Marcus Bader! Marcus went on to take the state level test to see if he will qualify for the state level Geography Bee in March.

MLK Youth Symposium

Several of our 8th grade students recently attended an MLK Youth Symposium with Mr. Schwedler to celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s legacy as a civil rights leader, change agent, and inspiration to this country. Max Lee did an excellent job representing Freeland Middle School as he spoke about his perspective on current political issues facing our country and world.


7th grade Team Project Based Learning Experience

Our 7th grade team is working through their second year of a team-wide project based learning experience. The focus this year is on investigating potential career pathways for our students. The students are in the midst of using our Career Cruising software to identify two career pathways that could be a good direction to go based on their personal interests. Students will continue their work by studying a specific career in their pathway, designing a presentation based on this career, writing and reflecting on this career, and then in April, we will host a Career Fair in which students will visit various classrooms where a representative from different careers will discuss their work with students. If you know of anyone who would be available and interested in sharing their career with our middle school students during our Career Fair please contact Mrs. Wulff at wulffr@freelandschools.net.

Honor Roll and Merit Roll at FMS

The results are in, and we have 244 students who have made the Honor or Merit Roll this year! Wow, this is incredible, and we are so proud of our students at Freeland Middle School. If your child made the Honor or Merit Roll for first semester, you will be receiving a letter in the mail inviting you to a ceremony in which we will honor these students. The ceremony will be Friday, February 17th at 1:40pm in the auditorium. Thank you to all of our FMS students for your hard work!