January 31, 2014
Dear Parents and Guardians,
Welcome to a new year and a
new semester. Many students are
experiencing tremendous success while other students experience struggles. The challenge to the faculty and
administration is to find ways to engage both groups of students in the same
classroom. Memorial Middle School
continues to work to meet these challenges.
You may recall that our grade 6 and 7 students took the Terra Nova tests
and exceeded the national average in every category on every test. We recently received our ReadiStep test
results for Grade 8 students. The
ReadiStep Test is produced by the College Board, the same company that produces
the PSAT and the SAT. The ReadiStep test
is designed to track student’s progress toward the College Board’s Readiness Benchmarks. Almost 240,000 grade 8 students completed
this exam. Our Grade 8 students exceeded
the national average in every category on every test. Additionally, according to the College Board,
29% of students across the nation met their Readiness Benchmark. At Memorial Middle School, 42% of our
students met the Readiness Benchmark.
Yes, there is plenty of work to do and we will not be satisfied with
42%, but it is important to know that our students are challenged at a high
level and are meeting that challenge. Congratulations
to our students and their parents and caregivers!!
If your child is struggling,
consider trying some of the following interventions:
- Contact the teacher and schedule additional help or a parent-teacher meeting.
- Stay positive. This age is filled with rapid changes. For some students, grades will ebb and flow during middle school. Don’t give up!!
- Make sure your child is at school every day and arrives on time. I cannot sufficiently stress the importance of good attendance. When students are absent and tardy, they and their peers are affected by the interruptions the absence causes.
- Keep electronics out of your child’s bedroom at night.
- Provide a quiet place to do homework at the same time each evening. Homework and studying must be part of the daily routine.
- Monitor homework and other grades as well as attendance and conduct in Aspen (if you don’t know what Aspen is, please contact me or Mr. Kelley!) Do this with your child, not as a “gotcha.” Make it part of your homework routine.
- Encourage your child to read every day. Have every member of the home read quietly (or together if you have younger children).
- Study math facts (addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division). When students know their facts, they are more confident and successful in math and science. This can be easily done with free apps available on the iPad.
- Have your child get involved in an activity outside of school. Athletics, drama, scouts, church groups, and the YMCA are some of the options available. Connections are very important for students whether they are from the school, the community or outside organizations.
To engage students at Memorial, several events are planned in the next couple of weeks. First, We are completing the PTO sponsored Read-a-Thon. The last day of the Read-a-Thon is Sunday, February 2nd. Students should turn in their reading logs and any donations collected by Friday, February 7th. Winners and top prizes will be announced on Monday, February 10th. The Principal for the Day, Dodge ball, and reader's breakfast will take place on Friday, February 14th.
You will find two other
documents accompanying this letter. The
first item is your child’s report card.
Please review this carefully. If
you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact your
child’s teacher, our adjustment counselor, or the school administration. The second item is a letter from our nurse,
Ms. Striglio. Ms. Striglio also sponsors
the SADD organization at the high school.
SADD will be visiting all grade levels the week of February 10th. Please read the letter and contact Ms.
Striglio if you have any questions or concerns.
This mailing will be the last
time that report cards and progress notices will be mailed. We will be using the Aspen student database
to distribute report cards electronically.
If you do not have an Aspen username or password to monitor your child’s
homework, grades, attendance, and conduct, please contact Ms. Casey, Mr.
Kelley, or me and we will help you to get online with this tool.
The Box Top program is off to
a great start at Memorial. This is the
first time in recent history that we have pushed this program. We have already raised $100 with very little
effort. However, we only have about 25
students that are contributing regularly.
Remember that students are entered into a drawing for every 10 Box Tops
that they submit. If we could get 125
students contributing, we could raise over $1000 with very little effort. This money raised will be used to support
our Technology/Engineering program.
I look forward to the second
half of the year and working with students to learn and to grow. Every day in middle school brings new
experiences and I can honestly say that I believe that I learn just as much
from the students as they learn from school.
Have a great second semester and I look forward to seeing parents and
caregivers at conferences in March.
Thank you,
Anthony Hrivnak
Principal
