Happy Friday to All of You!
Welcome back! I hope all of you had a restful and rejuvenating break with family and friends.
This was the first break in awhile where my family and I did not travel. My folks came to my home from California along with my sister and her family. It was a great time.
Upcoming:
-College Wednesday 1/15
-MLK day-No school 1/20
-College Wednesday 1/22
-Jazz band festival 1/25
-College Wednesday 1/29
-End of the semester/Activity Day 1/30
-8th grade parent night at the High school 1/30
January 23rd Meeting for Spanish Speaking Parents
In an attempt to improve our communication with our Spanish speaking families, we will be having a meeting on January 23rd at 6:30 PM in the library. We hope to have similar meetings on a monthly basis.
Winter Wonderland Dance
Our next dance will be our winter formal on January 17th from 7-9 PM. Students desiring to attend must meet the eligibility criteria of no missing re-takes, less than 4 unexcused absences this quarter and no behavior referrals.
No PTO Meeting this month
We will not be having our regular PTO meeting this month. Instead, we are encouraging 8th grade parents to attend the high school sessions for incoming freshmen which will take place on January 30th. More information will be sent out through us and through the high school as we get closer to the date.
Please see the attached link regarding PTO meeting minutes as well as future PTO agendas.
http://www.newberg.k12.or.us/chehalemvalley/chehalem-valley-middle-schoo...
CVMS Volunteer Opportunities
If you are interested in volunteering for CV contact our volunteer coordinator, Stephanie Carstensen, home 503-538-6102 or stephaniec@c-ware.com.
http://www.newberg.k12.or.us/chehalemvalley/chehalem-valley-middle-schoo...
Jazz Band Festival
Our Jazz band will be competing at a middle school Jazz Band Festival which will take place at North Albany Middle School next Saturday, January 25th.
End of the 1st semester
The end of our first semester is quickly approaching. The semester ends on January 30th which will also be our activity day for students with no missing test retakes, less than 4 unexcused absences, and no behavior referrals for the 2nd quarter.
Positive Behavior Referrals
Congratulations to the following students who have received PBRs this week:
Velasquez, Matthew
Masoudi, Heba
Binkerd, Carolyn
Sawyer, Noelle
Crow, Alexis
Test Re-takes
In the student handbook is our policy on test re-takes. This year we are requiring at least one re-take of all summative assessments if the student scores below a 70%. In order to re-take the assessment students must complete a re-take plan set forth by the teacher. Students are given two weeks to re-take an assessment, however, if the student doesn't re-take within two weeks then he/she is assigned mandatory HW club after school. It is very important that parents understand this policy and that we have your support. Not many schools require students to re-take assessments if they score poorly. In a nutshell, we want to re-enforce to the students the importance of effort and hard work, and that it is OK if at first you don't succeed. We are going to do everything we can to make sure your student leaves middle school on the path to high school graduation.
Student-Parent handbook
Please see the attached link: http://www.newberg.k12.or.us/chehalemvalley/chehalem-valley-parent-handbook
School Improvement Plan
If you are interested in reading about what our school improvements goals are as a school and the strategies we will utilized please feel free to peruse our school improvement plan for this year.
http://www.newberg.k12.or.us/chehalemvalley/school-improvement-plan-cvms
Homework Club
We are offering HW club to students every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 2:30-3:30 PM. We do have a late bus that will pick the kids up. The late bus does not go to the Ewing Young area. Throughout the year we encourage students to stay after school to work with their teacher or to receive assistance from Mrs. Blanchard and Mrs. Wolfe in HW club. Students will be required to attend HW club if they do not satisfactorily complete all of their test re-takes.
Behavior Incentive Criteria
In order to be eligible for our end of the quarter incentives and to receive the incentive sticker students must:
-Have zero behavior referrals in the quarter
-No more than three unexcused absences for the quarter
-No missing re-takes (summative assessments) in the quarter
Absences
Every year we see more absences for trips and personal vacations. Although I understand that vacations do happen during the year, we ask that if at all possible you look to schedule extended vacations during our regular school breaks. Students can always make up work, however it is difficult to replace the loss of instruction.
Please be cognizant that we are extremely vigilant in regards to attendance. The following is the list of reasons the state provides as excusable absences:
-Student illness
-Illness of an immediate family member
-Emergency
-Doctor/Dental Appointment
-Death of an immediate family member
-Court summons
-Satisfactory arrangements, made in advance with the school for other reasons
*Absences for reasons not noted on this list will be marked unexcused.
FAQ's about standards/proficiency based grading
As all of you know we are a standards/proficiency based grading school. To gain further information, I encourage all of you to read the material on the attached link if you haven't yet . The link includes FAQs about our new grading, a rationale, and a summary of our plan. This year we are in year two, and students will be required to re-take any summative assessment in which they score less than 70%. If you have further questions please do not hesitate to call the office. I would be happy to sit down with any one of you or to speak with you on the phone if you have questions.
http://www.newberg.k12.or.us/chehalemvalley/graduation-starts-today
Facebook
You can now "Like us" on Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/ChehalemValleyMS
Twitter
You can now follow us on Twitter: cvmsmiddleschool @cvmswolves
Have a great weekend! It will be a wet one.
