Happy Friday to All of You!
Middle School Forecasting
Current 6th and 7th graders, if you have not turned in your forecasting sheet please do so ASAP.
Forecasting sheets were due to us on Thursday and we are still missing around 40. Let's get those in!
Root Beer Incentive
Today at lunch we had our 2nd mini-incentive for the quarter. Students with no missing work in at least 6 out of 7 classes were given root beer floats at lunch. Who wouldn't want a root beer float?
Spread the Word to End the Word-Make the Difference
Last week we engaged our students in a conversation around not using inappropriate words in referencing students with special needs. National Spread the Word to End the Word Day was on March 6th and the conversations took place during Wolf Reading. They were very powerful! On Tuesday we had an anti-bullying assembly and then followed it up with conversations within Wolf Reading on Wednesday. Again, the conversations were very powerful. As you can see, our focus this year from a behavior perspective is evident, and the product of these conversations are showing within our very positive school climate. It also doesn't hurt that we had these conversations before Spring Break when behavior always seems to ramp up.
CVMS 5K!
Please join us for our first ever CVMS 5K run/walk. If you register by April 15th you get a discount on registration and on a shirt. Thank you to our PTO for working diligently to organize the event. Please check out the link!
http://www.newberg.k12.or.us/chehalemvalley/run-wolves
State Testing
I will let you know what classes are testing the following week so you can re-enforce the importance of eating breakfast, and getting a good night's sleep beforehand. Attendance is obviously very important! The following teacher(s) will be testing their classes next week:
-Mrs. Plummer (7th Grade Reading)
-Mrs. King (English Language Performance Assessment-ELPA)
What Parents Can Do At Home
• Acknowledge test-taking anxiety as normal, but stay positive.
• Encourage your child to think positive thoughts like “I can do this!”
• Give compliments for effort: “I’m proud of how hard you have studied.”
• Go over the test-taking tips with your child.
• Adequate rest makes a difference! Make sure your child goes to bed at a reasonable
time; being active earlier in the day (not right before bed) can help kids get to sleep.
• Nutrition also influences how well children do on test; a good breakfast is important, but a large meal right before the test can be distracting.
• Your child should wear comfortable clothing for long test-taking periods.
• Help your child learn how to relax. Some find it helps to take a few deep breaths before starting the test; others like to imagine a peaceful place like the beach or park.
School Improvement Goals:Percentage of students we expect to have meet or exceed the state benchmark.
Reading: 6th grade-80%, 7th grade-84%, 8th grade-85%
Math: 6th grade-70%, 7th grade-75%, 8th grade-78%
Science: 8th grade-79%
Sex Education
House Bill 2509 requires age-appropriate comprehensive sex education to be taught starting in the 6th grade. We will begin Sex Education instruction with the 6th graders on Monday, April 1st. 6th grade letters and a one call was sent to all 6th grade families. We will be sending home the 7th grade letter the week we get back from Spring Break.
6th grade-April 1-10
7th grade-April 15-26
8th grade-April 29-May 10
We will be sending parent letters home with the 6th graders next week. We highly encourage all students to participate, however, parents can choose to opt their students out and we will provide an alternative assignment during this time.
Advanced Classes Criteria
-Students desiring to be placed in Advanced Core must meet the following criteria.
1) Exceeding Score on Oregon Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (OAKS)
2) Student grades reflective of student mastery of the content standards in Reading and Writing
3) Advanced score on Scholastic Reading Inventory (SRI)
4) Demonstrating above proficiency on writing work samples
*Note: Placement in Advanced Classes does not guarantee placement into future Advanced Classes if student does not meet above criteria every year.
-Students desiring to be placed in above grade level math classes must meet the following criteria
1) Exceeding score on Oregon Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (OAKS)
2) Student grades reflective of student mastery of the content standards in Math
Anti-bullying shirts
The anti-bullying shirts are in! Anyone can purchase these shirts. They are on sale for $10.00 or twenty-five Wolf Bucks. Please come to the main office if you would like to purchase a shirt.
Home stays for Wadayama
We are beginning the process of looking for home stays for visiting students from Wadayama. There has been a change with the dates in which they will be coming. Wadayama Junior High will be joining exchange programs with other schools from the surrounding towns within their area, thus they are wanting to visit us for only two days in August, which will be August 3rd and August 4th. It looks as if 10 students and 2 adults will be visiting. We realize that this is during the summer, but if you are interested please email Simone Conley at conleys@newberg.k12.or.us. She can fill you in on more of the details. Thank you!
Next Wadayama fundraisers:
Burgerville Night, 4 - 8 pm:
Tuesday, April 9
Important Transition Dates:
Early April: Mr. Hampton will visit 5th grade classrooms to explain the CVMS behavior incentive program.
Late May: 5th Graders tour CVMS and get locker partner forms.
August 22nd: 6th Grade Orientation, 9AM-12PM-5th graders come for tours, group building activities and a BBQ lunch.
September 3rd: First Day of School!
School Visitors
It is very important that you check into the office anytime you enter the school building. If you do not please be prepared to answer questions from staff regarding your reason for being in the building. Staff have been instructed to by hyper vigilant in regards to anyone on campus without a visitor's badge.
Working Hard is Important to Us!
We address lack of work completion as a behavior with minor incident reports (MIRs) and behavior referrals. Please check out the link regarding our MIR (Minor Incident Report) policy regarding homework completion.
http://www.newberg.k12.or.us/sites/default/files/fileattachments/mir_pol...
CVMS Volunteer Opportunities
If you are interested in volunteering for CV please click on the attached link or contact our volunteer coordinator, Stephanie Carstensen, home 503-538-6102 or stephaniec@c-ware.com. We have the following immediate volunteer needs:
Homework club help 2:30-3:30 PM (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday)
Read 180 Classes: Mrs. Brower is looking for parent volunteers to help within her classroom. Please contact Mrs. Brower if you are interested: browerc@newberg.k12.or.us
FAQ's about standards/proficiency based grading
As all of you know we are transitioning to standards/proficiency based grading. 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. 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
Student/Parent Handbook
In case you were wondering, our student/parent handbook is located on our website.
http://www.newberg.k12.or.us/chehalemvalley/chehalem-valley-parent-handbook
Chehalem Valley Middle School Improvement Plan
If you want to learn more about our school improvement goals and steps we will use to meet these goals please click on the link to our School Improvement Plan.
http://www.newberg.k12.or.us/chehalemvalley/chehalem-valley-school-goals
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.
Facebook
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Upcoming
State Testing Begins in Mrs. Plummer's and Mrs. King's classes-March 18th
PTO-March 21st
Spring Break-3/25-3/31
Have a great weekend!