Happy Friday to All of You!
Staff Appreciation Week
This week we made it a point to recognize and show our appreciation to the CV staff.
Leadership showered staff with goodies throughout the week and PTO organized a wonderful taco bar on Wednesday. Please join me in saying thank you to our staff for the work that they do in educating and caring for our kids. Thank you!
Wadayama
Our kids left for Wadayama, Japan on Wednesday and I am beginning to get progress reports on how the kids are doing. Thus far there have been no hiccups, and our kids have already impressed with their speeches. Mrs. Conley continues to update me and the parents with what is going on, and soon she will be sending us some pictures. Stay tuned for the pictures! We will make sure to put them on the website.
CV 5K
I want to thank once again the organizers of our first 5K event that took place last Saturday. We raised over $800.00 from the event with over 60 runners participating. I had a great time, although the kids did not listen to my stern warning to "not beat me." Obviously, I just need to get faster. Thanks again PTO and to everyone who took part to help raise money for our school.
Our PTO meeting has been rescheduled to next Thursday, May 16th at 6:30 PM.
Band Step Up Night is next Tuesday, May 14th, from 4-6 PM.
End of the Year Field Trips
In order to be eligible for the end of the year field trips, students must not receive any behavior referrals for the 4th quarter. 8th graders must also successfully complete their 8th grade project.
The annual 8th grade trip is to Camp Yamhill. 7th graders will be treated to a field trip off campus and our 6th graders will have field day.
8th Grade Showcase
On June 6th from 5:30-7:00 PM we will be holding our annual 8th grade showcase. 8th graders are beginning to work on their 8th grade projects. Their projects must include a visual display, a speech, and a written essay outlining the logistics of what they did, why they did it, and what they learned. Our 8th grade showcase is an opportunity for our kids to show off, so please plan on attending.
STEM Open House
We will be having a STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Math) open house for the community on June 6th from 4:00-5:30 PM within our new STEM classrooms. This is an opportunity for us to say thank you to the community for investing in STEM education. The open house will be an opportunity to learn about STEM, and to tour our new facilities. Afterwards we absolutely expect that you will all stay for our 8th grade showcase!
http://www.newberg.k12.or.us/district/see-our-new-classrooms
8th Grade Celebration Ceremony
The 8th grade celebration ceremony will be on the last day of school, June 13th, beginning at 8:30 AM. The celebration will be for 8th grade students and their families.
Presidential Awards
Please see the attached link regarding the criteria for Middle School 8th Grade Presidential Awards that are awarded at the 8th grade celebration. This criteria is also located in our student/parent handbook.
http://www.newberg.k12.or.us/chehalemvalley/criteria-presidential-princi...
State Testing
We will be doing Math re-takes next week and then finishing everyone else up the week after. We will be re-testing students through a pull out process and not necessarily by math teacher. Reading testing is almost complete and thus far the kids have done a great job.
Testing ends May 22nd.
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
Sex and Health education end today. Thank you to Luke Lindell, Kevin Brill, and Kelly Ceder for providing the instruction within these units and a thank you to the staff for the flexibility needed to complete these lessons. All the lessons were delivered in the library which generally meant that the library was closed for most of the day. Staff worked with these conditions although not ideal. Thank you!
Re-testing on OAKS
Students who have met/exceeded their state assessments must provide us with written permission from their parents in order to re-test. Some students may wish to re-test to better their score as we do placements based in some part on how students perform on standardized testing. I sent out the re-testing permission form in an earlier email.
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 and 5K T-shirts are still available
Some anti-bullying and 5 K shirts are still available! 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.
Important Transition Dates:
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
You can now "Like us" on Facebook.
Twitter
You can now follow us on Twitter: cvmsmiddleschool @cvmswolves
Upcoming
PTO May 16th-6:30 PM
Have a great weekend!
