Happy Friday to all of you!
Parent Conferences
I want to thank all of you who came to conferences. As always for fall we had a very good turn out.
For me, it is always nice to see many of you and to catch up with what is going on in your lives outside of school. If you did not get an opportunity to visit with a teacher please do not be bashful and email them directly.
PTO provided dinner before conferences
I want to specifically thank our PTO for organizing a fabulous Italian themed dinner for the staff yesterday before conferences. The staff was treated to pasta of all shapes and sizes, salad, bread, soda and some dessert goodies. Thank you to Sandy Morales (Cameron Sutton's mom) for organizing the event. It was awesome!
Immunization Clinic
On Tuesday October 29th Newberg School District will be hosting an Immunization Clinic. Yamhill County will be at Edwards Elementary School cafeteria from 3-6pm. Please refer to the press release on the CVMS web page for more information.
http://www.newberg.k12.or.us/chehalemvalley/immunization-clinic-october-29-2013
Activity day next Friday and the end to the quarter
Next Friday is the end of the first quarter and will be our first activity day incentive. Students with no behavior referrals, no missing re-takes and less than 4 unexcused absences will be allowed to choose from an array of activities including a movie, wood burning, computer games, arts and crafts, duct tape, hang out room, and sprout ball. This year one of our students will also be teaching a Michael Jackson dance session. Pretty cool!
Halloween next Thursday
Halloween as you know is next Thursday. I wanted to make sure that the kids understand my expectations regarding this day during school. We do allow costumes during this day however we are very stringent on what is a suitable costume. All costumes are expected to be within dress code. We do not allow masks or face paint. We do not allow fake weapons of any kind. And of course, costumes must be of the appropriate length. In my five years, this day has been a fun day which is why we have continued to allow the kids to dress up. Please make sure that your student(s) are appropriately dressed before they come to school. Thank you!
Test Re-takes
In the Student Handbook you will find our policy on student 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.
Positive Behavior Referrals
Congratulations to the following students who have received PBRs this week:
Woolsey Ian
Rosetti Thomas
Cazares Maria
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
PTO
Please click on the following link regarding upcoming PTO meeting dates, agendas, and minutes.
http://www.newberg.k12.or.us/chehalemvalley/chehalem-valley-middle-schoo...
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
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...
Facebook
You can now "Like us" on Facebook. http://www.facebook.com/pages/Chehalem-Valley-Middle-School/432691263436339
Twitter
You can now follow us on Twitter: cvmsmiddleschool @cvmswolves
Upcoming:
End of the Quarter and Activity Day-11/1
Have a great weekend!
