Middle School
Weekly Update
Week of April 2nd
01
Calendar
April 6: New York Maple Association trailer visit
April 7-16: Spring Break
Do you want to unsubscribe? email gbrisson@tburg.k12.ny.us
Office Updates
From Ms. Amodeo
On 3/28, the TCSD Board voted to amend this year’s school calendar due to so few snow days being used this winter. School will NOT be in session on Friday, 4/7, Thursday, 5/25, and Friday, 5/26.
Last week, all families should have received an email from Ms. Bell and Ms. Rapoza regarding state testing. Our ELA exams will be administered on April 19th and 20th, and our math exams take place on May 3rd and 4th. Our students are well-prepared for these tests and, at this point, are quite familiar with the online testing process. The results of these exams give us critical information regarding the effectiveness of our curriculum and instruction, and help us improve our teaching each year. If you have any questions regarding State testing, please don’t hesitate to contact me at: jamodeo@tburg.k12.ny.us
Save the Date/Volunteers Needed: We will hold our annual Service Day on Friday, June 2nd (rain date: June 16th). This is a great opportunity for our middle schoolers to help out the school and wider community! We are looking for parent volunteers to help us with planning and with the events on June 2nd. If you are interested, please contact Gail Brisson at gbrisson@tburg.k12.ny.us.
Please remind your student to check the lost and found outside the main office. We are overflowing once again. Anything left after April 6, 2023, will be donated to GoodWill.
School Nutrition
Though school meals are no longer subsidized for every student, free and reduced-priced meals are available to those who qualify. The application can be found HERE.
To add funds to your child’s school lunch account, you can use our online system at MySchoolBucks or you can send a check directly to the TCSD Food Service Department. Students may always pay cash if they choose to as well.
What’s for lunch? Check My School Menus
5th Grade
5th Grade Daily Planner (Please bookmark for your use)
ELA: This week students continued to learn about more influential women who have had an impact on the world we live in today. Ask your student about Florence Nightingale, Taylor Swift, & Ada Lovelace.
Math: Students spent the week finishing up module 4: multiplication and division of fractions. Students practiced these skills by answering and creating multi-step word problems and evaluating expressions with parentheses. Students will have their end of unit test on Tuesday, 4/4.
Band 5: Band 5/6 Lesson Schedule Link
6th Grade
6th grade planner (please bookmark this link)
Please remind students to bring a reusable water bottle to fill up at school. Students need pencils! Please send your student in with a few pencils! Healthy snacks are a great idea to send in with your student, they are growing at a rapid rate.
Social Studies: Students are finishing their unit on religions by writing a compare/contrast essay. They are picking two religions to write about. They are planning their writing next week. We have been practicing comparing contrasting sentences to help them get ready.
Math: Students are writing and solving one-step equations. We also introduced PEMDAS (order of operations) this week.
Science: This week our focus has been on how water gets into the air. Students participated in a couple different investigations and created a model of what is happening on the molecular level for water that is in or on the ground as a liquid to get into the air as water vapor. This is part of our larger investigation about how are hailstorms created. As our weather gets warmer - encourage your child to be on the lookout for cumulonimbus clouds forming.. Our trout continue to get big (one bigger than the others) as we get ready to release them later in the spring.
ELA: . Lately in class, your student has been reading and discussing the novel Flush. We had our first literature circle discussion (most students were prepared! Yay!) and we will have our second one on Tuesday. To be prepared for that, your student needs to finish the novel and complete the 4-3-2-1 discussion paper. If you could ask your student to show you their questions, that would be awesome, as we are really trying to encourage open-ended questions that will create interesting discussion. Lastly, we are continuing to read nonfiction texts about problems in the ocean and practicing making claims and supporting them with details. We are ready to start our independent research and craft our letters to law makers. Your students are working so hard!
Health: This will be our last week of 6th grade Health. Farm to School Teacher Mr. Paul Buck will join us for two days of interactive learning about ways we can engage the community via gardening, improve our connection to nature, and ultimately, improve our health. At the end of the week, students will learn about and practice some student success strategies beneficial to their experiences as future upper-level middle school students.
Band: Band 5/6 Lesson Schedule Link
7th Grade
7th Grade Digital Planner (Please bookmark this link.)
Science: Last week we completed the lab experiment on exercise and the amount of CO₂ exhaled . In our 4 days of school this week we will take a closer look at the structures and physiology of the digestive system. When we return from break, we will continue to learn about the digestive system by dissecting an earthworm.
ELA 7: We finished reading Ghost Boys, and we are writing an essay about how the main characters, Jerome and Sarah, learn to be compassionate.
Rattenborg’s Small Class ELA 7: We will be wrapping up our reading of Ghost Boys this week and writing our first essay.
Math: Students were finishing up their studies in percents and markups/markdowns/taxes this week in general math. Students in Pre-Algebra were finishing their unit in scientific notation and exponents as well. Either way, we will have a more summative assessment just before break! So, in advance of next week, Happy Easter and Chag Sameach to those celebrating, and have a restful and safe spring break! See you all in April for more math!
Social Studies: Students this week are discovering how the War of 1812 and Monroe Doctrine strengthened the U.S. as a world player. We are also considering the various perspectives on the War of 1812, including American, British, Canadian, and Native American. We will analyze political cartoons to see how the Monroe Doctrine influenced our role in the Western hemisphere and foreign policy for decades to come. Finally, students will begin to explore various inventions that changed the way we work, communicate, and travel in America’s first industrial revolution, also known as the Market Revolution.
Music: We have started our final project of the composition unit. Students have chosen YouTube clips and will be composing original soundtracks to go with their clips. We will be sharing the final products on the morning announcements.
7/8 Band: Early this week, an e-mail was shared with NYSSMA families outlining your student’s practice goals, as well as a timeline to help students stay on track learning their music. If you haven’t checked your e-mail- check it out!
Information was also e-mailed to all 7/8 Band families regarding weekly jazz jam sessions at the HS for students of all ages, parents, and community members. All are welcome! This is a fun, low stress way to have fun playing some jazz music!
8th Grade
Science 8: We have been studying potential and kinetic energy. Students learned about the impacts of mass and speed on kinetic energy in relation to different types of vehicles moving at different speeds.
Regents Earth Science: We have been studying meteorology and learning how to forecast weather. We will wrap up the unit with a final test on Thursday 4/6.
ELA 8: Last week, to accompany our reading of The King of Mulberry Street, students began to research the meaning and history behind their own names. If you haven’t already, be sure to discuss this current assignment (due Thurs. 03/30) to share any relevant details regarding student’s names. Most students have completed their Historic Women biography for our grade-level slideshow.
Social Studies: We revisit the topic of nativism as we talk about the 1920s, with a case study of the trial of Sacco & Vanzetti. Students will be applying this concept to some current events. Ms. Valletta visited classes to talk about the value of meta moments when in a challenging situation.
7/8 Band: Early this week, an e-mail was shared with NYSSMA families outlining your student’s practice goals, as well as a timeline to help students stay on track learning their music. If you haven’t checked your e-mail- check it out!
Information was also e-mailed to all 7/8 Band families regarding weekly jazz jam sessions at the HS for students of all ages, parents, and community members. All are welcome! This is a fun, low stress way to have fun playing some jazz music!
Washington, D.C. Trip: Things are starting to ramp up as we get closer to the trip. The trip has been approved by the Board, reservations have been made, deposits are paid and the t-shirt has been voted on. There will be a mandatory parent meeting the first week of May. We need a parent to attend this meeting because we will be presenting all the logistics, itinerary, expectations, and other important information. Parents should plan to attend with their child if at all possible so they can hear the same information. If you have any questions prior to the meeting please contact Bill Begeal at wbegeal@tburg.k12.ny.us
Clubs & Activities
Student Council
Our next meeting will be coming up soon , after school in room 306. Hope to see all interested students - we have a lot of things to plan.
Any student who needs to ride the late bus needs to fill out a late bus form by 1:30 on the day they want to ride. Contact advisors Bill Begeal or Nadine Salib to get signed up for the bus.
PTO
The May Day 5K & Fun Run is BACK! It is scheduled for Saturday June 3rd. We are looking for volunteers to help make this event a success. Please considering volunteering:
Please considering volunteering.
Follow us on Facebook to stay up to date with all of our events.
Yearbook
Our next meeting will be coming up soon from 2:45-3:30 in the media lab.
If your child attends a meeting and needs to ride a bus home they MUST complete the weekly google form emailed out by Ms. Magee, no later than noon of the meeting day.
Questions? Email Tammy Parker tparker@tburg.k12.ny.us or Lisa Magee lmagee@tburg.k12.ny.us
To order a yearbook go to www.YearbookOrderCenter.com and use the order number 18914
If you would like to submit pictures to possibly be used in our yearbook please go to http://www.hjeshare.com and enter the word “doig” in the school code box to upload from your computer or get the HJeshare App and upload right from your phone!
Community
Ulysses Rec Programs
Registration for SPRING YOUTH PROGRAMS is open. Below are the details for each of the spring programs.
Baseball/Softball/Tball programs:
- Kid Pitch baseball 5th/6th grade - practices/games M/W/F (combo of two of the days evenings) Games are played against surrounding towns, home games played at Trumansburg. Fee: $60.00
- Kid Pitch softball 4th/5th/6th grade - practices/games M/W. $60.00
- Softball clinic: Sessions are designed for players interested in softball, ages 8+. There will be a focus on fielding/hitting/throwing fundamentals, while also teaching and reinforcing the rules of the game. Program begins April 1st and runs from 11-1 pm on Saturdays through April 29th (no program on April 22nd). Fee: $25.00
Track Program:
- Tuesdays for grades 1st-6th; $40.00 - Four weeks, beginning May 2nd. Program runs from 6-7 pm at the HS track.
Tennis and Pickleball Program:
- Adult/Child pickleball - Saturday mornings beginning the end of April $35.00; program scheduled from 9:30-10:30 am at HS gym or courts (weather dependent). FULL
- Youth tennis for ages 9-13 - Saturday mornings beginning April 22nd $35.00; program scheduled from 11-12 at HS courts.
Building Contacts
Main Office: Brenda Everhart, 607-387-2825
Attendance: Lauren Conners, 607-387-7551, x1425
Nurse's Office: Julie Carpenter, jcarpenter@tburg.k12.ny.us (preferred) or 607-387-2827
Student Services Team: 607-387-7551 ext. 1449
Bryce DeSantis, School Psychologist
Lisa Magee, Administrative Assistant
Brian Cobb, LCSW, Social Worker
Claire Valletta, Guidance Counselor
IT Help: help@tburgschools.on.spiceworks.com or 607-288-2821 (Monday - Friday 8 am to 4pm)
Newsletter items/help/unsubscribe: Gail Brisson, gbrisson@tburg.k12.ny.us