WOODLAND MIDDLE SCHOOL VOLUME 14 - ISSUE 02 NEWSLETTER OCTOBER 2014 FROM THE PRINCIPAL’S DESK The school year is off to a great start. If you have any concerns about your child’s progress in school or any concerns, please do not hesitate to call the office and schedule an individual parent-teacher conference. The weeks of October 20October 31 will be student-led conference weeks. All Woodland Middle School students will be presenting in a studentled conference format their current class progress as well as their goals for middle school. These conferences will be scheduled through your child and homeroom teacher. Please plan on attending these opportunities to touch base with your child’s teacher. It is an excellent opportunity. If you would like to schedule a conference with all of your child’s teachers, please call Joe Michaud, our building counselor, and he will arrange this. Dr. Cari Thomson, Principal Calendar of Events Students of the Month OCTOBER 2014 10/3 10/2110/31 10/23 10/27 10/2810/31 th 7 Grade: th 8 Grade: No School Fall Student Led Conferences Girls BB and Wrestling practices begin School Picture Retakes K-8 Early Release WMS WELCOMES NEW STAFF! We have welcomed several new staff members, three of which we would like to introduce in this newsletter: We are so excited that they have joined our amazing staff! Dr. Juliann McCarthy (School Psychologist) Dr. Juliann McCarthy comes to Woodland Middle School from a short retirement to work as a School Psychologist three days each week. Dr. McCarthy has worked in education for about 30 years, first as a High School English Teacher, then as a School Psychologist. She has also been a Program Administrator for a High School Alternative Program and her last full-time position before retirement was as a Director of Special Education and Gifted. Dr. McCarthy’s professional experience has taken her to a variety of locations including, Montana (where she was born and raised), Idaho, Washington, and Arizona. Dr. McCarthy and her husband returned to Washington State and took up residence in Woodland just over two years ago. She would like the students, staff, and community of Woodland to know how pleased she is to be living and working here. The students and staff of Woodland Middle School, especially, have impressed her with their friendliness and courtesy. Mr. DJ Malinowski (Paraeducator)- DJ moved here a little over three months ago and joins us all the way from Connecticut. He is married with three children. Currently he helps coach WHS Beaver football and loves it! He is a NY Giants fan. He has also recorded 4 albums, and played music semi-professionally for over 7 years. Ms. Katie Klaus (ELL Teacher)Katie Klaus is a native of the Northwest area. She graduated from Ridgefield High School, so yes she was a Spudder, but she is very happy to be in Beaver country now. She attended Brigham Young University where she earned a degree in History teaching and ESL. Ms. Klaus spent 18 months down in Texas and New Mexico volunteering and learning Spanish. She is very excited to begin her first year of teaching here in Woodland working with English language learners. The staff at Woodland Middle School believes     All students have the ability to learn and contribute positively to the learning environment. Student success is a partnership involving students, parents, staff, and community to promote students in becoming self-sustaining learners. Using data, educators will continually reflect on and improve instruction to implement best practices. Challenging curriculum will be developed collaboratively to meet standards while addressing students’ diverse needs. BE A PART OF HISTORY! Be forever a part of the new Woodland High School by purchasing a brick! Bricks can either be ordered or paid for online or you can use this link: http://www.woodlandschools.org/storage/file/111/WHS%20Brick%20 Fundraiser%20Flyer.pdf to print out a flyer and deliver to the high school. All bricks purchased will be part of the new stadium walkway. Money raised from brick sales will go toward installing an artificial turf field at the new Woodland High School. Order deadline is November 1st, 2014! Make a Difference Day National Day of Doing Good Date: Saturday October 25, 2014 Time: 9:00am to 1:00pm Sign up: In the library w/ Mrs. Sturdivan. Are you interested in making a difference in our community? Then come and join the city wide clean-up to promote community pride and youth awareness. Teams of adults and youngsters will perform identified service projects around the community. We are currently looking for projects and volunteers! SNOWFLAKE BAZAAR The WHS HOSA club will be organizing the Snowflake Bazaar this year. It will be held at Woodland Primary School from 10-4 on November 22nd. If you are interested in being a vendor, please email your contact information to [email protected] Dear Parents, Your student has an opportunity to receive tutoring this year in Math. Nathan Patterson, a senior at Woodland High School, is volunteering his time TuesdayThursday to help students with their Math homework. The tutoring goes on during lunch and advisory/homeroom. The lunch period is open to anyone in 7 th or 8th grade. Students may bring their lunch to eat in room 325 during tutoring. To receive tutoring in advisory, you must have your Math teacher’s recommendation. If you have any questions, please contact Mrs. Debower @ [email protected] The staff at Woodland Middle School believes     All students have the ability to learn and contribute positively to the learning environment. Student success is a partnership involving students, parents, staff, and community to promote students in becoming self-sustaining learners. Using data, educators will continually reflect on and improve instruction to implement best practices. Challenging curriculum will be developed collaboratively to meet standards while addressing students’ diverse needs. The Book Fair is Coming November 3rd - 7th ! Our annual fall book fair will be held in the WHS/WMS Library November 3rd through 7th. This is a great opportunity to purchase books for your child and yourself and support our school at the same time. Fifty percent of all sales come directly back to our school for the purchase of books for our library and classrooms. Cash, check, debit or credit welcome. For more information about the fair, go to http://bookfairs.scholastic.com/homepage/woodlandms or contact Candice Shepherd at [email protected] or (360) 841-2983. Can’t visit the fair? Now you can also purchase ONLINE from an expanded selection of titles (pre-K through adult) by going to the web address listed above and clicking on the “Shop Online” link. Earn Rewards for Reading! Each year the WHS/WMS Library features books that are currently nominated for, or have recently won, an award. This year, in an effort to encourage students to read these great titles, we have started a rewards program. Here is how it works: 1) Students obtain a Featured Book Rewards Card from their English teacher or the library. 2) Students read books off the Featured Book Rewards Card, take the AR test, and have their English teacher sign the rewards card indicating that they passed the test. 3) At the end of the quarter, students who have met the goal for that quarter receive a reward. The goal for 1st quarter is to read and pass the AR test for any two titles on the card. Each quarter the goal and reward will grow. At the end of the year students who have met the goal for all quarters will be invited to a party to celebrate their success. Participation in the program is optional. An annotated list of the current featured books can be found by clicking on the “14-15 Featured Books” link on the school library website at http://www.woodlandschools.org/node/117. If you need more information or have questions, please contact Candice Shepherd at [email protected] or (360) 841-2983. Counselor’s Corner Hello Woodland Middle School Parents. My name is Joe Michaud and this is my first year as the school counselor at Woodland Middle School. I have been a school counselor and teacher for the past fifteen years, most recently in Camas. Most of my professional career has been working in Middle School, and I’ve always enjoyed the challenge of helping students navigate their middle school years. Originally from Butte, Montana, my wife, two young children and I live in Ridgefield. In my spare time I enjoy fishing, golf, coaching my seven year old son in his various endeavors, and reading with my three year old daughter. My most recent challenge has been trying to figure out how to properly use my smoker to cook fish and meat. This semester I will be spending time in classrooms discussing with students the dangers of drugs, alcohol, and tobacco. I will also be covering topics such as bullying and digital citizenship. Please look for monthly updates from my office via this newsletter. I look forward to meeting all of you. Please stop by and say “hello” if you have a chance. I’ve always admired Woodland from afar; I am very excited to be a part of such an outstanding school and tremendous community. –Warmly, Joe The staff at Woodland Middle School believes     All students have the ability to learn and contribute positively to the learning environment. Student success is a partnership involving students, parents, staff, and community to promote students in becoming self-sustaining learners. Using data, educators will continually reflect on and improve instruction to implement best practices. Challenging curriculum will be developed collaboratively to meet standards while addressing students’ diverse needs.