Chehalis Middle School Newsletter April/May 2015

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1 Chris Simpson, Principal Chehalis Middle School Newsletter April/May 2015 Rick Goble, Assistant Principal From the Principal CMS students will be participating in the state testing for the month of May. Students test on various days depending on subject and grade level. Check with your student as to their specific testing times. If at all possible, be sure to schedule appointments outside of your child s testing schedule. As we approach 4th quarter, 3rd quarter grade reports will be sent home on April 17th. Be on the lookout for end of year information on our website, social media pages and the June Newsletter. We are excited to offer our Summer Math Academy again for all next year s CMS students (for details, see pages 7 & 8). If your student is currently in the 8th grade, we will be sending information out for WFW s Summer Stem Camp. - Mr. Simpson From the Vice Principal As the year draws to a close, I would like to take this opportunity to thank our many volunteers for their dedication to CMS students. Our volunteers helped in many ways including chaperoning socials and field trips, as well as assisting with picture days, magazine sales, and various other special events at CMS. There are many end-of-the-year activities planned for CMS students. The 8 th grade celebration will be on May 15 th. We will be having and All-Star movie event during the last week of school for students on Honor Level 1 (no demerits for the year). On June 8 th, eighth grade students who are currently on Honor Level 1 or 2, and have never been on Honor Level 4 will be going to Wild Waves for a fun-filled day of waterslides and rides. The sixth and seventh grade students will be participating in their field day on June 8 th as well. Remember to check our website for event updates and you can follow us on or like us on Facebook. - Mr. Goble Chehalis Middle School 1

2 Upcoming Events April/May April 3rd End of Quarter April 6th 10th Spring Break April 6th 10th April 17th April 24th May 1st May 8th May 8th May 15th May 19th May 21st May 22nd May 25th May 26th Early 1 pm Grades are sent home Social 3:30 6:00 pm Early 1pm Mid-term Jazz Band to Bellevue Jazz Festival 8th Grade Celebration 7 10 pm Steel Drums Concert 7:00pm Commons Spring Band Concert 7:00 Gym 2nd Snow Make-up day or No School Memorial Day No School Spring Choral Concert 7:00 REB Auditorium No School Attention Track Participants!!!! Track Practice begins April 20th! Make sure to get all of your paperwork in before the first practice. 6th graders can not participate in the meets, but may practice with the team, and will still need to pay the $20.00 sports fee. The ASB and transportation fees are waived for 6th graders. 6th graders must also complete the sports packet and have a current physical on-file in the office. To All CMS 8th Graders You re Invited!!! 8th Grade Celebration May 15th 7 10 pm Testing Dates Just a reminder testing will occur during the month of May. Please ensure your student has enough rest and a good breakfast in the morning. Also, attendance is very important. We want our students to have every opportunity to be successful. Commons It s a FUN night to celebrate YOU and the accomplishment of finishing middle school! This non-formal event is FREE and open to all 8th grade students of Chehalis Middle School only. Chehalis Middle School 2

3 Be in the Know... Be Prepared for Spring Testing As you may know, this spring we will test our 6 th -8 th grade students in Math and English-Language Arts using the new Smarter Balanced Test (sometimes called SBAC for Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium). This test was designed to give us important information about what our students know and are able to do, and in a way that is much more detailed than what the MSP or HSPE could do. Our 8 th grade students will still be tested on the MSP Science assessment. We will start this testing in May. The SBAC is a very different test from the previous MSP or HSPE in the following ways: It is a Computer Adaptive Test. This means that when a student gets a question wrong, the next question will be an easier one. If the student gets a question right, the next question will be a harder one. This makes the test shorter and more tailored to the student. The test measures the student s skills based on our new Washington State Learning Standards. These standards are more challenging, requiring students to think at a deeper level and explain their thinking. The end-of-year assessments also will provide families with a clear indication of how well their children are progressing toward mastering the academic knowledge and skills necessary for college and career readiness. These are all differences that your student will notice right away. But the most obvious change that parents and community members may notice about the SBAC is the scores, some of which will be announced as early as May. (Others may not be announced until late summer or early fall.) Because we are measuring students skills based on new standards, Washington State expects there may be fewer students who score at standard for the first couple of years. However, it is important to know that even though it will look like our scores are lower, in fact the scores from SBAC should not be compared with scores from MSP of HSPE. It s a bit like measuring one person s height and another person s weight to determine which one is bigger. They just aren t measuring the same things. It will take some time for our teachers and our students to adjust to our state s new assessment system. But once we get used to it, we anticipate that the information we get from SBAC can be used to help us make decisions that will benefit kids and prepare them for their future. Chehalis Middle School 3

4 Congratulations to Delanie Calkins! Delanie was selected to be a Page for the House Of Representatives, 20th District Representative, Richard DeBolt. Get YOUR PARENT BULLETIN ONLINE The Parent Bulletin is available online at If you would still prefer to receive your Parent Bulletin in the mail, please call 807- Follow us on 7230, to request a home delivery. ATTENTION 7TH GRADERS!!! We are looking for 7th graders to be WEB leaders next year. What is WEB? WEB stands for Where Everyone Belongs. It is an opportunity for incoming 6th graders to connect with 8th graders next school year. You will have fun giving tours of the school and showing 6th graders how awesome it is to be a CMS Wildcat!!! Applications are available from your counselor and due back by April 24th. Looking for that perfect new job, that pays well? Evenings, weekends, holidays, spring and winter breaks off as well as the entire summer? Then you are invited to join a top notch group of professionals as a School Bus Driver. Paid training usually takes about 25 to 30 hours after which you could drive for the Chehalis or Centralia School Districts. Starting wage is $15.75 per hour. Once you have gotten a route, you become eligible for benefits including the State Retirement System, Medical, Dental and Vision insurances. You will need to have a "good" driving record, not perfect but good. You must pass the district's state and federal background checks as well as a pre-employment drug and alcohol testing screening. The most important qualification is a love for working with school age kids. We can teach anyone to drive a school bus, that's the easy part. For more information please contact the Centralia/Chehalis Pupil Transportation Cooperative at (360) or ddunham@centralia.wednet.edu Chehalis Middle School 4

5 CMS Music Upcoming Events: May 8th Jazz Band to Bellevue Jazz Festival May 21st Spring Band 7pm in Gym May 19th Steel Band 7pm in Commons May 26th Spring Choral 7pm in REB Auditorium W.F. West High School Suggested 4-Year Plan for College & Honors Track Music Students Two semesters of PE can be waived with two sports seasons in grades All zero periods are left open. Some classes can be taken at this time to free up the day. If you remain in music for all four years of HS, your senior year classes may be counted as Occupational Education Credits. COLLEGE PREP TRACK HONORS TRACK Grade 9 Grade English 1 English 1 Adv. English 1 Adv. English 2 Math 2 Math 2 Math 2 Math 3 Science 3 Science 3 Science 3 Science 4 Health 4 PE 4 Health 4 PE 5 Bnd/Chr/Orch 5 Bnd/Chr/Orch 5Bnd/Chr/Orch 5 Bnd/Chr/Orch F. Arts F. Arts F. Arts F. Arts 6World Language 6 World Language 6 World Language 6 World Language Grade 10 Grade English 1 English 1 Adv. English 1 Adv. English 2 Math 2 Math 2 Math 2 Math 3 Science 3 Science 3 Science 3 Science 4 Global Studies 4 Global Studies 4 AP Global Studies 4 AP Global Studies 5 Bnd/Chr/Orch 5 Bnd/Chr/Orch 5Bnd/Chr/Orch 5 Bnd/Chr/Orch 6World Language 6 World Language 6 World Language 6 World Language Grade 11 Grade English 1 English 1 Adv. /AP English 1 Adv. /AP English 2 US History 2 US History 2 AP US History 2 AP US History 3 Math 3 Math 3 Adv. Alg/Pre Cal 3 Adv. Alg/Pre Cal 4 Bnd/Chr/Orch 4 Bnd/Chr/Orch 4 Bnd/Chr/Orch 4 Bnd/Chr/Orch 5 World Language 5 World Language 5 World Language 5 World Language 6 Science 6 Science 6 Science 6 Science Grade 12 Grade Current Issues 1 Senior Soc. Studies 1 Current Issues 1 Senior Soc. Studies 2 Bnd/Chr/Orch 2 Bnd/Chr/Orch 2 Bnd/Chr/Orch 2 Bnd/Chr/Orch Occ Ed Occ Ed Occ Ed Occ Ed 3 English 3 English 3 AP English 3 AP English 4 Math 4 Math 4 Phy or Mole Gen 4 Phy or Mole Gen 5 Science 5 Science 5 Science 5 Science 6 PE 6 PE 6 PE 6 PE Chehalis Middle School 5

6 Life at CMS CMS Staff Chehalis Middle School 6

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9 Chehalis Middle School Library News Library Hours: 8:00 AM to 3:05 PM Monday thru Friday Check Out the exciting things that are happening in the library. A BIG THANK YOU!!! Our Spring Book Fair was a HUGE success!!! Thank you to all the students and parents who purchased items to help support our school! Reading and How to Love it! Getting your student to read can be a challenge, especially if the student doesn t like books. In order for a student to successfully navigate the upcoming tests, high school and college courses, there needs to be the ability to read and understand the text. Reading is important! Here are some suggestions to help your student cultivate a love for reading. If your student doesn t like to read, start with the types of books that are similar to the types of movies they like to watch. Start with a book that is has been made into a movie. Read the book as a family, then watch the movie. Provide opportunities to read. As a family, each pick out a book and have a time where you all sit and read. Middle schoolers are still learning by example. If they see you read, they ll be more apt to read. Start a book club with your child and their friends. Reading as a group provides a great dynamic in the fact that different people can read the same thing, yet get something different out of it. A book club also creates an environment of discussion that allows students to share their thoughts and understanding of a passage in a book. We have some great books that would work wonderfully as a book club book. Check out the Scholastic Website for ideas as well. If you would like suggestions on books for middle schoolers, please feel free to contact Mrs. Walters (awalters@chehalisschools.org) or Mrs. Jones (sjones2@chehalisschools.org)in the CMS Library. Chehalis Middle School 9

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12 This May, W.F. West Theatre and Music come together once again to combine the talents of our students to present the ghoulishly-spirited musical The Addams Family. Gomez, Morticia, Fester, Grandma, Wednesday, Pugsley and Lurch have gathered in the family graveyard to celebrate life and death in a yearly ritual to connect with their past and ensure their future. But this year, a secret is revealed Wednesday has found love, but she makes Gomez promise not to tell Morticia about the engagement yet. Being in love has changed Wednesday. She refuses to torture her brother and instead sings about all things bright and beautiful. Wednesday begs her family to act as normal as possible when Lucas and his parents come for dinner. Pugsley, worried that he has lost his sister forever, plots to break up the happy couple. During dinner, Wednesday is about to announce her engagement, but Gomez reminds her that before anything else, it is time for the traditional Addams family game full disclosure during which everyone reveals something they have never told anyone. Wednesday blurts out the news that she is getting married! Not having received her family s blessing, Wednesday is furious. Gomez realizes the thing he was most resistant to his baby girl's growing up is inevitable. He sees that she is a young woman in love, and that makes him happy, and a tiny bit sad. Wednesday offers Lucas one test to prove his love for her. He is afraid of death, but even more afraid of losing her forever. He chooses the possibility of death over the unthinkable living without her for the rest of his life. Morticia, unable to live with Gomez keeping secrets form her, packs a bag and is ready to leave. Gomez professes his unending love for her, as he first did one night many years before, with the promise to laugh, cry and dance for all eternity, and Morticia cannot resist. As the curtain closes, we all come to learn that the unknown may be frightening, but if we move toward the darkness, we will find love. The Addams Family performs in the W.F. West Theatre at W.F. West High School on: Thursday, May 7 th at 7:30 p.m. Friday, May 8 th at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, May 9 th at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, May 14 th at 7:30 p.m. Friday, May 15 th at 7:30 p.m. Seats ($8.00) will be on sale in the high school A.S.B. office beginning April 1 st and, if not sold out, at the door before each performance. For any additional information please call Thank you for your continued support of the W.F. West Theatre and Music programs. Sincerely, Brian Adams Director of Theatre Chehalis Middle School 12