The Ranger Report Raymond Park Middle School 8575 E. Raymond Street Indianapolis, IN Phone (317) fax Principal John Kleine

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1 Academically Directed, Community Connected The Ranger Report Raymond Park Middle School 8575 E. Raymond Street Indianapolis, IN Phone (317) fax Principal John Kleine The Future Starts Here February 2016 Vol. 21 Issue 6 Important Dates to Remember: February: Black History Month Feb 3: PTSA Skating Roller Cave - 6:00-7:59 PM Feb 10: Late Start 8:30 AM - Breakfast will not be served for MS students Feb 11: 8th Gr. Parent WPAC - 6 PM Feb 11: WCHS & WCC PM Feb 12: Valentine s Day Dance - 3:00 PM Feb 15: President s Day No school Feb 24: Orchestra Boosters Meeting - 6:00 PM in the Orchestra Room Feb 29 Mar 4: I-STEP Testing Week From the nurse: The Marion County Health Department will be conducting hearing and vision screenings for Middle school students in the middle of February. Hearing screening is for all 7th graders as well as any 8th graders who may be new to the district. Vision screening is for all 8th graders and any 7th graders who may be new to the district. If you do not wish for your child to be screened Please send a note in writing to the nurses office at school or call the nurse at Please call with any questions or concerns. Healthy Eating at RPMS The breakfast and lunch prices are as follows: Breakfast $1.45, Reduced.30 Lunch $2.10, $2.65, $2.90, and $3.35, Reduced.40 Please visit our web-site for the menu; lunch/ From the Assistant Principal s Desk Beat The Bully Blues Bullying happens at all grade levels, so be proactive. Kids need to know that their parents are on their side. Simply saying, "You can talk to me if you ever feel bullied and we can work it out together," can make the difference between a child speaking up or suffering in silence. Tell kids it's OK to walk away from a bully and report aggressive behavior. The best strategy is to build a wall of positive beliefs against people who say negative things. For example, if your child is crying because a bully called him or her stupid, bring up all the things she is good at. If your child tells you they are being bullied at school, please encourage them to report the incident to a school official right away. Bullying dose not get better if it goes unreported. The I Love to Read Challenge continues until Monday February 29, You can get a form from Mrs. Carson in the Mediaplex. Please ask if you have any questions. Warren Township and Raymond Park Middle School are GOING RED on Friday, February 5th in support of the American Heart Association! Staff and students that made a donation of $5 or $10 will be able to wear sweats to school, along with a RED shirt to support research about heart defects and heart disease! Thank you to all RPMS staff and students that have donated and participated!!!

2 Counselor s Corner February 2016 Mrs. Hankley, ext thankley@warren.k12.in.us Attention 8 th grade parents, scheduling for high school is underway. The high school counselors met with 8th graders at RPMS on January 15th and started the scheduling process. I will be meeting with them all individually over the next couple weeks to complete scheduling paperwork at which time your student will bring home a green sheet for your signature. On February 11th - 6:00 PM at WCHS in the Performing Arts Center there will be a Parent Meeting. Also on the 11th from 6:00-8:00 is the WCHS and WCC Open House. I highly recommend attending the parent meeting and the open house. This is a great time and opportunity not only to get information and ask questions but it s a good time to walk around and see what WCHS and Walker Career Center look like and have to offer. So mark this event on your calendar. Important information for 7 th and 8 th grade parents: There is a great opportunity for your child to have help in paying for college. Indiana s 21 st Century Scholars Program offers income-eligible students up to 4 years of paid tuition at an eligible Indiana college or university upon graduation from high school. In order to take advantage of this great program, an application must be completed by June 30 th of your students, 8 th grade year. You can apply online at Scholars.IN.gov or complete an application and return it to Mrs. Hankley at RPMS. Please feel free to contact Mrs. Hankley with any questions. RPMS Yearbook News!!! Got Pictures to Share? Want to see pictures of you and your Raymond Park friends in this year's RPMS Yearbook? Members of our school community can upload images for consideration in the Raymond Park Middle School yearbook! They can upload images at community.lifetouch.com using the Community Image Upload Site Access Code: KMPZZX All appropriate images containing students from RPMS will be considered for a spot in the yearbook. WE NEED FALL SPORTS PICTURES! Please send in any shots you may have taken during your child's sporting event, especially fall sports! Hurry, deadline for all photo submissions is February Yearbook Sales Event! February 15 March 11, Students can purchase at lunch or online. Order forms will be sent home on Friday, February 5. See the flyer for options! Valentine s Dance Friday, February 12, :00 5:00 PM Tickets - $5.00 each Pictures available for $1.00 each Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology Homework Hotline ASK-ROSE ( ) Sunday-Thursday nights from 7-10:00 p.m. EST Over 70 Rose-Hulman students are trained and ready to assist your students with math and science homework help. Important Information The school day is from 7:30 a.m. until 2:50 p.m. Students are tardy if they are not in the classroom by the 7:30 a.m. bell. (Students that are car-riders should arrive between 7:15 7:20 a.m.) Please call our main line at (press 1) prior to 8:00 a.m. to report a student absent or for an early release.

3 Principal s Message February 1, 2016 Dear Parent/Guardian: The month of February is devoted to the continuation of learning of college career and readiness standards with a special emphasis on preparation for students to take the ISTEP+ test. The applied skills portion of Indiana State Testing for Educational Progress (ISTEP+) is scheduled to be taken by Raymond Park MS students during the week of February 29. No student can be expected to achieve at a rate higher than the learning that has occurred through this school year. However, every student should be academically equipped and motivated to achieve to his/her highest potential. The Raymond Park MS staff has put a plan in place to maximize achievement. The plan includes the following: Tutoring - February s tutoring focus will be on ISTEP skills with students that have demonstrated the greatest need. Test Talks. Teachers will continue to have individual test talks with students based on ISTEP data from previous years, and NWEA data that measures student strengths and weakness through the first ½ of the school year. The motivational nature of these talks is intended to insure that all students are focused on achievement to the highest potential. Universal Breakfast Proper nutrition yields peak performance RPMS is working to arrange for all students to have breakfast February 29 - March 4 to insure optimal focus on testing. Achieving to the highest potential is difficult for any student that is excessively absent, and peak performance on ISTEP+ relies on kids being present on test days. Please make sure to schedule/adjust appointments such that no school time is missed during the testing week of February 29. Samples of the new ISTEP+ assessment can be found at The month of February is also a busy month for school activities with plenty of opportunities for students to get involved: - The physical education department is organizing an American Heart Association fundraiser in recognition of February s designation as American Heart month. Friday, February 5, students will have the opportunity to wear sweats if they make a donation to this worthy cause. - The RPMS Student Council is assisting with a Valentine s Day Dance scheduled to occur after school on Friday, February 12. All MS students in good behavioral standing will have equal opportunity to make a reservation, but only the first 250 reservations can be accepted for this after-school event. Permission slips that include ticket costs will be well-communicated with students during the second week in February. - The PTSA is sponsoring a skating party at the Roller Cave on Wednesday, February 3, 6-8 PM. Admission is $5.00, and all RPMS students, families, and friends are invited to attend. - Boys basketball has come to an end, but wrestling, cheerleading, girls basketball, swimming, academic team, dance club, and Science Olympiad and more are all in full swing. (continued)

4 (continued) RPMS made a clarification of the school s standardized wear policy to students. Students were advised on Monday that headbands should be no more than 1 in width and should not cover ear holes. In short, the increasing size of headbands made the concealment of items that could threaten safety or distract learners (like earbuds) a reality. Related, RPMS is also asking that wireless headphones remain at home. Instances of students tuning into entertainment on their pocketed phone instead of the learning activity on their Chromebook is the motivation of this request. Teachers can monitor what wires are plugged into, but have difficulty monitoring what cannot be seen! In closing this February letter, I ask once again for your help in keeping our Ranger students focused on school during the days ahead. Adolescent attention spans may be influenced by the fatigue of cold temperatures, interruptions caused by winter weather, interactions with peers, the excitement of school activities, and/or even what was on TV last night (and let s be honest, almost anything can cause an adolescent to lose focus!). However, the education that students are getting today will lead to their success tomorrow and beyond that is where the real focus in school needs to be. Thank you for your help! Sincerely, John Kleine Principal

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