201605 MayJune Grizzly Gazette

M
R
M
S
Mountain Ridge Middle School
9150 Lexington Drive, Colorado Springs, CO 80920
(719) 234-3200
Jeffrey Sterk, Principal
May/June, 2016
Volume 19 Issue VII
Dear Parents and Guardians,
It is hard for me to believe that the 2015-16 school year is coming to a close. This is the time of year
that we celebrate kids and all they have accomplished this school year. What a fun time!
Each of the 6th and 7th grade teams will be having their team celebrations at MRMS during the last
week of school! Come help us celebrate another successful year! The 8th graders will have their continuation
celebration at Rampart with the dance to follow back at MRMS until 9:00 p.m.! We will know the last day of
school very soon, so please be looking for dates and times of our 6th and 7th grade celebrations and a date and
time for our 8th grade celebration at Rampart! On May 20th, our 8th graders will have the opportunity to go to
Elitch Gardens and our entire student body will end their last school day signing each other’s yearbooks!
Congratulations and thank you to all of our students for your hard work and dedication this school year!
Other exciting moments include the last band concerts of the school year, the 8th graders and their
performance of Lion King, our 3rd annual Great Grizzly Dash 5K run, a very successful (when the weather
cooperated) Track and Field season, and Grizzly Challenge kids finishing up their season on the zip line.
Also, we are starting our All School Reads, which brings us closer together as a student body. We are
having our 7th annual Talent Show, which always amazes me. Our 7th graders have their World History Fair
day this week and our 8th graders will be participating in Career Day on May 12th. Our PAWS parents will be
playing Plinko with our students, so students keep earning and spending your PAWS on some great prizes!
I really want to take a moment to thank our parents and families for their endless support and teamwork
in providing the best education for our students. Our parent community and PAWS (Parents Actively Working
for Students) have been incredible in supporting our staff and students throughout the year. We could not do it
without you!!
Another group of people that needs to be celebrated is our teachers! The first week of May is Teacher
Appreciation Week and we do appreciate our teachers! They have worked very hard again this year to help
students learn, grow, and be successful. Students and parents, take a moment to thank your teachers for all they
do!
Jeff Sterk - Principal
Need a vacation?
Join Mountain Ridge parents and students on a trip to Belize for Spring Break 2017. The tour will take us to
many parts of the country and will include visits to ruins, rainforests, and reefs; in fact, we will be snorkeling in
the second largest reef. The trip is not sponsored by MRMS or District 20.
Please contact
[email protected] if you would like to hear more about the trip.
Team 641
Mr. Huff, Mrs. Lowery, Mrs. Papagni, Mrs. Snyder
6th
Grade
teaMs
Wow! We cannot believe that the school year is complete. Soon they will be headed
into the seventh grade. We hope you have enjoyed the year with Team 641.
SAVE THE DATE:
Please join us for Team 641 Year-End Celebration!
Date: Tuesday, May 24, 2016
Time: 9:50-11:00 a.m.
Place: Gym, MRMS
Individuals & Societies/Mrs. Lowery: Students have started learning about South
America; their geography and history. This has been a great team this year and they’ve
worked hard to understand the world they live in, and how they, too, are a part of it.
The students have been making great connections between the countries in the Western
Hemisphere; social, political, economic, and cultural connections. This has truly been
a wonderful year.
Language & Literature/Mrs. Snyder: We are wrapping up our Dealing with
Disaster unit with multi-media presentations. Thanks to students’ hard work, we will
all be more prepared in case we face a natural disaster in Colorado. We are also
mastering vocabulary by learning the meanings of the most frequently-used prefixes
and suffixes. What an amazing year we’ve had!
Math/Mrs. Papagni: The end of the year is nearly here and time has flown, like it
always does. The students will be spending the final days in my classes reviewing for
their exit exams. I encourage all students to play math games and participate in math
activities over the summer in order to keep the mind active with mathematics. I’ve
thoroughly enjoyed the year and will always look back at it with fond memories.
Science/Mr. Huff: “Does Matter Matter to an IB Scientist?” That’s our current unit’s
title. We are studying the “stuff” the world is made up of; atoms, molecules, and how
they work to form the materials and objects that we use every day. Lately, we’ve been
exploring molecules and their attractions, and now are investigating the density of
objects and liquids. Lots of labs, lots of learning. Students are having a little less
homework this quarter due to the nature of our lab work.
I have really been enjoying the kids this year- they are truly a great group filled
with lots of kind, thoughtful, inquisitive kids!
Team 642
Mrs. Burton, Mrs. Nowak, Mrs. Schaeffer, Ms. Scully
SAVE THE DATE:
Parents join us for Team 642 Year-End Celebration!
Date: Thursday, May 26th, 2016
Time: 9:50-11:00 a.m.
Place: Gymnasium, MRMS
As the school year comes to a close, it will soon be time to return textbooks to school.
Students will be writing in their planners when each class’ books are due. Books that
are not returned, or are damaged, will be assessed fines. These fines are entered into
IC. Library fines are also due. Students with any unpaid fines do not receive their
yearbooks, and are not able to participate in yearbook signing activities until fines are
paid.
Team 643
Ms. Baker, Dr. Biggs, Mr. Manning, Mrs. Webster
SAVE THE DATE:
Parents join us for Team 643 Year-End Celebration!
Date: Friday, May 27, 2016
Time: 9:50-11:00 a.m.
Place: MRMS Gym
Individuals & Societies/Mr. Manning: We are finishing off the year with a look at
South America, and selecting a country of our choice to research for one mini-project.
Each student will choose a country from South America and conduct research focusing
on country’s geography, history, culture and civics. While we’re conducting this
research, we’ll be focusing on understanding people and places in the Western
Hemisphere that appear much different than what we are used to here in the United
States. This is an exciting time, and I can’t wait to see the final products for this
research! Let’s finish this year strong!
Language & Literature/Dr. Biggs: We are in the midst of our “Dealing with
Disaster” unit. During this unit, students are asking the conceptual IB question “How
do disasters impact individuals, communities, and societies?” as they explore short
stories, informational texts, and videos related to disasters. For our unit IB assessment,
students will be creating multi-media presentations to inform their audience about how
to prepare for and respond to a natural disaster. We will focus in class on audience
imperatives and ask the question, “What is it about multi-media presentations that
grab’s audiences?”
Math/Ms. Baker: May will be a busy month that will bring us to the end of the year.
We will continue to work hard on a few fun topics such as inequalities, equations and
coordinate graphing. We will also spend a few days reviewing for our final exam.
Please help your student find ways to practice math over the summer to keep their
mind sharp. It truly has been a pleasure being your student’s math teacher this year! I
have loved every minute of it! I look forward to seeing them in the hallways over the
next two years and seeing them grow!
Science/Mrs. Webster: It has been a wonderful year seeing students grow into little
scientists. I have enjoyed hearing their inquiring questions, ideas for experiments and
seeing them become more confident in themselves as middle school students. In
science, students recently concluded a unit on matter and should be able to answer the
perplexing question: “Does matter…matter???” The last two weeks of school will be
spent learning about Human Sexuality. Have a wonderful summer.
7th
Team 741
Grade
Mrs. Gagnon, Mrs. Libby, Mrs. Richardson, Mrs. Salazar
teams
Individuals & Societies/Mrs. Gagnon: The World History Fair is on May 4th from
8:30-10:30 a.m. Please come and join us in celebrating the success of your student and
their projects. We are ending the year with Ancient Islam and Africa.
Language & Literature/Mrs. Salazar: In Language and Literature, we’ll read and
study myths, legends, fables, tall tales, and folk tales from around the globe. Students
will choose a type of narrative and create their own! We’ll consider the power of tales
and how humans use stories to connect with one another.
Science/Mrs. Richardson: Science will finish the year with our Human Sexuality
curriculum. To put the whole human body together, students will also spend a day
completing frog dissections.
Math/Mrs. Libby: In Pre-Algebra we will be removing the “pre” and doing
Algebra. Students will be solving for x and checking to make sure that the solution
works. Students will write their own equations using variables to represent situations
in word problems. Linear Algebra - Students will finish up working with slope of
lines and have a Chapter 7 test. We will complete the year with a little Pythagorean
Theorem, scientific notation and work with exponents.
Team 742
Mrs. Holt, Dr. Kordyak, Mr. Malloy, Ms. Marshall
Individuals & Societies/Mr. Malloy: The World History Fair is coming up on May
4th; anyone in the MRMS community is invited to come enjoy the fantastic displays to
showcase the information gathered during student’s research and inquiry. We are
finishing the year with an in-depth analysis of the ancient Roman Empire and
Byzantine Empire, to better understand and set the stage for U.S History in 8th grade.
This will equip students to better understand just how influential the Romans were to
our founding fathers and the creation of our democratic republic!
Language & Literature/Mrs. Holt: Tales - Why do our stories become tales?
Students are gathering information about types of tales and then will write tales to
finish the year.
Math/Ms. Marshall: Pre-Algebra 7 - This month we will be solving equations for
the variable. We will also be closing out the year by reviewing our main ideas of ratios
and proportions. Linear Algebra - This month we will be touching upon operations
with exponents, scientific notation, and the Pythagorean Theorem. We will also be
reviewing some seventh grade standards.
Science/Dr. Kordyak: This has been such a fun year with a great group of students!
We have studied all kinds of things; physical properties of matter, the inner structures
of the Earth, geologic time, evolution, cells and the human body. We will end the year,
and our study of the human body, with our unit on human sexuality. Our final activity
will be to pull everything we have learned about the various organ systems together in
a culminating task: our frog dissection!
Team 743
Mr. Howard, Mrs. Kosters, Mrs. Lubich, Mrs. Rennier
Congratulations parents for supporting your student through 7th grade! The students
did an amazing job! The World History Fair had many remarkable projects
showcasing the outstanding work these students produced! We are very proud of all
their accomplishments and growth. Please encourage your student to read over the
summer. Also, try to find ways to integrate math into real life situations for them to
solve. Have a great summer!
8th
GRADE
TEAMS
Team 841
Mrs. Douglass, Mr. Faeth, Mr. Murray, Mrs. Olson
Individuals & Societies/Mr. Murray: This quarter, students continue to look at the
causes of the Civil War, the war itself, and Reconstruction. The guiding question for
the unit is: “How do we deal with conflict?
Language & Literature/Mrs. Olson: May ends our To Kill a Mockingbird unit, and
we’ll wrap up the year studying whether we believe all people are truly good at heart
through the lens of the Holocaust. Students have been learning about empathy and
acceptance, which provides a nice transition to this final unit of the year. We’ll have
some fantastic discussions about responsibility and the consequences of blindly
following rules. After evaluating a Holocaust documentary, reading excerpts from
memoirs of Holocaust survivors, analyzing a dramatization of The Diary of Anne
Frank, and even hearing a Holocaust Survivor speak in person, students will ultimately
present an argument to the class about whether they believe people are really good at
heart.
Science/Mrs. Douglass: Science will complete the district’s Human Sexuality
curriculum. The guiding question for this unit is: “How will the choices I make today
affect my tomorrow?” Those not participating in the district program will research
various health related topics.
Team 842
Mr. Alaska, Mrs. Baldera, Mrs. Thomassen, Mr. Williams
Thank you to our parents for their help and support during this 8th grade year. We
continue to work toward a strong academic finish for middle school. Some fun events
we have approaching are Career Day on May 12th and the 8th grade field trip to Elitch
Gardens on May 20th.
Team 843
Mr. Abbott, Mrs. Loncar, Mr. Patterson, Mrs. Wilson
Individuals & Societies/Mr. Abbott: We finish the year strong with the conclusion
of the American Civil War, and the period that followed the war known as
Reconstruction, in which we begin to repair and reconstruct not only our physical
country, but the damage caused emotionally and culturally by four years of violent and
deadly war. Our final project will consist of students role-playing a real life character
from the Reconstruction Period as they attempt to repair our nation heading into a new
century. This year we have traveled back in time to explore how America became a
nation, how governments have been created, how our lust and greed got the better of us
and led to our nations expansion (often at the expense of others), and finally how our
country tore itself apart over philosophical differences. It has been a fun, exciting, and
challenging year as students have grown from students into life-long learners!
Language & Literature/Mrs. Wilson: This year has been one of life lessons in 8th
Grade Language & Literature - all seen through the eyes of fantastic and complicated
characters. We started the year by considering the question: “How is literature a
reflection of the human experience?” We will end the year with readings from The
Diary of Anne Frank and Elie Wiesel’s Night, through which students will explore the
power of words. Students will end the year with a speaking task, in which they explore
the legacy they wish to leave on society, and ponder Anne’s question: “Are people still
really good at heart?” It was an absolute pleasure to learn with you this year, and I
wish you the best of luck in high school and beyond. Remember to pick up a good
book this summer! I leave you with a quote, as you embark on your next journey:
“Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing.” – Ben
Franklin
Science/Mr. Patterson: Here at the conclusion of your students’ 8th grade lives, as
they’re maturing into teenagers and young adults, we’ve appropriately got our human
sexuality unit. In this unit we’ll discuss everything from relationships and risky
situation management to STD’s and the costs of having a baby. This unit is packed full
of conversation inspiring homework assignments that will have your students talking
with you about their human sexuality every night. Students will come home with a
courtship interview and ask about memorable moments from their parent’s courtship.
Students will appropriately discuss dating attire and dating situations. Hopefully this
unit sparks and kindles those awkward conversations all of us parents should have with
our children about human sexuality.
Math
th
All 8 Grade Math
Mr. Faeth (841), Mr. Alaska (842), Mrs. Loncar (843)
Geometry: Students will focus on polygons with 5, 8, 10, and even 100 sides. They
will develop a way to find the area and perimeter of a regular polygon and will study
how the area and perimeter change as the number of sides increase. Students will also
re-examine similar shapes to study what happens to the area and perimeter of a shape
when a shape is enlarged or reduced.
Students will end the year by exploring the relationships between angles, arcs,
and chords in a circle and discovering that many geometric tools can be used to learn
more about the Earth. For example, by studying the height at which satellites orbit the
Earth, students will get a chance to develop tools to work with the angle and arc
measures that occur when two lines that are tangent to the same circle intersect each
other.
Linear Algebra: In previous chapters we have investigated relationships that have a
constant rate and can be represented as lines on a graph. However, many relationships
do not change at the same rate all of the time. In Chapter 8, students will investigate
patterns of non-linear growth in tables, graphs, and expressions. Also, they will look
for patterns that will help to simplify complicated expressions with exponents. Lastly,
students will learn how to represent very large and very small numbers more easily
using scientific notation.
Algebra: In Chapter 8, students will broaden their understanding of multiple
representations of functions to include quadratic equations. They will learn how to
factor quadratic expressions, and how to solve quadratic equations using multiple
methods. Students will apply quadratic equations to a physical problem (a balloon
toss), and find connections between the different representations of a parabola so that
they can use any representation to get any of the others.
Free ACT and SAT Practice
http://www.studyguidezone.com/sattest.htm
http://www.studyguidezone.com/acttest.htm
Colorado Springs Coca-Cola
Is proud to be a major sponsor
For Academy School District 20
Colorado Springs Coca-Cola
Colorado Springs, CO 80905
Phone (719) 633-2653
ATTENDANCE
To expedite pick up of your student, please send a note to school with your child,
setting out the time you wish to pick him/her up. Forgot the note? Last minute
appointment? No problem! Just give us a call as soon as you know the time you’d like
to pick your child up. We, in turn, issue a pass for your child to get out of their class
and meet you at the Attendance Office. This is especially helpful as the weather gets
warmer and classes migrate outside and end of year celebrations happen with students
in different classrooms. Thank you!
MRMS Attendance Office
234-3240 or [email protected]
COUNSELING/
STUDENT
SERVICES
Notes from the Registrar:
If your student will be leaving the Academy 20 School District after the 2015-2016
school year, please have your student stop by Student Services to request a Notification
of Withdrawal form. Complete the bright yellow form and have your student bring it
to Student Services as soon as possible.
2016 Report Cards will be available online the second week of June.
·
To view the Report Card –Available the second week of June:
 Log in to Infinite Campus under your parent or student portal
 Select your student from the pull down menu at the top of the page
 Make sure the school shows Mountain Ridge Middle School
 Select Reports (under your students name)
 Print 4th Quarter Report Card
Students/parents will need access to Infinite Campus (Parent/Student Portal) to
access next year’s schedules in August. Please look for information in August on when
schedules will be available for the 2016-2017 school year.
We appreciate your help in verifying that your Infinite Campus Information is
up to date. If you have moved, please go to Central Registry with your documentation
to get your address updated in Infinite Campus. All other information can be updated
through the Parent Extended Portal.
DRAMA
The Lion King
Performed and Technically Instrumented by MRMS 8th Grade
May 16 and May 19, Doors open at 6:30 PM
$5 Admission for all, Concessions Available
FUNDRAISING
BOX TOPS – Save/collect, and send them in with your student.
King Soopers Grizzly Card – Available in the front office. Put money on this card
prior to buying gas/groceries and use it to purchase your gas/groceries. The card is $10
and $10 is on the card ready for your use, absolutely free to you. Our school receives
5% of all purchases used with your Grizzly King Soopers Card.
HEALTH
ROOM
LIC (LIBRARY
INFORMATION
CENTER)
Keep Reading This Summer!
Find a continually changing list of good book suggestions on our Library Page!
Also, check out OverDrive for free ebooks that can be read on any device. Students
sign in using their D20 username and password.
Get the optional, free OverDrive app to make it even easier! You can add both PPLD
and ASD20 libraries to the app to keep reading for free all summer long!
If you also have a Kindle account, you can read OverDrive books in your Kindle app for
easy transfer from device to device.
PBIS
PHONE
NUMBERS
POSITIVE BEHAVIORAL INTERVENTIONS & SUPPORTS
Citizenship is important to us at Mountain Ridge Middle School and we have a team of
staff members who volunteer their time to work on PBIS. We have a matrix (rubric
showing how we show Grizzly Pride throughout the building) and a reward system.
P.R.I.D.E. is: Positive Respect
Integrity
Disciplined
Engaged
PAWS
Paws are plastic tokens used to reward students for demonstrating good choices above
and beyond what is expected. All staff members can hand out Paws throughout the
day. Students can trade in the Paws at the PRIDE Zone store to get food or school
items.
PRIDE ZONE
The PRIDE Zone is open to students Monday-Thursday from 7:15-7:45 a.m. It is
located in the lower hallway across from the Counseling Office. Students can either
trade their PAWS for items or use money to purchase items. Some possible items
include light snacks, school supplies (including student planner), and Mountain Ridge
school gear. Also, in the display case outside the window, students can find
information on upcoming events (dances and the like).
Thanks to our teacher and student volunteers who run the store! We could not do it
without you!
PRIDE Events: Students have opportunities throughout the year to spend their PAW
tokens on grade level events as decided by their teachers and administrators.
Remember, all PAWS are now worth a value of ONE.
RTI
RtI (Response to Intervention/Instruction): When a student displays serious
academic or behavioral deficits, the Response to Intervention model adopts an
inductive approach that begins with educators collecting a range of information to
better analyze and understand the student’s intervention needs (Fuchs, Fuchs &
Compton, 2010). Interventioncentral.com. Feel free to contact Melissa Wagner @
234-3216.
Mountain Ridge Front Office: (719)234-3200
Fax: (719)234-3399
Attendance: (719)234-3240, (719)234-3242
Counseling: (719)234-3226
TAG
The Talented and Gifted Program
Dr. Draper
April was full of learning and fun for TAG students. A number of students
attended the STEM field trip to the Air Force Academy where they were able to be a
part of Audience with an Astronaut, a physics demonstration, a chemistry “magic”
show, and a “show and tell” from cadet members of the AFA STEM club. Students
were definitely inquirers during this field trip. A small group of students attended the
MET Opera performance of Madam Butterfly; they studied the plot beforehand and
came prepared to enjoy the grandeur of a wonderful production. Two sixth grade
students won second place in the D20 TAG poetry contest. The 8th grade novel group
started an independent reading of Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee. These students
have enjoyed the self-led discussions and comparisons to To Kill a Mockingbird.
Mountain Ridge chess club members won the District 20 chess tournament for the third
year in a row. Word Masters students completed their final challenge of the year; they
have acquired 75 new complex words in their vocabulary. Around 24 students
competed in the Math Olympiad at UCCS; a contest made up of 5 problems which
students have 4 hours to solve with reasoning and logic.
I will miss my eighth graders next year. They have definitely been leaders at our
school, both in and outside the classroom. I am pleased that I will be able to work with
my 6th grade students and 7th grade students again next year as they move on to the
next grade. Have a wonderful summer full of adventure!
Sincerely,
Christine Draper, PhD
MRMS TAG Coordinator
YEARBOOK
Yearbooks are $35. Yearbooks may be purchased online through PayForIt in IC or
with a check payable to MRMS (please put yearbook, student’s first & last name, and
team number on the Memo Line of the check). Put the check in an envelope labeled
with your student’s full name and team, and yearbook written on the front.