March 2015

Issue 6

Massabesic Middle School Newsletter Preparing respectful, responsible, and creative thinkers for success in the global community

Important Dates 3/12: Early Release Day 3/16 – 5/29: MEA (Smarter Balanced) window 3/20: End of Trimester 2 3/24: Empower reports available online 3/23 – 4/16: NWEA Spring window 4/2: School Speech Contest 4/17: Inservice day, NO SCHOOL 4/20 – 4/24: Spring break

MMS Participates in Read Across America During the week of March 2nd, MMS staff and students joined schools throughout the nation to celebrate reading. Funds raised during this Spirit Week were used to purchase several books for the Barbara Bush Hospital. As part of Read Across America, MMS was honored by having several guest readers come in to read to students. Special thanks goes to Jeanne Fournier, Cindi Kostis, Kim Gendreau, Gail Morin Beaulieu, Siena and Myah Carbone, Jenn Stonehouse, Crystal Arsenault, Deputy Jason Solomon, Cathryn Martin-Oliver, Sherie Stevens, Brenda Bell, Kerrie Doyle and Christopher Malloy. In addition to parent and community volunteer readers, we also were fortunate enough to have several staff and students read to a variety of groups.

5/1: Early Release Day 5/5: Teacher Appreciation Day 5/11 – 5/15: Book Fair 5/25: Memorial Day, NO SCHOOL 5/28: Early Release Day (rescheduled from 2/5/15)

100th Day of School Celebration

100 Days of School Celebration On Friday, February 13th, MMS held our annual 100th Day of School Celebration. Our student council, led by grade 6 teacher Ruth Miller, directed the celebration. Students gathered in a human food chain, and passed hundreds of donated food items hand to hand. Joan Sylvester from the York County Shelter Program and Superintendent John Davis spoke to students about the importance of their donations to community members who access the food pantry. Overall, the staff and student body donated 3,363 items! Great job, MMS Student Council!

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MEA Update The Maine Educational Assessment (MEA) window is fast approaching. Developed by the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium, the MEA will be replacing the NECAP as Maine’s annual statewide assessment. The assessment in ELA and in Math both consist of three parts: a computer adaptive portion, a classroom activity, and a performance task that asks students to apply their knowledge to a task. At this time, MMS is tentatively planning testing in mid-May. The date is dependent on upcoming internal bandwidth tests; solidified dates will be shared as soon as possible.

MMS Students Shine Congratulations to… Sofia Albert, Liam Crowley, Amie Giles, Cerelene Libby, Emma Robidoux, Mia Skowronski, Ellie Vance and Anastasia Vermette who performed in the Southern Maine Middle School Honors Music Festival on February 27th. The participants of the Americanism Essay Contest from the Ladies Auxiliary Post #3. Our 6th grade winners include Emma Sweeney (first place), Jacob Beaulieu (2nd place) and Ryan Topham (3rd place). Our 7th grade winners are Jason Kelly (first place), Andres Vargas (2nd place) and Guinevere Cote (3rd place). Winners will be honored with an American Flag on March 11th at a ceremony at the American Veterans Post #3 in Sanford. Emma Sweeney, Breanna Melanson, and Jeffery Waters for winning the Daughters of the American Revolution essay contest. Team Penobscot students for publishing a book of thematic essays on iBooks called Through Their Eyes: A Collection of Thematic Essays. Matt Demers who passed the qualifying test for the State Geography Bee. Matt will participate in the Maine Geography Bee on March 27th at UMF.

Thank You Sea Perch Volunteers Special thanks to the following Portsmouth Shipyard staff members who made this year’s SeaPerch build a success: Scott Samson, Martha Bowman, Lucinda Allen and Nathan Hall. These community members gave hours of time teaching MMS students about remote operated vehicles, specifically submarines. They assisted students in building and testing these submarines at Massabesic Health Resources in Waterboro. Thank you to Jim Stevenson and Hayes Sweeney for donating two hours of pool time so that we could hold our MMS competition. Winners of this competition will attend the Regional SeaPerch competition at UNH on April 11th.

Reminder to 8th Grade Parents and Students There are academic and behavior eligibility requirements for the 8th grade promotion dance and social, and related celebratory activities, the last week of school. If you have questions about eligibility, please contact your son/daughter’s team teachers. We hope to have all students attend these exciting events!

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