linden avenue middle school newsletter€¦ · d.c.’s monuments and memori-als. page 2 conflict...
TRANSCRIPT
A Message From Mrs. Berardi and Mrs. Kaprinski
Dear Par-
ents/Guardians:
Since this is our Novem-
ber/December newslet-
ter, we would like to
take this opportunity to
wish you a safe and hap-
py holiday season.
At the conclusion of the
first marking period, all
students should be well
adjusted to their new
grade levels, coursework,
and teacher expecta-
tions. If your child is
having academic difficul-
ty, we encourage you to
discuss organizational
and/or study strategies
with his/her teachers
and guidance counse-
lor.
As the winter season
approaches, please re-
member to send your
child to school with
appropriate layers of
clothing so that he/she
is able to participate in
outdoor recess when it
is not raining.
On Thursday, Novem-
ber 13th we will have a
Community Tea. You
can stop into the prin-
cipal’s office any time
between 8:00 a.m. and
10:45 a.m. to chat
with us or each other
about any ideas or con-
cerns you may have
with the Middle
School. We are
looking for ways to
increase contact and
communication
with home and hope
that many of you
will be able to join us.
We will be organizing
our students’ “Tea
with B & K” soon.
We will send out an
automated email mes-
sage with dates and
detailed information.
It is our pleasure work-
ing with your child.
With idealism and en
Seventh Grade Physical Forms and Medications
Please send your child’s
completed 7th grade
physical form in to the
Health Office as soon as
possible. If your child
has a physical scheduled
with his/her physician,
please call the Health
Office and notify us of
the scheduled date of the
physical.
The school physician
will do a health apprais-
al in January on any 7th
grade student who has
not handed in a 7th
grade physical.
Please make sure your
child’s asthma medica-
tion and any other
emergency medications
are brought to the
Health Office along
with the appropriate
doctor’s orders. Par-
ents must bring in the
medications—students
are never allowed to
carry medication to
school on the bus for
safety reasons.
The 7th grade screen-
ing of vison, hearing
Issue 2 November/December
Linden Avenue Middle School Newsletter 2014-2015
thusiasm we are taking a
stand for making Lin-
den Avenue the best
school it can be! Please
call teachers, counselors
or administration for
any help that we can
offer in the academic
and social/emotional
support of your chil-
dren.
and scoliosis has begun
in the Health Office.
Parents will receive a
referral letter by mail if
any part of the screen-
ing needs further evalu-
ation by a physician.
Please remind your
child to bring their eye-
glasses to school if they
should be wearing
them.
Winter Dance The Winter Dance will be held at Linden Avenue Middle School on Friday, December 5th (snow
date—December 12th) from 7 to 9 p.m. To help with the flow of traffic, at 8:50 p.m. the sixth grade
students will be dismissed followed by the seventh graders and then the eighth graders.
On October 27th and 28th, all 6th grade students participated in Conflict Resolu-
tion Training. Mr. and Mrs. James Childs, from JaRa, spent three hours with each
6th grade team to discuss what conflict is and ways to prevent and resolve such is-
sues. During the session, students engaged in discussion and group activities.
Make sure to ask your child what he or she learned.
the National Constitution Cen-
ter, the Liberty Bell, U.S. Capi-
tal, Arlington National Ceme-
tery, the National Air and
Space Museum, various Smith-
sonian Museums, the Fort
McHenry National Monument,
the National Aquarium, and a
guided tour of Washington
The LAMS 8th grade class is
happy to be arranging a class trip
to Philadelphia, Pa., Washing-
ton, D.C., and Baltimore, Md.,
for March 25 - 27, 2015
(Wednesday—Friday). The trip
promises to be a fun and educa-
tionally rewarding experience.
Some highlights include visits to
D.C.’s monuments and memori-
als.
Page 2
Conflict Resolution
LAMS Eighth Grade Trip
Linden Avenue Middle School Newsletter
purpose of Awareness Day is for
students to have a safe, comfort-
able space to discuss topics such
as tolerance and acceptance,
cultural awareness, formation of
beliefs, team building and how
these topics relate to
LAMS. The ongoing battle
against bullying and its harmful
effects were discussed through-
out the day. The students
gained a deeper understanding
of themselves and others.
Awareness Day
The 8th grade class attended
Awareness Day at Camp Ramapo
on Tuesday, October 28th. The
ly from scratch. Students vol-
unteered their time after school
over two days to make the pies.
Students worked so hard and
were so proud. Thank you to
families that supported us.
We had a special guest from the
community, a parent of an 8th
grader, Karen Haslem, share
quilts from her collection. She
showed quilts that she has made
as well as some historic pieces.
Students were really engaged
and inspired by her work.
Thank you, Karen!
To see photos and get class up-
dates follow us on twitter –
SmithsHACS.
Home and Careers Home and Careers classes have
kicked off the year with sewing in
all grade levels. Students in 6th
and 7th grade are working on
hand sewing, while 8th grade stu-
dents are mid-way through their
machine sewn quilt projects.
We had a very successful, apple
pie bake sale at Open House.
Student peeled and cut 600+ local
apples to make 100 pies complete-
Issue 2
Parents please remind your child
to always lock his/her locker and
to have a spare change of clothes
for PE class. A sweatshirt is also
a good idea for outdoor classes.
If your child is feeling under the
weather and you, as a parent,
would like him/her to be ex-
cused from PE, you must provide
a note. This note is only good
for two consecutive classes. Af-
ter that, a doctor note is re-
quired.
they may only stay in the school
after school hours if they are
with a teacher or coach. Some
students have stayed after school
without supervision. Please note
that this is not allowed. They
may not stay after to wait for
sports competitions or other
activities in the late afternoon.
For safety, please be sure that
A Message From the Physical Education Staff
After School Hours and Student Pick Up During the Day
Page 3
From Student Services
A number of
students stay af-
ter school with
their teachers for
extra help or for
clubs. After they
are finished with their sessions or
club activities, they report to room
151 and 159 to wait for the late
bus. Please remind your child that
your child is not making after
school plans that have not been
discussed with you beforehand.
If you are here to pick up your child
during the day, please sign in at the
Main Office where you will be di-
rected to go to Student Services/
Attendance Office.
Our 6th Grade School Counselor,
Mrs. Quaglietta, recently presented
a lesson to students on “Developing
Healthy Coping Skills”. The objec-
tive of the lesson was to teach stu-
dents what coping skills are and to
encourage students to use healthy
coping skills when faced with over-
whelming feelings. Students brain-
stormed a list of healthy coping
skills, including: talking with a par-
ent, talking to a trusted adult at
school, deep breathing, going for a
walk, etc. She also showed them
how they can use humor, jour-
naling, music, art and movement
as a way to keep themselves calm
and relaxed. Mrs. Quaglietta had
students rank how they were feel-
ing on a 5 point scale (1= not
great, 3=okay, 5=great) before and
after the Healthy Coping Skills les-
son. Fifty-five percent of the stu-
dents in 6th grade reported feeling
the same before and after the lesson.
Thirty-two percent of students re-
ported feeling 1 point better. Final-
ly, thirteen percent reported feelings
two points or higher from the start
of the lesson to the end of the les-
son. Be sure to ask your 6th graders
about what they learned from the
lesson and what their favorite
healthy coping skill is.
Picture make up day for students who were absent will occur on November
14th. Be sure to sign up in the main office 3 days prior. Anyone who needs a
retake should also sign up and bring your photo package to the photographer
on November 14th.
Important News From Student Council
LAM’S Winter Concert Dates
December 12th—School Assembly—8:00 a.m.
December 16th—Linden Avenue 7-8
Concert—7:30 p.m.
December 18th—Linden Avenue 6-7
Concert—7:30 p.m.
new items for teens to enjoy this
holiday season. So many remem-
ber to donate to Toys for Tots,
thinking primarily of the very
young. However, many of the
children serviced are teenag-
ers. As we are thankful for our
blessings, let us remember those
less fortunate with a
small donation. Stu-
dents who donate will be
entered into a raffle for a
prize to be given in De-
cember. Some gift ideas:
books, gloves, jewelry,
bath items, make-up,
hats, sports equipment,
games, and puzzle
books. Thank you in advance for
your generosity.
Another upcoming project is our
annual Project Personal
Care. Personal care items such as
soaps, shampoos, toothpaste,
Student Council is once again col-
lecting Box Tops 4 Educa-
tion. Please cut all box top logos
off the tops of General Mills and
Betty Crocker items. The coupon
generally has a line at the top that
says “Official Coupon.” Students
may give them to homeroom
teachers. The home-
rooms compete to see
who can bring in the
most box tops. Student
Council members may
give box tops to Mrs.
Goldhirsch for service
points (each top is 1/10
of a point). Likewise, we
are collecting Hannaford
Helps coupons. Seven years ago
we raised more Hannaford Dollars
than any school in the re-
gion. This provided us with a
$1000.00 bonus check!
November and December are Toys
4 Teens months. Please donate
combs, hair items, makeup, deo-
dorants, etc. will be donated to our
local food pantries. That drive will
begin November 1st and go on
through December.
January will mark the 17th annual
Copper Jar Contest. Classes will
compete to raise money for the
NYS Leukemia and Lymphoma
Society. This is a penny war. Clas-
ses may attack other groups by do-
nating larger coins or bills into jars
that are not their own. Remember:
Pennies in your jar and silver or
paper in competitors’ jars!
National Junior Honor Society is
collecting old towels, sheets, and
blankets for the animals at the DC
SPCA. Donations may be brought
to room 141 (Mrs. Goldhirsch's
office) through November 19th.
Breakfast Program at LAMS
7:30 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. If your child is in the
lunch program as free or reduced, your child is
entitled to free or reduced breakfast. Tuesday
and Thursday are Soup/Salad/Breadstick Days.
Homemade soup goes with all meals and a
breadstick goes with the Salad Bar option.
LAMS Mentoring Club
In October, the Linden Avenue
Middle School Mentoring Club
had their first meeting and en-
joyed an afternoon of pumpkin
carving and Halloween inspired
treats! In Mentoring
Club, students are paired with a
teacher or staff member from
Linden Avenue Middle
School. We meet monthly as a
group for a fun after-school ac-
tivity. Next month we will be
making Thanksgiving themed
edible crafts. A big thank you
to Migliorelli Farm for donating
the pumpkins!
On October 23, LAMS 8th grad-
ers enjoyed an amazing day of
STEM activities at the 4th annual
Bard Science Day. Students par-
ticipated in five different work-
shops hosted by Bard professors
and undergraduates. In the Com-
puter Science workshop students
used computers to program the
Scribbler robots, which were
then used for a scavenger hunt
of the science building. In Biol-
ogy, students created Winograd-
sky columns and Microbial Fuel
Cells to observe miniature eco-
systems and measure power gen-
erated by microbes found in soil.
In the Chemistry lab, students
used a flame photometer to
measure how much sodium chlo-
ride is found in Gatorade. In
Physics, students created Mag-
netic Probe Microscopes to simu-
late how Scanning Probe Micro-
scopes allow scientists to see at-
oms. In Mathematics, students
used dominoes to solve problems
in math and to learn about the
Graph Theory.
While the overall goal of this trip
was to spark interest in STEM re-
lated fields, it also served to pro-
vide students with the opportunity
to work in laboratory settings at an
institute of higher learning, collab-
orate with peers as well as profes-
sionals in each discipline, and en-
gage in exciting research. Many
thanks to all the professors and
students at Bard for providing
such an enriching experience for
our students!
Bard Science Day with our 8th Graders
Students at LAMS learned about
seatbelt safety in a fun and mem-
orable way. Ms. Amell and Mrs.
Quaglietta, co-advisors of the
SADD (Students against Destruc-
tive Decisions) Club brought
back to LAMS the “Battle of the
Belts” challenge. The challenge
took place during students’ recess
time. They gathered together in
teams of four students. When
the whistle blew, the students ran
a short distance to an SUV,
where they quickly got into the
vehicle, put their seatbelts on,
and put their hands up. Once all
students had their hands up, the
referee blew the whistle, and the
students moved clockwise
(putting their seatbelts on, hands
up, etc.) and so on until the stu-
dents had rotated four times.
This event has been a popular
event in previous years at LAMS.
Many middle schools and high
schools across the country partic-
ipate in events like Battle of the
Belts each year.
SADD Brings Back “Battle of the Belts” to LAMS
"The Ba�le the Belts is
a l� fun and I think
we should definitely
bring it back next year!
We had fun and learned
about the value seatbelt
safety. I knew I learned
something from the day
because when my family
and I were in the car last
night, I told my li�le
brSher to put his seatbelt
on, even before he had
the chance to do it
himself."
- 6th grader, Tyler
Hanaburgh
It's that time again: Across most of the United States, daylight savings time (DST) will end at 2 a.m. on Sunday,
November 2nd, when clocks will fall back to standard time.
Daylight Savings Time Reminder