Parent NewsletterFebruary 2021

1202 Prospect Street | Honolulu, HI 96822 | (808) 587-4520Office Hours: 7:30 am - 4:00 pm

This institution is an equal opportunity provider.

Dear Stevenson Parents & Guardians –

I am happy to announce Stevenson Middle School’s first ever Virtual Scholastic Book Fair from March 1-14, 2021! All fundraising proceeds go to Stevenson’s Library and student literacy activities. Please see the Book Fair information on page 2.

One of our top priorities is to keep your child(ren) safe at school. We know tobacco companies are marketing e-cigarettes as colorful, with different flavors, and make them relatively inexpensive for youth. We have confiscated a few e-cigarettes on campus this year. At this age, teenagers are curious, succumb to peer pressure, and sometimes begin experimenting with these products. However, for their own health and safety, no students should possess or use tobacco products, including e-cigarettes. Please continue to have discussions with your child on the negative effects of tobacco on your child’s health. We want them to be healthy and to take positive steps in their learning and growth.

We appreciate your help as we work together to keep all of our students safe. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact our counselors or administrators at 587-4520.

Thank you to our families who have mailed back their Federal Survey Cards. We are still accepting survey cards. One card must be completed for each child at each of their respective schools. We will be sending out survey cards to families we haven’t received responses from. I ask that you please return survey cards in the stamped envelopes provided as soon as possible. Survey results can help Stevenson receive additional federal funding for next school year. We greatly appreciate your help with this. Mahalo!

Thank you for your continued support of Stevenson Middle School. Please visit our updated school website www.rlsms.k12.hi.us for up-to-date news and announcements.

Please stay safe and healthy,K. Balatico, Principal

Principal’s Message

School Events

Important Dates

February

March

8..............11...........15............26, 27.....

NO SCHOOL - HSTA Institute DayMid-quarter 3 report card mailed homeNO SCHOOL - Presidents’ DayVirtual Parent Orientation

1-5...........1-14.......12............15-19.....22...........26...........31...........

iReady TestingScholastic Virtual Book FairLast day of Quarter 3Spring BreakFirst day of Quarter 4NO SCHOOL - Kuhio DayQuarter 3 report card mailed home

STUDENT CURBSIDE BOOK PICK-UPStarting February 4, 2021, students will be able to check out library books and pick up through our Student Curbside Book Pick-Up. See the attached flyer for more information.

STUDENT DESIGN FACE MASK CONTESTCongratulations to the following students for winning their grade-level student design face mask!

6th grade: Keoni Viveiros

7th grade: Jade Matsuzaki

8th grade: Daniel Lankford

YEARBOOK PURCHASESThere’s still time to purchase the 2020-2021 Stevenson Middle School Yearbook! See the attached flyer for the link!

SCHOLASTIC VIRTUAL BOOK FAIRWe’re hosting a Virtual Scholastic Book Fair! March 1-14, 2021, log onto our Book Fair Homepage. See the attached flyer for more information. All purchases support our school to earn 25% in rewards!

PRIVATE SCHOOL APPLICATIONSPlease work with your grade level counselor. Stevenson Middle School will not be responsible for sending Private School applications.

Parents/Guardians are responsible for obtaining the proper documents and sending their applications to the private school. Parents are responsible for all duplicating costs, please allow 2 days for any duplicating request.

Important Reminders

PICTURE PACKAGE PICK-UPIf your child is on 100% online distance learning and you purchased a picture package, please pick up your child’s picture package at the Main Office window, 8:00 am - 3:30 pm.

FEDERAL IMPACT SURVEY & OTHER FORMSIf you haven’t done so, please turn in your child’s Federal Survey Impact Form either by mail, in person to the Front Office, or by email to stevenson.middleschool@rlsms.k12.hi.us. We are also still accepting Student Privacy Forms. If you need another copy, please contact the Front Office. Thank you to those who have already turned them in!

REGISTRAR INFORMATION

ON CAMPUS DROP OFF & PICK UPPlease help us by following our drop off and pick up times and locations.

Drop off time: 7:30 am for breakfast in the Cafeteria or 7:50 am if your child is not eating breakfast.

Pick up time: Immediately after school ends.

Locations:● 6th grade: the flagpole.

● 7th grade: by the big tree next to the Cafeteria.

● 8th grade: between the Cafeteria and Bandroom.

Continuous Notice of Non-DiscriminationThe Hawaii State Department of Education (HIDOE) and its schools do not discriminate on the basis of race, sex, age, color, national origin, religion, or disability in its programs and activities. Please direct inquiries regarding HIDOE nondiscrimination policies as follows:

ADA/Section 504 inquiriesKrysti Sukita, ADA/504 SpecialistCivil Rights Compliance OfficeHawaii State Department of EducationP.O. Box 2360Honolulu, Hawaii 96804(808) 586-3322 or relayCRCO@hawaiidoe.org

Title VI, Title IX, and other inquiriesBeth Schimmelfennig, DirectorCivil Rights Compliance OfficeHawaii State Department of EducationP.O. Box 2360Honolulu, Hawaii 96804(808) 586-3322 or relayCRCO@hawaiidoe.org

Link to HIDOE’s Return to Learn: School Reopening Plan Health and Safety Handbook

GEOGRAPHIC EXCEPTION APPLICATION FOR 9TH GRADEStudents applying for a Geographic Exception (GE) to a Honolulu District High School, can download the GE form from the Stevenson Website (rlsms.k12.hi.us) or DOE website link (click here).

GEs should be turned in beginning January 1, 2021 and at least one week before the March 1, 2021 deadline. Stevenson needs enough time to process the GE applications and forward them to the high schools before the March 1 deadline.

Completed GE forms must be submitted with the required items: 1) Proof of Residence – See Current Proof of Residence Document on the rlsms.k12.hi.us website.2) Self-addressed stamped envelope

Any GE application that is incomplete or missing these documents will delay processing which could result in missing the GE deadline.

CHANGE OF ADDRESS, PHONE #, EMAIL ADDRESSIf you have a change to your physical/mailing address, phone number, or email address you need to complete and submit an official Student Information Update Form (SIS-11) For physical address changes attach a current proof of residence (rental agreement, utility bill, mortgage statement). Student Information Update Form SIS-11 and Proof of Residence Acceptable Documents handout can be downloaded off the Stevenson Website. Turn in completed forms to the school office as soon as possible. 

It is very important that we have your correct physical and/or mailing address for the following reasons:1. To receive Mid-Quarter Progress Reports.2. To receive SPECIAL School mailings.3. To receive Report Cards.

It is very important that we have your correct phone number and email address for School Personnel (Teachers, Counselors, Administrators):

1. To contact you for any concerns, updates, emergent notices regarding your child. 2. To inform you of important school notices and updates.

Math We will continue to work on using standard algorithm to add, subtract, multiply, and divide decimal numbers. All grades are recorded on Infinite Campus. Please check your child’s progress weekly. Students are allowed redo assignments and resubmit. If your child needs to retake an assessment, please have he/she contact me via email: shirley.law@k12.hi.us

6th Grade

Science

Happy New Year!! “HauʻOli Makahiki Hou”, “Gong Hei Fat Choy.” Hooray to all the 6th grade X-science students who completed and turned in their Roller Coaster Physics Project! Awesome work! We will continue our studies in Blacblackboard and our first lesson will be on Landforms. If you have any questions or concerns, email me at janis.honda@k12.hi.us.

SOCIAL STUDIES Remember to make sure that students are turning in their daily homework assignments. There are at least two each week. Last month we wrapped up the history of ancient India and introduced Hinduism and Buddhism for our quarter 3 unit on ancient world religions. This month we are continuing our religions unit with a shift to the ancient Israelites and the development of Judaism.

ELALast month, we started discussing and reading the short story, “Thank You Ma’am” by Langston Hughes. For the month of February, we will be looking more into the different literary elements at play in the short story, including themes, point of view. Lastly, we will be writing

AVIDHappy New Year! We had our first tutorial groups on January 25th! Through tutorials, our goal is to help our students with questions or problems they are struggling with in their content area classes. We are also getting an introduction to college, why we should go college and learning new college vocabulary like ACT, SAT, dorms, tuition, associates, bachelor’s master’s and doctoral degrees and much more! Attending any post-secondary institution is the greatest equalizer for students and opens the door to many opportunities!

7th Grade

Science

Aloha all,

Our focus this quarter is on the structure of the Earth, geologic age and tectonic plates. We are learning about how the Earth’s surface has changed over time. We live on a planet that is continually changing. Coming up in our studies this month we will be learning about the rock cycle, heat flow inside the Earth, and human impact. Mahalo, Ms. Reeder & Ms. Wells

Math

Greetings!As we continue working in Quarter 3, our main focus will be on Equivalent Expressions and Equations. This is one of the most important topics of 7th grade, so we will be working hard to master the skills and concepts so each student is prepared for 8th grade. As 3rd Quarter wraps up, we will look ahead to start prepping for our SBA in April. Keep up the hard work Buccaneers!

Mr. Miller and Ms. Uyeno

Social Studies

Aloha,In social studies, we will continue to learn about each of the Monarchs and about the groups of foreigners that came and how they impacted the lives of the Hawaiian people.

Mrs. Yonamine andMs. Piotrowski

EnglishHi, Everyone!This month we took a deep-dive into RACER writing to help students use evidence from a text to help support their answers. RACER is a fundamental way to organize students’ writing to help them prove a point concisely and persuasively.

Especially in argumentative writing, it is important for students to see that each controversy has two sides, and that each side should be carefully considered.

Everyone has an opinion, but to turn your opinion into an argument is to back it up with evidence from credible sources. As we move forward with our argumentative writing unit, students will start to see how they can begin to utilize the words of external sources to help support their ideas.

Note: We are still accepting submissions for Tusitala! Check out the Tusitala website for more information.

Stay warm, stay healthy, and take care!

Mr. Tom and Mrs. Hoffman

7X Math

From multi-step to linear equations students will get into 8th grade math this semester.

Electronic copies of the lessons are provided. However, workbooks are available. You can pick up the 7th and 8th grade workbooks (Vol. 1 & 2) at Room 204 after school, Mon-Wed. Supplies are limited.

Mrs. Talaeai

Art Math

8th Grade

Science Social Studies

AVID

It’s the start of a new year and the start of new classes! I am looking forward to meeting all of my new students! We will be exploring different types of art including, but not limited to, drawing, digital poster making, and watercolor painting. We will continue to hone our skills by completing daily sketches.~ Mrs. Yamamoto

In AVID, we are starting to look at articles and how to mark text. How do you mark text as a professor? What kinds of marks do you make as you take notes? We will resume Tutorials this month. Please remind your child to set short-term goals. What do they want to achieve for the month of February? - Ms. Kashimura

In Math 8, we learned how to calculate the slope and identify the y-intercept from a graph and write equations of the line in the form y=mx and y=mx+b. We also learned different types of slopes and graphing linear equations. For Algebra 1, we learned about exponential properties and how to graph and interpret exponential functions.

Please welcome UHM Masters of Education students Mr. Garcia and Mr. Shiraki into our classrooms. Can you diagram an atomic model? We learned how to use the periodic table of elements to determine how many protons, neutrons, and electrons an atom has. We will soon learn about valence electrons, chemical bonding, compounds and formulas.

-Mrs. Segawa & Mrs. Wells

-Mr. Kawano & Mrs. Piotrowski Welcome back! This month we will work with a new unit focusing on Industrial America. This includes the development of Southern and Northern economies as well as major inventions that ushered in the modern age. This unit will set us up for our 4th quarter focus on the Civil War and help students to understand the formation of economies and their impact on the fabric of society. They will also be able to apply this concept to modern social issues.

We are basically doing fitness exercises for PE due to the Covid-19. Students will be doing weekly fitness logs to encourage an active lifestyle. We will begin our fitness unit, where we look at the components of fitness and ways to maintain fitness. They will be developing personal fitness goals, that they would like to achieve.

CTEYou may be asking what is CTE? Well it's quite simple CTE is a curricular and assessments program to ensure students fully develop their career and academic potential. It includes six articulated career pathways with sixteen of programs of study. Starting this January Mr. Ellis will be the new instructor for the 8th grade CTE classes!

ELA

Happy 2021! In January we will read short stories and write narratives. Then we move into Unit 3: “The Challenge to Make a Difference” and explore the question “How can one person make a difference?” Students will apply lessons from of the past to consider how to make a difference today.

PE

6th Grade STEMAloha! This month we’ll continue our introductory unit of Computer Science on code.org. Last month we learned about sequencing, debugging, and loops. This month we’ll extend our knowledge to include conditionals, functions, and variables. Please remind your children to check Infinite Campus and Google Classroom for missing class assignments and to seek teacher help during Buc Time on Mondays and Tuesdays. If you have any other questions or concerns, email Mrs. Honda janis.honda@k12.hi.us or Ms. Horikami alisha.horikami@k12.hi.us

Electives6th, 7th, 8th Grade

7th Grade STEMThis month we’ll continue our study of Computer Science. Last month we learned and reviewed Block coding using Google CS First and Scratch. This month we’ll extend our knowledge and will be programming Altino cars. Please remind your children to check Infinite Campus and Google Classroom for missing class assignments and to seek teacher help during Buc Time on Mondays and Tuesdays. If you have any other questions or concerns, email Mrs. Brewer maria.brewer@k12.hi.us , Mrs. Wong linda.wong@k12.hi.us or Ms. Horikami alisha.horikami@k12.hi.us

HawaiianaAloha mai kakou! Hello everyone! Last month in Hawaiiana we learned about proper pronunciation of Hawaiian words, the history of Hawaiian Language, and the shared language of Hawai’i, Pidgin English. This month we will take a dive into Hawaiian myths and legends and learn more about their purpose and what they represent. Mrs. Uperesa

7th Grade CTEDuring the month of January 7th grade CTE has been working on getting to know ourselves as learners. We will be continuing to work on this for the next month. Please ask your students what type of learners they are and what are their multiple intelligences. - Mrs. Kinoshita

7th Grade AVIDThis month we continued to work on tutorials and levels of questions. We are also in the middle of writing a memoir. Please ask your student about their memoirs. - Mrs. Kinoshita

ESOLOur EL students have been working hard in completing their WIDA ACCESS tests. Thank you to all of our families for supporting your child at this time of the year. We will be begin a project on cultures soon! What makes your culture special? - Ms. Kashimura

8th Grade CTEAloha! During the month of January the 8th grade CTE program researched and discussed various careers, cost of living, wants vs needs, and living life in the Red or Black. In February we will dive deeper into financial literacy.~Mr. Ellis

Adv/Inter/Beg Bands The Adv Bands are doing a great job at Peer mentoring their younger friends in the Inter/Beg Bands. Both the Adv/Inter Bands are doing great on their music and we are working on laying a performance schedule out for the rest of the semester. We have many exciting songs planned including a joint performance with our Hula class at Stevenson AND a performance with our alumni. Beg Bands are now playing through their first song in our books and making great music. I can’t be prouder of our Stevenson Bands! ~Mr. Shiinbo :)

Physical EducationGet at least 1 hour of physical activity everyday and limit sedentary (sitting, T.V., phone, electronics, computer time, etc.) to less than 2 hours. Go on walks, exercise at home, or do chores to help out. Get up and move around in between online classes to avoid prolonged sitting time. Students are practicing hand eye coordination skills and learning how to juggle.--Ms. Nakamura

©2020 Scholastic Inc. All rights reserved. 129731 F20 • 800112

Dear Parents and Families: We are working hard to keep students reading and raise critical funds for our school with our Scholastic Virtual (Online-Only) Book Fair from March 1-14, 2021. The Fair will connect students to notable books and inspiring characters — helping them become lifelong readers. And you’ll love the new option to shop for Book Fair exclusives — directly from the interactive booklist. Plus, enjoy these special online shopping features:

• Access to over 6,000 products • All orders ship direct to home • FREE shipping on book-only orders over $25* • All purchases support our school and earn 25% in rewards

Visit our Book Fair homepage to learn more and get started with online shopping: https://www.scholastic.com/bf/stevensonmiddleschool4 Thank you for continuing to support our school. Happy reading, Katherine Balatico Principal Stevenson Middle School

OF

Stevenson Middle School’s Book Fair Book Fair dates: March 1-14, 2021 Shopping hours: 7:00am - 8:00pm

*Free standard shipping is available on book-only orders of $25 or more, after all discounts are applied. Free standard shipping (books) must be selected during checkout. Orders containing products other than books are not eligible for this shipping promotion.

OPENSFEBRUARY 4, 2021

THURSDAYS 2:15-3:OOpm

LIBRARY CATALOG SEARCH FOR BOOK, PLACE HOLD &

CHECK FOR EMAIL CONFIRMATION

PURCHASE YOURYEARBOOK

ONLINE NOW!

DON'T MISS OUT!

S A F E A N D S E C U R E L I N K

$38.00

RESERVE AND

PURCHASE YOUR COPY TODAY!

After February 20, 2021, online sales will end and sales

will be first-come, first-serve at the end of the year

SUBMIT THEM NOW!

G O T P I C T U R E S ?

H E Y S T E V E N S O N B U C A N E E R S !

S T E V E N S O N ' S Y E A R B O O K T E A M I S

C O N T I N U I N G T O D E S I G N A

" O N E - O F - A - K I N D " Y E A R B O O K T H I S Y E A R .

W E A R E L O O K I N G F O R Y O U R P I C T U R E S T O

I N C L U D E I N O U R C A N D I D S P A G E S ! S U B M I T

P H O T O S O F W H A T Y O U D O I N Y O U R

F R E E T I M E A N D O V E R T H E W E E K E N D .

T H E S E M A Y I N C L U D E H O B B I E S , S P O R T S ,

P L A C E S Y O U G O , E T C .

P H O T O G U I D E L I N E S :

* F O L L O W I N G S T E V E N S O N D R E S S C O D E ( N O S W I M S U I T

B E A C H P H O T O S ! ) A N D

* I M A G E S M U S T N O T I N C L U D E R E F E R E N C E S A N D / O R

M E S S A G E S A B O U T O R R E L A T I N G T O D R U G S , G A N G S , S E X ,

O R P R O F A N I T Y .

T H I S I S Y O U R L A S T O P P O R T U N I T Y T O I N C L U D E Y O U R

P H O T O S I N T H I S Y E A R ' S Y E A R B O O K !

L A S T

C H A N C E !

S U B M I S S I O N L I N K