The IMS Connection

Season’s Greetings Parents/Guardians:

The joy of the holiday season is upon us. The children are eager to meet with family and friends over the holiday recess. It’s a wonderful time to get reacquainted while reflecting on all we have to be thankful for.

As of now, our Islip Middle School musicians are scheduled to perform in person. However, the winter concerts are scheduled for Saturday, January 29. Please check the district website for updates and details.

This season has the middle school bustling with generosity and once again the C.A.R.E. Club collected dozens of boxes of food for our local food pantry. A heartfelt thank you to all who donated to the cause.

As we enter the second marking period, we encourage all of the students to reflect on the many accomplishments of the first quarter. What has worked well and what can be done differently. Parents are always welcome to contact the school counselors to arrange parent meetings.

From all of us at IMS, we hope this holiday season is filled with joy and laughter with your family and friends.

I wish you and your family the happiest of holiday seasons and the healthiest New Year.

As always, feel free to contact me at tmartin@islipufsd.org.

Kind regards,

Timothy P. Martin

Greetings IMS Families,

During the month of November, student advisory dedicated the month to activities that build student empathy and acceptance. Advisory students and our C.A.R.E. club did a wonderful job collecting food to donate locally to our community for the holiday season. We also focused on creating a warm and welcoming environment for our new entrants. At our new entrant breakfasts, student leaders paired up with our new entrants to participate in fun activities and share a meal while getting better acquainted.

As the holiday season approaches, the excitement in the building is bustling. December advisory activities will be centered on the Gift of Giving and Paying it Forward. Advisory activities will demonstrate to students that gift giving and paying it forward do not have to have a price tag; rather simple gestures from the heart often mean the most. When you embrace this, it is certain to bring a level of fulfillment beyond any material items.

To our entire Islip Middle School Family I wish you a joyous and healthy Holiday Season and

a Happy New Year!

Please check us out on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram to view photos, videos, and news about amazing things going on at IMS. Our new Google Site has up-to-date info on everything you need to navigate your time at IMS, but if any questions do arise, I invite you to reach out to me via e-mail at jcohen@islipufsd.org or call me directly at (631) 650-8515

Regards,

Jason M. Cohen

We want to wish everyone a Happy Holiday!

Remember to keep studying and character always counts! It is beginning to look a lot like a Renaissance Celebration, everywhere you go! The gifts have been purchased; the planning is well underway! We will be celebrating our 1st quarter Renaissance cardholders soon.

Keep up your commitment and dedication, hard work pays off!

December: The Gift of Giving "Pay it Forward…"

During the month of December, our Advisory focus will be on paying it forward. Parents can enrich our theme by discussing topics such as, “It is important to do good deeds for people.” Repay acts of kindness by being kind to someone else rather than the person who was kind to you. This helps to spread acts of kindness to a greater range of people.

Please re-check the district calendar prior to an event to ensure you have

the most up-to-date information.

7 BOE Meeting 7:30 p.m., HS Auditorium

15 2nd Qtr. Progress Period Ends

22 Progress Reports Posted to Portal

23 Winter Recess - School Closed through December 31, 2021

Unless otherwise noted, all Board of Education meetings will begin with an Executive Session at 6:30 p.m. The public business meeting portion will begin at approximately 7:30 pm.

Please re-check the district calendar prior to an event to ensure you have

the most up-to-date information.

3 Students return from Winter Recess

5 Joint CRES/SES/SEPTA meeting, Islip Public Library - All Parents invited, Time TBD

11 BOE Meeting, 7:30 p.m., HS Auditorium

17 Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, District Closed

24 PTA Meeting, 7:00 p.m.

24 Late Winter Sports Begin

25 BOE Meeting, 7:30 p.m., HS Auditorium

27 Broadway Bound, 7:00 p.m., HS Auditorium

28 2nd Marking Period Ends

29 IMS 6th Grade Winter Concert, HS Gym (6th Grade Band, Chorus, and Orchestra)

Unless otherwise noted, all Board of Education meetings will begin with an Executive Session at 6:30 p.m. The public business meeting portion will begin at approximately 7:30 pm.

Students have settled into the routine of being an Islip Middle School student. We are working towards becoming lifelong learners using technology with our devices! ELA students have completed a Short Story Unit as well as a third person narrative. They have mastered elements of literature and the use of Figurative Language. All students are working on becoming proficient in writing a paragraph that includes details, elaboration, and evidence from text. Students should be reading their RED book daily!

In Science, we have studied the topic of microscopes and cells and are working on studying the systems of the human body. We are looking into how our body is organized and works as a machine. Remember to exercise and eat healthy to keep your body strong and working properly!

In Social Studies, we are traveling back in time to our first ancient civilization of Mesopotamia. We will be exploring the daily lives of Mesopotamians, as well as their code of laws, writing systems, and the geography of land. Next, we will travel to Ancient Egypt to visit the tombs of the pharaohs.

In Mathematics, the students have completed our unit on arithmetic operations and are eager to use their existing knowledge on our next unit of ratios and unit rates. As always, review notes daily to help you with your weekly assignments.

Team 6 Silver is adjusting to life in the middle school. PLEASE remember to ALWAYS have laptops fully charged to be a successful student. If you have not yet signed up for our remind texts, please do so at your earliest convenience. Please send a text to 81010 and include the message @6silverims. Please continue to check the parent portal for grades, the Google Classrooms, and make sure to replenish school supplies as needed (pens and pencils). Have a happy, healthy and safe holiday season.

The 7 Red team has begun with evident enthusiasm and great anticipation for success. In Mr. DeBatt’s science class, the students are exploring the properties of matter with a focus on density and buoyancy. Mr. DeBatt is excited to begin a chemical reactions unit in the near future, which will include many exciting hands-on labs and activities.

In Mr. Ackermann’s and Ms. Sinkusky’s Pre-Algebra classes, the students just began their polynomial unit, which will prepare them for solving equations for the month of December. Every month brings the students one-step closer to the eighth grade Algebra Regents.

In Social Studies with Mr. Pedersen, students are exploring origins of the thirteen colonies and subsequent events that led to the birth of our great Nation, while focusing on source documents related to our core values of freedom and democracy.

In Spanish, Mrs. LaBella’s students are learning how to make cultural comparisons. During the month of October, students compared the Mexican holiday "Day of the Dead" with the American holiday "Halloween".

In English with Mr. Cox and Mr. Taff, the students have been reading various genres closely and actively. This is a skill that is hoped to carry across the curricula and throughout the students’ academic careers. Also, the students have and will continue to analyze authors’ use of elements in literature, their interactions, as well as their relevance to non-fiction and the real world.

Wholeheartedly, Team 7 Red is optimistic about having an incredible experience.

Art is off to a whirlwind start this year! It’s hard to believe that we are already in the 2nd quarter of the school year! Your art teachers this year are Ms. Shelton and Ms. LaBella. We have enjoyed getting to create with your students and are excited to see what they will create next! This year we are working to have students learn different art styles, techniques, participate in partner and group discussion, and just enjoy the art-making process. All students taking art this year have sketchbook assignments along with their projects which allows them to work on creative miniature sketches and improve skills.

6th Grade Art

It has been so much fun meeting our newest students in IMS!! Students are wrapping up their Folk-Art inspired Collage Project where they gathered background information on Molas to inspire their design. A Mola is a traditional textile craft made from layers of colored fabric that are stitched and cut to create a final piece. Students used their new knowledge of traditional Mola designs to create a project with vibrant colors, concepts, and patterns.

Students are also learning how to capture a moment and tell a story through artwork. Students are working hard to try new things and learn new skills. They are heading into Still Life drawing before wrapping up their quarter with painting! As a reminder, 6th grade students have art for 2 quarters so as this quarter ends, 6th graders will be changing their exploratory classes. We can’t wait to meet our new artists at the end of January!

8th Grade

Our 8th grade artists have been pushing their creative boundaries since day one! They began with sketchbook drawing prompts and designing their portfolios using one point perspective. Students are now wrapping up their Sugar skull project and heading into learning new drawing techniques. For their Sugar Skull project, students learned about the different aspects of Dia de Los Muertos along with the origins of the sugar skull and the new concepts of sugar skulls emerging throughout different cultures. Students used this new knowledge to draw inspiration from and create a sugar skull design that was unique to them, bringing together their ideas and style with traditional elements. 8th grade Art is all year, and students will start to dive into Still Life drawing, three dimensional art, and painting.

Art Club

Art Club is growing and thriving! We have started our Art club by getting to know each other, drawing, making origami, and coming up with our goals for the year. Students are going to be learning about paper maché! Fun fact, paper maché actually means chewed paper in French! Don’t worry though, no one is chewing paper here. The concept of paper maché is using strips of paper or paper pulp with an adhesive like glue or wheat paste to be layered together to create a three dimensional sculpture. Students are beginning the design phase of this process and will start creating their sculptures in the weeks to come. After our paper maché sculptures we have a long list of exciting projects we’d like to try!

The C.A.R.E. Club just concluded its’ annual Thanksgiving holiday food drive. An abundance of stuffing mixes, canned gravies and vegetables, mashed potatoes, coffee, juices, and “all the trimmings” were received. Once the food was boxed up, our custodial, building and grounds crew members delivered the food to our local food pantry to bring comfort to families this holiday this season.

The CARE club wishes to thank our student families, staff members and administration for your heartfelt support.

A large part of what school counselors do is help students prepare for post-secondary opportunities. It is important to begin developing students’ career awareness and college readiness at a young age and expand it as they get into high school, in order for them to find their ideal career. A person’s ideal career should incorporate these four factors: personality, values, skills, and interests.

During the month of November, counselors went into the 7th and 8th grade classrooms and introduced them to a program called Naviance. Naviance is a beneficial tool that helps students to discover what careers or colleges may be best for them. This program will be utilized by students throughout high school as they begin to decide what career path they wish to purse. For students looking to pursue college, Naviance will actually be used in order to apply to those colleges.

In the counseling department, our favorite aspect of Naviance is called Roadtrip Nation. This part of the website houses almost 9,000 videos with different leaders in an array of careers including CEO’s, food scientists, engineers, attorneys, musicians, airline pilots, architects, politicians, and more! Students have the opportunity to explore countless different career paths completely at their fingertips! Roadtrip Nation is an excellent way for students to research different career paths and gain exposure to careers they may have never known existed. They can even use the search feature to search for a specific career they are interested in. Each career on Naviance houses an abundance of information related to that career including the amount of schooling needed, the average national salary, and more! Take a look at the photo below to get a snapshot view of what Roadtrip Nation is all about.

Being that students will continue to utilize all of the valuable aspects of Naviance, we encourage them to sign on to Naviance when they have some down time and become familiar with the website, and potential careers they may wish to pursue. We also encourage parents to spark up a conversation with your children about what they want to be when they are older – maybe they can even show you the details of that career on Naviance! Students can conveniently access Naviance through their Clever account on the Islip Middle School webpage.

6th graders will have the opportunity to expand career awareness with counselors come December!

Website: islipufsd.org
Location: 211 Main Street, Islip, NY, United States
Phone: 631-650-8500
Facebook: facebook.com/IslipMS
Twitter: @IslipMS