Stallion Sentinel

Dearest Stallion Families,

I hope you had a MARVELous thanksgiving break! I can't believe we are almost half way through the school year with just two weeks before winter break. I am grateful that the journey we have embarked on collectively this school year has proven to be just the beginning of great things to come for Meadow Woods Middle. I am confident of this as I observe classrooms, speak with students, meet with community groups who wish to partner with our school, and connect with our families. Student success remains a priority for us all in the areas of academics, culture, and leadership.

As previously shared, we are leveraging our "academics" pillar through a robust literacy initiative. There is a schoolwide focus on vocabulary across content areas. Students are being exposed to vocabulary terms in context and are engaging with vocabulary through interactive word walls and are participating in vocabulary trivia challenges. As students develop their vocabulary skills, we are confident this will positively impact reading comprehension.

We are counting down the days to our "One BOOK, One TRIBE" launch on January 16th after our second round of F.A.S.T testing. Every student and staff will receive a copy of the same book and will be part of a schoolwide book club. Author Christina Gonzalez, of our featured book "Concealed", will be visiting Stallion Nation to support this initiative in February and we are thrilled to welcome her! Our goal is to develop a TRIBE of Reader Leaders and we look forward to your support in this endeavor!

Our students had an opportunity to participate in a Thought Exchange survey and share feedback on a variety of topics. Our Leadership Team united to discuss student feedback and will be forming student focus groups to educate and/or include students in decision-making processes. We want students to know that they have a voice and we value their feedback. I will be sharing Thought Exchange data at our next SAC meeting on December 13th. Join us!

Establishing community connections remains a priority as we aim to boost parental engagement. Join me for "Coffee Convos with Principal Ninah". I really enjoyed meeting with my Stallion families in November. I hope you can join us this coming Wednesday!

I also invite you to attend our monthly School Advisory Council (SAC) meetings and consider starting/becoming a member of our Parent Teacher Student Association. We truly believe that there is power in partnerships and our parents play an integral role in student success.

We wish you a happy holiday as we anticipate a MARVELous new year. See you in 2023!

Thank you for being part of our ONE Stallion Strong TRIBE! 🐎💪🏼🌟

In leadership and service,

Your Proud Principal, Ms. Ninah

I had a wonderful time meeting our Stallion families at my first coffee conversations event.

Will you join me for my next gathering on December 7th? I hope so!

RSVP via this link - https://forms.gle/QRoBm7hg7B195eRZA

OCPS Vision | To ensure that every student has a promising and successful future.

OCPS Mission | With the support of families and the community, we create enriching and diverse pathways to lead our students to success.

MWMS Mission | Empowering our Students to Lead and Succeed

At Meadow Woods Middle, our Stallions LIVE by these values:

Leadership - Inclusion - Voice - Excellence

L = Leadership Everyone can be a leader
I = Inclusion Everyone has genius
V = Voice Change starts with me
E = Excellence Empower students to lead their own learning

MWMS Mantra | We are ONE Stallion Strong TRIBE!

Principal, Charisse M. Ninah Charisse.Ninah@ocps.net

Assistant Principal, Ivonne Ruiz Moreno Ivonne.RuizMoreno@ocps.net

Assistant Principal, Angela Walker angela.walker@ocps.net

Behavior Specialist, Natalie.Agosto@ocps.net

School Counselor, Wanda.Alicea@ocps.net

PASS Coordinator, Jade.Dixon@ocps.net

Media Specialist, Kelli.Gensler@ocps.net

Instructional Coach, Milagros.Gonzalez2@ocps.net

Math Coach, Nelly.Maldonado@ocps.net

Staffing Specialist, Nilsaliz.Medina@ocps.net

S.A.F.E. Coordinator, Claudia.Munoz@ocps.net

ELA Coach, Jennifer.Rabel@ocps.net

6th/7th Grade Dean A-L, Yamilett.Navarro@ocps.net

8th/7th Grade Dean M-Z & Athletics Director, Kevin.Morgan@ocps.net

DEC 1 Clubs Day

DEC 1-3 Jr. Thespians Festival Field Trip @ University HS

DEC 1-16 12 Days to Winter Break Countdown (see countdown calendar below)

DEC 5–7 Common Final Exams (CFE), 6th grade Science PMA

DEC 5-12 Candy Cane Gram Fundraiser Drive

DEC 6 & 8 Band, Orchestra, and Chorus Winter Concert (5-7PM)

DEC 7 No Early Release (Dismissal @ 3:57 PM)

DEC 7 ESE Christmas Celebration/Play 2pm

DEC 7 Coffee Convos with Principal Ninah | 9:30 AM | Zen Den

DEC 8 Tech Sassy Girlz Conference Field Trip @ UCF

DEC 9 Ready, Set, Glow Dance (6-8PM)

DEC 12-14 7th grade Civics, STAR Test, 7th & 8th Grade Science PMA

DEC 13 SAC Meeting (5:00PM)

DEC 13 Holidays Around the World (5:30 - 7:30PM)

DEC 15 Triple Crown Stallions Christmas Party 6th and 7th period

DEC 15 Holocaust Museum On Campus Field Trip

DEC 16 Pep Rally

DEC 16 PJ/Hat Day Fundraiser

DEC 16 End of Second Marking Period

DEC 19-Jan 3 WINTER BREAK (NO SCHOOL)

🏐 See our Sports Schedule below and join us for home and/or away games!

📅 SAVE THE DATES

JAN 4 - First day of 3rd marking period

JAN 16 One Book, One Tribe | Schoolwide Book Club (see image below)

Stallions, show off your holiday spirit and get a little festive! Each day brings a new and different opportunity to show off your excitement for the upcoming winter break! Participation is voluntary!

Thank you for granting wishes for the past 16 years at Meadow Woods Middle. Your generosity is greatly appreciated. Mil gracias! 🎄🎁❄ The theme for this year's ESE Celebration is Encanto.

Our Band, Chorus, and Orchestra will perform this Tuesday, 12/6 and Thursday, 12/8.

We can't wait to see you! 🐎💪🏼🌟🎵🎷🎻

We recognize and celebrate diversity! Learn about how other cultures/countries celebrate winter time holidays, including but not limited to Christmas! Each attendee will get a stamp in his/her holiday passport for each country they visit!

Receive a prize and a raffle ticket when you turn in a completed passport

and get a chance to win bigger prizes!

We look forward to celebrating with our Stallion families!

All grade level (6th-8th) Triple Crown Stallions members are invited to participate in our 1st Annual Christmas Party. TCS Program Membership Permission Slips have to be turned in prior to this event, in order for you to participate. Participation is dependent on good behavior.

Current NJHS members should plan to attend all meetings.

Please reach out to Ms. Attig, our NJHS Advisor, for details. peyton.attig@ocps.net

Our school provides students the opportunity to participate competitively in four sports throughout the year. The sports are soccer, volleyball, basketball, and track. There are additional extracurricular sports and intramural activities. To be eligible to participate and compete, a student must maintain a 2.0 GPA. A valid and updated physical packet must be completed before your child is allowed to try out for a sport.

How can you remain informed of all things athletics?

• Visit the athletics page on our school website for more information - https://meadowwoodsms.ocps.net/athletics
• Follow us on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/stallionathletics_mwms/

*As a reminder, physicals for basketball are being collected. They must be on file with the school prior to Winter Break for students to participate in tryouts on the first day, January 4th.*

Sports Season Timeline

Soccer | August to September

Volleyball | October to November

Basketball | January to February

Track & Field | March to April

Our student leaders learned about Leadership, planned for their Candy Grams Fundraiser, and brainstormed a gift-giving opportunity for students in one of our feeder elementary schools, Meadow Woods Elementary. Thank you to our MARVELous SLT Advisor, Ms. Bryant, for empowering our students to learn about and exercise leadership skills! We appreciate you! ♥

Thanks to retired District #3 Board Member Linda Kobert, all 1,000 Stallions (students and staff) will participate in a schoolwide Book Club. Students and staff will receive their very own copy of the book. Thank you, Ms. Kobert! #readersareleaders #ELAproficiency

Guest speaker, Corporal Gensler, did an amazing job at this year's Teach In!

He inspired our stallions by explaining how exciting it is work for the Florida Highway Patrol!

Teachers and staff enjoyed fellowshipping together at our Thanksgiving Potluck.

It was an honor to recognize Veterans at our Veterans Breakfast Celebration.

Our Student Lighthouse Team did a stellar job planning and hosting this event.

Our ESE department had a lot to be thankful for at their annual Thanksgiving Luncheon!

We were truly ONE TRIBE as we came together at a local movie theater and watched the must-see Marvel feature film, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.

What an amazing, inspiring, and heart-warming movie it was!

This year, we’ll be using an exciting new tool to manage, assess, and motivate student independent reading. BookTaco.com is a leading online program designed to spark a love of literacy and assist in developing lifelong readers. Each student has been assigned a Book Taco Username and Password that provides independent, 24/7 access to BookTaco.com where they will find their classroom book list(s) and the associated interactive lessons. Book Taco is COPPA compliant (Children's Online Privacy Protection Rule) and students can log into their accounts from virtually any device - desktop computers, laptop/notebook computers, tablets, and iPads - at school, at home, and on the go! Students will earn rewards for their participation! #ReadersareLeaders

Student drop-off begins at 9:00 AM. Parents should not drop off students before this time. Car riders, walkers and bike riders should not arrive before 9:00 AM. There is no supervision outside of the school prior to this time. Bike riders, remember to lock up your bike!

Dismissal from school begins at 3:50 PM on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, and 2:50 PM on Wednesday. Parents can not pick up their student from the Main Office for early dismissal after 2:50 PM on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, and 1:50 PM on Wednesday. Thank you for your cooperation!

Each year, families MUST complete the Parent Consent Form at the start of the school year or as soon as possible after you enroll your student in school.

The Parent Consent Form includes fields for:

· Acceptable and responsible uses of technology

· School social media use

· District use of a student’s phone and/or video

· Release of student directory information

· Clinic services

· Health screenings

This year, parents/guardians must choose to opt-in or out of each individual clinic service and health screening by law. In the case of an emergency, the parent/guardian and appropriate emergency personnel will be contacted.

The Device Refusal Form is OPTIONAL and only needed for families planning to have their student use a personal device, NOT a district device.

All online parent forms can be accessed the OCPS Parent Portal in the Skyward Family Access app. For help completing the online forms, please view the following:

· Online Parent Forms Video

· Online Forms Parent Reference Sheet (see image below)

OCPS families that have NEVER logged into the OCPS Parent Portal before, please view this video to register. If an error message is received, please complete the OCPS Parent Portal Help Form.

OCPS families are invited to attend a Superintendent Town Hall meeting. As your new superintendent, Dr. Maria Vazquez outlined a 100-day entry plan which includes hearing from you. The Town Hall meetings will be held at the locations below. Superintendent Vazquez looks forward to seeing you there. Click here for Town Hall Meeting details.

Click here for a list of sessions.

Thank you for being a valued member of our MARVELous Meadow Woods Middle Lighthouse School of Innovation! #ONEStallionStrongTRIBE

Follow us on social media - Facebook, Instagram & Twitter!

OCPS District Website: http://www.ocps.net

ADDitions Volunteer Website: http://ocps.samaritan.com

Office Hours: Monday - Friday | 8:00am - 4:30pm

Email: meadowwoods_ms@ocps.net
Website: https://meadowwoodsms.ocps.net/home
Location: 1800 Rhode Island Woods Circle, Orlando, FL, USA
Phone: 407-850-5180
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/meadowwoodsms/
Twitter: @MWMS_OCPS