The IMS Connection

Greetings Islip Family and Friends,

The best thing about April showers is they do bring May flowers. While the showers can be a reminder that the final quarter of the school year is upon us, they also welcome a brighter and more colorful landscape for all to enjoy.

We encourage children to take advantage of that landscape and spectate at our Islip school activities. The district calendar has links to interscholastic events, as well as the numerous evening activities. When children participate and spectate at an outdoor contest, we ask them to be mindful of appropriate and positive interactions as they cheer on the Buccaneers. In addition, it is important to remind the children to be cognizant of the fast-moving community around them as they begin to explore and visit the many child friendly businesses on Main Street. It is never too late to talk about how to safely navigate our Islip community. As a reminder, children are not permitted to ride the late busses if they have not stayed for a middle school sponsored activity.

I look forward to seeing you at the many activities hosted by Islip Middle School in the coming weeks.

Until next month,

Timothy P. Martin

Principal

tmartin@islipufsd.org

631-650-8505

IMS Families,

Boats, pools, beaches, the Great South Bay, and Robert Moses bridge… Its April!! Happy Spring. It is a time of rejoicing and celebration as we pivot toward summer and the conclusion of school. IMS is in full swing; April brings with it the sense of warmth, opportunity, and growth (not to mention a few rain showers and lawn care). Baseball, softball, track, and lacrosse have begun and practicing hard every day. Students are working diligently in class, as well as at our extracurricular activities and clubs. Our advisory focus this month will concentrate itself on the celebration and understanding of the concept of respect. In our discussions we will be learning about the importance of respecting yourself, others, and the world around us.

IMS Testing information:

New York State Department of Education Assessments

IMS Administration Dates

MATH

Grades 6 & 7: NYS MATH Exam, April 30th and May 1st

ELA

Grades 6, 7 & 8: NYS ELA Exam, May 6th and 7th

SCIENCE

Grade 8: NYS Science Exam, May 13th and 14th

• Exams will begin at 8:20, most students will test in their period 1 classroom while some period 1 classes will be relocated to a more suitable testing location.
• Student assessments will be completed using their laptops; therefore, they must be brought to school fully charged.
• The assessment will be over by the end of period 2 and all students will report to period 3.
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Please take a look at Facebook & Instagram to view photos, videos, and news about our amazing students, staff, and school community @ IMS. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me at cjuengerkes@islipufsd.org or (631) 650-8515.

“Spring: a lovely reminder of how BEAUTIFUL change can truly be.”

Be well,

Curt Juengerkes

Islip Middle School

Assistant Principal

631-650-8515

We have officially reached the final marking period! Third quarter report cards are available on the portal on Friday, April 19th. Please check to see your child’s progress.

As Spring Fever and the beautiful weather hit, please remember that we still have a few months of school left. Now is the time to focus and end on a strong note. We have classes, finals, and for some students, Regents still to come.

In March, our students spent their advisory periods focusing on their futures. They considered what they want to be when they grow up, studied different careers, and did a virtual demonstration that modeled how to plan for a budget. These are all great topics of discussion to have with your children at home. Benjamin Franklin once said, “Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn.” We hope all of the IMS students understand the importance of being an active participant in their learning. This is the time when our students are growing independently and starting to formulate a plan for the future. We appreciate your insight in this growth and are here to help support you in any way that we can.

As we move into April, students will be focusing on RESPECT as their Advisory topic. We strive for students to respect each other, staff, and themselves each and every day. We often have conversations with students regarding treating others as they would like to be treated and thinking before speaking or acting. Every member of our IMS community is important; we must show each other that every day.

Ms. Wright

Dean of Students

631-650-8530

Respect...

This comes in all shapes and sizes. There can never be too much respect displayed to people in our schools, our families, or our community. Please share with your children how respect can go a long way towards making our world a better place.

Spring is in the air and it is time to celebrate your Quarter 2 Achievements!!! The prizes have been purchased and our wonderful IMS Staff is ready to celebrate with you! Please listen to announcements for card validation dates and the raffle date coming up in April. Replacement cards are available in the Assistant Principal's office for $5. Keep Up the Great Work and Keep Being Kind! LOOK GOOD! FEEL GOOD! DO GOOD!

What in the heck is going on in Tech.?

The second half of the year is in full swing in the Technology Education department. The 6th and 7th grade students are currently engaged in an array of exciting activities.

The students in Mr. Wenzel’s 6th grade class are currently working on Magnetic Levitation Vehicles better known as MagLevs. The students engage in design, modeling, building, and testing of these floating, motor propelled racers. Just a few of the things students learn about are: transportation systems, alternative energy, aerodynamics, and magnetism. Throughout the project, the students will have to manipulate certain materials in order to meet the design constraints and requirements that their project must conform with. Mr. Wenzel’s 7th graders are in the middle of a Transportation unit where they design and build Egg Crash Vehicles. Their goal is to protect the occupant (an egg) in a head on collision.

The 7th graders in Mr. Reilly’s classes are working on a bridge building project, which includes having the students’ research, design (using a program called “West Point Bridge Builder”), building, and finally testing their design, which they make out of bass wood.

The 6th graders in Mr. Claps’ class are currently building Catapults, where each student designed, built, and tested a ping pong ball throwing device. Students are graded by the distance and accuracy of their device. His 6th graders are also starting the Maglev project, which was previously discussed.

Spring has finally arrived and with that begins scheduling! Please be on the lookout for your child’s course requests for next year in the coming weeks. It’s important to review the classes your child will be taking and contact their assigned counselor with any questions/concerns!

As we move into the final stretch of the academic year, we want to remind you that the counseling team is here to support students every step of the way. We are now offering extra help to assist with study skills, organization, time management, test taking strategies and more! Breakfast Club is available in the mornings Monday through Thursday for all students. Whether you need academic guidance, emotional support, or assistance with future planning, don't hesitate to reach out to us. Remember, your success is our priority!

This month, sixth grade students participated in a classroom presentation "It's Cool to Be Kind." The presentation builds upon our bully prevention and awareness program, and aims to promote kindness, empathy, and respect among students. Students used the 3 R’s; Recognize, Refuse, and Report to learn bullying. Students had fun finishing the presentation with a Jeopardy Game Show on kindness and refusing bullying. As we continue to foster a positive and inclusive school environment, we want to emphasize the importance of kindness and empathy in our daily interactions. Our school community thrives when each member feels valued and respected. Remember, small acts of kindness can make a big difference in someone's life. Let's work together to create a culture of compassion and support for one another.

During PARP (Parents as Reading Partners) Week, IMS Student Government members embarked on a field trip to Wing Elementary School as part of our Book Buddies Program. This initiative aimed to foster a love for reading and strengthen bonds between students across different grade levels.

Our Student Government members enthusiastically participated in reading sessions with the elementary students, sharing stories, discussing favorite books, and engaging in fun literacy activities. Their presence not only inspired the younger students but also demonstrated the importance of community involvement and leadership.

What made this experience truly special was the reunions that took place during the field trip. Students were delighted to encounter their previous teachers, siblings, and friends among the elementary school students. These chance encounters added an extra layer of joy and nostalgia to the reading sessions, creating unforgettable moments of connection and camaraderie.

The field trip was a tremendous success, with both our Student Government members and the elementary students enjoying the opportunity to connect over books and stories. It was a shining example of the positive impact we can have when we come together to support literacy and education.

Since the start of the third marking period, students in library research have learned the ins and outs of their school email accounts. Students were shocked to find they had hundreds of emails in their inboxes and learned how to apply global deleteds to weed their inboxes. The students also learned, firsthand, how emails are an important part of a teacher's day in futhering workplace communication when Mrs. Ryder shared a birds' eye view of her email with her students. Students also learned the art of writing and sending a formal email when they initiated an email conversation with Mrs. Ryder who responded to their emails, in kind.

in mid-February, library research students began using the district's KID OYO coding platform, taking their digital drawing skills to the next level in Sprite Editor. Studnets applied their creativity to the max when they submitted animated scenes of a NYC skyline at nightwith a dark blue sky, shadowy skyscrapers of black and gray, with stars and windows and the moon twinkling in yellows and whites; a bubbling blue river running through a white clouded, mountain valley, and beachside scenes of Fire Island.

The students are presently studying the role of social media in their lives. They have identified the pros and cons of being users of Snapchat, Instagram, TikTok and the like. Students are presently reading a Scholastic Action article, entitled "Is Your Phone Spying on You?" They have learnedthat these apps, while free, aren't really free because students must often give over personal identifiable information to use these sites. To protect themselves from sharing too much information, students will learn they have rights to privacy (COPPA) and learn why and how important it is to create safe passwords as a first line of online defense from scammers and thieves.

The students will move on to the Hatch application in April where they will apply their animation skills with actual code to create, amongst other things, pong games of their own design. But, first, they need to master such effects as changing scenes, working with loops, the "xy" grid, motion, score boards and variable commands.

It’s Hackathon season! kidOYO, the coding and computer science software that is used by students, sponsored the Junior Level Hackathon at Hauppauge Middle School on Friday, March 15. This was Islip Middle School’s first time participating in the competition, and we fielded a team of 8 seventh grade students (8 students is the maximum number of team members allowed) coached by technology Teacher Assisant Colleen Unverzagt and Math Teacher Nicole Catanzarite. During the Hackathon, students competed against twelve other schools and faced different challenges that required knowledge of various coding platforms in kidOYO; they were required to use block coding in Hatch, needed to create animations in Sprite Editor, and even utilized Python to complete the various challenges. The goal of every Hackathon is to try and win as many challenges as the team can to conquer the game map. Seventh grader Candace Sanko, a member of the Hackathon team said, “the best part was watching everyone else's projects and then trying to make ours better to conquer their territory.” The competition lasted for three straight hours, and the team showed great resilience; Team Captain Tillie Ancipink added, “I had a ‘hack’ of a time! My favorite part came down to the last 10 minutes of make it or break it!” While the team did not win this time, all of the students had a great time competing. Elise Lettieri shared, “We enjoyed watching the awards ceremony and it gave us ideas and inspiration for next year.” All of the seventh graders on the team look forward to competing for a spot on the team next year. Kid OYO also sponsors other Hackathons throughout the spring. The next Hackathon will be for upper elementary school grades (4-5) on April 19 at Mineola. The high school will compete on May 31 at Bethpage, and our Islip Middle School sixth grade team will compete at Manhasset on June 7! We look forward to growing our coding and computer science program in the Middle School!

Pictured left to right are: Candace Sanko, Sammie Weill, Caroline Lettieri, Tillie Ancipink, Elise Letteri, Mr. James Prudente, Dr. Dennis O'Hara, Dr. Chad Walerstien, Lucas Urbina, Luke Berton, Shea Wirtenson

1-District Closed-Spring Recess

12-MS/HS Marking Period Ends

12- SEPTA Parent-Family Night, 6pm, SES

19-Islip Takes Adventureland, 7pm-10pm

22-26 Schools Closed-Spring Recess

*Unless otherwise noted, all Board of Education meetings will begin with an Executive Session at 6:45 PM. The public business meeting portion will begin at approximately 7:30 PM.

1-BOE Meeting, 7:30pm, HS Auditorium

2-SEPTA Awards, 7pm, HS Auditorium

9- 5th to 6th grade Orientation, 7pm-9pm, MS

13- BOE Public Hearing on Budget, 7:30pm, HS Auditorium

16- NJHS Induction Ceremony, 7pm, MS

17-MS/HS Progress period ends

24-Schools Closed

27-Memorial Day, Schools Closed

28-Schools Closed

*Unless otherwise noted, all Board of Education meetings will begin with an Executive Session at 6:45 PM. The public business meeting portion will begin at approximately 7:30 PM.

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