The Panther Pride

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Dear Panther Families,

We are officially half way through the school year! January was a very productive month for learning at the middle school. Despite our school days being all over the map, teachers and students were focused and digging deep into their content. I’ve been really excited to see our focus on student discourse leading to awesome conversations and activities. During the past few weeks, I saw debates, partnered conversations, students teaching peers and lots of group work. It has been so wonderful hearing our students speak confidently about what they’re learning.

Another success has been our move to enrichments that promote more student choice. Many students have taken the opportunity to explore new interests with each trimester with classes such as cooking or game design. Other students have returned to a class they’ve already taken either to move on to advanced material or act as peer leaders. Finally some of our students have taken advantage of opportunities to improve study skills and organization with teacher support. We’re really excited to see these courses continue to develop with students’ interests. At the end of this month, they will have a final opportunity to share their preferences for our third trimester.

At this point in the year, we are in the planning stage for the spring. MCAS testing will be held from March 27-May 26. Once we’ve created a schedule by subject and grade level it will be shared with all families. Grade level teams are also discussing potential field trips and end of the year events. For example we are currently booking our 8th grade graduation and are looking forward to sending out invitations and details.

Can’t wait for all the spring holds in store for us. Until then, I hope this newsletter finds you warm and enjoying time with your families!

Sincerely,

Bryan Oelerich

Principal

2/6 - Progress Reports go home

2/9 - Evening Conferences

2/10 - Afternoon Conferences

2/13 - Nashoba Tech Interviews

2/20-2/24 - February Break

WINTER DANCE POSTPONED TILL 3/3

We are approaching the middle of the second trimester (halfway point in the school year!). Part of this milestone will be progress reports and parent-teacher conferences. We’re looking forward to sharing and discussing your child’s progress this year.

Based on feedback, we have made a change to our Parent-Teacher Conferences to make the best use of our middle school team model. The dates and times of our conferences, availability of staff and information provided will remain the same. The majority of conference appointments will be set up by teacher partners. Teachers will meet as a humanities team: ELA and Social Studies and as a STEM team: Math and Science. These teachers meet regularly to discuss student progress and collaborate on instructional strategies. The goal of this change is to identify trends and provide a well rounded understanding of students’ strengths and challenges. All other teachers and counselors are available for conferences individually.

In order to facilitate meeting slots that respect your time and stay on schedule, we also made an adjustment to the format of the meetings. On the evening of Thursday 2/9 from 6-8 pm, we will offer all in-person meetings for those families who would prefer to be in the building and face to face. On the afternoon of Friday 2/10 from 12-2:30pm, we will offer all virtual meetings for those families who would prefer to meet remotely from various locations.

We hope that these changes facilitate a productive meeting with our faculty. Your student is encouraged to attend with you if you would like. To sign up for parent teacher conferences, please call our main office at (978)772-8600 x1200 or email blibby@asrsd.org. Mrs. Libby will coordinate all appointments on the calendar. If arranging a virtual meeting, the teacher will follow up with a Google Meet invitation and link.

We look forward to seeing all of you!

Over the next few months, students will have the opportunity to experience presentations, visits and gather more information about the transition from Ayer Shirley Regional Middle School to Ayer Shirley Regional High School. We are currently placing finishing touches on our timeline for these events and will be sending it out to families as soon as it is finalized. The plan this year is to create more interactive pieces to the transition. We are both happy to answer any questions you may have throughout the process and can be reached at our emails listed below. We look forward to working with you on this process.

Sincerely,

Mr. Spencer S. Christie & Mr. Bryan Oelerich

ARSHS Principal ASRMS Principal

schristie@asrsd.ord boelerich@asrsd.org

There are still spots available for the ASRHS trip to Puerto Rico 2024. This trip is open to current 8th graders who will attend Ayer Shirley High School next year. To receive the $200.00 discount, you must register by March 15th 2023. This discount will cover the cost of add-on excursions.

Future trips abroad depend on the success of this trip. Please email Mrs. Capasso at the high school for more information:

ecapasso@asrsd.org

The Spring 2023 ASYS registration is now open. We hope to start the preseason practice schedule in March with games starting in early April. ASYS plays in the Nashoba Valey Youth Soccer League (NVYSL) and has gender specific teams for players in grades 3 thru 12. Any player new to ASYS will need to purchase a uniform in addition to registering. Uniforms will be made available at a later date. If a player has a current ASYS uniform and it still fits they are all set.

Here is the link to register: https://secure.adminsports.net/shirleymarec

More details about the season will be sent out in early 2023. The registration deadline is February 5.

ASYS Board

All teachers are available for extra help sessions after school at least once per week. Please see our Extra Help Hours for specific days and times for each teacher. Students can always attend during these times, no scheduling is required. Many teachers make themselves available at additional times as well. Please feel free to reach out directly by email to find out about your students progress or discuss ways they can receive additional support.

Students are hard at work preparing for the Spring Musical! Please see the rehearsal schedule below for February.

All Grade 7 students will be screened for vision, hearing, height and weight as per Massachusetts Department of Public Health guidelines. The purpose of this is to find early signs of possible problems in children. It is not a diagnostic service but a program to identify young people who should have further medical evaluation. If your child has any unusual findings, you will be notified and asked to take the child to a physician as a precaution.

You may have your child OPT OUT of these screenings. Please return this form as soon as possible; students who have not returned the form will be screened.

Sincerely,

Heather Stuart, RN

Dear Parent or Guardian,

ASRMS will be conducting annual postural screenings for Grades 6, 7 and 8 as well as SBIRT screenings for all Grade 7 students, date to be determined. SBIRT (Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment) is an evidence-based practice used to identify, reduce, and prevent problematic use, abuse, and dependence on alcohol and illicit drugs. For more information on the SBIRT screening process, visit https://www.integration.samhsa.gov/clinical-practice/sbirt.

Below is an OPT OUT form. If you choose not to have your child screened for scoliosis or participate in the SBIRT screening, please complete the bottom of this form and return to the school nurse as soon as possible. Students who do not have this form completed will be screened.

If you have any questions, please contact me at 978 772 8600, x 1207 or hstuart@asrsd.org

Sincerely,

Heather Stuart, RN

• We are looking forward to Parent Teacher Conferences and are able to meet with you about your student’s progress. Please reach out to your student’s counselor if you want to set up a conference!

• We continue to work with the students on developing their best selves through individual, group and classroom/advisory activities.

• For our Nashoba Tech applicants, interviews have been rescheduled to February 13th. Please make every effort to have your student in school that day!

Most recent information from the BRYT Network:

• Our BRYT network family engagement team offers families different supports and tips relevant to supporting your child's mental health.

• Coming up! February 8 Our monthly Parents Learning with Parents speaker series, with host Lisa Blanchard, Chief Clinical Officer of Spectrum Health Services. Adolescent Substance use- what every parent needs to know about substances, use, and how to support kids. Speaker: Lisa Blanchard, Chief Clinical Officer of Spectrum Health Services.

• Link: https://youtu.be/dme0495hwtU
  

• We hosted our Parents Learning with Parents speaker series In January with Dr. Jessica Griffin, PsyD. Executive Director of the UMASS Children Trauma Training Center. on Parenting While Grieving. Helping yourself and your child cope with grief and the grieving process. You can view the recording of this here!

• Our Parent Supporting Parent groups continue, these are open to ALL parents of youth who are navigating mental health challenges. The groups are virtual, hosted by a BRYT family engagement specialist via Zoom, and are designed to be a platform for families to support each other. *The purpose of these groups is to give parents an opportunity to give and receive support from each other. PSP groups are not designed to supplement mental health treatment.

• BRYT Family Engagement Resource Library page. Our BRYT family engagement team creates this resource doc to save you time in your search for articles, links, and local community resource needs for your students and families. Recordings of live events will be stored here as well.

• Lastly, please remind your families about our Facebook group for BRYT families: This closed FB group is only for BRYT caregivers. Just have families search 'BRYT FAMILY SUPPORT' on Facebook and ask to be added. BRYT Family Engagement Coordinators manage the group and caregivers will find posts with tips, events, parenting articles, support from other parents, and more.

As a reminder, Ms. Brine has students with last names beginning with A-D, Ms. Teahan has students with last names E-K and Ms. Esielionis has students with last names beginning with L-Z. There are some exceptions to these caseloads.

Please reach out with any questions or concerns at any time!

Mrs. Millet’s (formerly Ms. Glidden’s) mathematicians are in their fourth unit of sixth grade math working on algebraic expressions. Students should be so proud of themselves as they are identifying, reading, writing and evaluating expressions with strong accuracy and understanding! Mr. Belli’s scientists are learning about homologous structures and evolution. Students are using the strategy claim, evidence, reasoning to prove their scientific thinking. Ms. Stahl’s writers are headed into their informational text unit. Students will learn how to pull evidence from two nonfiction sources to write an informative essay. Mr. Churchill’s readers have begun their new novel, Bud Not Buddy. Students will be learning how figurative language portrays the author's or character's tone. Mr. Langford’s historians are learning about ancient Mesopotamia civilization. Students are learning how to incorporate quotes into their writing.

All Green Team teachers want families and students to get excited for our next field trip! Save the date for Baseball in Education Day on Tuesday June 6th. More information to come!

ELA -

6th Grade - Students are continuing to enjoy the class novel, A Night Divided. To demonstrate their understanding, they have started to “build” their own Berlin Wall using - much like the real wall - graffiti, to echo themes from the story.They have learned thirty Greek and Latin roots and the list continues to grow! In the weeks ahead, we will be focusing on informational reading and writing.

7th Grade - We are well into our class novel, The Giver. Like the sixth grade, they have increased their knowledge of Greek and Latin roots to thirty. In preparation for an informational writing assignment, they will begin research into groups who have tried to achieve their own “utopian” societies.

Math -

6th Grade is working on Eureka Module 4: Expressions and equations. Students will apply the properties of operations to generate equivalent expressions and solve one-variable equations and inequalities.

7th grade will finish Eureka Module 3: Expressions and equations. In this module, students write expressions in equivalent forms and find solutions to equations. We will use linear equations to solve unknown angle problems, determine the area of circles, and solve for the volume and surface area of right prisms.

Social Studies -

6th Grade - Before we finally transition to ancient Egypt, students will conclude our unit on Mesopotamia by analyzing the Epic of Gilgamesh through various secondary sources followed by an expository essay measuring comprehension of extracting evidence from various texts to support answers. Lastly, students will have an opportunity to express their understanding of the unit by engaging in multimedia slideshows.

7th Grade - Alas! We have concluded our Eurocentric studies and now we’ll be firmly entrenched in the rich, cultural history of Asia for the remainder of the year. Starting with ancient Arabia, students will learn about the origins of Islam and how the faith contributed to the development of the Arabian Peninsula.

Science -

6th Grade - We are continuing our investigation of fossils and the Geologic Time Scale. Students finished up working on fossil choice projects, and we will be looking at evolutionary relationships between similar organisms. Our test on fossils will be coming up before vacation.

7th Grade - We are continuing to study ecosystems, and will be learning about animal behaviors, energy roles, and how matter cycles through ecosystems.

Student support:

We send home a homework email that will tell you when students have upcoming quizzes, tests, and projects. I can’t guarantee it will always be 100% accurate for every class every day, but it will give you an idea of what specific assignments need to be worked on. Feel free to email jmelillo@asrsd.org if you would like to be on the 6th or 7th grade email list.

ELA with Mr. Veeder - We are working on an informative essay for Anne Frank (8th) and Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry (7th), which we should finish next week. The week before break, both grades will begin a new unit or project.

Math with Mrs. Daisy - 7th graders are solving two-step equations.

8th graders are solving multi-step equations.

All grades are completing the winter i-ready diagnostic during the week of January 30th to February 1st.

Science with Mrs. Kauppi - Scientists in Mrs. Kauppi's Class took on the role of newscasters as they reported on climate, biodiversity and human impact for a chosen biome.

Social Studies/Civics with Dr. Pataky - 7th Grade is finishing Ancient Rome and will move into Islam after the Winter break

8th Grade will be finishing the Stamp Act Essay then debate the causes of the American Revolution

Mrs. Seppelin - .

Mr. Nessman & Ms. Nigohosian’s Corner - On Gray Day Enrichment, we have started playing Treasure Quest, an exciting adventure game where students solve problems and battle monsters in exchange for gold and treasure.

On Maroon Day Enrichment we have been reading and discussing Shirley Jackson’s timeless horror novel, The Haunting of Hill House.

We continue to do Organizational Checklists with students on Fridays.

En la clase de español, we have entered the wonderful world of verb conjugation and the magic of grammar. We are using our base knowledge of the English language to help us navigate asking and answering questions to and about others. We have “colored by parts of speech”, done group writing and running races, and taken a reflective look at what we think we know versus what we actually know! Students are acquiring and practicing many skills useful in and out of Spanish class. Next up: -AR verb conjugation, house and family vocab, prepositions, and the verb estar! February is also Black History Month, so we will be exploring the concept and identity of Afro-Latinidad.

In Civics students will be looking at the creation of the Articles of Confederation and engage in a debate pitting the federalists against the anti-federalists over whether to scrap the Articles and ratify the new Constitution. Hamilton is on the horizon!

In ELA we are ending our journey with Anne Frank and beginning a final essay on how she was able to persevere in the annex for so long. We also just took the second i-Ready diagnostic and discussed our growth in scores and how we can continue to improve our reading skills.

After February break we will begin a Civil Rights Unit and continue essay writing to prepare for MCAS.

In Math students are continuing their study of linear equations and applying them to more complex word problems. We will be moving into graphing lines and studying how to interpret the data points created by them. Finally, students are completing sample MCAS problems that will be rolled out as we slowly approach the MCAS test in the spring.

In Academic Support we will be loving fractions in February. Since the world shut down during these students' 5th grade year, they have a hatred and misunderstanding of fractions. We’re hoping to build their confidence and endurance while solving multistep equations with their soon to be loving relationship with fractions.

In science students just completed a debate about which method of reproduction is more beneficial to the survival of organisms. Students had solid arguments backed up by evidence and examples of organisms that reproduce using that method. We will be moving into a unit about how environmental and genetic factors influence the growth of organisms. Students will be participating in a lab where they will collect data about how the environment can affect the ways in which organisms survive.

Hello from the technology classroom! In January all three grades got the opportunity to participate in a reenactment of the Metallica v Napster trial. Students learned all about online piracy and the impact it has on the artists.

Currently, we are having a great time learning about different forms of communication in 6th grade. This week we learned how trends go viral online. In 7th and 8th grade we are creating our own Mad Libs programs with Python coding. Enrichment classes are about halfway through programming their video games. To say I'm impressed by the creativity and talent in these classes is an understatement!

Our classroom received a 3D printer this week! I cannot wait to dive into projects will all grades. Friendly reminder that our Competitive Gaming League meets in the technology classroom on Mondays for Super Smash Bros Ultimate and Fridays for Rocket League. All students are welcome to join.

Did you know that you can search the school library catalogue when not at school? Go to asrsd.follettdestiny.com to take a peak at what you might want to be reading. Once you are at the site, select the school you want to explore. That will bring you to our cataloguing page where you can search for books by title, author, keyword, subject and series. Please contact Mrs Lyon klyon@asrsd.org if you have any questions.

Middle School Library

October 11th

November 8th

December 13th

January 10th

February 15th

March 14th

April 11th

May 9th

June 13th

“Together We Can Do More”

Website: https://sites.google.com/view/aspto

Welcome Letter and Calendar: https://docs.google.com/document/d/16J8aKAlJRDaLDOUfABCSKicda5l55Ecn/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=107589591020179956727&rtpof=true&sd=true

Our mission is to provide high-quality education in a safe, respectful, and inclusive environment where every student develops the skills, character, and core values needed to graduate and become a productive member of global society.

Email: boelerich@asrsd.org
Website: asrsd.org
Location: 1 Hospital Road, Shirley, MA, USA
Phone: (978)772-8600
Facebook: facebook.com/ASRMSPanthers