8th Grade Newsletter

Assistant Principal of Heartland

8th Grade Team Principal

5/10/25

8th Grade Parents/Guardians,

I want to take a moment to recognize and celebrate the incredible mothers, grandmothers, guardians, and mother-figures in our school community.

Your love, strength, and dedication are the heart of our students’ success. Whether you’re helping with homework, attending school events, or simply offering a comforting hug after a long day, your presence makes a lasting impact. We see you, we appreciate you, and we thank you.

The last day of school we will have something called "Field Day" for our 8th graders. This is a time where students get to be outside and participate in activities with their friends as MIDDLE SCHOOLERS for the last time. Please help us make this day a success by checking out the sign-up genius for items/donations that we are hoping to receive or to volunteer to be a parent helper on this day. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask! 8th Grade Field Day Donations

I'm trying to hold back the tears as we cruise through these last few weeks. This is an incredibly special group of students that have made a lasting impact on my life. It has been a blessing and privilege to be a part of their educational journey these past three years. I look forward to seeing what is in store for each other their futures.

As always, my door is open. Please don’t hesitate to reach out with questions, concerns, or suggestions. Together, we continue to build a strong and supportive school community.

With a heavy but full heart,

Laura Brown

Email: laura.brown@edmondschools.net
Phone: (405) 726 - 6252

Weekly Reminders:

• Our grading policy is different for 8th graders! In order to prepare them for high school, we will NOT do 50 based grading. IF they turn in an assignment, they must have at least 25% complete in order to earn a grade. If the assignment is not turned in at all-they will receive a 0%.The following document will walk you through the steps of checking grades and finding missing assignments. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1aFM3ZwBEkPzDsYP92BwliRg8A4MY6gabqh4r01iAYM4/edit?usp=sharing
• Students are on teams based on their POD. If a student has a class upstairs, they shouldn't be going up and down during passing period. The stairs are crowded enough as is and we hope to avoid any accidents.
• It is important that students are following dress code. Please no crop tops or spaghetti strap shirts. In addition, no biker shorts or spanks. Shorts should be an appropriate length. We will be enforcing dress code and students will have to call home for a new outfit if theirs is not appropriate.

• Eligibility!

  For our students involved in extracurriculars, it is imperative that they are passing their classes in order to participate. After a week of probation, they will become ineligible. Eligibility runs on Wednesday evenings. This means that if a student is on probation, they need to be passing by Wednesday when it runs again in order to not be ineligible the following week.

  Hypothetical Situation:

  Eligibility ran on Wednesday (9/4) and student was failing English. They are now on probation from 9/8-9/14. When eligibility runs on Wednesday (9/11) that same student is now passing English but failing Math. They will then be ineligible the week of 9/15-9/21.

Hello Thunderhawk Family,

Here are some activities that your student may want to be a part of when they transition to Santa Fe High school.

Email: Neika.jackson@edmondschools.net

ALL students must be wearing their ID and it should be visible at all times. Whether it be their school ID on a lanyard OR a temporary ID (sticker) badge, it MUST be worn.

If a student has lost their ID Badge, please replace it in the front office (it does cost money to replace an ID Badge).

If a student has forgotten their ID Badge, the consequence is last in line at lunch and no Snack Bar.

NEW

Students will be charged for temporary badges! Please be sure to use and wear your issued ID Badge.

During the FOUR minute passing time, please REMEMBER:

1. Stay to the RIGHT and follow the direction of traffic (even if your class is next door).
2. Walk with intention to your next class.
3. If you need to use the restroom, use it for that purpose ONLY and not hang out time.

HERE is a google slides we shared with students to remember as well.

Cell phones are SHUT DOWN and PUT AWAY from 7:30am - 2:20pm

1. Student are expected to follow EPS expectations for cell phone use.
2. Their is a progressive plan if students are using their cell phone during the school day.
3. If cell phone usage becomes habitual, it can lead to a parent picking-up their cell phone in the Front Office.

Eligibility runs every Wednesday evening. Please be sure that you are checking the Parent Portal for Infinite Campus to ensure your students grades are passing. Eligibility is used for athletics and academic competitions.

English will review for our finals on Monday and take our final on Tuesday. The final will be over skills we have worked on all year. It will focus on plot, literary elements like theme, point-of-view, tone, and mood. It will also cover MLA format and research skills and figurative language.

English will review for our finals on Monday and take our final on Tuesday. The final will be over skills we have worked on all year. It will focus on plot, literary elements like theme, point-of-view, tone, and mood. It will also cover MLA format and research skills and figurative language.

Monday is the final (The study guide is posted on Friday, May 16 Week at a Glance). Tuesday, we will play games during class. Wednesday is the assembly and Field Day.

We are finishing up the aftermath of the Civil War and taking a deeper look at the Reconstruction Amendments (13, 14, and 15). Then, we will begin studying for the Final which will be on Tuesday, May 20th.

We will continue to review topics that we have covered throughout the year to ensure that we are ready for the state test.

In math we are spending one last day reviewing for our final on Tuesday. Topics on the final will only be from this semester and will include identifying functions, domain and range, simplifying radicals, factoring, the Pythagorean theorem, and surface area and volume of cylinders.

We are working on area, volume, and surface area of 2D and 3D figures. We start by looking at the relationship between the numbers of faces, vertices, and edges in polyhedrons, and determining the three-dimensional figure formed by rotating a two-dimensional figure.

Our Science final exam is on Monday, May 19. Your student received a study guide packet last week for their final. A pdf copy can be found on last week’s Canvas module.

¡Hola! The Spanish 1 semester final will be administered Monday, May 19, 2025. The exam will emphasize vocabulary and structures covered in units 3-5. The students completed their study guides in class on Friday, May 16. We are very proud of the students and wish them well as they prepare for and take their final exams. ¡Buena Suerte!

Monday is the final (The study guide is posted on Friday, May 16 Week at a Glance). Tuesday, we will play games during class. Wednesday is the assembly and Field Day.

Hallo zusammen! The world languages’ final exam is Monday, May 19. The exam will consist primarily of true/false and multiple choice questions and comes from chapters 3-5. The heaviest emphasis will be on 3 & 4 will a small selection of questions related to our chapter on food. Wir sind so weit! Geschafft!

THIS WILL BE COMING SOON!!!

The highlighted area in yellow; this is the name of the test for that data. Below you will see a graph. If their trend line is in RED, your student may be struggling or having difficulty in their area of need and not on target to meet their goal. This is helpful to our Focus teachers so we can better meet your students needs.

If they are trending in GREEN, they are doing well and on target to meet their goal. The open bar is where the goal is and a gold star will represent that they have met their goal.

Know if a student is progressing below their trend line for 2+ weeks, adjustments will be made to help meet them where they are at with instruction.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to Colleen Roesslein.

Students will receive a weekly grade for their participation and completion of work through their reading and/or math intervention. You should see a correlation to their 2nd Hour FOCUS grade each week.

Canvas is the learning management system chosen by a committee of staff, students, community members, and Board of Education members. Canvas provides online and blended learning opportunities, and is web-based, meaning it can be accessed anywhere with Internet access at any time on any Internet enabled device. Canvas allows teachers to differentiate instruction to better meet student needs through instructional content, assessments, and daily work.

Setting up an Canvas Observer Account: Click the link below.

Canvas Parent Observer Account

Help with using Canvas on a Chromebook

Infinite Campus (Parent Portal) provides families, guardians and students with real-time access to course schedules, assignments, grades, attendance and report cards for grades PreK through 12.

If you have already established a portal account with Infinite Campus, click the link below.

Parent/Student Portal Login

Setting up a Parent Portal account:

New to Edmond Public Schools: Families will receive an email that will contain a link with instructions on how to set up a new portal account after student enrollment has been completed.