	WEST MIDDLE SCHOOL News and Notes October 3, 2008	.

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WEST MIDDLE SCHOOL OFFICE HOURS

West Middle School’s front office is open to the public Monday through Thursday, 7:00 A.M. – 4:00 P.M., and Fridays, 7:00 A.M. – 3:00 P.M. West Middle School’s phone number is; (765) 342-6628.

ACUITY REPLACES BENCHMARKS PROGRAM

· Acuity is the assessment program replacing Benchmarks.

· Acuity involves all West Middle School students in grades 6-8 in the subjects of math, language arts, social studies (grade 7), and science (grade 6).

· The first Acuity assessment will be given in math and language arts at the end of September/first of October.

· Target groups will be assigned based upon assessment data. West staff will be able to target students needing additional help on an essential skill.

Features of Acuity:

· On-line Formative Assessments aligned with state standards for LA, Math, Science, and Social Studies

· Designed to mirror the blueprint of the ISTEP+

· Indicate future student performance on the ISTEP+ (after the 1^st year)

· Measures progress over time using scaled scores

· Multiple choice and open-ended constructive responses will also be given.

MORGAN COUNTY FLOOD RELIEF CONCERT:

NOVEMBER 1, 2008

On June 7, 2008, a 500-year flood devastated central Indiana. Morgan County was severely impacted with over two-thousand households being affected and several neighborhoods being totally wiped out. The total number of children and adults being impacted is between 6,000 and 8,000. The financial impact is in the millions of dollars. Being a rural county, Morgan County does not have the financial resources that many surrounding counties and communities have. Therefore, concerned citizens have joined together to create the Morgan County Flood Relief Concert, which will be Saturday, November 1, 2008, in the John R. Wooden Gymnasium at Martinsville High School. The Committee has contracted nationally known entertainers for this event.

Tracy Lawrence, Jimmy Wayne, Bryan White, Darby Ledbetter, and Bigg Country will perform for the Morgan County Flood Relief Concert on Saturday, November 1. General Admission Tickets can be purchased in advance for $25.00 at Martinsville West Middle School or at Ticketmaster.com. Tickets at the door on the night of the concert will be $30.00. On Saturday, October 4, 2008, five-hundred Reserved/VIP floor seats will go on sale at 10:00 A.M., in the West Middle School Cafeteria. First Row Reserved/VIP floor seats for the Flood Relief Concert are $100.00 each; Second Row Reserved/VIP floor seats are $75.00 each; Third Row Reserved/VIP floor seats and beyond are $50.00 each.

Through the Morgan County Community Foundation, the profits from the concert event will be distributed in an equitable manner to help pay for necessities and basic needs for citizens of Morgan County. There are hundreds of individuals who are homeless and their FEMA money has been exhausted. It is estimated that it will take three years to recover from this flood. The funds earned from the Morgan County Flood Relief Concert will help bridge the gap between emergency relief and

long term recovery.

PROGRESS REPORTS

Progress Reports were distributed Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2008. West Middle School encourages parents to review Progress Report grades and contact the school if parents have any questions. Call 765-342-6628, ext. 3068, to get a copy of the report.

NEW PHONE SYSTEM

West Middle School has a new phone system. After dialing, 765-342-6628, we encourage the public to listen to the ‘prompts’ and choose accordingly. Below is a list of ‘prompts’ for your convenience:

‘0’ – Operator ‘1’ – Absence/Attendance

‘2’ – Clinic ‘3’ – Cafeteria

‘4’ – Library ‘5’ – Office

‘6’ – Athletic Director/Asst. Principal

‘7’ – Principal ‘9’- Staff Directory

PICTURE RETAKES

West Middle School picture retakes will be on Monday, October 6. Picture order forms are available in the cafeteria and the front office. Students & Staff should make a note of picture day, because of it being a Monday. Please come to school prepared and dress your best!

8^th GRADE TRIP TO WASHINGTON, D.C.

~ EXTENDED REGISTRATION DEADLINE ~

Millions of caring parents have trusted World Strides to help enrich their children’s lives through their unique hands-on learning experiences. World Strides Leaders have the right blend of local and historical expertise to bring history of Washington, D.C. to life. Martinsville’s East Middle and West Middle Schools have planned their trip to Washington D.C. for Saturday, May 30, 2009, through Monday, June 1, 2009. The non-refundable registration fee of $79 is due by Friday, Oct. 31, 2008. The cost of the trip is $929, quad occupancy. To speak with World Stride customer service department, call 1-800-468-5899 or visit their website: www.worldstrides.org/customerservice Eighth grade students interested in participating should pick up an information packet in the front office.

PRE-ORDER YEARBOOKS

A WMS yearbook is a 72-page, hardback keepsake for all students. The price begins at $26.50. Pre-Ordering is the ONLY way a student can get his/her name on the cover of the book. The last day for ordering is November 30^th. Below are the ways to secure your WMS yearbook.
1) Place your order on our secure website at www.yearbookordercenter.com. Enter order #0532.
2) Place your order by calling the toll-free number of Herff Jones at 1-866-287-3096, MON-FRI, 8am-5pm Central Time.
3) Send your payment to Herff Jones through the mail.

AFTER-SCHOOL HOMEWORK HELP PROGRAM

West Middle School’s After-School Homework Help Program runs Monday – Thursday, each week, 2:30-4:00 P.M. (H.H. will not meet on PBA, early release days). Students whose parents have given them permission by signing and returning the program form are available to participate. The immediate goal for the Homework Help Program is for the student to have extra help and supervision doing his/her homework. Homework Help applications are available in the office.

Any student enrolled in Homework Help who would like to attend other after-school activities such as Drama Club, STARS, Drug Free Club, etc., must bring a note signed by his or her parent. Then, the Homework Help Supervisors know that the student has parent approval to be absent from Homework Help on those club meeting days. Thank you.

“NEW” ATHLETIC ADMISSION CARD

West Middle School is incorporating a NEW Admission Card for athletic events. Purchase an Admission Card for $20.00, it allows entrance for ten sporting events. This is a more convenient method for larger sized families. Regular admission prices for athletic events will be $3.00 for Adults and Students this year

IMPORTANT DATES

Monday, Oct. 6- Picture Re-takes
Thursday & Friday, Oct. 23 & 24- Fall Break
Tuesday, Oct. 28- District Spell Bowl @ WMS 6:00 P.M.
Wednesday, Oct. 29-Career Day & PBA Early Release 11:45 A.M.
Sunday, Nov. 2- TIME CHANGE, Set clocks back one hour 2 A.M.
Sunday, November 30- Yearbook order deadline

WEEKLY CALENDAR: October 3 - 12, 2008

Friday, October 3

7^th FB 2:30-4:15 PM

Saturday, October 4

8^th FB 8:00-10:00 AM

MJFL 10:00-6:00 PM

LAYB 9:00-4:00 PM

Jr. Mid-State Golf @ Foxcliff 2:30 PM

Monday, October 6

PICTURE RE-TAKES

6^th GB 2:30-4:00 PM

FB 2:30-4:30 PM

CC 2:30-4:00 PM

Cheer 2:30-4:15 PM

Tennis vs. Paul Hadley @ MHS 4:30 PM

VB Jr. Mid-State vs. East (H) 5:00 PM

Spell Bowl 6:00 PM @ Franklin Cmty. M.S.

Bus departs 3:15, returns 8:45 pm

Tuesday, October 7

6^th GB 2:30-4:00 PM

FB 2:30-4:15 PM

CC 2:30-4:00 PM

Cheer Club 2:30-4:00 PM

Cheer Jump-o-Thon 4:00-5:30 PM

VB Jr. Mid-State TBA 5:00 PM

Tennis 5:30-6:30 PM

Wednesday, October 8

Spell Bowl 2:30-4:00 PM, rm 4

Stars 2:30-4:00 PM

6^th GB 2:30-4:00 PM

FB 2:30-4:30 PM

CC Mid-State @ Clark-Pleasant 4:30 PM

Bus departs 3:00, returns 7:00

VB vs. Owen Valley (H) 6:00 PM

Cheer 4:15-6:15 PM

Thursday, October 9

6^th GB 2:30-4:00 PM

CC @ Indian Creek 4:30 PM

Bus departs 2:40 returns 7:50

VB Jr. Mid-State TBA 5:00 PM

FB @ Decatur Central 5:00 PM

7^th gr. Bus departs 3:45 returns 7:00

8^th gr. Bus departs 4:45 returns 10:00

LAYB 6:00-8:30 PM

FFF 3-point Basketball Shoot Contest 7:00 PM

Corner of Washington & Jefferson St.

Friday, October 10

7^th FB 2:30-4:15 PM

VB 2:30-4:15 PM

Saturday, October 11

8^th FB 8:00-10:00 AM

FFF Car Show @ WMS 8:00 AM

VB County Tourney @ Paul Hadley 9:00 AM

Tennis Jr. Mid-State @ Franklin M.S. 10:30 AM

Bus departs East Middle 9:15 am

MJFB 10:00-7:00 PM

LAYB 9:00-12:30 PM

Sunday, October 12

FFF Parade 1:30 PM

EXTRA-CURRICLAR ACTIVITES

BAND- Pep Band will participate at home football games. Students should arrive ½ hour before the game begins. Mr. Miller is Band Director.

CHEER- The cheerleaders will be collecting money and pledges for the Jump-O-Thon. The event will take place Tuesday, October 7, 4:00 - 5:30. All of the money will go to the cheerleaders' new warm-ups. Pledge any amount of money. Every dollar counts.

CIRCLE THE STATE - All 7^th & 8^th Choir students will meet Wed., Oct. 15, 2:30-3:30 P.M. Mrs. Shover is the sponsor.

CLUB-MID- Will begin Thurs., Oct. 2, 2:30-6:00 P.M., transportation provided to by the YMCA. Club-Mid meets each Tues., and Thursday. Registration forms are available in the cafeteria and at the YMCA.

DRAMA CLUB- Will meet on a Monday, in October, in the Library, during Success. Exact details will be made available soon. Mrs. Brinegar is the club sponsor.

DRUG-FREE CLUB- Drug-Free, Red Ribbon week, is October 21-24. A special activity will be done each day. Wear RED on Tuesday, Oct. 21. Ms. Mitchell & Ms. Forler are club sponsors.

I.D.T. CAMPUS CLUB- The kick-off meeting will be Wed., Oct. 8, 2:30-4:00 PM. Robin McDaniel & John Wes, from the YMCA are club leaders. Mrs. Kempe, rm 18, is the class sponsor.

LEADERSHIP ACADEMY- Applications are available for 7^th & 8^th grade students who are interested, in Mrs. Thatcher’s room, 26.

MOVIE CLUB- Thursday, Oct. 30, 2:30-4:00 P.M., Boys will view, Spiderwick Chronicles, rated PG. Mr. Lindsey, Counselor, and Mr. Allanson, Art teacher, are the club sponsors.

NATIONAL JR. HONOR SOCIETY- Officers meet Oct. 13, and NJHS meets Oct. 14, 2:30-3:00 P.M., in rm 28. Mrs. Shover is the sponsor.

ORCHESTRA- Students should practice daily. Wed., Nov. 5 is the Fall Ochestra Concert, 7:00 P.M., High School Auditorium. Ms. Phillips is the orchestra director.

SPELL BOWL- October 6, Spell Bowl is traveling to Franklin Community Middle School. Competition begins at 6:00 P.M. October 15, The Martinsville Middle School Invitational will be held at MHS at 6:00 P.M. October 28, The District Spell Bowl will be held in West gym at 6:00 P.M. Ms. Mitchell is the sponsor.

STARS- GIRLS ONLY - The STARS club will meet every Wednesday, 2:30-4:00 P.M., in the Library. This club is a blast! All girls welcome! Mrs. McPike is the club sponsor.

STUDENT COUNCIL- T-shirt orders & Hall-o-grams were discussed at the Oct. 2, meeting. Mrs. Thatcher and Ms. Baldwin are the club sponsors.

Directions to away events:

Batchelor Middle School, Bloomington – Travel south on S.R. 37 to Tapp Road (light past Sam’s Club exit), turn left. Travel to right. Rogers St., turn right. Travel to Gordon Pike (4-way stop), turn right. Batchelor will be on the

Cloverdale Middle School – Travel south on S.R. 67 to Hwy. 231. Turn right on Hwy. 231 and travel approximately 11 miles to Logan Street. Turn right at the stop light on Logan Street. The school is located at 312 East Logan Street.

Custer Baker Middle School, Franklin, Indiana, (now Franklin Community Middle School) - Take State Road 44 east to Hwy. 31. Turn left and Grizzly Cub Dr. is about ½ mile on the east side of street.

Tri-North, Bloomington – Travel south on S.R. 37 to the College/Walnut exit in Bloomington. Travel past the Colorado Steakhouse and turn right at the stop light at 17^th Street. Travel approximately ¾ to 1 mile to Monroe Street. Turn left on Monroe Street. The school is on the left.

Center Grove Central Middle School – Travel north on S.R. 37. Turn right on Stones Crossing Road (yellow flasher light). Go to the second 4-way stop. Center Grove Middle School is on the left. The High School is on the right sid

Brown County, Nashville – Travel east on Hwy. 252 to Morgantown and turn right (south) at 4-way stop (Hwy. 135). Follow Hwy. 135 South to Nashville, go straight at the light in Nashville. The school is at the junction of Hwy. 135 and Hwy. 46.

Tri-North, Bloomington – Travel south on S.R. 37 to the College/Walnut exit in Bloomington. Travel past the Colorado Steakhouse and turn right at the stop light at 17^th Street. Travel approximately ¾ to 1 mile to Monroe Street. Turn left on Monroe Street. The school is on the left.

Greenwood Middle School – Travel north on S.R. 37. Turn right at light where West Grove Elementary is located (Smith Valley Road). Follow Smith Valley Road past Hwy. 31 to Madison Avenue. Turn left on Madison Avenue. The school is on the right side.

Center Grove Middle North – Travel north on S.R. 37 to Fairview Road and turn right. Travel on Fairview Road to South Morgantown Road and turn right. The school is located at 202 North Morgantown Road.

Clark-Pleasant Middle School – Travel on S.R. 37 to Hwy. 144 and turn right. Travel approximately 2.5 miles to Road 500N (Whiteland Road) and turn right. Travel on Road 500N to S.R. 31. Cross S.R. 31 and Whiteland High School will be on the right. Clark Pleasant Middle School is behind the high school complex.

Decatur Township Middle School – Travel north on S.R. 67 past Decatur Central High School. At the first stoplight turn right on South High School Road. The middle school is about ¼ mile on the right side.

Center Grove Central Middle School – Travel north on S.R. 37. Turn right on Stones Crossing Road (yellow flasher light). Go the the second 4-way stop. Center Grove Middle School is on the left. The High School is on the right side.

Franklin Community Middle School (formerly Custer Baker) - Take State Road 44 east to Hwy. 31. Turn left and Grizzly Cub Dr. is about ½ mile on the east side of street

Paul Hadley, Mooresville – Travel north on S.R. 67 to Indiana Street (by Gray Brothers’ Cafeteria) and turn left. Drive through town to Carlisle Street. Turn left on Carlisle Street and Paul Hadley Junior High School will be on the right side past Mooresville High School.

Bedford – Travel south on S.R. 37 to Bedford to Hwy. 50 (second traffic light) and turn left. Go east through Bedford and follow Hwy. 50 about 3 to 4 miles east of Bedford to the school.

Owen Valley, Spencer - Travel South on S. R. 67 through Paragon and Gosport to U.S. 231 and turn left. (If you turn right you are headed for Cloverdale.) When approaching Spencer, you will come to a 4-way stop sign. At this 4-way stop sign, turn right and go through the main part of Spencer. This is still S.R. 67 to the right. Follow this road off to the right and soon you will see Owen Valley High School and Owen Valley Middle School by the high school.

St. Charles (Bloomington) - Travel south on S.R. 37 to the College/Walnut exit. Travel on Business 37 to the Hwy. 45/46 Bypass and turn left. Travel past the IU campus to 3^rd Street and turn right. The school is approximately ½ mile down 3^rd Street on the left.

WEST MIDDLE SCHOOL

ISTEP+ ANNOUNCEMENTS

ISTEP is Tuesday, September 16, Wednesday, September 17, and Thursday, September 18.

· Get a good night’s sleep before each testing day.

· Eat breakfast.

· Attend school every day during ISTEP+.

· Bring a pencil.

· Bring a library book.

· Finish all tests.

· Take your time

· Check answers.

· Study measurements.

· Know multiplication tables.

· With the writing portion, go through all of the writing steps, do brainstorming, organize, and check your work.

· With the writing portion, write as much as you can write. One paragraph is not enough.

· With the reading comprehension, read the passage first, then write the answers to the questions after you have read the story.

· With the reading comprehension, look for answers from the details in the paragraph.

· Study vocabulary.

· Be able to read a ruler.

· With the math sections that are not multiple choice, show all of your work in detail.

· Check your arithmetic.

· Use educated guessing and logic; eliminate down to two possible right answers.

· Make sure your answer is reasonable.

· When you are finished with a section, go back and recheck your answer.

· Make sure you are bubbling in the right answer for the right question.

· Read questions carefully, and follow directions.

· Don’t get frustrated on the first problem.

· On the Applied Skills portion, read the directions, follow through, go back and reread the directions.

· Taking the ISTEP+ test is kind of like participating in an event that you want to win.

· With ISTEP+, we all need to win for ourselves and for our school.

· We need to be the best we can be.

Good Luck!!

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