Welcome to the 2nd quarter of the 2025-2026 school year. As we continue to foster a positive school culture, Irving staff remain committed to ensuring students demonstrate safe, responsible & respectful behavior consistently throughout the school day. When students feel connected to school and meet our school-wide and classroom expectations, student engagement and academic achievement increase, making Irving a fantastic community to learn and grow. Expectations retaught & reviewed by all Irving staff during the first week of the 2nd quarter include: 

• Middle school cell phone/electronic device expectations (LPS policy & state law) 

• 1st 10/last 10: Students remain in the classroom the first and last 10 minutes of the class period 

• Using digital hall pass to leave the classroom: Students provided 2 passes/day to leave the classroom. If students need an additional pass, teachers may create a pass for the student

• On time to class all day long: School day 8:00-3:00, students provided 4 minutes to get from class to class. 

• Hallway expectations: Walk, hands & objects to self, keep moving, inside voice level

• Students remaining in seats until the end of class: Students exit the classroom calmly and orderly to promote safe hallway behavior 

• Walking with the classroom teacher to/from lunch/recess: Students walk with the teacher to their assigned lunch or recess destination 

• MTSS B classroom processes if/when disruption occurs: 

• Student provided 1 redirect, then move to in-class movement (seat in the classroom)

• If behavior continues, students earn an out-of-class movement to the neighboring classroom

• While in the neighboring classroom, students acknowledge their behavior and prepare to return to learning in their classroom with a plan for success

• Students thrive when there are clear expectations & accountability for actions. Parents/guardians are notified any time a student earns an out-of-class movement. 

Thank you for all your partnership and support as we continue to have a great school year! 

Linked here is the LPS 2025-2026 Special Events Calendar: Special Events Calendar

Your child is in 7th grade and there are health requirements which MUST be completed. You can schedule PHYSICALS at any time and at the same time receive the required TDap VACCINE. A DENTAL EXAM is also required for all 7th graders.

If you do not have a doctor or you do not have insurance, you may contact the Clinic with a Heart at 402-421-2924, the Health Department at 402-441-8065, or Health 360 at 402-441-6642.  

We highly encourage that the Physicals, Immunizations, and Dental Exams be completed as soon as possible and turned in as soon as possible. As soon as these requirements are met, please turn in the forms to Irving Middle School either in person, by mail, Fax : 402-458-3214 or email : cehmke@lps.org.

Students who are not compliant with immunizations by October 15th, 2025 will be excluded from school until they are compliant. If you have any questions regarding these requirements or need help with resources, please contact the Irving Health office 402-436-1214 ext 4. 

This week I completed my scheduled classroom lessons.

We focused on two key items during those sessions: clarifying the process for scheduling appointments and taking a comprehensive look at the bullying prevention materials being covered in Advisory.

As the new quarter gets underway, please don't hesitate to let me know if you have any questions or concerns.

Thanks for your continued support

Mr. G

We have wrapped up our ancient Greece unit and completed our first DCA for the school year. Our next unit will be covering the Roman empire. We’ll begin by gaining an understanding of how this empire grew to be such a large and successful empire then transition into some of the tumultuous events that led to its ultimate collapse. 

"Our focus in writing has shifted to Personal Narratives, where students are exploring their own lives and experiences to craft compelling true stories. Most students should now have a rough draft of their narrative completed or well underway, focusing on bringing their chosen moment to life on paper. This process encourages them to reflect on their past, develop their unique voice, and structure their ideas effectively.

In reading, we've embarked on our first Class Novels! Our English 7 classes are immersed in Jason Reynolds' fast-paced and inspiring novel, Ghost, while our English 7D classes are beginning Michael Morpurgo's poignant historical fiction, Private Peaceful. As we journey through these captivating stories, students aren't just reading for enjoyment; they're also becoming "language artists." We're actively looking for examples of Author's Craft – paying close attention to techniques like strong beginnings, captivating dialogue, vivid descriptions, and impactful endings.

Our goal is to create a powerful connection between reading and writing: by noticing the "tips and tricks" these skilled authors use, students will begin to understand how being attentive and avid readers can directly inform and strengthen their own writing. We're excited to see them apply these discoveries to polish their personal narratives and become even more confident storytellers.

Thank you for your continued support at home. Please feel free to reach out if you have any questions!

Mrs. Dresden’s  7th grade science class is starting a unit called, How can we make something new that was not there before? as part of the OpenSciEd middle school science curriculum. This unit develops science ideas around properties of substances, matter, & chemical reactions. Within this unit, students will use patterns in their data to describe what happens to substances at different scales. Overall, students wonder and explain what happens when a bath bomb is in water.

 Fizzing sounds and sometimes soothing smells fill a classroom from a bubbling bath bomb. This interesting experience is how students start to wonder what is happening at the small molecular level. Eventually the bath bomb completely disappears, a familiar but unclear experience. Students start to draw models of what is happening to the bath bomb in water. Then as students investigate ingredients and collect evidence to refine and explain their models at the molecular and atomic levels.  

In this unit, students draw from their understanding of mass and matter to determine if a new substance is made in a reaction. Students will conduct multiple investigations as they examine different properties of ingredients. The bath bomb unit is a conceptual unit meant to develop and introduce chemistry foundational for middle school science learning.

Hello!  Welcome to you and your child in a new class for quarter two.  To start our class, we’ll explore the question, “How does the strength of your community encourage risk taking?”  Students are reviewing the importance of greeting people and practicing introducing themselves and others.  They’ll set norms for behavior for the class and get to know each other through partner interview and presentations.  During the interview project, students will practice taking a big project, breaking it down into steps and setting up a timeline to get everything done on time with less stress.   Also, they’ll learn about open-ended and probing questions.  Finally, they will present the information about their partner to the class using a microphone.  Please email me if you have an questions!  skroenk@lps.org 

We have had a wonderful time exploring all of the languages offered in LPS!!!  I hope your students decide to pursue high school credit Spanish or German in 8th grade:)

• In art class we have been busy going over classroom expectations and procedures. 

• We are learning the classroom space and where materials are stored.

• We also discussed symbolism and wrote down objects that personally     represent us. 

  1. Students chose 1 symbol to create using found objects in a 40 min task party.

  2. Students will use those 5 symbols to decorate their sketchbook covers.

This week we have been working on our clay unit. Students learned the different stages of clay and created their own hand-built mug using clay slabs. Later, once fired, students will get to glaze their mugs using various design elements. 

Students in Business & Technology 7 have recently concluded their computer software applications unit, with a mini-unit exploring Google Sheets.  Students are now learning about infographics and using that knowledge to create infographics in Adobe Express.  Students are creating an internet safety infographic, as well as an infographic about their dream vacation.

Students in Family and Consumer Science are just wrapping up their sewing projects. They did an awesome job working in the sewing lab. The rest of our quarter will be spent on a safety and sanitation unit in the kitchen. We will also work on measuring and working with their group to complete food labs. 

Students in Reading Rewards Secondary are continuing to build reading, vocabulary, writing, fluency, spelling, comprehension and phonics while using a variety of sentence structures and passages.  We are finishing up Unit 1 and will be testing by the end of next week!  Continue to practice spelling words and reading at home!

Students in Reading Rewards Plus are finishing Unit 1 where they have been working on a variety of sentences, vocabulary, writing, fluency, spelling and comprehension tying into a passage about ecosystems.

The orchestra is off to a wonderful start this year and sounds fantastic. With a big group, we start slow to focus on routine and structure in the classroom so that rehearsals can run smoothly. Students have grown on this front each day this week. Thank you for all the effort. 

Practice Cards: 

Students are expected to practice 60 or more minutes each week and record it on their blue practice card. Each week, the card will be due on Tuesday. Ideally, students will turn it in Monday, but it gives them a chance to forget, and bring it the next day if necessary. Practice can be on any music the student wishes to play, as long as they are accomplishing class assignments. That could include the music from class, music from private lessons (the actual lesson time does not count), music from other books/online, playing by ear, or playing along with recordings of music they like.