Week of 10/7 - 10/10
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The podcast is off for the long holiday weekend. We look forward to its return next week.
A Message from Dr. Clapp
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Dear HKMS Families,
On behalf of the Easton PTO , the HKMS staff, and the Keller students, I wish to convey a heartfelt appreciation for everyone who donated to the "Celebrate the Past, Invest in the Future" fundraiser. While we did not reach all our goals, as a whole school community we had more than 50% participation! You contributed over $14,700 that will be spent on enriching the educational experiences of all of our students this year! In addition to numerous teacher grants for innovative projects, the PTO will be purchasing a new sun shade for the patio, upgrading our recess equipment, and subsidize upcoming field trips in each grade level. For the highest participation rates in each grade, the PTO will be providing a salad and pizza lunch for the following homebases: Mrs. Piacente (grade 6, 100% participation), Profe' Cerra (grade 7, 100% participation), and Mr. de St. Croix (grade 8, 65% participation). Additionally grade six and seven will receive an extra recess for participation rates above 50%. (grade 6 landed at 61%, grade seven reached 50%)! With the highest participation rate, grade six also earned a PJ and movie day! All of these celebrations will be scheduled in short order.
It's hard to believe but yesterday (10/10) was the halfway point of trimester 1! That marks the close of "P1" (which stands for the "progress point" for trimester one). This is a great time of the year to check out where your child(ren)'s grades stand. You'll notice a P1 column in PowerSchool. This grade will not change even as T1 (trimester one) continues to change until the end of the trimester on 11/27. Progress points are a great time to sit with your child(ren) and discuss how they are doing, are they proud of their work so far, and what they may want to do between now and 11/27. Of course, if you have any questions about grades, please always feel free to reach out to the teacher for clarification or further interpretations.
It was another wonderful week of middle school teaching and learning here at Keller. Be sure to check it all out in our newsletter below!
Wishing you all a wonderful long weekend!
Sincerely,
Steve Clapp, Ed.D.
The Connecticut State Department of Education (CSDE) have asked that schools share two helpful resources with our families.
Virtual House Calls for Families – a three-part series: Attached, please find information from the CSDE on a three-part series for families about how to support their children's health and well-being during the school year.
How Sick is Too Sick – When is sick too sick for school? This is a helpful resource for schools/families to understand when to stay home and when to go to school. It is linked below in English and Spanish. More resources can be found at: www.ct.gov/betterwithyou.
attendance_sick_for_school_1_pager.pdfSupporting Your Child's Health and Well-being During the School Year - Virtual House Calls for Families.pdf
Grade 6
6th grade French students are running dress rehearsal of their "Meeting New Friends" skits.
In math class, students are building and calculating the volume of prisms!
Grade 7
Mrs. Caldara's mathematicians are working in groups and at the board on multiplying and dividing integers.
7th grade ILA students have been challenged to organize words by their common Latin roots then make educated guesses about the meaning of that root word.
Grade 8
Our eldest social scientists are "Fighting for their Freedom" in this class simulation of the Revolutionary War!
Remember rise over run? That's the formula for determining the slope of a line. This is a challenging topic for so early in the year, but one of the more powerful standards addressed.
FPAs
Inspired by the artist Banksy, our 7th grade artists picked a social topic that needs addressing with the goal of raising awareness. Inflation, climate change and bullying were just a few of the topics addressed!
Our engineers created "pixel art" in PLTW this week! Formatting the cell in a spreadsheet to be small squares provides the perfect pallet for creativity!
Monday Morning Meeting
HKMS's Monday Morning Meeting (MMM) is a weekly "check-in" for teachers to connect with students and develop trusted relationships. MMMs watch the weekly DEN video announcements, focus on executive functioning skills, and have some fun playing cooperative games and challenges.
NEW CLUB ALERT!
COMING IN JANUARY!!!!
What is way better than going home and playing video games? The ECC!
The Easton Community Center's Teen Center offers amazing afterschool programs designed to engage young adolescents. We have a group of 20-25 students who walk over everyday. Please check out their offerings at: https://eastoncommunitycenter.com/teen-center/
Our local VFW 10059 is sponsoring HKMS to participate in this years "Patriot Pen" Essay Contest on the theme "My Voice in American Democracy." The images here are linked to the online submission forms and additional information. I hope we have lots of students show off their writing skills this year!
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