Echo Trail Middle School Weekly Newsletter

Welcome!

October 13, 2025

Hello Wolf Pack Families!

I know there are concerns and questions around the boundary lines being updated. I will always communicate information with our families as it is provided to me. At this time, the board has requested to host community forums prior to making any decisions. I want to continue to serve you with providing the most accurate information.

Attention 8th grade families: the 8th Grade Transition to High School Night has been rescheduled for 10/22 at 5 pm. Please use this link to RSVP.

A couple of uniform items we need your help with:

Please double check that students are not coming to school in yoga/legging style pants. We are also reminding students as it is getting colder to remember to put their jackets/full zip items in their lockers. Thank you for your support!

Wednesday, October 15th is the end of Term 1 and students will start Term 2 on Thursday, October 16th. Students schedules will change depending on their grade level and courses they are currently in for Explore and Elevate. Please assure your students, staff in the building will help all students locate their new classes.

Save the Date(s) and Other Important Information:

Echo Trail Family Calendar : This is a living document that will be updated as needed. We wanted to give you a snapshot of what to expect each month.
Uniform Written Policy and Uniform Slide Deck (visuals) :
- Please be mindful of skirt length
- Full-zip jackets are to be removed for the day
- Uniform Approved hoodies can only be worn on Friday
- Dressdown Guidelines

#ExpectgreaTness

Dr. Ammerman, Principal

Twitter: @KaraJo_Ammerman

Important Information
& Upcoming Events

Boo Grams

Boo Grams will once again be on sale this year during lunches the week of October 20-24, with delivery on Halloween. $1 apiece, or purchase for an entire class for $25. Proceeds benefit the PTSA.

PTSA Reflections: I Belong!

The Reflections program provides opportunities for recognition in the arts, which boosts student confidence and success in the arts and in life. Each year, students create original works of art in response to a student-created theme.

For the 2025-2026 school year, the theme is “I Belong!”

Students can create and enter their works in these six categories:

Dance Choreography
Film Production
Literature
Music Composition
Photography
Visual Arts

Find out more about this year's theme and some helpful ways to get started on your project here.

Ready to jump in and make something? Here are the complete guidelines for each category.

Students have access to this intro slide deck in Google Classroom.
Deadline to enter is November 14th.

Veteran's Day Program - Call for Responses

Echo Trail Middle School will host our Veteran’s Day Program on Friday, November 7th, from 1:10–1:50 p.m.

We are excited to announce that our 8th Grade Choir, Band, and Modern Music Students, along with Echo Trail Staff Veterans, will be hosting a special program to honor those in our community who have served or are currently serving in the armed forces. To help us prepare, we kindly ask that our families and community members complete the linked Google Form below by Thursday, October 31st.

If you are a Veteran, or you have a Veteran in your family whom you would like to see honored at our program, please respond below by listing the names of all who will be attending. This will allow us to reserve Guest of Honor seating for your group.

CLICK HERE to complete the Veteran's Form

Thank you in advance for your support. We look forward to celebrating and honoring our veterans together on this very special day!

Holiday Assistance Program

If you would like to receive Holiday Assistance for your student, please click HERE to complete a Google Form by Friday, October 20th. Be sure to complete a separate form for each child in your household who attends Echo Trail.

Before filling out the form, please read the information below so you understand how our Holiday Assistance Program works:

We will provide Holiday Gift Assistance for the first 30 families who complete the form.
If additional sponsorships become available, we may be able to support more families.
Families who are not among the first 30 will be placed on a wait list.
Our sponsors will focus on providing clothing items or other gift items that you list as priorities.

Counselor Corner

Attention 8th Grade: Rescheduled Transition Night - Oct. 22nd @ 5PM

Who: 8th grade students attending Echo Trail and Guardians/Family

What: Receive information from JCPS transition office about high school choice

When: October 22nd, 2025 at 5:00

Where: Echo Trail Middle School Cafeteria

Why: To receive information to help make an informed decision for high school choice prior to Showcase of Schools

Please use the link to RSVP - https://forms.gle/jGCmMPTQ8H8Xf7rw7

HERO Student and Teacher Leaders

Check out our HERO point leaders for last week!

Launching HERO!

What is HERO?

HERO is our platform to recognize and reward students for positive actions and behaviors. Students are able to earn points throughout the week for demonstrating the G.R.E.A.T. Pillars of Success.

G - Growth Mindset

R - Ready and Responsible

E - Enthusiastic Attitude

A - Actively Participate

T - Treat yourself and others with kindness

Lanyards: Each student received an Echo Trail Lanyard with their school ID. Expectation is students MUST have their school ID and lanyard with them each day in order to earn points. In the event, students will need to replace their lanyard, ID and/or plastic ID holder, they can redeem points to do so.

Celebrations: HERO recognitions will take place weekly, monthly and quarterly to celebrate our top HERO earners and staff members who reward points.

Upcoming Incentives:

October 14th - HERO Store Opens!
November 5th - Dress down day - Cash in 25 points.
November 20th - KONA ICE - Cash in 10 Points.
November 25th - Pizza social (pizza and music in the cafe’) - Cash in 30 points.

Character Strong Weekly Update

Character Strong is our schoolwide curriculum used for social-emotional learning. Students complete lessons during Team Time on Monday's and Friday's of each week.

Below are highlights of lessons for each grade level:

Month of October
October is National Bullying Prevention Month! Counselors are leading lessons to help students define bullying, recognize its impact, and learn how to respond and report it—promoting a safe and respectful school community.

Counseling Request Form

If your student has an academic question or social-emotional need, you can reach our counselors or Mental Health Practitioner by filling out the Counselor Google Form.

6th Grade - Ms. Thomas
7th Grade - Mr. Rul-lan
8th Grade - Ms. Wales
Mental Health Practitioner (MHP) - Mrs. Sanders

Student Spotlight

Clubs

Welcome to Echo Trail Clubs!

Needing information on club meet times, sponsor contact info, or new to clubs in general?

Visit our Club page here for all the information you need!

The SpongeBob Musical

We are excited to announce our Spring ETMS production - The SpongeBob Musical (youth edition)!!

Required audition workshops happened last week (Tuesday, October 7th and 9th)

Auditions are Monday, October 13th, 2:30-4:00 (location TBD) and depending on interest, Wednesday, October 15th, 2:30-4:00

Echoes of the Arts

Band Newsletter

Click here to read our October Newsletter.

Vision/Mission/Motto
8th Grade Performs National Anthem @ YUM Center!
September Students of the Week!
Sound Connection Highlights
10/9 8th Grade Howlapalooza Concert
10/23 7th/8th Grade JCPS All-County Auditions
10/28 InstaRaise Fundraising Info
10/29 Mark's Feed Store Proceeds Day
2026 Solo & Ensemble Sign Ups!
11/7 Veteran's Day Info

Modern Music Newsletter

Click here to read our September Newsletter.

EXPLORE

👀 Check out what's Happening in Explore this week...

#chasEThecuriosity

2025 Ambassador Leadership Conference, HUGE success. Our Ambassadors heard from Junior Achievement, Fire Fighters, Director of Communications from Academies of Louisville, Stephen Covey Team and Scotty Davenport. Leadership Unlocked was the theme and our students were the bEsT.

Eastern Teaching & Learning visit was a HUGE Success. Eastern Students were able to learn from our teacher and learn how our Students are grEaT.

Athletics

This Week in Wolfpack Athletics...

Monday 10/13

6:00pm Varsity Baseball vs Kammerer @ PRP - Playoffs (Semi Finals)

6:00pm Softball vs JCTMS @ Male HS - Playoffs (Semi Finals)

10/14 6:00 JV Baseball vs Farnsley @ Male HS - Playoffs (Semi Finals)

10/13 -10/14 5:00pm JCPS Tennis Tournament @ Petersburg Park

Saturday 10/18

JV&Varsity Golf Championships

XC - KTCCCA Meet of Champions (State)

@ Masterson Station Park - Lexington KY

Echo Trail Athletic Department

Fall and Winter Sports Transition

Dear Echo Trail Parents and Student-Athletes,

As our fall sports season draws to a close, I want to extend my gratitude to all of our athletes, coaches, and families for their hard work and dedication. The fall season was a great success, and we're incredibly proud of what our teams accomplished.

Now, as we look ahead to the winter sports season, we want to address the upcoming transition. We recognize that there may be a brief period of overlap between the end of the fall season and the start of winter tryouts and practices.

We want to make our policy on this transition very clear. Our number one expectation is for every student-athlete to remain committed to their current fall team until the season is officially over. A fall athlete may attend winter tryouts and workouts only if there are no conflicts with their fall team's schedule, including practices and games. If there is no conflict on the afternoon/night of the tryout and/or workout, the student athlete will be permitted to participate in tryouts and workouts while still fulfilling their fall sport obligations.

To be direct, if a student-athlete shows up to a winter tryout on the same day their fall team has a scheduled practice or event, that student will be removed from the tryout process entirely and will not be allowed to try out for a winter team this season.

We believe that being a part of a team requires full commitment and respect for your teammates and coaches. This policy ensures that our athletes are fully focused on the team they are currently a part of, while also allowing for the opportunity to explore future athletic endeavors when the time is right.

Thank you for your understanding and cooperation as we finish out the fall season and prepare for the winter.

Good luck to all of our student-athletes!

Sincerely,

Kyle Carden

Echo Trail Athletic Director

Winter Sports Updates

Winter opportunities still to come: Starting Dates - TBA

Archery
Indoor Track
Step team

PTSA

Nature Walk Updates

Congratulations, Wolf Pack, for raising over $48,000 at this year’s Nature Walk!

Our top earners were:
1: Caden Maker 7th ($1,100)
2: Emmett Monroe 7th ($1,000)
3: Reina Gibson 6th ($800)

Incentive prizes have been ordered and will be delivered to students at school as soon as they’re available. PTSA is so grEaTful for our amazing community! 💙💚

Reminders

We would love for you to sign up for a PTSA Membership.

--> You can join the Echo Trail PTSA here!

Does your student have spirit wear or school uniforms that no longer fit? Or maybe apparel from a previous grade-level team that your student is no longer on? PTSA is partnering with the FRC to replenish clothing for students and families in need. You can bring donations to the front office or email PTSA to make other arrangements.

Any questions about PTSA, feel free to email echotrailptsa@gmail.com

Volunteers Needed

We will need volunteers throughout the school year. Please fill out this form so we can have you on our volunteer email list.

Bookstore needs help during lunches!
Your Echo Trail Bookstore will be open on Tuesdays and Thursdays during lunches! Hours are 10am-noon.

Students may ask to stop by and purchase spirit wear items during these times. We accept card, check (made out to Echo Trail PTSA) and cash. Parents may sign in to the office for a visitors pass to shop as well during these hours.

If you'd like to volunteer during these times, the bookstore chair will walk you through how it works.

--> https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0548ADA82EA5FDC34-58162520-etms

Link your Kroger Card to Help Echo Trail

Whenever you shop at Kroger and use your Kroger Card, you use can help Echo Trail!

Kroger Community Rewards

Link Echo Trail Middle School PTSA to your Kroger Card and every time you scan your card, Kroger will give back 1% of all your purchases ETMS!
Click here to get started and search for “Echo Trail” in the organization search!

Repeat Information

8th Grade Trip - Save the Date!

Our 8th Grade Trip to Cincinnati will be Thursday & Friday, April 23-24. Make sure to save the date! You won't want to miss this one.

More details to come. Stay tuned!

Nurse Form for Students

Students requesting to see the nurse at school will now have access to this form. This does not include students already scheduled to see Nurse Rincon.

Nurse Form

Volunteer This School Year!

We'd love to have you participate in field trips and other volunteer opportunities!

The Jefferson County Board of Education (JCBE) requires volunteers to submit a background check form every five years. However, if it is brought to the attention of district officials that a volunteer has plead guilty to or is convicted of drug offenses; sexual offenses; offenses against minors; deadly weapons offenses; violent, abusive, threatening, or harassment offenses; or any felony offense, he or she will be required to submit a new criminal records check and his or her volunteer status may be terminated. In keeping with JCBE policy, the School Volunteer Records Check process is as follows:

All JCPS parent and community members whose School Volunteer Records Check was cleared prior to July 1, 2020, are required to submit a new background check.
Volunteers who submitted a School Volunteer Records Check after July 1, 2020, and were cleared will not need to resubmit a records check until July 1, 2025, unless there has been a qualifying incident similar to those listed above.

Get the Latest from our ET Teachers on the JCPS App

Many of our Echo Trail teachers are using the JCPS Rooms feature in the JCPS app to keep our parents updated. We don’t want to overwhelm parents by doubling up info in multiple places. We encourage you to download the app for communication.

Whether you're on Apple or Android, the links to download the JCPS App can be found here:
https://www.jefferson.kyschools.us/o/jcps/page/mobile-application

Standards Based Grading

All teachers at Echo Trail use Standards Based Grading. This means that grades will be communicated as a 4, 3, 2, 1, or 0 and focus on what students know and can do in relation to specific state standards. Click this link to learn more and reach out to your child's teacher or counselor if you have questions.

School Fees

If you still need to pay your school fees, please do so now online at My School Bucks! Click the link below to review the School Fee Sheet. Price does include a 3.95% credit card processing fee.

25-26 School Fees

You may also send fees by cash and checks with your student.

If we can offer any assistance, please don't hesitate to reach out to us 485-8398.

Weekly Newsletter

Errors? Omissions? If something is missing or needs to be corrected, please email Michael Etter, michael.etter@jefferson.kyschools.us.

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