Welcome!

December 4, 2023 

Hello Wolf Pack Families!

We are excited to host a special recognition for our athletes and coaches tonight at our home basketball games just before the 5:00 o’clock game. We hope you can join us and cheer on our teams! 

We surveyed our students recently about holiday traditions and have included the following slide deck that captures our student and family traditions at Echo Trail: Holidays Celebrations At Echo Trail

Starting this week, we will be helping students consistently use their agendas in each class. They will be writing down the learning target and if they have homework or not. We want to assist our students with organization skills and also completing homework when assigned. We also want to increase communication with you as you support your student. 

Recently, we sent communication via Messenger about if we should have an NTI day and what that will look like for Echo Trail. I wanted to make sure you had access to the two links below:

• NTI Communication - Families

• Technology Plan - NTI

Save the Date(s):

12/25-1/5/24 NO SCHOOL 

1/8/23 School Day for Students 

1/12/23 End of Second Grading Term

1/15/23 NO SCHOOL

2/19-2/20/23 NO SCHOOL 

3/15/23 End of Third Grading Term

4/12/23 PTSA Spring Fling Festival 

5/24/23 End of Fourth Grading Term 

#ExpectgreaTness 

Dr. Ammerman, Principal

Twitter: @KaraJo_Ammerman 

SAVE THE DATE! NOVEMBER HERO INCENTIVE 

We are thrilled to announce that any student who has earned 75 or more HERO points this school year will be able to attend the Bellarmine Vs. Berea College Basketball Game on Thursday, December 7th.

This event will take place at Freedom Hall from 11AM - 1PM. Lunch will take place while we are at Freedom Hall. Students will need to bring their lunch or request a sack lunch from school. 

Students will be in their normal Echo Trail uniform on this trip and will not be able to purchase concessions. Permission slips are due by Tuesday, December 5th to your child's 1st period teacher. Students must have a signed permission slip to attend the trip.

Counseling Request Form

If your student has an academic question or social-emotional need, you can reach our counselors (Mr. Rul-lan and/or Ms. Thomas) or our Mental Health Practioner (MHP) Mrs. Sanders by filling out the Counselor Google Form.

MAP Testing

It’s that time of year again in which your student will be taking part in MAP testing. To help prepare them for testing, your child will be setting goals in their Science and Social Studies classes during the week of December 4th-8th. Please ask your child about what goals he/she set for reading and math.

MAP measures a student’s academic progress in reading and math. Each time your child takes MAP, we use the data to compare their growth from their previous score. 

On December 12th-13th, your child will take the Reading MAP test. The average goal for a 6th grade student in winter is 213. 

On December 14th-15th, your child will take the Math MAP test. The average goal for a 6th grade student in winter is 219. These average scores are a prediction that a student will answer 50% of given questions correctly at a specific difficulty level.

Please encourage your child to try his/her best on this test. Please also make sure your child is here on time each day for testing. We appreciate your continued support in ensuring your child is successful!

Homework Reminder

As your child continues to settle into middle school, we wanted to take a moment to send out a reminder about the importance of completing homework assignments. 

Homework is used to reinforce the skills and concepts that your child is learning at home. It is important that you are checking in DAILY with your child about the homework that he/she may have to complete. 

We ask that you also check Infinite Campus regularly to stay up-to-date on your child’s progress and any missing assignments that he/she may have. Completing assignments in a timely manner and practicing outside of school will help your child be successful throughout the school year. 

As always, if you have any questions, please contact your child’s teacher directly. We appreciate your continued support!

Agenda Use

Starting this week, we will be helping students consistently use their agendas in each class. All teachers will have their students write down the learning target and any homework they might have.

We want to assist our students with organization skills and also completing homework when assigned. We also want to increase communication with you as you support your student.

Creative Digital Arts Competition

Digital Photography, Illustration, Animation, 3D Design, Videography and more. We're looking for submissions to represent our school in the STLP Creative Digital Arts (CDA) competitions to be held at State!

Any and every student is welcome to enter!

Deadline for entries is Wednesday, December 13. Categories and complete information on the Echo Trail STLP site. 

Questions? Email Michael Etter, michael.etter@jefferson.kyschools.us 

The Dentist Is Coming To School! 

The in-school dentist will be here February 5, 2024.

Your child will bring home a form to complete and return by December 15th.

You can also sign up online at www.myschooldentist.com
For questions you may call 1-855-481-8639 or visit BigSmilesDental.com 

Yearbook Photo Submissions

Remember, you can submit photos from ETMS events! These photos will be considered for use in our first ever yearbook.

Please use the form linked here and contact kari.ward@jefferson.kyschools.us if you have any questions or feedback. The form will remain open throughout the school year (until the yearbook has to be finalized).

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!

CHANGE TO STUDENT COUNCIL MEETING SCHEDULE:

The Student Council will be meeting in room 226 with Random Acts of Kindness Club on Wednesday 12/06/23. 

We will still be having our 12/14/23 meeting as well in room 233.

STLP Meeting, December 4

STLP will be meeting Monday, December 4 to prepare for their Project Presentations. Students should stay tuned to the STLP Google Classroom for most current updates.

Week of December 4th - Upcoming Athletics Events

12/4 JV Boys BB vs  Crosby MS 5:00 PM

JV Girls BB vs Crosby MS 6:00 PM

6th Boys BB vs Crosby MS 7:00 PM

*@ Echo Trail

12/8 JCPS MS Swimming Championships @ University of Louisville Aquatic Center
Good luck to the Echo Trail Swim Team as they compete at the JCPS Middle School Championship on December 8th at the University of Louisville.

Girls Heats - 6:00 PM

Boys Heats - 8:00 PM

12/9 Archery 

Eastern Pre-State Tournament @ Eastern HS 8:00 AM - 7:00 PM

*Flights TBA

Volunteers Needed - Calling All Wolf Pack Members...

We are looking for volunteers to help fill some of the game day responsibilities (ticket table, score book, concessions, cleanup, etc.) during our upcoming home basketball events. 

All game day volunteers will receive free admission the day of the event they are working. The link below will take you to the sign up sheet to help us ensure that we will host great events at Echo Trail.

Wolf Pack Basketball Game Day Volunteers - Sign Up!

If you have questions about game day help, contact Mr. Carden, kyle.carden@jefferson.kyschools.us, or Coach Fasoldt, peter.fasoldt@jefferson.kyschools.us, for more information.

Bowling League

Our informational night to complete/submit forms and officially sign up for teams will be Monday, December 18th, 6pm at Echo Trail Middle School 🎳 

For any questions, email Coach Stivers at joseph.stivers@jefferson.kyschools.us. 

Quick Reference & Reminders

• Bus App Directions

• Please reference this map for AM arrival and PM dismissal 

• Echo Trail MS School Number 502-485-8398

• Expectations Slide Deck 

• Technology Slide Deck 

• Gum/Candy/Food - we ask that students do not chew gum (it finds its way to new furniture or the floor, etc.) and that any candy/food remains put away unless in the cafeteria.  

• Please review the uniform guidance and slide deck linked below:

Uniform Written Guidance

Uniform Slide Deck (visuals)

Spirit Store Items and Uniform Approved Items

Common Items we are correcting:

• Full zip jackets will need to be removed (once we have assigned lockers students will store them there)

• Hoodies that are non-Echo Trail (Echo Trail hoodies with hoods down can be worn on Fridays) Nike women’s dry tempo short, AC women’s tempo luxe 5 in short, and general athletic shorts are not approved school items to be worn. 

• The only athletic shorts approved on Friday’s are BSN Sports Agility 2 pocket Short and Nike Flex Woven Short.

Wolfpack Weekly in Junk Mail

Teachers and parents both found the Weekly Newsletter in the Junk folder of their email recently.

If you missed a newsletter, you can always find previous weeks listed in the navigation window.

Here are things you can do to make sure you don't miss out next time:

• Periodically look in your Junk Folder to make sure you're not missing email from JCPS Teachers

• Whitelist our email addresses

  • For the Weekly, michael.etter@jefferson.kyschools.us and echotrailmiddle_reginfo@jefferson.kyschools.us

• Bookmark bit.ly/WolfPackWeekly and use the navigation bar for the latest week's newsletter

• Update Infinite Campus Parent Portal to include your phone number to receive SMS Notifications from us

We hope this helps. We never want you to miss out on important information. Please reach out to the school with any questions or assistance!

School Contacts

If you need to reach out to any of our administrators, front office staff, core content teachers or other staff, you can find their names, roles and emails on our school website: bit.ly/echotrailmiddle

Weekly Newsletter

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