News from the Nest
Connecting Frost Middle School to the Community
From the Principal's Desk
Welcome to the 2023/2024 School Year!
Greetings Frost Community,
I hope this communication finds you well. We are just finishing our 5th week of school and it seems like everyone is settling into their new school routine. Our first i-Ready window has closed and is providing our staff with valuable student data that will assist us in determining best practices for instruction. The Frost staff will continue to collaborate this school year to provide all students with a research-based curriculum that is both meaningful and challenging.
Our school improvement goals in math, reading, writing, inclusivity, and positive behavior will continue this school year. Students will participate in all school writing prompts geared toward stating a claim, supporting it with evidence, and providing reasoning for their argument. And if there is one thing middle schoolers are good at, it's arguing! The purpose of these writing pieces is to get our students in the habit of critical thinking and solid writing mechanics. Teachers will use a common rubric to assess student writing, and will analyze data to determine best practices of providing writing instruction. Our larger goal is to encourage writing across the curriculum.
Our ongoing inclusion efforts have led us to add a "Peer Link" opportunity for general education students who are interested in learning alongside their special education peers. Students in these courses develop a level of empathy that cannot be taught elsewhere. It is an amazing experience for all of our Falcons, and a point of pride for the Frost Community.
We are creating an information station for our Frost students located just left of the main entrance. "The Frost 411," will have a bulletin board for student activities, upcoming events, NJHS information, and student council activities. There will also be club information, permission slips, and information on monthly cultural events. We are still under construction, but we will have it up and running by the first week in October.
At Frost we welcome parent volunteers! Strong relationships between home and school are crucial to student success. If you are interested in volunteering to advise a club, chaperone an event, or support building initiatives, please email me or Mr. Jensen. Also, please consider joining the Frost PTSA! All of the amazing rewards and activities at Frost would not be possible without the support of our PTSA.
We are so excited to upgrade "News from the Nest" to this new online platform! Smore provides Frost the opportunity to update and add information quickly and easily. This edition of News from the Nest is designed to provide our parent community with information regarding the daily operations at Frost.
I look forward to an amazing school year with all of you!
S. Wheeler
Emailing Frost Staff
The staff members at Frost are committed to parent communication. Unfortunately, we are finding many emails are going into our spam folders. Personally, I have had at least a dozen parent emails that never made it to my inbox. This can be very frustrating for parents and even more so for us. You and your student are important to us. If you do not receive a response to an email sent to the school within a 24-hour period, or during the next business day, please give us a call.
PTSA Membership Hub! Join today!
PBIS Happenings
The 3 Tenets
Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) is an evidence based behavior management framework that improves everyday outcomes for all students. At Frost, we have incorporated the LPS elements of character, trauma informed care, and restorative practices within our framework.
The 3 basic tenets of PBIS are Respect, Responsibility, and Safety. There is a student rubric located in every classroom that assists in teaching our students how to exemplify these tenets in all areas of the school.
Falcon Dollars and Rewards
The Frost PBIS program has a local currency for staff members to reward students who demonstrate positive school behaviors. Falcon dollars can be used for a variety of items and activities at Frost. For example, in the month of September, students can purchases Falcon Time basketball passes, eat lunch in the courtyard, enter the weekly raffle, and purchase items from the school store. These rewards will change throughout the year.
A Community with Character - Trait of the Month
At Frost, students of the month are selected based on the demonstration of monthly character traits. Teachers nominate students from their classes to receive "Student of the Month" distinction. The first character trait for the month of October is Respect.
School Safety
Hold in Place vs. Lockdown
To provide some clarity on our safety procedures here at Frost, I would like to describe the difference between a "Hold in Place" incident and a "Lockdown."
A hold-in-place event may occur for several reasons. First, there is an active threat outside of the building. This may be an environmental hazard, an active police issue in the adjoining neighborhood, or a person attempting to gain access to the building. Second, there may be an incident occurring inside the building that impacts hallway passage. An example of this could be a medical emergency or a dysregulated student. During a hold-in-place event, students are safely kept inside their classrooms with locked doors, and instruction continues. An announcement will be made to begin the hold-in-place, and students will be assured they are safe.
A lockdown event applies only when someone is actively hurting people in the building. It activates a set of protocols that the district and individual schools have in place. There will NEVER be an unannounced lockdown drill. If there was ever a need to call for a lockdown, the district would implement it's plan and the community would be informed immediately.
Student Activities
Student Voice Club presents Hispanic Heritage Month!
The Student Voice Club encourages an inclusive school climate at Frost. Students work together to design field trips, workshops, activities, and celebrations to recognize and honor the diversity within our school. During September and October our students are celebrating Hispanic Heritage. Throughout the month of October, students will have the opportunity to participate in salsa dancing, story time, soccer games, a "Day of the Dead" craft, and an after school movie, "The Book of Life."
The Falcon 411
With so much going on in our building, we decided to develop an area just left of our main entrance for student information. All club information, student government and activities announcements, and general building information will be located in this area for students to access.
Directly across from the Falcon 411
Just another space for our students to hang out across from the Falcon 411!