Mooresville Middle School

Community Newsletter -- February 9th, 2024

A Message from Mr. Kosal:

MMS is All Heart!

Greetings, Red Imp families! This is Mr. Patrick Kosal, your proud Mooresville Middle School principal. As I'm writing this welcome to you, I'm sitting in the cafeteria at Camp Thunderbird on the 6th grade field trip. It's an excellent event; our students are having such a great time! I'm honored that our staff was able to continue the tradition of this 6th grade field trip that began at MIS.

Also, Dr. Browning has been on the 7th / 8th grade Science Club field trip to the Outer Banks since Wednesday. She reports that students had an outstanding time learning about oceanography and wildlife and the visit to the North Carolina Aquarium was a real highlight.

Thank you to all the parents that offered their time by chaperoning the event, or provided financial support to help these trips happen for their Red Imp students. MMS is so lucky we can offer these off-campus learning experiences for our students, but it's only with support from our families that we can do so.

Here are some of the topics in this week's newsletter:

Boys & girls Track tryouts
PTSO Valentine's Grams (fun dip) - on sale!
CTE week for MGSD: 2/12 - 2/16
MMS Tardy Policy reminder - updated for Q3
upcoming JV basketball home events - only 2 home games left!
Yearbook order form (QR code)
Credit by Demonstrated Mastery information
Order school pictures from LifeTouch
most recent episode of ImpTV News
8th grade field trip payment information
7th grade field trip payment information
2024-25 MGSD Kindergarten registration info
and more!

Mr. Kosal, MMS principal / 6th grade (pkosal@mgsd.k12.nc.us)

Dr. Browning, assistant principal / 7th grade (mbrowning@mgsd.k12.nc.us)

Ms. Richardson, assistant principal / 8th grade (tabitharichardson@mgsd.k12.nc.us)

Ms. Miller, athletic director (dedramiller@mgsd.k12.nc.us)

No School on Monday, February 12th (teacher work day)

* Progress Reports will be sent home for students on Friday, February 16th *

Let's celebrate our awesome CTE teachers: Ms. White, Ms. Greene, and Ms. Shaw!

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Valentine's Dance @ MMS - February 16th

Next Friday, February 16th, Mooresville Middle School is hosting our Valentine's Day dance from 6 - 8:00pm in the MMS gymnasium. The dance is open to all students except those on the Loss of Privilege list (LoP).

Students should bring their Mooresville Middle ID cards to enter. $5 cash admission at the door is required, and concessions will also be on sale all night! Be sure soft soles (i.e. sneakers) are worn to protect our gym floor, please.

** Parents: the dance ends promptly at 8:00pm. All students MUST be picked up by 8:15pm or they could wind up on the Loss of Privilege list for quarter #3 / 4. Thanks in advance!

We hope to see lots of Red Imps celebrating with us next Friday at the dance!

Parents: here is the latest edition of the ImpTV news!!

ImpTV News show (2/9/24)

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JV Basketball Home Games - Monday, 1/29

C'mon out to watch our Red Imp JV Basketball teams compete next week! MMS hosts both girls & boys home games on Tuesday, February 13th -- the first game starts at 4:30pm. Our JV players would love to see community support as they take on Ellis Middle School. The cost is $5 per person. Only clear bags will be allowed inside, per conference policy. See you there!

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Credit by Demonstrated Mastery (CDM)

The Spring window for Credit by Demonstrated Mastery is now open! Students must apply prior to February 15 if they wish to “test out” of a course they would typically take next year. Applications should be turned into their school counselor. More information is found in the links below:

CDM Information for Families

CDM Application Link (Applications due to School Counselor by Feb. 15)

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Reminder about Responsible Use Policy for MGSD:

MMS has noticed more and more students damaging their school-issued laptops OR using the device for inappropriate, non-school-related purposes. This is especially important now because soon our district will be doing a device refresh for all students & staff, meaning students will have newer laptops issued to them. As a reminder:

Students should use technology and the Internet in an appropriate manner. Technology is an integral part of a student’s educational experience and must be used in support of education and research consistent with the educational objectives of MGSD.

Pornographic, obscene, or vulgar images, sounds, music, video, language, or materials, including screensavers, backdrops, and/or pictures, are prohibited.

Downloading, uploading, or importing games, screen animations, as well as programs or files that can be run or launched as a stand-alone program is prohibited at all times.

Students are prohibited from playing games during the instructional day unless otherwise directed by a teacher or administrator.

Students shall not deface or vandalize MGSD computers in any way. This includes, but is not limited to, marking on, painting on, drawing on, marring, placing stickers on, or damaging a computer.

Additions, modifications or deletion of files, except in the student’s ‘directory’ or ‘home directory,’ are prohibited.

To read the full Responsible Use Policy for MGSD Technology, click here. Thank you, parents, for talking with your students about acceptable and responsible use of school-issued technology.

MMS website

Use the "Parents & Students" tab to find information about Lunch Prepay, Canvas help, etc.

Q3 MMS tardy policy -- help your Red Imp get to school on time!

** Our Administration team has made some small changes to the MMS Q3 tardy policy. Please be aware that tardies began to be logged on Monday, January 8th. All student tardies were reset to zero at the beginning of the second semester. **

The MMS tardy-to-school policy for the 2023-24 school year reads as follows:

1st Tardy - Parent Square notification from school to parents

2nd Tardy - Parent Square notification from school to parents

3rd Tardy - Parent Square notification from school to parents

4th Tardy - Lunch Detention assigned with notification from school

** 5th Tardy - Lunch Detention assigned with notification from school

6th Tardy - Office Referral (likely in-school-suspension OR after-school detention** assigned)

(7th tardy+ resets to warnings --> lunch detentions --> office referrals)

Students must be in the building when the tardy bell rings at 7:55am to begin their school day. After 7:55am, student tardies will be logged and parents will be contacted for warnings. Parents will be notified by Ms. Joy Miller, behavior interventionist, via Parent Square message when their child is late to school. Consequences will likely follow after the fact.

* Note: bus-riders on late buses are exempt from these consequences; that tardiness is an MGSD issue. If you need a bus route set up for your student, please click here to get more info about the MGSD Transportation department.

Parents: please be mindful of our 7:55am start time and help our Red Imps get to school on time each day so we can take advantage of every moment for learning!

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8th grade Field Trip to Carowinds

When: Friday, May 17th

MMS begun to collect money on Tuesday, January 16th and will continue to do so until Wednesday, April 17th. 8th grade students can bring in their payment to the MMS cafeteria each morning between 7:35 - 7:55am so Ms. Mentzer can receipt the money.

Information was sent home with students on Monday, January 8th. Please ask your child for the paper flyer with cost, expectations, and volunteer opportunities.

Link to informational flyer & volunteer information

Link to pay online

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7th Grade Field Trip to Whitewater Center

When: Monday, May 20th

Information was sent home with students on Thursday, February 8th. Please ask your child for the paper flyer with cost, expectations, and volunteer opportunities. Permission slips & waiver forms for the Whitewater Center must be returned before Thursday, February 29th in order to guarantee your student's spot on the trip.

MMS will then begin to collect money next Tuesday, February 13th and will continue to do so until Friday, April 19th. 7th grade students can bring in their payment to Ms. Davis' classroom (218) each morning between 7:35 - 7:55am so it can be receipted.

Contact Dr. Browning, 7th grade assistant principal with any questions (mbrowning@mgsd.k12.nc.us)

Click here for information re: Kindergarten Registration for '24 - 25

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How to alert MMS of a student absence:

The email address for parents to alert MMS about student absences is: MMSAttendance@MGSD.k12.nc.us

Parents can upload doctor's notes as well. We hope this process will be easier on everyone instead of sending a note with the student that can get lost easily!