Blue Devil Blast

No school tomorrow (Friday, November 5), enjoy the day off. If you are participating in any Braves celebrations, be careful, stay safe, and have fun.

Progress reports were supposed to go home on Friday, but we will instead send them on Monday.

We still need parents to join our PTA. Link on the website and near the bottom of this newsletter.

Get to know what your child is doing online. Look for tips in the Counseling section of this newsletter.

Have a great weekend!

Enjoy the day off on Friday, November 5 in celebration of the Atlanta Braves' World Series victory.

Be aware that Saturday activities are NOT cancelled. We will still be having all scheduled Saturday academic activities on November 6.

(Photo by Mary Taylor from Pexels)

• November 4 - Orchestra Cluster Concert, 7pm
  
• November 6 - Orchestra GMEA
• November 8 - Progress Reports Go Home (DATE CHANGE)
• November 9 - Digital Learning Day #3
• November 13 - Basketball at Coleman MS (Duluth HS)
• November 13 - JLC Raider Competition at Shiloh MS
• November 13 - All State Chorus Auditions
• November 13 - District 13 Honor Orchestra
• November 16 - Bingo for Books & Math Game Night
• November 17 - Picture Makeup Day
• November 18 - Basketball vs. Pinckneyville (Summerour)
• November 19 - Career Day (career volunteers needed)
• November 22 - 26 - Thanksgiving/Fall Break

Student cell phones are best left at home for the school day. However, we understand that some of you need your child to bring it with them due to before or after school concerns.

While students are on campus, cell phones are not to be powered on, are not to be visible, and are not to be in the hands of the student. We have phones in various places throughout the building that we can use to reach out and contact you should there be a need to inform you of anything throughout the day. Please help us as we prevent many of the issues that student cell phones could cause.

(Photo by Torsten Dettlaff from Pexels)

Did your child get 32% on Khan by Halloween? Excellent, but that's old news now!

This month's goal is 48% progress level on Khan Academy by the end of November. We are giving incentives out each month. We also have a Khan Saturday Program - ask your math teacher to join!

Gwinnett County Public Library in partnership with the Atlanta Community Food Bank will hold a drive through food pantry at the Gwinnett County Public Library, Lilburn Branch on November 9 & 23.

Food will be distributed starting by 10 a.m. on a first-come, first-served basis, one package per family while supplies last. Each package will contain up to 20 lb. of produce in addition to shelf stable items. Distribution will be a drive through process with volunteers bringing food packages out to cars.

Tuesday, November 16, 2021

6:00-7:30 PM

Please join us for this fun event to celebrate National Parent Involvement Day!

Learn and have fun with your child through games, books, and activities!

Fun for the whole family! Free pizza dinner, cotton candy, popcorn, and prizes.

(Flyers Below)

• We're continuing to remind our students about healthy use of technology and devices looks like in our building. Please continue having the dialogue with your children about the dangers of social media, and how to use devices in positive, productive ways.

• Are you interested in speaking to our students about your career on Career Day? We'd love to hear from you. Please contact Lenie George at lenie.george@gcpsk12.org

• Parents, please remind your kids that they have math homework. Students are expected to complete 12% progress per month on Khan Academy. We're giving away monthly incentives for those who are making growth - the progress level should be 48% by the end of November.

Mr. Lenie George

6th Grade Assistant Principal

Lenie.George@gcpsk12.org

770-417-2494

Mrs. Pam Griswell

6th Grade Counselor

Pam.Griswell@gcpsk12.org

770-417-2491

What Are Students Learning Next Week?

MATH - Standard Math will be starting their Ratios and Proportions unit, learning about unit rate and proportionality. This is CRITICAL to algebra and the rest of their math career. Accelerated will be finishing Transformations (moving shapes around on the coordinate plane).

LANGUAGE ARTS - Students will be reading and writing for comprehension in preparation for their common assessment that will be happening next week.

SCIENCE - Students will be continuing with the genetics unit. We will be doing a bridge activity on inherited traits to prepare them for Punnett squares the following week.

SOCIAL STUDIES - Students will be learning about human capital and capital goods and how they affect the economies of Middle Eastern countries.

7th Grade Upcoming Assessment Dates

ELA

11/8 - Unit 4

MATH

11/5 -Standard Math Unit 2 (No School: Pushes Back to Monday)

11/10 - Accelerated Geometry Test

SCIENCE

11/17 - Tentative date

12/16 - tentative date

SOCIAL STUDIES

11/17

Mr. Stacy James

7th Grade Assistant Principal

stacy.james@gcpsk12.org

770-417-2486

Mrs. Yunilda Valdez

7th Grade Counselor

yunilda.valdez@gcpsk12.org

770-417-2480

8th Grade Students have the unique opportunity to choose the high school they wish to attend next year, either Norcross High School or Paul Duke STEM. We have found that students make the best choice by learning about both high schools and choosing the school that best fits your interests. An overview of the high school selection process is available online at https://bit.ly/NorcrossClusterHS22. Please review this information and pay special attention to the dates of the upcoming information meetings where you can learn more.

Upcoming Meetings

• Monday, November 8 @ 6:30 pm: In-person student/parent meeting with detailed information about Paul Duke STEM HS (in English & Spanish)
• Monday, November 15 @ 6:30 pm: In-person student/parent meeting with detailed information about Norcross HS (in English & Spanish)
  
• Week of November 29: Students submit their high school choice and elective course selections through eClass.
  

Begin by familiarizing yourselves with both schools by visiting the school websites at PaulDukeSTEM.org and NorcrossHigh.org. Students will select which high school they will attend and which elective classes they would like to take after the Thanksgiving break. We hope you will attend one or more of the upcoming meeting to learn more about Norcross High School and/or Paul Duke STEM High School.

Mrs. Christy Gray

8th Grade Assistant Principal

Christian.Gray@gcpsk12.org

770-453-2051

Mrs. Robin Blackwell

8th Grade Counselor

Robin.Blackwell@gcpsk12.org

770-417-2487

Mrs. Kimberly Blackshear

Gear Up/ Special Education Counselor

Kimberly.Blackshear@gcpsk12.org

770-797-2960

There has been a recent increase in social media challenges that are very concerning. GCPS takes the issue seriously. These challenges highlight the need to educate our students to think critically about the challenges and pranks they may encounter on social media. Parents, please take a look at the Social Media Parent Tips attached below and see where you can help.

November 13: Away - Coleman Middle School (at Duluth High School)
November 18: Home - Pinckneyville Middle School
December 2: Away - North Gwinnett Middle School (at North Gwinnett High School)
December 4: Home - Lilburn Middle School
December 6: Away - Jones Middle School (at Mill Creek High School)
December 9: Home - Duluth Middle School
December 11: Home - Twin Rivers Middle School
December 13: Away - Radloff Middle School (at Meadowcreek High School)
December 16: Home - Osborne Middle School
January 8: Home - Northbrook Middle School
January 10: Away - Lanier Middle School (at Lanier High School)
January 13: Home - Hull Middle School
January 15: Away - Creekland Middle School (at Collins Hill High School)
January 19: Away - Dacula Middle School (at Dacula High School)

Tickets are $3.00, cash at the gate

Digital Tickets are $4.00

(available on https://gofan.co/search as the date approaches)

Fall 2021 Final Exam Schedule

Connections A - December 13

Connections B - December 14

Science - December 15

Language Arts - December 15

Social Studies - December 16

Math - December 16

Makeups - December 17

December 7, 2021

February 1, 2022

April 12, 2022

* all meetings will be held from 5 - 6:30 pm

OUR Students * OUR School * OUR Community * OUR Future

Website: www.gcpsk12.org/SummerourMS
Location: 321 Price Place Northwest, Norcross, GA, USA
Phone: 770-448-3045
Facebook: facebook.com/SummerourMS
Twitter: @SummerourMS