News from the Nest
Connecting Frost Middle School to the Community
Welcome to the 2023/2024 School Year!
Greetings Frost Community,
I hope this communication finds you well. It has been a very exciting month here at Frost! We just reviewed the data from our first round of support classes for ELA, Math, and study skills and found all of our students experienced substantial academic growth in their focus area. I am so proud of the grit our students demonstrated as they mastered curriculum in areas where they once struggled! I am looking forward to our second marking period results and the academic gains of a new group of students.
We had several teachers receive grants from the LPS Foundation that will expand academic and extracurricular offerings at Frost. Mr. Chinavare is using his Foundation grant to fund an E-Sports club. Students have already begun competing to be the champion of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Mrs. Lutz used her monies to purchase squid for a dissection activity in 8th grade science, and Mr. Rais will be purchasing new music and equipment for his band and orchestra classes. Finally, Mrs. Deskovitz will be organizing two field trips for students to The Charles Wright Museum of African American History and the Arab American National Museum. Mrs. Deskovitz is a champion of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging at Frost and is always seeking meaningful cultural experiences for our students!
Our boys basketball season is underway (7th grade is currently undefeated) and we have a few new clubs for our students to participate in. Volleyball Club is sponsored by Frost parents and is designed for students to develop and improve their VB skills! The club meets on Monday's after school from 3:15 - 5:00. Permission slips can be found by the Frost 411 bulletin board just outside the main office. E-Sports is currently running and full, with final tournament dates for the current group on December 20th and 21st. Look for more E-Sports opportunities during the second semester. And finally, Mythology Club is back! For more information, please see Mrs. Hoffman.
As we head toward the end of the first semester, our calendar is filling up with music concerts, athletic competitions, the return of Unified Basketball, and second marking period CSAs. Remind your students to enjoy these crazy middle school days, they provide the building blocks for academics, friendship, and personal success in the future! Thank you, for entrusting Frost Middle School to prepare your students for tomorrow's challenges.
It takes a village,
S. Wheeler
Thank you, for supporting positive student behavior at Frost!
We are coming to the end of our Five for Frost Fundraiser to directly support our PBIS school store and positive behavior activities and incentives. To date, we have raised $2015 to support positive school behavior! Every $5 entry provides students with an opportunity to win a prize in our daily raffle, and our top 5 students will enjoy a pizza party with two of their friends. Our top fundraising classrooms will receive Looney Baker donuts for a morning treat after the holiday break. If you haven't had an opportunity to donate yet, please use the link or QR code below to donate today! Our campaign ends at midnight on December 15th.
During the 2022/2023 school year, 30.8% of Michigan students were chronically from school. Although that percentage is down from 38.5% during the 2021/2022 school year, it is still much higher than the pre-pandemic 2018/2019 school year, which was recorded at 19.7%. Students who are identified as "chronically absent" miss 10% or more days during the school year - that accounts for 18 days of the 180 day school year.
While it may be necessary for a student to miss school for family matters, illness, etc., current research suggests students who are chronically absent from school have an increased risk of the following:
- Decreased reading proficiency
- Dropping out of high school
- Becoming involved in the criminal justice system
- Living in poverty
- Difficulty with peer relationships
It is important to stress the importance of regular school attendance with your students. If your student is struggling with attending school regularly, please contact their counselor for strategies and supports. We are dedicated to ensuring all students at Frost have full access to their educational and extracurricular opportunities.
On December 21 & December 22 there will be 1/2 days of school for students to complete their second marking period CSAs - attendance on these days is very important! CSAs are exams that allow students to demonstrate mastery of the content they learned during a marking period. They will account for 10% of a students' overall marking period grade. Students' final semester grades are made up of 50% of the first MP grade and 50% of the second marking period grade.
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.
PBIS Monthly Rewards
On November 21st, we held our monthly PBIS celebration for the month of November. More than 95% of Frost students earned the reward which included - basketball, volleyball, a "Swifty" room, Nintendo Switch in the Idea Factory, board games, computer games, card games, a movie "The Grinch," and arts and crafts (dream catchers). It was a great way to send students of to the holiday break!
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 character trait for November was Responsibility, the character trait for December is Empathy.
E-Sports - Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
E-Sports is an in-school league that provides an opportunity for Frost students to compete against each other in the Nintendo Switch game Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. All game play is supervised by FMS staff. Appropriate language and behavior is mandatory at all times during league involvement. At this time, all spots are taken, however, new tournaments will be held after the holiday break.
