The Hawk Connection

Hello, AMS Students and families,

We’re thrilled to announce our upcoming Spirit Week! It’s a great chance for students to show their school spirit and have fun celebrating the season together. Here’s a look at each day’s theme:

• Monday: Beach Day – Wear your favorite beach-themed attire (school-appropriate, of course!).
• Tuesday: Twin Tuesday – Find a friend or staff member and dress alike!
• Wednesday: Jersey Day – Represent your favorite team!
• Thursday: Grade Color Day – 6th grade wears Orange, 7th grade wears Green, and 8th grade wears Purple. As this is also Halloween, students who choose to wear a costume must follow the school dress code. Costumes cannot include face masks, full face paint, or any weapons.
• Friday: Friday Flashback – Dress in styles from a past decade!

Following Spirit Week, we’ll be hosting our first ASB Fall Event on Friday, November 1st from 5:30–8:00 PM. This evening typically includes a variety of activities planned by our student leadership classes, ranging from karaoke, movie rooms, a DJ/dance room, sports tournaments, video game competitions, and PTSA-hosted concessions. Tickets will be sold during lunch this week for $5, or at the door for $7 (cash only). PTSA concessions will also be cash-only, so we ask that students bring exact change or smaller bills. Doors will open at 5:30, with entry closing at 6:30.

Please take time to review all the information in this newsletter, as there are many important updates. We have our Veteran's Day assembly and recognition activities coming soon as well, please see below for the bell schedule and invitation to our families and community to our program. Regarding our facilities, we continue to address bathroom safety concerns. As a temporary measure, the 2nd floor bathrooms are closed, while all other bathrooms remain open for student use. We’re working on a sustainable plan to reopen these facilities with added supervision measures. Our goal is to provide safe and supervised access for all students, and we appreciate your understanding and patience as we implement these changes.

Thank you for your support in helping us ensure a safe and spirited environment for everyone. We’re looking forward to an engaging Spirit Week and a fun Fall Event next week!

Best,

Kia duNann

Principal

Exciting news, middle schoolers! Our Movie & MOD Family Night Out contest was a huge success and we ended up having our BEST FUNDRAISER EVER! All students who received a new online order starting from Monday, September 16th, were entered for a chance to win an awesome night out, courtesy of AMC Theatres and MOD Pizza! Thanks to everyone who participated and helped make this contest a blast. Your hard work paid off, and every sale counted toward not just this drawing prize but all the fantastic rewards students have been earning during this fundraiser. And now, the moment we’ve all been waiting for…the winner is…Clifford Schryvers!

To help connect families in our community with agencies that support parents, children and young adults with disabilities, a Special Education Parent Resource Event will be held on November 6th from 5:00 to 7:00 PM at the Anacortes High School Library. This event offers an opportunity for community providers to share information about their services and help families access support and recreational opportunities for children and young adults with disabilities.

The following agencies will be present:

• Skagit County Developmental Disabilities

• Steps

• Skagit County Parent to Parent

• Division of Vocational Rehabilitation

• Cascadia Clubhouse

• Special Olympics

• Salvation Army

• Whatcom Community College

Free child care and Spanish language interpretation will be available for those in attendance at the event. No RSVP is necessary to attend, unless you require child care or Spanish language interpretation. If you do need these services, please complete this brief request form by Wednesday, October 30th. Link to request form here.

Abby Biederman:

6th Grade Math

In 6th Grade Math, we are just beginning Unit 2: Introducing Ratios. This is a foundational unit for many concepts students will learn about in 6th grade and beyond. We will include many strategies and representations (including tables, graphs, and equations) to help students reason about ratios and equivalent ratios. In addition, we will learn about ratios within contexts and discuss where ratios are used in the "real-world".

7th Grade Math

In 7th Grade Math, we are in the middle of Unit 2: Introducing Proportional Relationships. This unit is directly related to the 6th grade Ratios unit and builds upon what students learned in 6th grade about ratios. In this unit, students deepen their understanding of ratios by analyzing proportional relationships, finding the Constant of Proportionality in these relationships, and then creating equations and graphs to represent these relationships.

Valerie Holtgeerts:

In PE we are learning the skill related components of fitness. Currently, our focus has been on coordination and reaction time. Learning to juggle has been a great opportunity for students to practice those skills. Juggling is also good for mental focus and well-being. We are also beginning our fitness test. We have completed the PACER and will be doing the standing broad jump and pro-agility in the next two weeks.

We have a new process for reporting activity restrictions or student injuries. Please see our graphic below for more information.

Boys' Basketball has started and we are excited for an amazing season! Support our Hawks by coming to a home game this November and don't forget to bring cash for the Concessions table!

Grade checks for Boys' Basketball will be available in the main office on Thursday, October 31 and will be due by the end of the school day on Monday, November 4. Athletes are required to be passing all classes in order to be eligible to compete in games. If you have any questions, please reach out to the Athletic Admin Assistant, Rachel Esposito, at resposito@asd103.org.

Clubs are in full swing at AMS! Check out the options here and sign up on FinalForms if something catches your eye. Have an idea for a new club? Stop by the front office to get a "Starting a New Club" form.

Running Club is starting November 4th. Interested students will need to have a completed Informed Consent Form on file.

Happy October from the PTSA!

Halloween is right around the corner and ASB has an exciting event, 90's Nightmare, planned for November 1, 2024. Students plan and run the event, but adult volunteers are needed onsite to observe and support. Please sign up if you can: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0A4CA9A822A7FCC52-52594937-90s

A huge thank you to everyone who contributed to the Teacher Conference Week Chili Bar. It was a big success!

Another big thank you to all who supported our second Community Connections event by visiting Penguin Coffee on October 23rd! We received $250 to support our mission. Thank you Penguin Coffee!!

PTSA memberships continue to trickle in (86 members) and it’s definitely not too late to join (https://anacortesmsptsa.givebacks.com/store/items/1066638) and get us to our goal of 100 members. Joining the PTSA does not mean you are expected to volunteer or even attend meetings. It can simply mean you support our mission of serving the AMS community!

Cookie cards (https://anacortesmsptsa.givebacks.com/store/items/1055128) are still available online and feel free to join the fun by signing up (https://www.signupgenius.com/go/70A0E4BADAE28A1FF2-50824799-cookie#/) to help bake cookies! If you have already purchased a cookie card online, please check with your student to see if they have picked it up at the table. Remember they act as cash and cannot be replaced if lost or stolen. Upcoming Cookie Fridays: Oct 25th, Nov 8th, Nov 22nd.

Spirit Wear orders have been delivered. If you have not received your order, please contact the PTSA and we will work it out. If you missed the sale, we will be hosting another spirit wear sale in January/February.

If you would like to stay up to date on PTSA events in November, please see the calendar below. It is available on our website too.

Finally, we'd love to hear from you at any time so please contact us:

anacortesms.ptsa@gmail.com

https://anacortesmsptsa.givebacks.com/

https://www.facebook.com/AnacortesMiddleSchoolPTSA/

https://www.instagram.com/anacortesms.ptsa/

Parents/Guardians have several ways to notify the school of an absence, tardy or early release need.

-Call: 360-503-1248

-Email: amsattend@asd103.org

-Use Skyward Family Access

Pre-Planned absence forms are required for any absence that will be longer than three days. Students can stop by the office for one or can email to request one be sent to them.

Students that are just arriving or leaving early from school must come and sign in/out.

Here is a link directly to the attendance tab on our website as well: AMS attendance website

Welcome to the Anacortes Community Connect our new online community bulletin board. This platform is designed to connect local organizations with the Anacortes School District Community.

If you are a local organization and would like to request electronic flyer distribution to the Anacortes School District Community, you may do so through our online request form. Please note that programs, activities, or events must be appropriate for school-aged children and their families.

We hope that this platform will help foster a stronger sense of community and provide a space for local organizations to share their events and activities with the wider community reach. Each event is clickable that takes you directly to the event signup and website!

Check it out and upload your events here:

https://www.asd103.org/District/1589-Anacortes-Community-Connect.htmlhttps://www.asd103.org/District/1589-Anacortes-Community-Connect.html

Principal

kdunann@asd103.org

Monica Frost

Assistant Principal

mfrostasd103.org

Website: https://ams.asd103.org/

Location: 2202 M Avenue, Anacortes, WA, USA
Phone: 360-503-1230

The Anacortes School District does not discriminate in any programs or activities on the basis of sex, race, creed, religion, color, national origin, age, veteran or military status, sexual orientation, gender expression or identity, disability, or the use of a trained dog guide or service animal and provides equal access to the Boy Scouts and other designated youth groups. The following employees have been designated to handle questions and complaints of alleged discrimination, or you may mail complaints to the address below.

Kristen Koehler Section 504/ADA Coordinator

(360) 503-1216

Connie Sheridan, Civil Rights/RCW/Title IX Coordinator

(360) 503-1221

csheridan@asd103.org

Written Complaints

2200 M Avenue, Anacortes, WA 98221

The Anacortes School District provides interpretation and translation services upon request as needed. Please contact the Student Support Services Department for more information: (360) 503-1216.