Valley Middle School 2024-2025!

Bailey Gander - 6th Grade RLA

Judy Klaus - 8th Grade Specialist

Bryan Lewis - 6th Grade Music

Kara Millner - 6th Grade RLA

Sean Norton - Specialist

Christian Paulo - Salazar - 6th Grade Specialist

Skylar Stein - Art

Lexi Stein - McAndrew - Phy Ed

Ryan Voss - Dean of Students

August 7th- 7/8 Grade Registration

August 8th- 8th Grade Registration

August 26th- Open House

August 27th- First day of School

September 2nd- No School

September 18th - 1PM Dismissal

Dear Valley Middle School Community,

We are excited to welcome you to another school year as part of Valley Middle School’s Royal Pride! As part of our ongoing efforts to ensure that every student thrives academically, socially, and emotionally, we are proud to implement the Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) framework throughout our school.

What is PBIS?
PBIS is a proactive, school-wide approach to creating and maintaining a positive learning environment for all students. This framework focuses on teaching and reinforcing expected behaviors while preventing and addressing negative behaviors in a consistent, fair, and supportive way. By using PBIS, we aim to create a safe, inclusive, and productive environment that encourages all students to be their best.

Tier 1 Expectations
At the core of PBIS are our Tier 1 expectations. These are the routines, procedures, and behavior expectations that apply to all students, across all settings in our school. Our focus is on teaching students what it means to be responsible, respectful, and ready to learn. These expectations will be reinforced in classrooms, hallways, the cafeteria, and other common areas, helping students understand how to meet school-wide standards for behavior.

Throughout the year, we will consistently teach, model, and practice these expectations. For example, students will learn how to be respectful of their peers and teachers during lessons, how to be responsible for their belongings and schoolwork, and how to stay safe and engaged in the hallways and during transitions. These expectations are designed to help students feel supported, know what is expected of them, and succeed academically and behaviorally.

Routines and Procedures
Establishing clear routines and procedures is an important part of creating a positive school environment. All students will be introduced to the school's routines during the first few weeks of school. These include:

• Classroom routines: Use of planners to write Essential Questions- to spark curiosity and background language. How to enter and exit the room, engage in class discussions, and ask for help.

• Hallway expectations: Use of planners to gain permission, walking on the right side quietly and safely to their next class, keeping hands and feet to themselves.

• Cafeteria procedures: Respecting personal space, cleaning up after themselves, and following lunchroom guidelines.

• Restroom procedures: Using the facilities responsibly, returning to class promptly, and maintaining cleanliness.

• Arrival and dismissal routines: Entering and leaving school in a safe and orderly manner.

These routines are designed to support a smooth, orderly school day, allowing students to focus on learning. Students will have opportunities to practice these routines and receive positive feedback for meeting expectations.

Partnership with Families and the Community
We believe that strong partnerships with families and the community are essential for the success of our students. We encourage you to talk with your child about the importance of positive behavior at school and support them in understanding and meeting our expectations. By working together, we can help ensure that every student feels safe, respected, and ready to learn every day.

Throughout the year, we will provide updates on our PBIS program and share resources on how you can reinforce these expectations at home. If you have any questions or would like to learn more about PBIS and how we support student behavior, please feel free to contact us.

Thank you for your continued support in making Valley Middle School a wonderful place to learn and grow!

Sincerely,

Valley Middle School Staff

Parents/Guardians,

You are invited to a special presentation by Michael DeLeon with Steered Straight, Inc on October 2 at Valley Middle School. This presentation is geared toward encouraging students to make healthy choices and informed decisions in their lives while leaning into their trusted adults for support. Please join us for the parent presentation at 6:30pm on October 2!

Valley Middle School is an AVID School. AVID stands for Advancement Via Individual Determination. Our teachers are excited to continue focusing on Writing, Inquiry, Collaboration, Organization, and Reading (WICOR) with students this year in a way that both challenges them but supports them in their learning. We implement many things school-wide but we also have an AVID Elective class in 7th and 8th grade. We are looking forward to a great year of learning! Please see the attached flyers for more information and don't hesitate to reach out!

Check out the link for all General Education Bus Routes: https://valleybusllc.com/grandforksroutes/

Make sure your student is registered to ride the bus! You can do this in PowerSchool, by reaching out to the school’s secretary or Alli, our District Transportation Coordinator can assist you.

Bears August/September Newsletter

The Bears English classes will begin working with Identity in their first module! We are going to explore identity and a sense of self through studying and reading stories set in the medieval times: The Canterbury Tales and The Midwife’s Apprentice. Students will explore their own sense of self while learning new vocabulary, reading articles about the time, and thinking about society’s influence on themselves as well as society’s influence on the characters in our first book.

This month, we're diving deep into the world of Rational Numbers. Fractions, whole numbers, and decimals are all rational numbers and are common in many daily activities. We use rational numbers when cooking, buying groceries, saving money, watching sports, and so many more aspects of life. Students will practice adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing both positive and negative rational numbers as well as exploring where rational numbers appear in their daily lives. Rational numbers are just the beginning of your 7th graders math journey!

We have begun Geography by learning classroom expectations and how to show Pride in Self, Pride in Others, and Pride in School. As we progress through the next few weeks, we will begin learning about the branches of Geography (Physical and Human) and soon transition into learning about necessary map elements. Once those foundations are set we will begin practicing our latitude and longitude skills finding locations around the globe.

Currently, our students have been learning about different systems of measurement, with a focus on the metric system. Understanding measurement is essential not just in science but in everyday life—from cooking and construction to medicine and travel. This unit helps students see the relevance of measurement in various fields and prepares them for more advanced scientific study. They have learned that having a common system of units allows us to communicate data accurately, compare results, and solve problems effectively—whether it’s measuring ingredients in a recipe or determining the correct dosage of medicine.

Building on their understanding of measurement, our students will next dive into converting metric units. This skill is essential for scientists, engineers, and anyone working in a field that relies on precise measurements. By practicing metric conversions, students will enhance their ability to switch between units like millimeters, centimeters, meters, and kilometers with confidence.

As we move forward, our focus will shift to interpreting and creating line and bar graphs. Graphs are powerful tools for visualizing data, identifying trends, and communicating scientific findings. Students will learn how to read graphs accurately, analyze data, and create their own graphs to represent information effectively. These skills are critical in all areas of science and beyond, helping students to make sense of data in studies, projects, and even in everyday decision-making.

To wrap up our first month of school, we will begin an exciting dive into photosynthesis—the process that powers life on Earth. Students will learn how plants convert sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide into glucose and oxygen, providing energy for themselves and the rest of the food web.

Mustang Parents/Guardians,

It was great to meet many of you during open house - your enthusiasm for the new year is absolutely invaluable! We are so excited to get to know your children this year. Thank you for sharing them with us.

Computer Applications

In class we are learning how to create emails, create notes with bullet points, create columns, and will soon be transitioning into tables, PowerPoint, Excel, and AppCreators. If time allows, we will also cover careers, mock interviews, personal finance, and entrepreneurship.

English

To start the year, we created “About Me” pages and shared some of our interests with each other. After the holiday, we will be diving into our Wit & Wisdom curriculum, Module 1: The Power of Storytelling. With only having one period of ELA instead of the block (like 6th and 7th), we will be in Module 1 for a while, but it will be a fantastic learning opportunity nonetheless! This will be Mrs. Krueger’s first time working with Wit & Wisdom, so she will rely a bit more on the students to know how these operations run, seeing they’ve been in the W&W curriculum for two years now!

Math

To start this new year lots of our math class has been focused around reviewing things from last year. This allows us to be at the same place when we move forward. Our Pre-Algebra classes have been focusing on Rational and Irrational numbers along with getting introduced to perfect and non perfect squares. The Algebra class has squeezed a lot into the first few weeks. Linear functions and systems of equations have been our main focus. It is great to have the kids back in school and moving forward with their math knowledge.

Science

For science we started the year with classroom activities that focused on building science and communication skills. This will be followed up by moving into our Exploring Space unit. This unit focuses on seasons of the year, lunar phases, and much more.

US History

In history, students have begun developing their history interactive notebook. These notebooks are typically kept in the class, but may be taken home if needed. Students have spent the beginning of the year learning what it means to think like a historian. Students having been working on sourcing, contextualization, and corroboration of sources in a fictional lunchroom fight scenario. As we continue through the introductory unit, students will determine the differences between primary and secondary sources, review the makeup of the 13 colonies, learn about the Atlantic Slave Trade and Middle Passage, and end with participating in a trading simulation on mercantilism. Unit One will focus on the events that lead into the start of the American Revolution: the French and Indian War, different types of colonial protests, the Boston Massacre, and the Boston Tea Party.

Team Reminders:

Please continually check-in with your child if they miss school for any reason, and encourage them to communicate with teachers, as needed. Assignments are never intended to cause hours and hours of work and/or frustration. We have several supports in place that students can take advantage of throughout the school year. Students can:

• email teachers

• leave private comments in Google Classroom

• sign up for a time to come in for help before school starts or after school ends

• and, perhaps most importantly, use given class work time intentionally

All 8th grade teachers have a common grading policy that follows the current grading scale. Due date: The date the assignment is due. Deadline (Late Work): The final date for full credit, but will be marked late. If not turned in, a zero will be placed into gradebook. After the deadline, 10% will be taken off through the end of the quarter. Retakes: Set up a time with the teacher to go over incorrect answers; then a new assessment will be provided for the retake. Only one retake will be allowed.

Parents/guardians, please partner with us in helping to remind students to charge their chromebooks at home before bringing them to school. Without a charged chromebook or a charger with them, they have limited access to spare computers and material needed in classes.

We are excited to have your child as a Mustang! Please do not hesitate to reach out to us with further questions/concerns.

Eagles-

Aug/Sept. 2025

Team Notes: The Eagles team wants to thank all the students for starting the year off so well! Please note that each student needs a binder (zipper is preferred), as backpacks are not allowed during the school day. We also want to remind students and families about the importance of getting to each class on time, and that it is the students’ responsibility to get a pass from an adult if they know they will be late. We look forward to continuing the positive momentum through Quarter 1.

English: To start the year, we created “About Me” pages and shared some of our interests with each other. After the holiday, we will be diving into our Wit & Wisdom curriculum, Module 1: The Power of Storytelling. With only having one period of ELA instead of the block (like 6th and 7th), we will be in Module 1 for a while, but it will be a fantastic learning opportunity nonetheless! This will be Mrs. Puhl’s first time working with Wit & Wisdom, so she will rely a bit more on the students to know how these operations run, seeing they’ve been in the W&W curriculum for two years now!

Math: We are going over a review of expectations and a review of math concepts that will be necessary to be successful in both Pre Algebra and Geometry. We will be starting our units the week after Labor Day for both classes.

Science: The class started with the “All about me activity” to get to know each other. Then the discussions on the class routines and what they need to have like the Notebook for their notes in every lesson. Had given an overview of the Lessons for Unit 1 through a series of questions in which they used the textbook to answer them. We are using the McGraw Hill resources for our Earth Science lessons.

History: At the beginning of the year we start every year getting to know each other in class. We then have now started to dive into the history portion of my class with learning about primary and secondary sources, followed by historical thinking skills, and then we will move on to reviewing the 13 colonies which they should have learned about in elementary school. After review we will start working on the Revolutionary Era in United States History.

The MySchoolBucks (MSB) Store is open for families to use! Families can pay for athletic fees, add funds to lunch accounts and other items online or via the MySchoolBucks button on the Grand Forks Public Schools' smartphone app.

Please click on the link below to be directed to the site for more information. You will find a link to the form on the right hand side.

https://www.gfschools.org/departments/child-nutrition/free-and-reduced-price-meals-information

- NO outside foods/drinks (Starbucks, pop, breakfast foods from restaurants etc…) will be allowed into the building. A water bottle is fine. Note, students may still pack a cold lunch to eat during lunch hours.

- IF your child comes to school with a beverage, snack or food item they will need to eat it prior to coming inside of the building.

- Breakfast is available in the cafeteria from 7:45 – 8:30 a.m. No food can be taken out of the cafeteria during breakfast.

- If you bring your child back from an appointment and you have purchased lunch for them, they will need to have eaten the food prior to coming back into the building. They can not bring their outside purchased food or drink into the cafeteria to eat lunch. Please plan accordingly so that they have time to eat the food you buy them prior to returning to school.

School Hours: The school day starts at 8:40 am and ends at 3:30 pm. During the school year, students should arrive between 8:15am-8:30am unless they are involved in an early class like band/orchestra or have an early practice for sports, music, etc.

Doors Open: The main entry door, Door 7, opens at 7:30 am for band, orchestra, or early morning athletic/music practices. Any other students who arrive before 7:45am, will be expected to wait outside.

Morning arrival: Students who arrive before 8:30am will have the following options:

• Cafeteria: The cafeteria opens at 7:45am. Your child may choose to work on homework or eat breakfast in the cafeteria. Breakfast is served every morning from 7:45-8:30am.

• Morning Hallway: Students who chose to not attend breakfast, may sit along the walls in their team hallway, quietly. Students can work on homework or find something else to work on until school starts.

Student Use of Cell Phones, Smartwatches, and Other Electronic Devices

To foster a focused learning environment and enhance student engagement, we have specific guidelines regarding electronic devices. Students are expected to turn in their cell phones, smartwatches, earbuds, and other electronic devices to their Royal Time teacher at the start of each day. These devices will be securely stored and returned at the end of the school day.

Each student will be issued a Chromebook, ensuring they have the necessary tools for educational activities.

Consequences for Cell Phone Policy Violations

First Offense: The phone is taken to the office and returned to the student at the end of the day; parent/guardian will be notified.

Second Offense: The phone is taken to the office, and the parent/guardian must pick it up. The student will serve detention.

Third Offense: The phone is taken to the office, and the parent/guardian must pick it up. The student will serve detention, and the phone must be turned in to the office daily for the remainder of the semester.

Students who do not comply or refuse to turn over their phone may face additional consequences, including but not limited to detention, in-school suspension, and/or suspension.

In an effort to decrease distraction and increase student learning and personal connectivity, student cellphone use is restricted for all secondary students in the following ways. This includes add-on devices such as earbuds, smartwatches (notifications must be turned off), and other related devices.
Middle School students who choose to bring their cellphones to school will:
● Leave their cell phones with their advisory teacher at the beginning of each school day.
● Advisory teachers will secure student phones in locked storage containers until the end of the school day when students will be dismissed in time to retrieve their devices.
● No cell phones will be allowed in classrooms, hallways, bathrooms, or locker rooms.
Each student will be issued a Chromebook which will provide educational access to the district’s online resources deeming cell phone access unnecessary. The office staff will relay family messages to students during the day if necessary. Students will also be allowed to use the office phone to make important calls during the day.

STUDENT DRESS CODE

Valley Middle School respects students' right to express themselves through their attire, but we also maintain guidelines to ensure a safe and respectful environment for all. Please review the Student Dress Code to ensure your child’s attire aligns with our expectations. Key points include:

Tops and bottoms must meet while standing, and tops should connect over the shoulders.
Clothing must cover undergarments and private areas and not be see-through.
Hoods and hats are not allowed indoors, as students’ faces must remain visible.
Clothing and shoes should be appropriate for all classroom activities, including physical education and lab work.

We appreciate your support in helping us maintain a positive and productive learning environment. If you have any questions or need further clarification, please don't hesitate to reach out.

Allowable Dress & Attire

The district recognizes that students have a right to express themselves through dress and personal appearance; however students shall not wear apparel deemed disruptive or potentially disruptive to the safe and orderly operations of our schools, nor discriminatory or disrespectful in nature. Students must wear tops, bottoms, and shoes.
• Tops and bottoms must meet while standing and tops be connected over the shoulders
• Clothing must cover undergarments and private areas, and must not be see-through
• Hoods and hats are not allowed as student faces must remain visible to staff
• Clothing and shoes must be suitable for all scheduled classroom activities including physical education,
science labs, wood shop, and other activities where unique hazards exist
• Specialized courses may require specialized attire, such as sports uniforms or safety gear

The Student Dress Code Policy FFH may be found on the Grand Forks Public website at

https://www.gfschools.org/school-boards/policies.

In an effort to promote organization skills and increase safety in the building, students will be required to keep their backpacks in their lockers during the school day. Students will be allowed to access their locker throughout the school day to pick up and put away materials for their classes. Teachers on each team will support students’ efforts to come to each class prepared. After arriving in the morning, students should report to the commons area, or designated hallway and not access their locker until 8:30 AM.

After 8:30 AM, they will need to leave their backpacks in their lockers until the end of the school day.

Who: Any 6-12 grade boy or girl who is interested in wrestling

When: Sunday from 4:00 PM - 5:30 PM and Wednesdays from 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM starting September 8 and ends November 10

Where: The Grand Forks Central Wrestling Room

Attending tournaments is not a requirement to attend practice. If you are playing a fall sport you can just attend Sunday night practices.

Registration Link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd85RSFMiXL8c4eiYnchdbDYMDOJfY0JoQBx8l-G4NrAUQpmQ/viewform

Eligibility is reported every two weeks. Ineligible students may practice, but cannot be involved in a public appearance or contest. This is for middle school athletes competing at the middle school or high school level. This follows the rules as stated by NDHSAA.

A student is ineligible if any of the following apply:

• Two or more F's
• Two or more citizenship grades of a "2"
• One citizenship grade of a "1"
• An alcohol, tobacco, drug, or criminal violation (6 weeks) Follows NDSHAA Guidelines
• Misdemeanor, 6 weeks felony after being reported

Improvement Plan (Academic & Citizenship)

A student may rejoin their activity after 1 week of ineligibility if they create an improvement plan that is signed by their teacher and submitted to Dr. Larson.

Physical Form:

All athletes must have a physical form submitted to the Valley MS office before they will be allowed to participate in practices or contests. Every athlete must get a yearly physical. Since Block I practices start before school, parents and athletes must complete this task in the summer. Physical forms are available in the Valley MS office and online at https://www.gfschools.org/departments/activities/documents-forms; click on Departments - Athletics - Documents & Forms - Physical form. The physical form must be turned in before your child is allowed to participate.

Sport Physicals

* Watch clinic web sites for walk-in times.

Altru (Grand Forks)

• Family Medicine – 795-2000
• Family Medicine Residency - 780-6800

Aurora (Grand Forks) 701-732-2700

Riverview Clinic (EGF) 218-773-1390

My Ally (Grand Forks) 701-757-2559

Participation Fees:

Athletes must pay participation fees (or pay online at myschoolbucks.com) or have a waiver form for participation fees submitted to the Valley MS office before they will be allowed to participate in a contest. Fee waiver forms are available in the Valley MS office and are confidential. The participation fee for each block is $60.00

Concussion Form:

Every year all athletes and parents need to read and sign off on the concussion information form for the district. Concussion forms are available in the Valley MS office and online at https://www.gfschools.org/departments/activities/documents-forms; click on Departments - Athletics - Documents & Forms - Concussion Form.

All athletes in grade 7 and/or any new athletes to Grand Forks Public Schools will take the IMPACT concussion test. This test is required only once in their middle years. This information is very important in helping to assist local physicians and parents in making a decision on when an athlete may return to practices or games in a particular sport.

Intramurals are offered in five blocks throughout the school year. Some activities are co-ed and others are not. The North Dakota High School Activities Assoc. does not allow 6th grade students to participate in interscholastic programs.

Valley offers flag football; soccer; floor hockey; strength training; volleyball; basketball; outdoor games; and other activities at the discretion of the activities director and intramural supervisor(s).

Intramural activities meet 7-10 times per block. There is a 12$ fee (reduced pricing or free are available based on family income). No student will be denied the opportunity to participate in intramurals.

Block I: September 4th - October 3rd

• Boys Flag Football
• Girls Soccer

*Dates and activities may change based on weather and space available.