Mustang News

This section of the newsletter is for new information for this newsletter. You will find organized sections below for repeated information, clubs, resources, and AMS procedures.

We had a busy week of celebrations and highlights at AMS!

Review:

We are celebrating our choir students who got first division ratings at Festival and are headed to states! This is the first time we have taken 6th grade students and it was an awesome experience!

We attended the Excellence in Education Award dinner hosted at Top Golf by the Auburn Hills Chamber of Commerce. Congratulations again to our winners Coral Ziegler and Alexander Alvarado Valdovinos.

The Optimist Breakfast Club of Auburn Hills hosted the first round of finals for the Optimist Speech competition. Congratulations to all 8 students who performed. Our winners for this round are:

Bronze winner - Brinley Brown

Silver winner - Mateo Dedaj

Gold winner - Elise Momany

The AMS Theater Troupe presented Rapunzel on Thursday and Friday. We are so proud of our middle school thespians.

Preview:

Book Fair is here! Please put money in your student's e-wallet or send them wish some cash to purchase books from our Scholastic Book Fair. The Book Fair will run from Monday-Friday this week.

On Tuesday students will be taking their NWEA Math test. Please make sure students are on time and ready to do their best on the test!

Tuesday is the last day of Quarter 3 to submit late assignments. Students have until 3:00pm to submit make-up work and revisions. Friday is the last day of Quarter 3. It is a half day. We will be having Free Your Phone Friday for $5. Students must have their GO Cards.

On Thursday, we have Round 2 of our Optimist Speech finals. Good luck to our speakers!

The Best Thing:

There were so many great things this week from choir winnings to Optimist speeches to volleyball games to school plays. It was a lot! The best thing this week was our fun pi day events for staff and students.Our staff brought in pies to share and our 6th grade math team had a Pi Day competition to see how many digits of pi students can memorize. Students were also served pie at lunch. It's not very often we get students excited about math!

MARCH

• March 13-14 AMS Production of Rapunzel Get tickets HERE
• March 17 St Patrick's Day Wear green! 🍀
• March 17-21 Book Fair! 📚
• March 19 PTO Meeting 6:00pm (switched to virtual)
• March 20 1st Day of Spring! 💐
• March 21 Half Day - End of 3rd Quarter - Dismissal 11:07am and Free Your Phone for $5 (must have GO card)
• March 24-28 NO SCHOOL - Spring Break!
• March 31 NO SCHOOL - Teacher Professional Learning

• April 1 Financial Literacy Concert w/Musical Guest-Carter Hulsey (All 8th grade classrooms)
• April 9 TK-8th grade HALF DAY - Teacher Professional Learning - Dismissal at 11:07am
• April 10 8th Grade Dance

We are so excited to be preparing for our annual Washington DC Field Trip. Current 7th grade students will travel to Washington DC in November, 2025. We need 80 students or more to sign up! We need to fill the spots before school gets out in June. You can make monthly payments and we have some fundraising opportunities available. Its really "The Best Thing" of the year! Click the button below if you were unable to attend the zoom and would like to look over the presentation from the meeting.

We are also looking for parent chaperones. Chaperones have to be fingerprinted and background checked. If you are interested in chaperoning, please email Dr. Gomez kathryn.gomez@avondaleschools.org and she can add you to the list. Parents should not sign up or start paying for a chaperone room until they are approved chaperones. Thanks!

We celebrated our Excellence in Education winners and the teachers they chose to honor. Our winners are Coral Ziegler who honored Mrs. Schmidt and Alexander Alvarado Valdovinos who honored Mrs. Valle.

Congratulations to the finalists who competed in the Optimist Oratorical Contest:

Jason Taylor

Ainsley Tischer

Reagan Lantz

Elise Momany

Kovae Howard

Brinley Brown

Leilani Rodriguez

Mateo Dedaj

Our winners for Round 1 were:

Bronze Winner: Brinley Brown

Silver Winner: Mateo Dedaj

Gold Winner (moving on to the next level): Elise Momany

Under the direction of Mr. Cornwell, the choir department at Avondale Middle School is thrilled to announce its participation in the Michigan School Vocal Music Association District “16” Choir Festival, which took place on Wednesday, March 12th, at Stoney Creek High School.

Our talented 6th Grade Choir, along with the 7th and 8th Grade Choir, showcased their incredible skills and received remarkable evaluations! Both choirs are advancing to the STATE competition!

Ratings Achieved:

• 6th Grade Choir: 1st Division

• 7th & 8th Grade Choir: 1st Division

Both choirs earned numerous praises from the judges! Their 1st Division ratings qualify them for the upcoming state choir festival scheduled for April.

Congratulations to our 6th Grade Choir and our 7th and 8th Grade Choir students for upholding the “Tradition of Excellence” in our choir department!

Additionally, our high school choirs participated in the MSVMA District 16 Choir Festival on Monday, March 10th, and Tuesday, March 11th, with five choirs achieving a 1st Division rating! In total, we are excited to have seven choirs heading to the state choir festival at the end of April!

On the morning of April 1, all 8th graders will participate in a financial literacy concert experience at AMS hosted by the Career Readiness Department. The Mission of Funding the Future is to educate students across the country on the importance of smart financial decisions, through a multimedia presentation including music, video and an inspirational message shared by a musical celebrity. Funding the Future emphasizes the importance of financial literacy at a young age. We look forward to welcoming Carter Hulsey as our musical guest!

Step 1: Registration 2025 Registration Form

Step 2: APEX Rostering LINK HERE

Step 3: Test Administration April 14th-18th

Step 4: Score Test & Communicate with Students/Caregivers

Advanced Science Class Opportunity for Current 7th Graders

If your student would like to test out of Science 8 next year and go into BIO at AHS 1st hour, s/he can register to take a placement test in April.

Please click on the link below to learn more. Registration is now through March 18, 2025. No late registrations will be accepted.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1TgkyOzBwsLcfEzQ_tiIrOYGWxa2IYA17F9y0TL9dntc/edit?usp=sharing

For entrance to AHS high school level classes:

Avondale School District is offering a science test-out opportunity for middle school students to prepare for the 2025-2026 school year. Students entering 7th or 8th grade who would like to take high school level Biology can register for the middle school science test-out session by completing this form.

For entrance to AHS high school level classes:

• Scores at or below 77% will not demonstrate proficiency and students will be required to take the course.

• Scores 78% or higher will demonstrate content mastery of the course and students will be able to progress to the next level class.

• The assessment includes multiple choice, short answer, and a performance task. Teachers will not provide any instruction to prepare students for these tests.

• Test out exams will be scored as soon as possible after the test date.

• Students will be notified through email as soon as results are available.

• If a student passes a test out exam the counselor will adjust their schedule as needed.

Registration will remain open until March 18, 2025.

STUDENTS MUST REGISTER USING THEIR GMAIL ACCOUNT. Students will receive a welcome email with login instructions after registration.

If you have questions, please contact Coleen Brunni at coleen.brunni@avondaleschools.org.

Test Day Instructions:

• Please use this LINK to login to APEX:

• Username: usually the student number, check the registration spreadsheet

• Password: Learn (You will be prompted to change it.)

• Click “Yes” to agreements.

• Students will take the Science Course Test which is Assigned: “Middle School Science Test-Out” UNIT 14.1.2 EXAM

• Use the gray scroll bar to scroll to the right and click on Unit 14

• Click the right arrow to access Unit 14.1.2 Exam (105 Questions)

• Students receiving a 78% or higher will be asked to take the performance task.

• Students Completed the Performance Task Last:

• Brown Bear Task

• Brown Bear Key

• Science Rubric (3 is Proficient)

Results:

• Results will be input on the spreadsheet by the teaching staff at each school.

• Central office will communicate test results with families within two weeks of the test of administration.

• Central office will communicate results with counselors.

• Current 7th grade students (Only) who DO NOT pass the assessment will be offered the opportunity to take the full APEX course during the summer. Quizzes and Tests can be completed virtually, but all Exams will be proctored in person during summer school hours: Monday-Thursday June 16th-July 31st, 10am-1pm.

If you have questions, please contact Coleen Brunni at coleen.brunni@avondaleschools.org.

Click into the Hub below to set up e-funds so your student can shop cashless!

🎂 Celebrating Birthdays this week are:

3/14

Maria C

Jaxen A

3/15

Leia L

Dylan G

Josiah T

3/16

Amaya D

Delilah B

Malaya V

Sophia R

3/17

Joseph T

3/18

Jordyn H

Keniyah S

Noah E

Jace L

3/19

Demere S

Jayden G

Evan C

3/19

Evan C

Deryck T

Julian V

Please join us on Wednesday evening for our PTO Meeting on Zoom at 6pm. All parents are welcome! We will be discussing Teacher Appreciation Week.

Zoom Info: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87965425183

Meeting ID: 879 6542 5183

Do you shop at Kroger? If you do, it's super easy to support the AMS PTO just by doing your weekly shopping. All you have to do is go into your account and click Community Rewards. (Below you will see what the page looks like after you go to your account.) Then select AMS PTO to receive a percentage of what you spend. Kroger will then automatically send the PTO a check each quarter.

This section of the newsletter contains information from Avondale School District about different district-wide initiatives including: grading, security, and events.

The Avondale Board of Education has approved a contract with Zebra K9 to bring a certified vape detection K9 team to our middle and high schools from January 27 through May 2025. This initiative aims to deter vaping and maintain a focused, safe learning environment. The K9 team will visit sporadically each month, with dates kept random, and will not visit elementary schools.

For more information on the dangers of vaping, we encourage families to review the resources from Parents Against Vaping. Thank you for supporting our efforts to ensure a healthy environment for all students.

Below you will find information that was sent out previously and is still relevant. We are hoping that diving the newsletter with important, new information at the top, and repeated information below will help it be easier to read while still providing a useful resource.

There are other sections further down for clubs, resources, and AMS procedures.

Dear Avondale Staff and Families,

We are writing to follow up on the incident earlier at Avondale High School and to provide additional information regarding our ongoing commitment to safety. We would like to provide reassurance that this conflict was an isolated incident between two students, and there is no ongoing or residual threat to our schools. However, we take every threat or act of violence with the utmost seriousness and are continuously working to enhance our security measures.

As part of our response to this situation and in an effort to further safeguard our students and staff, we will be increasing the sensitivity of our weapons detection system. To clarify, our detection system is not a metal detector. It is designed to detect high-density materials and large weapons, namely firearms, meaning it can identify not only metal but also dense non-metal objects that could be intended for harm. The increased sensitivity will cause the detectors to pick up much smaller items.

We prioritize creating a safe and supportive learning environment for all students by relying on a combination of advanced security technologies and proactive strategies. We understand the desire to conduct individual searches or requiring every student to pass through a metal detector daily, however, this is not practical. We have a unique challenge of admitting hundreds of students into our buildings every morning in a very short amount of time. Such measures would demand significant resources, diverting time and attention from our primary focus—teaching and learning.

We ask families to work with us to ensure students understand how vital it is to cooperate with the security measures we have in place. Additionally, it’s critical that we remind students of the importance of reporting incidents like these; if you see something, say something. Our district has a strict policy: any student found bringing a weapon or any object intended as a weapon on any campus will face consequences in accordance with our student code of conduct, up to and including expulsion. Furthermore, any adult attempting to bring a weapon into our buildings for any reason will be banned from all school campuses, as we maintain a strict weapon-free school zone.

It’s important for us to highlight the extensive safety measures we already have in place, in addition to our weapons detection system— combined measures that are more robust than most in the county. Our district has invested more money into school security than those in the surrounding areas, exemplifying our commitment to providing a safe and secure learning environment. These include state-of-the-art security cameras, single entry points, before- and after-school building sweeps, the Okay2Say anonymous tip line, and both armed and non-armed security. A full list of all district safety and security measures can be found here. While no security system is infallible, we have worked diligently to ensure our security, response protocols, and communication efforts are as effective as possible.

We want to assure you that we take incidents like this very seriously. The trust of our families and community is incredibly important to us, and we will continue to be transparent in our efforts to maintain a safe and secure learning environment.

Thank you for your continued support.

The attendance line phone number is (248)537-6310.

You may call this number at any time day or night 24/7. Leave a message with your student's first and last name, the date of the absence, and reason for absence.

The 2024-2025 yearbook is for sale! The theme this year is "Let Your Light Shine". Make sure to get your student's yearbook before the price increases! Please follow this LINK to order, call or scan the QR code below.

You will find all of our afterschool club information is in this section

AMS is thrilled to be offering a variety of clubs this year! We have some favorites from years past and some new ones. There is a student activities fee to join a club. This is a one time fee that allows you to participate in as many clubs as you'd like. The cost is $50 ($25 if your family qualifies for reduced lunch or $10 if you family qualifies for free lunch). Even though all lunches are free currently in Michigan, families must complete the Free and Reduced Lunch. This form can be found here (Apply for benefits).

Students need to register for clubs prior to attending to ensure there is space in the club or get put on a waiting list. If your student is interested, s/he may get a form in the cafeteria or by speaking to the sponsoring teacher. Flyers are also published closer to the bottom of the newsletter.

Monday

Art Club (3-4)

Rainbow Club (Ms. Vishnubhotla 3-4)

Tuesday

Random Acts of Kindness (Mrs. Childers 3-4)

No Place for Hate (Dr. Spinks 3-4)

Girl Talk is Tuesday-Friday from 7:15-7:45 am and every Friday from 3-4:30

Wednesday

Anime & Gaming Club (Ms. Vishnubhotla 3-4)

Green Team (Mrs. Kochajda 2:50-4)

Spanish Club (Mrs. Valle 3-4:30)

Student Council (Mrs. Gilbert during lunch)

NJHS by invitation (Mrs. Nofs & Mr. Masen

Ski Club (see below)*Additional costs for lift tickets

Thursday

Pickleball (Fall)

Tennis (Spring)

Youth in Government (Mr. Masen 3-4)

Social Media Club (Mrs. Wyatt 3-4:30)

Science Club (Dr. Spinks 3-4)

Friday

Diamond Painting Club (Ms. McGee 3-4:30)

Girl Talk is Tuesday-Friday from 7:15-7:45 am and every Friday from 3-4:30

Coming soon...Jazz Band (Day and time to be determined)

This section includes activities and resources from the community.

“Blessings in a Backpack” is a program designed to provide students with food for three meals a day during the weekends. If you agree to take part in this program, during the school year, your child will receive a bag filled with purchased food for the weekend. Bags will be dispensed in a discreet and caring manner. The simple meals may include food like macaroni and cheese cups, beef ravioli cups, tuna, granola bars, fruit cups and cheese and crackers among other items. For you there is no cost associated with this program.

To ensure, as to the best of our ability, to provide for a safe packing environment all volunteers will follow the guidelines established by the Avondale School District. All food will be sent home in disposable plastic bags. If you would like to have your child participate in this program, fill out the form below and return it to your child’s school AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. If you have more than one child attending the school, list the names of all children in this school.

Please be sure to indicate on the form if your child has any food allergies.

This section of the newsletter is a review of important procedures for your reference.

Students at the middle school will be earning two separate grades. One grade is for Academic Standards Progress and the other is for Skills for Successful Learners. The second grade may appear as a Citizenship grade in the report for now. We are figuring out how to change the wording on that.

AMS 6-8 Progress Report/Report Card Communication

The Avondale School District believes that report cards are a communication tool between school and home and reflect the district's vision for communicating a student’s learning.

Vision: The Avondale School District will implement reporting practices that clearly communicate student growth and mastery. Student learning will be supported through consistent and clear expectations. Grading will be inclusive of self-evaluation, time for reflection, academic responsibility, and opportunity to advance understanding and mastery.

The Avondale School District has developed middle school report cards that are standards-based. In standards-based grading, students are evaluated on many assignments, assessments, and learning experiences around a learning standard that is given over a period of time. Instead of a letter grade or percentage judging student performance, for example, educators evaluate student skills against a “mastering a skill” continuum.

Students receive marks as numbers representing their progress on the learning continuum.

Grade Mark Legend

• 4- Proficient: The student is able to appropriately utilize the skill in an authentic situation without direction.

• 3- Approaching: The student demonstrates understanding but they require prompting through the process.

• 2- Developing: The student’s evidence aligns with the end goal, but they require additional instruction.

• 1- Emerging: The student lacks clarity and depth in relation to the end goal and requires step-by-step guidance.

• 0- No Evidence: There is a lack of sufficient data.

A mark of 4 represents independent understanding of the full standard and the student’s ability to fully apply their learning in new situations, which is rare to achieve earlier in the year as the standards are quite rigorous. Most students will perform standards at a 2 (Developing) throughout the SEMESTER and will earn a 3 or 4 by the end of the SEMESTER. Therefore, families should expect to see marks grow from 2’s and possibly 3’s at the Quarter 1 check-in to 3’s and 4’s on the Semester 1 Report Card.

Progress Report/Report Card Schedule

November 2024-Progress Check: Student Grades are Updated

January 2025-Semester 1 Report Card

April 2025-Progress Check: Student Grades are Updated

June 2025-Semester 2 Report Card with NWEA Final Report

Please watch the video for directions on how to access report card grades. As and additional reminder:

Students should know how to login to PowerSchool. Directions are linked below if you would like them to practice logging in at home.

Please see the video below, demonstrating how you can view your child's assignments and grades in PowerSchool.

Lanyards and IDs: Students are expected to wear their lanyards on their necks every day. Please help your student come up with a helpful routine to remember their lanyard every day. Students who forget their lanyards will sign in and be given a name sticker for the day. Students who forget their lanyard three times will earn a lunch detention. Please communicate with us if there is an issue with a lost lanyard. We did provide temporary IDs for students who did not attend orientation. We will print replacements after picture retakes. We are still working on getting our office team access to print IDs. Once that happens, replacement IDs and lanyards will be $5.

Yondr Pouches: Students who bring a phone to school must use a Yondr pouch. Please make sure they have their pouch every day, if they are bringing a phone. If a student loses their Yondr pouch, they can purchase a replacement in the office for $30.

Clear Backpacks: Now that students have their lockers, any non-clear backpack must be stored in their locker during the day. We have clear backpacks for sale and in the office. See below.

Snacks: Students may bring a snack to eat during Roundup. Please do not send full sized bags of candy or chips. Students may only have water.

All students will have a fresh start on our daily expectations. Students are expected to have their ID/Lanyards and Yondr pouches (if they have a phone) every morning when they come in the door. Students who forget these items three times will be assigned a detention. Consequences will increase each time they forget after that. The same discipline progression is in place for tardies. Students who have three tardies to class will be assigned a lunch detention. Parents will be contacted via email for lunch detentions and via phone for additional consequences. Students will also lose their GO cards when they earn consequences.

The discipline progression is as follows:

3rd offense (ID/Lanyard, Yondr Pouch, or Tardy) = lunch detention

4th offense: 60 minute after school detention

5th offense: Parent meeting

6th offense: 90 minute after school detention

7th offense: In-school suspension

Students who continue to struggle with being responsible for bringing their required items each day will be referred for additional support and check-ins.

To help your student be successful, they should make it a habit to put their Yondr Pouch and lanyard with ID, and Go Cards in their backpack everyday after school. This can help so they are not left at home or in the car and to avoid added replacement fees, miss out on special events or even possible detention.

The fee to replace IDs is $5. The fee to replace GO cards is $5. Students may only replace a lost GO card once per quarter. Students may only replace LOST GO cards, they may not purchase a replacement GO card if their GO card was taken for disciplinary reasons. The fee to replace lanyards is $1. The fee to replace Yondr pouches is $30.

In an effort to create continuity between elementary and high school in Avondale, the middle school will move to a standards based grading model this fall. Here is what you need to know:

• Students will earn two grades for each class.
• Academic proficiency - this grade will communicate progress toward state standards for learning.
• Skills for successful learners - this grade will communicate development of key habits of learning needed for continued school and life success.
• All grades in the gradebook and on report cards will be on a 1-4 scale. If there is no evidence for the standard, an NE will be in the gradebook.
• 1 = Beginning (Student is able to demonstrate minimal knowledge of the standard with significant support and scaffolding)
• 2 = Developing (Student is able to demonstrate some knowledge of the standard with support and scaffolding)
• 3 = Approaching (Student is able to demonstrate knowledge of the standard independently with minimal support and scaffolding most of the time)
• 4 = Proficient (Student is able to demonstrate knowledge of the standard independently and consistently)
• Students will have multiple opportunities to demonstrate knowledge of the standard through different activities.
• Grades will be entered in Powerschool throughout the semester to communicate regular progress to parents.

Our goal is that all students get to school safely and on time. As Dr. Gomez has shared, students should be dropped off by 7:40 to allow time to get to their locker and get breakfast. Below is a reminder of our parking lot directions and expectations.

1. Car Drop Off Line

• All drop-offs and pickups are in this first (North) loop in the drop-off/pick up zone only. Cars are NOT allowed in the bus loop.
• Pull all the way forward to the drop-off/pick-up zone to drop students off. Do NOT drop-off/pick-up students outside of the zone marked identified by the yellow and orange safety cones .
• Students should be ready to get out of the car. Give kisses and hugs in the waiting line before reaching the drop-off/pick-up zone.

• Please do not pass other drivers or buses.

• All students must exit the vehicle from the curb side.

• Please pull into a parking space if you need to exit your vehicle or come into the building.

• Please be safe and courteous by driving slowly and refraining from listening to loud or profane music. Please remember that AMS is a drug-free/smoke-free campus.

• Watch for students walking to a car.

2. Bus Loop

• The Bus Loop is directly in front of the building around our staff parking lot.
• Only students riding a school bus may be dropped off in this loop.
• Do not drop students off in this loop from 7:15-8:00.

3. Walkers

• Walkers need to cross at the light or at the crosswalks along Mustang Drive.
• Walkers should walk on the school sidewalk and not in the parking lot.

Do NOT drop-off or pick-up students in the neighborhood along Cone Avenue or in the parking lot by the football field.

Additionally, please do not park or wait in the GATE entrance to pick up students at the end of the day.

AVONDALE DISTRICT UPDATES

FREE Meals for All Students!

Website: https://www.avondaleschools.org/food-services

Menu Link: https://avondale.nutrislice.com

Menu Notes

Supply chain issues may affect our online menus. We will do our best to communicate any changes to keep you informed of our menu choices.

Menu Prices

Every student is able to receive one free breakfast and one free lunch daily. Extra items such as drinks, extra entrees, and snacks are available for purchase.

Adding Funds

Funds can be added to your child’s account through our serving lines via cash or check made out to Avondale School District Nutrition. Elementary buildings will not have the ability to provide change so any additional funds will be added to that student’s account. You may also add funds online by clicking https://a

For Avondale School District, it is important to note that families should still complete the CEP Education Benefits application at https://avondale.familyportal.cloud, which helps ensure ongoing state funding and can qualify your child’s school or community for other special programs. CEP offers a great opportunity for everyone to eat together in the cafeteria and hopefully make it easier for students and families to confidently check breakfast and lunch off their list. We’re excited to serve even more students in the Avondale community this year, helping to fuel busy days with favorite menu items and a variety of delicious new recipes!

Breakfast is available every school day this year (including half days) and will be served before and up to the first bell. Breakfast will include grab and go items, fresh fruits, milk, and a variety of other sides.

Lunch is available each full day of school. Each building level has a unique menu which is available on https://avondale.nutrislice.com. Nutrislice delivers all ASD menus through smartphones, email, and the web. You can also download Nutrislice from the App Store (iOS) or Google Play (Android) and search Avondale to start viewing menus.

Please contact our office with any questions and we look forward to serving your students this school year!

Director of Dining Services: Megan Haase
Assistant Director of Dining Services: Kyle Cooper
Administrative Assistant: Amanda Paul

Complete Application Here

If you missed purchasing items at parent orientation, we have the following items for sale in the main office. At this time, we are only able to accept cash. We will also be selling replacement ID's with lanyards in the office when school begins. The cost for a replacement ID and lanyard is $5.

Please take a moment to review our AMS Student Handbook. The revised Code of Conduct is coming soon!

Middle School is a tumultuous time for students and parents. This may lead to a classroom or building concern. We ask that you please follow the protocol outlined in the document below. We want to partner with families to create a postitive learning environment. Please make sure you are respectful in your communications and allow time to investigate and follow-up with you. We hope that having a system in place provides more clarity and allows us to help you resolve any concerns you may have.

If you're unable to connect with your child's teacher directly, we've provided a convenient link below to submit a parent concern form. Our main office will review these forms daily and reach out to you with next steps within 72 hours, initiating an investigation and ensuring resolution.

Thank you!

Email: kathryn.gomez@avondaleschools.org