West Middle School e-Bulletin

Monday, 9/23 - NWEA Map testing begins in ELA;

Monday, 9/23 - Parent/Student Washington D.C Pre-Trip Meeting @ 7 pm

Thursday, 9/26 - Cross Country Meet vs. Liberty @ Northridge @ 4 pm.

Monday, 9/30 - NWEA Map testing begins in Math

This week, we partnered with our Plymouth School Resource Officer, Ofc. Andy Mendrzycki, to hold grade-level meetings about the seriousness of making threats in school. Usually, this content is explicitly taught later in the year; however, given the past few weeks' events, it was imperative to move up the timeline.

We met with 7th and 8th graders this week and will meet with 6th graders on Monday, 9/23. The talk focused on defining a threat and what to do (tell an adult) and not do (post hearsay on social media, talk to friends), along with explaining legal and school consequences. You can access the slide deck HERE.

This past Wednesday, students were sent a link in their school email to apply for the 2024-2025 West Middle School Student Council. The Student Council provides West with a great team to support and plan events, provide opportunities for leadership, and more! If interested, apply now! All applications are due September 24th, 2024. Thank You

For questions reach out to Mrs. Hine @ Corrie.Hine@pccsk12.com. Have a great day!

Apply here: https://forms.gle/NEaRVAjEAZNvgnQU6

We are happy that our young students are taking care of their personal hygiene needs, but we need to keep perfume and cologne bottles at home. Some people have fragrance allergies, and we cannot have students spray perfume/cologne in the bathrooms, their lockers, the hallways, or the classrooms. This is best done at home. Thank you for understanding.

During the weeks of September 23rd and September 30th, every student enrolled in the Plymouth-Canton Community Schools in grades 6-8 will take two core subject tests called Measures of Academic ProgressTM (MAP). Our English Language Arts and Mathematics teachers will be administering the Reading and Mathematics Core Subject MAP online tests to determine your child's instructional level and to measure academic growth throughout the school year, and from year to year. MAP tests are unique in that they adapt to be appropriate for your child's level of learning. As a result, each student has the same opportunity to succeed and maintain a positive attitude toward testing.

During the testing weeks, your child will spend about two and a half hours completing each of these two tests. Each school year, students in grades 6-8 will take the MAP tests in the fall and again in the spring. The results will be used to help students set academic goals, help teachers inform instruction, and help the school to align resources to support student learning. Following each testing period, you will receive a report showing your child's growth. We are truly excited to utilize this to focus on every child's individual growth and achievement. For more information on resources for parents, download the Parent Toolkit at http://www.nwea.org.

In addition, please note the following testing information for your West student:

• Students will take the reading assessment during their Language Arts class. Students will take the math assessment during their Math class. Your child’s teacher will inform him/her about the testing date several days prior to the test administration.

• If your West Middle School child is participating in the 1:1 Chromebook program, they will be using their Chromebook for the MAP testing. As such, having a full charge on the device when he/she comes to school is expected.

• Finally, the standard pre-test message to parents applies here – 1) Make sure that your student eats a healthy breakfast on the day of the testing; 2) Make sure that your child gets enough sleep on the night prior to the testing; and 3) Engage in some conversation about the upcoming test and what the results will mean for your student.

As always, if you have questions regarding this information, please feel free to contact me via

e-mail (cheri.steckel@pccsk12.com) or phone (734.416.7599).

While the ongoing construction has prevented students from visiting the newly renovated library, the librarian, Mrs. Davies, has been busy visiting classrooms to teach lessons about Chromebook usage and finding a good book. Since students can't come to the library, the librarian has been taking the library to classrooms and delivering books that students put on hold using our online catalog, Destiny Discover. Check out these videos that have been shared with students about how to use Chromebooks effectively, including how to put a book on hold (to have it delivered) or to use our online audiobook and ebook resource Sora.

8th grade parents and students who are registered for the Washington D.C, please attend the meeting on Monday, September 23rd at 7 pm. This information will cover packing list, expectations, roommates, bus assignments, chaperones, health information, and itinerary.

We are getting ready to roll out our PBIS program in meetings with students in primetime soon. This year, we are handing out 3 green cards each quarter to students. Whenever students demonstrate negative behavior in school, staff members will apply corrective feedback by re-teaching the school expectations (see attached behavior matrix). Students may also be asked to turn in a PBIS card to the staff member observing the behavior.

Parents/Guardians, you will be notified through verbal or written correspondence each time a green card is taken. These contacts are simply a way to document the behavior with home, as well as, ensure that you, the family of the student, are aware when a situation arises that warrants a green card be taken. Please know it is okay if a green card or two is taken at some point this year. The green cards act as a warning system for the students and opportunities for correction and redirection. While it may be initially alarming to receive these notifications, please do not worry, it is a natural part of growing up to make mistakes, the green cards allow for those mistakes to be corrected. The notification home is simply a way to help foster a partnership between yourself and the school community so that we can best serve your student(s).

Part of PBIS is acknowledging the great things kids are doing so we'll also be launching Bulldog of the Week beginning next week and students can earn Bulldog bucks to "purchase" items from classroom "stores". Students who have at least one green card remaining at the end of the quarter are able to use it for admission into the big quarterly reward activity.

Plymouth-Canton Community Schools has partnered with Qustodio to enhance student safety online. Using Qustodio, families can monitor and restrict the content that their students can access on district-issued take home Chromebooks, as well as one personal device. Formerly, that monitoring of P-CCS Chromebooks had been available via Securely Home. Families will soon receive emails from Qustodio with instructions on how to access the free Qustodio Parental App. Please note that all Qustodio features for P-CCS Chromebooks are available to families for free. Personal devices, however, only receive the basic features for free. Premium features are available for personal devices should families elect to pay for them.

Grades 6-12: Canvas Observer Accounts Auto-Created for Families of Secondary Students

Our teachers have a new digital classroom tool, Classwize. Classwize empowers teachers to create more engaging lessons and seamlessly share digital resources. It also helps students stay focused on their schoolwork by allowing teachers to monitor browser activity during class time.

Classwize functions on both P-CCS-issued devices and personal devices brought to school. As a reminder, when using personal devices for school, students are expected to only use Google Chrome for their web browser and to be signed into that browser using their Plymouth-Canton Community Schools Google account. This ensures they can access essential school resources and enables teachers to support their learning effectively. Please be assured that Classwize monitoring is limited to school-issued devices and P-CCS Google accounts on the school network. Activity outside of these bounds remains private.

Over the summer, Canvas Parent Observer accounts for students at the secondary level were updated so that families no longer need to seek out a pairing code to get connected to their student(s)' account(s) in Canvas. If you already had a Canvas account, you might have received a merge request email. This is a legitimate email and you can proceed with merging the accounts. If you are unable to access your Parent Observer account, please use the “Forgot Password?” on the Canvas login page. Please note that your account will be under the email address listed for you in MISTAR Parent Connection. For additional information and screenshots on how to sign in, please review these more detailed set of directions.

Though fall might be a little cooler, the fun and excitement of this event remain! We invite all P-CCS students, families, and community members to join us for an afternoon filled with games, food, and plenty of fun. This is a great opportunity to meet school and district leaders, learn about the many programs P-CCS offers from preschool through high school, and kick off the school year together.

Additionally, we’re offering tours of the P-CEP campus—a perfect way for younger families to get a sneak peek of the high school in a fun and engaging setting. It's not too late to start the school year with a bang! We can't wait to see you there.

The Plymouth-Canton Community Schools Board of Education is seeking district residents to fill a vacant board seat. Applicants must be at least 18, U.S. citizens, registered voters in the district, and have lived in Michigan for at least 30 days. Letters of intent and/or resumes should be submitted by 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, September 25, 2024, either via email to Diane Robertson or hand-delivered to the E.J. McClendon Educational Center. Interviews will take place at a public Special Board Meeting on Tuesday, October 1, 2024, at 6 p.m. For more information visit: https://www.pccsk12.com/Home/Components/News/News/27647/19

The P-CCS Parent Council is a district-wide group open to ALL families and caregivers of the students of the Plymouth-Canton Community Schools district. Parent Council serves as a liaison between P-CCS families and administration to provide a forum for open communication and act as an advocate for all parents, students and schools. Parent Council is a representative group of parents from each school building in the District. Members bring issues from their individual schools to discuss with the School Council representatives. Programs and speakers inform members about educational issues that concern P-CCS students and parents. All meetings are open to the public, and our guests often include School Board Members, District Administrators, Program Specialists, and Community Leaders.

West Middle School

Principal: Mrs. Cheri Steckel

Assistant Principal: Mr. Patrick Calzone

Dean of Student Support: Ms. Jennifer Haynes

Counselor A-K: Mr. Josh Bechtel Counselor L-Z: Mrs. Stacy Brooks

General Office: Mrs. Tracy Visnaw, Mrs. Lisa McGee, Mrs. Lisa Cambell

Staff Directory: CLICK HERE

Website: https://www.pccsk12.com/our-schools/middle-schools/west

Location: 44401 West Ann Arbor Trail, Plymouth 48170

Phone: 734-416-7550