Gov. TJMS Newsletter
September 2021
Our Mission
At GTJMS, we strive everyday to create an inclusive environment that celebrates diversity, academic achievement, and well-being. Our mission is to empower students for success today and persevere through tomorrow’s 21st century challenges.
Our Vision
Governor Thomas Johnson Middle School is a diverse community of students, educators, support staff, parents and local organizations working collaboratively to provide an academically rigorous education, which includes the technology skills necessary for the 21st century. By holding students, educators and parents accountable for success, we are creating lifelong learners who take responsibility for their own educational goals and positive personal development. Excellence in teaching and learning is paramount to developing productive citizens who have promising and successful lives.
Upcoming Important Dates
Administrative Announcements
New FCPS Service: One Call Now
Beginning on September 14th, the person designated on your child’s emergency contact form as primary caregiver, will receive One Call Now messages if your child has been marked absent for the first 2 or more periods of the school day. This call is automated and it is possible that if a child enters school later in the day or doesn’t check-in with their first and second period teachers, the call could occur in error. Since this service is new, it is also possible that our staff could make errors as we fully integrate this into our practice.
As always please feel free to call our front office if you feel you have received a phone call in error.
If you wish to opt out of this or any of the One Call Now calls you receive, feel free to listen to the message through to the end for directions to opt out.
Fall Testing
- Come to school with chromebooks charged and bring your cords
- Get a good nights sleep the night before
- Have a solid breakfast
- We encourage our students to try their best, we are proud of their hard work every school day
Car Rider Line
- Students should NOT be walking in the parking lot to get in your car
- If all the curb spaces are taken, please back in to the next space available. Do not leave an open space
- Staff members will direct you when it is time for you to pull out in order to pull up to the curb.
- If you wait until around 3:20pm to arrive, there will be no line out onto Shifferstadt.
- The car ride line is emoty by 3:25pm at the latest
There is NO parking on Shifferstadt Blvd to pick up your child. Please stay in line and follow staff members directions.
Attendance
If you are going to pick up your child from school early, please send in a note with them. Ask them to come to the front office to turn that note in. By doing this, this helps your wait time for pick up.
Technical Support
Reliable Resources
Frederick County Health Department
Maryland Department of Health
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Governor's COVID-19 Pandemic: Orders and Guidance
PTSA Information
First PTSA Meeting of the Year!
PTSA Membership
Haven't joined the PTSA yet? There's still time and it's so easy to do! Fill out our membership form online and pay via Paypal or send a check to school with your child.
Thank you!
Contacts
If you have questions about the PTSA, please feel free to reach out to one of our board members:
Caitlyn Reed- President
Jenny Lazarus- Treasurer
Susan Myers- Secretary
TJMS Counseling Department
- Sarah Gunter- 6th grade/ sarah.gunter@fcps.org 240-236-4851
- Laura Rudy- 7th grade/ laura.rudy@fcps.org 240-236-4852
- Brian Dwyer-8th grade/brian.dwyer@fcps.org 240-236-4884
School Culture
Math: 6th graders have been simplifying expressions using order of operations. We will be moving onto the Greatest Common Factor and Least Common Multiple problems soon.
Science: 6th graders reviewed basic lab safety and lab equipment in the science classroom. They are starting their first module on Ecosystems by discussing biodiversity and components of an ecosystem.
Outdoor School (Tapley 10/6-7, VanGrootenbruel 10/8,11)
**Permission Slips will be coming home soon
**Chaperones - needed for each teacher, but limited spots available - if interested, please contact your child’s science teacher
Social Studies: 6th grade history is working its way through our first unit. We have already reviewed geography and early civilizations and will now be looking at Mesopotamia.
Food Science: We are working on learning their own and each other’s food culture. It is fun, informative, and great for teaching diversity. We will be starting on food in our society and the transformation of food in the USA. I find this is eye opening for most students.
Lab 21: Students are currently in our Growth Mindset unit where they are learning about the Power of YET, Fixed vs Growth Mindset, and how the brain learns and changes. Their culminating project will be to create a pictograph explaining one of two topics: Growth vs Fixed Mindset & the Power of YET or How the Brain Learns and the Power of Yet.
Tech Expo: This week, we have completed our most critical study of the 5 Critical Thinking Skills: Productive Thinking, Communication, Planning, Forecasting and Decision Making. These are life-long skills. I encourage you to check your child’s Schoology. There are quite a few students who are missing assignments. I have gone over our policy for grading these and given additional class time to complete all work. Midterm is just a few days away and none of these assignments will be accepted after this time.
Language Arts: Students have been reading a variety of short stories and focusing on character development and narrative elements. We’ve begun work on narrative writing with the goal of writing an extension narrative later in the unit. We would like to remind students to charge your Chromebooks at night so that they are ready to go for class the next day!
Math: Students have been working on solving problems involving addition of integers using models, number lines and basic rules. We will be moving on to subtraction of integers this week.
7Accelerated: Students have learned how to add and subtract integers. Next we will work on multiplying and dividing integers.
Science: Students in Science have been reviewing what Science safety is when conducting labs. Due to the previous year, this was a necessity that all students participated in. Next up, students will be moving into their first topic all about kinetic and potential energy. During this topic, students will focus on analyzing data and creating graphs related to motion.
Social Studies: Students have been examining the causes of the fall of the Roman Empire and changes that took place throughout Europe after its decline. We are now examining the history and culture of the Byzantine Empire.
Creative Arts: Seventh graders have been working together to analyze how the four artforms (visual art, music, dance, and drama) relate to one another. We will be moving on to our Synesthesia Unit to get a closer look at how music and visual arts affect one another.
Invention and Innovation: This week, we completed our Bridge unit. While this is a unit that I scratched the surface on during last year’s Tech Expo class, we were not able to get to the fun part - constructing, then destroying their bridge through measured weights. We should have begun our Design Process Boot Camp. There are quite a few students who are missing assignments. I have gone over our policy for grading these and given additional class time to complete all work. Midterm is just a few days away and none of these assignments will be accepted after this time.
Math: Algebra: Students are finishing up reviewing Algebra basics (prerequisite skills) that they will then be applying to Unit 1: One Variable Equations and Inequalities.
8th Grade: Students have been working on simplifying expressions containing exponents. Next they will be learning how to express numbers in scientific notation.
Science: 8th graders are jumping into their first module on motion. They identified properties of waves and are now applying this vocabulary to a variety of scenarios and wave types.
Social Studies: Students have been learning about the history and culture of the thirteen original colonies. We are now beginning our unit about the causes and consequences of the American Revolution.
English Language
Challenges
PE & Health
All students have completed fitness testing to establish an understanding of their starting fitness levels. Now is a great time to discuss where your child currently is and what areas they are focusing on improving over the course of the school year.
We are starting Ultimate Units now, focusing on throwing and catching frisbees, foam balls, and footballs; and emphasizing moving to open space on offense. Other upcoming units this term are: soccer, flag football, tennis, and volleyball.
Health & Wellness Tip
Life Skills
Visual Arts
6th Gr. VA Students will draw the human face using correct proportions and measurements.
7th Gr. VA Students will draw the human face using correct proportions and measurements.
8th Gr.VA Students will create word portraits of their favorite celebrity, athlete, youtuber, artist, etc. The words used in the drawing will be terms associated with the person (song lyrics, movie quotes, poems, personal quotes, etc.)
Music
Check out the August Newsletter for Band, Orchestra, and Chorus!
Please make sure to fill out the audio/video release form.
Band and Orchestra - Students are working on music for the feeder pattern concert as well as learning about Bach and Beethoven
Chorus - Students are working on music for the feeder pattern concert as well as reviewing solfege and rhythm counting
Music Performance Lab - Students are working on their percussion(drumming) skills
Theatre Arts
6th Grade: During the first two weeks of school, students explored communication and collaboration skills through interviewing someone in class and writing an “Entertaining Introduction” script. Currently students are learning about the Plot Points in a script by writing their own Plot Points based on three given words.
7th Grade: During the first two weeks of school, students explored Theater as a community activity and applied collaboration skills to interview someone in class and create an “Entertaining Introduction” script. Currently students are learning how to define Plot Points by writing the outline to a script based on three prompt words.
8th Grade: During the first week of school students worked in small groups to interview their peers about what they did over the summer. Then they wrote and performed a News Report Script. Next, students learned about collaboration skills through performing a short improvised script based on a given outline. Currently, students are rehearsing the script “The Real Undead of Creepy County” and identifying the Plot Points and character traits.
Pre-Engineering
CSI
Mrs. Lucas-Literacy Specialist
On Monday, September 13th and Tuesday, September 14th, students will be taking the Fall Reading MCAP assessment. One 70-minute session of testing will take place each day. The assessment will be completed using chromebooks, so it is very important that students come to school on testing days with their chromebooks fully charged. Students may take a practice test using the link below.
Online Practice Reading Assessment
8th Grade Writing Scholarship Competition
Click here for specific information and guidelines for the Virginia B. Ball Creative Writing Scholarship Competition.Mrs. Gemmill- Math Specialist
On Wednesday September 15th students will be taking the Math MCAP assessment. This assessment has 2 sections and will be completed on their chromebook. It is important that students are familiar with how to use the equation editor and online calculator. On the MCAP website students have the ability to take a practice assessment and also practice using the equation editor tool.
Mrs. Cole-Advanced Academics
It’s been a great start to the new school year! Many teachers worked hard this summer preparing materials and resources for our HAL (Highly Able Learner) program. If you received a letter last spring identifying your child for placement in our HAL program, please know that your child’s teachers continue to receive specialized, ongoing professional development in instructional strategies that are most effective in meeting the needs of gifted and highly able learners.
I work closely with teachers to support them in planning and implementing lessons that promote deep understanding, extension, and enrichment of the FCPS curriculum. Teachers assess what students know and are able to do prior to units and learning objectives, and then determine how to meet the needs of their students. This may take the form of flexible grouping students within classes to work on more challenging assignments, using higher level questioning techniques, reading higher level texts, and offering extension assignments. Oftentimes, students in HAL classes will receive a more challenging assignment than the rest of their classmates and may not even be aware that they received a more complex, advanced task or text as a replacement. At the beginning and throughout each unit of study, teachers pre-assess students to gain access to students’ prior knowledge. Assignments will be differentiated based on student proficiency on the pre-assessment. If your child demonstrates mastery on a pre-assessment, an enrichment/extended assignment will be provided for your child.
If you ever have any questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out to me. Kerri Cole, Advanced Academics Specialist (240) 236-4918 or kerri.cole@fcps.org Follow me on Twitter @TJMSenrichment
News from our Media Specialist- Mrs. Ralston
Ongoing Announcements
News From Our School Health Room
Frederick County Health Department / Frederick County Public Schools
If you have any health related concerns or questions, please reach out.
Student Service Learning
If your child has volunteered their time outside of the school day to a non-profit organization, they should complete the Record of Volunteer Hours (form) in order to have these hours officially recorded and work towards earning an award their 8th grade year (for 25 hours of service while in middle school). More information can be found here. You are welcome to turn in the forms to me at the end of this school year, or feel free to drop it off at the TJMS front office. If you have any questions, please contact Kerri Cole, TJMS service learning coordinator at kerri.cole@fcps.org