West Middle School e-Bulletin

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

Wednesday, 10/2 - Fall Count Day

Friday, 10/4 - M-STEP Parent Reports sent home with students

Tuesday, 10/8 - Panorama Student Perception Survey during Primetime

Wednesday, 10/9 - District-wide Professional Development. No School for Students

Thursday, 10/10 - Cross Country Meet vs Pioneer @ Northridge

Friday, 10/11 - Picture Re-take Day

As part of our PBIS program, and an effort to put the emphasis on students who not only do what is expected, but go out of their way to go above and beyond, we will be recognizing students weekly with BULLDOG OF THE WEEK!

All staff are able to nominate students weekly and those who are nominated will have their name read over the PA on Friday, their name in the newsletter, and receive a certificate with a small treat. 🍬

Alex Bailey

Charlotte Burke

Henry Covington

Eleanor Emmons

Taiki Fukuda

Nikki Griffin

Joseph Havro

Natalie Lawler

William Martin

Elise Olson

Kidanny Roman

Ally Tan

Goldie Thayer

Hitarth Yadav

This week, students who were accepted into the 2024-2025 Student Council received an email with information about what our year will look like and when and where our first meeting will be. We also are sending an email out to any students who were placed on the Waitlist for student council. These students will be the first people we call if a spot opens up on the committee. Our first General Member Meeting will take place on Wednesday, October 2nd, in the Cafeteria during advisory/Primetime. In the future, our general meetings will take place in the Media Center (Due to ongoing construction we cannot hold meetings there yet). The student council also has launched its very own website! This will act like a Canvas that our leadership team can make edits to. Click Here to take a look! This site includes our schedule, event list, member roster, and more. We are looking forward to a great year, full of fun new events, fundraisers, and so much more. Let's make this a fun year to remember! Thank you, on behalf of the entire Student Council Leadership Team. Questions, Concerns? Email Corrie Hine at corrie.hine@pccsk12.com.

We visited 6th grade classrooms this week with the purpose to communicate information about PBIS and expectations for the upcoming school year, and to do some community building circles to start building relationships with our 6th graders. We began each hour with a matching activity where students matched up the statement with the person.

1. I have gone skydiving

2. I have run in 2 marathons.

3. I lived in North Carolina

4. I won a state championship in high school.

5. I have a pet that will outlive me.

(Choices: Mrs. Steckel, Mr. Calzone, Ms Haynes, Mr. Bechtel, Mrs. Brooks)

Let's see if you can get them right. We'll put the answers in next week's bulletin. 🙂

On Friday, October 4, 2024, your student will be bringing home the results of their performance on the Spring 2024 M-STEP, Michigan’s statewide exam.

The Michigan Department of Education has provided a few excellent resources to help families better understand their student's performance.

• How to Read Your Student’s Score Report: Grades 3-8 provides a key to the information you will see on the M-STEP Parent Report.

Whether your student’s scores improved or declined compared to last year, students won’t be affected in a bad way. The scores will be used, as they always have been, to help improve our programs and our schools. As we continue to analyze our students' performance, we will make decisions that will help improve instruction. Over time, each P-CCS graduate will be stronger and better prepared to succeed in the next grade and after high school, in college or post-secondary training, career, and life.

Keeping students and staff safe at school continues to be a top priority at P-CCS. To further enhance safety, we have implemented a district-wide student and visitor management system through our partnership with Safe Visitor Solutions. This system is now fully operational and actively screening and checking in/out all visitors. It also provides an option for parents to check in and check out students.

The system is accessed via a kiosk located in each building’s secure vestibule, adjacent to the main office. Upon arrival, parents and visitors are required to sign in at the kiosk, where the system will screen them against multiple databases to determine building access.

To complete the process, parents and visitors must present a government-issued identification card (a Michigan Driver’s License is acceptable, among other options). The system will scan the barcode on the ID. Parents are encouraged to ensure the information on their identification matches what is entered into MiStar to avoid any potential issues.

Please note that the system is completely confidential, and no information will be shared. School and security officials will only be notified if there is a concern with the scan results. For more information about this system, please click on this LINK.

We thank our families for being our valued partners as we work together this year to educate students at West Middle School. As you may already be aware, building our social-emotional learning skills is an important goal for our school this year. On October 8, 2024, during advisory/ primetime, we will be asking for your child to reflect on their own mindsets and approaches to learning via an online survey during advisory/Primetime. The survey shouldn't take more than 20 minutes to complete.

In order to learn more about student experiences at school, we will be asking for your child’s feedback via an online survey they will be completing at school. The survey shouldn’t take more than 20-30 minutes to complete.

We are asking that all of our students participate in the surveys, as their feedback will provide invaluable insights into their experiences and how we can improve and adapt our school to their needs. If a student doesn’t feel like they have enough information to answer a question, they will be able to skip the item altogether. The responses to these surveys will be completely confidential. We are partnering with a third-party vendor to support us in administering these surveys.

Please notify us if you would like your child to opt out of taking the surveys by emailing your child's counselor by Monday, October 7, 2024.

Salem Volleyball is hosting a Volleyball Clinic for 7th and 8th grade girls on Oct. 12, at Salem High School in the gym, from 11am-2pm. Please bring a water bottle, knee pads and gym shoes.

Please fill out the google form and join us for a high energy workout while brushing up on your skills before your tryouts. Middle School Volleyball Clinic hosted by Salem Volleyball

The Food & Nutrition Services Department is pleased to inform you that Plymouth-Canton Community Schools is again participating in the Michigan School Meals Program as part of the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Program. This means all students enrolled in P-CCS can receive a healthy and nutritious breakfast and lunch daily at no charge!

The School Breakfast Program is available to all students every weekday morning. School breakfast makes good sense - it provides 25 percent of your child's daily nutritional needs and meets dietary guidelines and recommendations.

The Back to School Check-in process, which is a requirement for all P-CCS students in kindergarten through grade 12, is to be completed by September 30. Families can easily update medical, demographic, and contact information in MISTAR Parent Connection. This process, and the information that is included, replaces the need to complete an emergency card for your student for the 2024-25 school year.Once logged into MISTAR Parent Connection, you will look for the ‘Back to School Check-in’ link in the top of the home screen and follow the prompts.

P-CCS is hiring! Support your local schools and community by filling one of our many open positions. The district is in need of teachers, paraprofessionals, security officers, food and nutrition services workers, crossing guards and more. Full and part-time opportunities are available and can be viewed by clicking on this link: Jobs at P-CCS

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