EMS Quarter 1 Final Update
September 30, 2022
Wrapping up Quarter 1!
Dear Excelsior Families,
This first quarter has flown by and, as a new Falcon, I've enjoyed learning so much about the wonderful traditions on campus as well as our students, families, and staff. Thank you for continuing to support me as I work to learn more about Excelsior and the greater communities of Byron and Discovery Bay.
Over the course of these past months I've seen so many amazing moments of learning, caring, and community. I am excited to see more of these moments when we return for our second quarter. We have a lot of fun things planned for the coming months, some of which are highlighted throughout this newsletter. Thank you so much for taking a moment to look over the information in this update. I wish you and your students a fun-filled fall break.
Sincerely,
Ms. Jamie Keith
EMS Principal
- September 30th - End of Quarter 1 (please note this date is incorrectly listed as 9/1 on the academic calendar)
- October 3rd - 14th - Fall break
- October 17th - School resumes/Start of Quarter 2
- October 20th - Trick or Treat for Canned Food (5:30-7:30 pm at DBE and TPE)
- October 21st - Students will bring report cards home
- October 25th - Lori Hayes (guest speaker) assembly
- October 26th - Haunting of EMS Carnival (12:30-2:30 pm)
- November 18th - First school Rally of the year
- December 9th - Winter Formal (dance) from 6:00-8:00 pm
More information on some of our important dates/events -
October 20th's Trick or Treat for Canned Food is our 16th annual canned food drive. Students will throw on an old costume and "Trick or Treat" in neighborhoods near Timber Point & Discover Bay Elementary Schools, collecting cans & nonperishable food for our local Food Bank. Student can earn community service hours if they bring their community service form to this event.
October 26th's Haunting at EMS is a schoolwide festival day (we also have an event in spring that is very similar but with a different theme). The event runs from 12:30-2:30 on 10/26. There will be games, prizes, a jumpy, music, and lots of fun. This event is open to the public, so little siblings are welcome. Wristbands are $8 at the event and ASB members will get their free wristband (nontransferable) in TEAM on Tuesday, Oct 25th. Food will also be available for purchase at the event. This is not a mandatory event, so students who do not want to attend can be picked up at the normal 12:30 dismissal time for Wednesdays.
Parent Education Opportunity! CCCOE's TUPE Program Presents...
Please join us for a presentation on the Intersections between Tobacco, Vape Pens, & Marijuana/Cannabis presented by the Contra Costa County Office of Education's TUPE program.
Tuesday, November 29th
6:30 - 8:00 PM
EMS Theater
Tobacco Use Prevention Education (TUPE) is a state-funded program in California meant to reduce tobacco use among young people and educate them about the dangers of tobacco use - including new products (such as vape pens) aimed directly at them. The intended audience for this presentation is parents and teachers of middle school aged children in hopes that it will provide more information to our community on the dangers of tobacco, vape pens, and marijuana use in teens.
Please use THIS FORM to sign up for this participation. While signing up isn't required for attendance, having an audience count does help us ensure that we have enough materials for all attendees.
California Statewide Online Tutoring Program
Through the Statewide Online Tutoring Program, all California students will have 24/7 access to live, online tutors for Math and Language Arts fluent in English and Spanish. Live tutors fluent in Mandarin, Cantonese, Vietnamese, and Tagalog are available from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., seven days a week. Additionally, HelpNow features AI translation allowing tutors and students to communicate in nearly any language.
Students in California, with or without a library card, will be able to access HelpNow through this link: https://www.library.ca.gov/services/to-libraries/online-tutoring/
Learning around campus!
Egg drop in Mr. Nobori's 8th grade Science class!
BreakoutEdu game day in Ms. Colbert's class!
Ms. Madere's 7th grade math class!
PTSA Information
Excelsior Middle School PTSA welcomes all students, teachers, parents & grandparents to be part of an inclusive group supporting healthy student activities at EMS...go Falcons! Join today, we'd love your input! Please click on this text to join.
Our PTSA meets one Wednesday every month at 7:00 PM in the school Library. If you can't make it in person, you can also join the meeting via our Zoom Link (link will be posted on our school website's main page). Our next PTSA meeting is Wednesday, October 19th at 7:00 pm.
THANK YOU PTSA!
Our wonderful PTSA provided lunches and/or breakfast to our teachers and staff during conference week. Thank you so much to all those who donated and to our dedicated PTSA members for always supporting our teachers!
Community Service Promotion Requirement
As part of our commitment to providing students with a well-rounded education, we believe that service learning can enhance academic outcomes, help students develop the skills and knowledge necessary to become informed and responsible citizens, and aid in individual career development. Service learning experiences also helps motivate students by providing them the opportunity to apply their studies to school and community needs and showing them that they can make a contribution to their community through involved citizenship.
Because of the value we place on service learning, each Excelsior student must complete one hour of community service for each semester of enrollment (two hours per year). If students do not successfully complete their community service requirement, they will not receive a certificate of promotion at the end of 8th grade. Please note that, due to COVID, community service was not required last year or the year prior. Our 8th graders need only the 2 hours from this current school year to earn their certificate of promotion. Our current 7th graders will need 4 hours total (2 from this year, 2 from next year) and our current 6th graders will need 6 hours total (2 each year).
Your child’s TEAM teacher is responsible for helping your child keep track of their service learning requirements. We have developed two forms for keeping track of these community service hours. These forms are available for download from our school website and are also available in our Parent/Student Handbook.
In order to help support students towards completion of their community service responsibilities, we have included a list (on the back of this document) of possible volunteer activities. Please note that community service activities are not limited to this list. In fact, students can be creative in ways that they can complete their community service requirements as long as it meets with the approval of their TEAM teacher.
For more information (including a link to the community service form), please click on THIS LINK.
EMS Activities Highlights!
PBIS Corner
PBIS Rewards!
We are very excited to announce that we are ramping up our positive incentives for following our EMS student rules and expectations. In Quarter 2 we are introducing a new online system, 5 Star Students, which allows our staff to award points to students for showing that they are an amazing EMS Falcon. These points can be redeemed in our PBIS student store for rewards and incentives. More details to come as we work on rolling this program out. Our ASB leadership program will also utilize this program for events and school activities. For more information on 5 Star Students, you can view their features page or their product overview video.
Student of the Week
Beginning in Quarter 2, staff will nominate "Students of the Week." These students will be recognized for being outstanding falcons - students who have shown improvement or are excelling in either academics or behavior. Student's of the Week will be recognized in our parent newsletters and at our Huddle Assemblies.
Rules & Expectation Assemblies (9/28-9/30)
Our students attended grade level assemblies this week to revisit school rules and behavior expectations. Students were split into three groups - 7th & 8th grade boys, 7th & 8th grade girls, and 6th graders as each group has shown unique areas of need regarding behavior reminders. Please note that students who have violated our school rules or student expectations in these areas have been individually met with, however it is most conducive for a positive and safe learning environment to revisit these items with a broader student audience. Topics covered in each assembly as well as additional information for your own piece of mind are listed below:
7th & 8th grade boys:
- Sexual Harassment (reports of boys "moaning" at girls as they pass, also making suggestive statements or unwanted advances) **
- Bathroom vandalism***
- Vaping **
- Horseplay **
- Fighting *
7th & 8th grade girls:
- Harassment and bullying (reports of harassing behavior against other students due to hearsay) **
- Social media (reports of spreading rumors/gossip on social media) **
- Vaping (very rare, but students were given a reminder that this is a tobacco/drug free campus) **
- Sexual harassment (against others) *
6th grade:
- Horseplay **
- Hands to yourself (reports of unwanted contact - pushing, tripping, and other physical contact) **
- Name calling (reports of using unkind words) **
- Spatial awareness (accidents due to not being mindful of personal space or watching where they are walking) **
Key:
* rare occurrences (1- 2 occurrences this quarter)
** some occurrences (3-10 occurrences reported in Q1)
*** frequent occurrences (more than 10 occurrences reported in Q1)
Students were generally well behaved and receptive to the information presented at the assemblies, even given the timing of the assemblies and the focus on the looming break. It is our hope that students come back for Quarter 2 refreshed, refocused, and ready to learn!
Surprise downpour in September!
Taking the rain in stride.
So much water at once!
Hurrying to class!
Reporting School Absences
Always email our office of your student's absences and keep us updated on their health status:
- Contact our Office via phone and leave a message regarding your student's absence
- Call: (925) 809-7531
- Refer to our EMS absence information page for more information
- If your student is out due to COVID, please let our office know.
Excelsior Middle School
Email: jkeith@byron.k12.ca.us
Website: https://ems-busd-ca.schoolloop.com/
Location: 14301 Byron Highway, Byron, CA, USA
Phone: 925-809-7530
Twitter: @EMSFalcons