Madrona Family Memo

Greetings, Madrona Families!

We ended the week with just a few of the many activities that reflect why Madrona is the Best Middle School in the South Bay for students - Mr. Waldschmidt's Sports Management students hosted invigorating student dodgeball games in the gym, Mrs. Snider's Show Choir class performed for a live audience at an Angels Baseball game, and Leadership hosted a welcoming Minion-themed Family Movie Night! ...and all of this took place on Friday!

Weeks have flown by, and we are already halfway through Quarter 1. Teachers will post Progress Report 1 grades to PowerSchool by this Monday, and families should have an update sometime before the end of Tuesday, October 1. These grades are an indication of your student's academic progress. If your student struggles in certain classes, we want you to know that support is available. Consider reviewing family resources within this newsletter or on our school website, reviewing your student's Schoology and the Clever learning platforms with them, and installing the PowerSchool app to receive academic and attendance alerts. We recommend that your student work with their teacher for supportive options and include you in their emails. Alternatively, you can contact Academic Counselor Ms. Emily Lujan, Assistant Principal Schiappa-Gobee, or me for academic advice and assistance. Middle school is a time of educational and social-emotional growth for our students, and by working together, we can ensure their readiness for high school!

Warm regards for a wonderful weekend,

Sue Key, Ed.D., Proud Principal

Madrona Middle School

Be sure to scroll through and open the Smore link to view our weekly updates, ensuring you stay informed about the latest happenings at Madrona Middle School.

The Madrona Trunk or Treat and Halloween Festival is a family event sponsored by the PTSA for the communities of Fern and Hickory Elementary Schools and Madrona Middle School. The event will take place on Friday, October 18 from 5:00-7:30 pm at Madrona Middle School (on the Opal St. side) and will include trick or treating, a haunted house, crafts and activities, food trucks, entertainment and a silent auction.

If you would like to host or sponsor a trunk, donate candy, or donate prizes for the silent auction please email trunkortreat@madronaptsatorrance.org

Ms. Snider's Show Choir performers traveled to the Angels Stadium to perform for a live audience. Bravo!

Coincidentally, CalPro Sports, our PE Uniform Supplier, donated 120 tickets to the same Angels game which we raffled off to families. We had over 300 Wildcat students and families members in the audience during Show Choir performance before the Angels vs Texas Rangers game!

Thank you Madrona Leadership and Mrs. Spotts! Movie Night was very lovely event for family and friends.

This week, Advanced Band superstars mentored Beginning Band students, teaching peers how to properly hold, play and maintain their instruments! Bravo!

Students interested in joining the Cross Country team, please complete this Google Form.

Also, please Save-the-Date for Volleyball tryouts - October 21 (more info to be announced soon)

Shout-out to our Madrona Soccer Players for tough games against Jefferson this past Thursday 9/26! Join us for the next home game, which will be against Richardson. Go Wildcats!

Madrona Girls and Boys Soccer Schedule

Games are at 4:00 pm and 5:00 pm unless specified Girls and Boys alternate game order

• 10/3 vs Richardson MS (Madrona home field - Boys first)
  
• 10/10 vs Casimir MS (away game at Casimir - Girls First)
• 10/17 vs Hull MS (location THS Zamperini Field at 6 pm - Boys First)

Student athletes must complete an athletic packet and have a physical prior to participation on an athletic team representing our school.

TUSD Middle School Athletics Packet

UPLOAD COMPLETED ATHLETIC PACKETS & ALL FORMS HERE

If your student does NOT intend to participate in Athletics next school year, then there is NO need requirement for the physical exam or any associated athletic paperwork to complete.

Reader of the week: Abraham Deck = 520 minutes

Top class of September: Dr. Torres = 14,066 minutes

Everyone = 35,404

Off to a great start - Clippers Minutes challenge begins October 28th!

• Thank you for the students and parents who donated popcorn for our lab.
  Huge thank you to Wylliam Brazil and his family for donating supplies for the upcoming S'Mores lab. I appreciated your support and donations! ~ Miskimen
  
• Miskimen’s fastest mile times week #2: Tatum Salinas(6:42), Kaden Wall(7:21), Hako Ono(7:50), Reyli Anguiano(8:04), Nicholas Arcuri(8:04), DJ Gerszewski(8:10), Seungjae Han(8:27), Joel Lee(8:31), Aio Muramatsu(8:33). Great effort. ~ Miskimen
• Shout out to Mr. H.’s second period for working with guest teacher, Ms. Sara. Bravo! Additional shout out to Ada and Molly with for assistance and leadership in Art Club. Final shout out to Mayson Troup and Clara Reilly for an outstanding puppet scene in Drama! Bravo!
  
• HUGE SHOUT OUT TO: Logan Joo for purchasing items from our Madrona Amazon Wish List for School Supplies! IT REALLY HELPS OUT OUR SCHOOL! ~ Ms. Janet in the Principal's Office
• Shout-out to Student Leadership for a fantastic Family Movie Night with super awesome Minion Themed decor and delicious snacks!

Madrona Math Homework Club is for students who want a quiet space afterschool to do math homework and get help from the supervising math teacher or peer tutors. Students will need to check in and check-out every session.

After School Math Homework Club is open to ALL Math Content/Grade Levels- 3:30-4:30 pm (three days a week, Monday-Wednesday)

• Mondays (Room 14 w/Math Teacher Mrs. Bloomfield)
• Tuesdays (Room 9 w/Math Teacher Ms. Fu)
• Wednesdays (Room 6 w/Math Teacher Ms. Wulpern)

Sign-up your student(s) HERE. A reminder will be sent to students who signed up. We have a 35 student limit for each session and will notify families in advance if the session is full.

Students! Are you interested in joining a Madrona club? Talk to the club sponsor to learn more!

• Art Club – Mr. H - Thursday - After School - 3:16 - 4:16
• Basketball Club - Coach Courtney and Coach Lalo - Wednesday - After School - 3:30 - 4:30

• Chess Club – Mrs. Bloomfield - Wednesday - Lunch

• Classic Cinema Club – Mr. Snow - Wednesday and Thursday - Lunch

• Cross Country Run Club – Mr. Estefan - Wednesday - After School - 3:20 - 3:50 - SIGN UP HERE

• Math Club – Mr. Khan - Wednesday - After School - Room 24

• Ultimate Frisbee Club – Mr. Frietas - Wednesday - Lunch - Field

October

• Tuesday, 10/1 - Progress Report 1 Grades & Citizenship (PowerSchool update)
• Thursday, 10/3 - Soccer Game vs. Richardson (4 pm/Boys first)
  
• Tuesday, 10/8 - School Site Council Meeting #1 via Zoom
• Thursday, 10/10 - Soccer Game @Casimir (4 pm/Boys first)
• Friday, 10/11 - No School
• Monday, 10/14 - No School/Staff Development Day
• Tuesday, 10/15 - Soccer vs Hull/Zamperini 6-8 pm/Boys first)
• Thursday, 10/17 - TUSD Great Shake Out Emergency Drill
• Friday, 10/18 - Madrona PTSA Trunk or Treat, 5:00 - 7:30 pm (Opal Street Side)
• Tuesday, 10/22 - School Photo Make-ups
• Friday, 10/25 - Madrona Mid-Day Mingle!
  
• Monday, 10/28 thru Friday 11/1 - Student Leadership Spirit Week
  
  

November

• Friday, 11/1 - End of Quarter 1 Student Assembly

* more events & dates to be added each week.

Donate directly to the Madrona Middle School PTSA via the DONATE link below (or) Download the Donation Form and drop off donations to the PTSA Box located in the main office. 100% of membership goes back to our school.

Donate directly to the Madrona Middle School PTSA via link above (or)
Download the Donation Form and drop off donations to the PTSA Box located in the main office

During the first few weeks of school, students were provided with a Social Studies class syllabus with an option to have a physical textbook to keep at home. However, an unprecedented number of books were requested but must be clearly explained that the book check-out was optional since all students can access the online version of the Social Studies TCI textbooks and all other online textbooks and resources through the Torrance Unified School District CLEVER portal.

The online TCI resource is the same as the physical textbook, with the added features of:

• Lesson review games

• Vocabulary cards

• Videos

• Adjust reading level

• Enlarge and highlight text

• and more!

Spanish translation is also a built-in feature. In addition, there is less likelihood of the book getting misplaced or damaged before the end of the school year and incurring a replacement fee.

Please take a moment to have your student log in to CLEVER (https://clever.com/in/torrance) using their TUSD email and password< and navigate to the TCI Social Studies online book.

If your student checked out a Social Studies textbook and can access the online book and resources through CLEVER, please have them return their Social Studies book to our main office. Our staff will assist in returning your student’s book to our library.

Families! Don't forget to complete your:

1. PowerSchool Annual Online Registration. All new and returning families must log into the PowerSchool Student Data System to verify that emergency and authorized contacts and release information are current
   
   
2. Torrance Unified School District 2024-25 Educational Benefit Form - Although ALL Madrona students will receive FREE daily snack and lunch this year, completion of the form to help ensure our school receives additional funding to support student learning and our intervention programs, as well as additional academic counseling, socio-emotional counseling, and reading recovery. Qualifying families have access to additional benefits, such as discounted fees!

PowerSchool & PowerSchool app - Download and use the PowerSchool smartphone app to monitor your student's grades and attendance. Enable in-app alerts to receive real-time information on your student's progress. Android | Apple. The district code is TCXN. Students will need to use their student ID # and password to login. Families will need to use their PowerSchool login credentials.

Anyone (student, staff, parent/guardian) can fill this out our Google Form to refer a student for counseling. Referrals will be prioritized by the level of urgency and responded to as soon as possible.

𝗣𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀/𝗚𝘂𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗶𝗮𝗻𝘀

NOTE: All referrals are first sent to Ms. Lujan, School Counselor. The school counselor may refer the student to our school therapist, Darren Thomas. In either case, counseling is an optional service and completely confidential, unless there is a safety risk at-hand.

If this is an 𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙧𝙜𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙮 and you do not have immediate access to the counselor, please call 911 and/or contact the Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 988.

Link to the TUSD 2024 State of Our Schools
Annual Report to Our Community

Our Board of Education voted to extend the free Metro GoPass program for a second year, and we are proud to offer this benefit to all our students. The program includes a Metro TAP (Transit Access Pass) card that offers FREE unlimited rides on Los Angeles Metropolitan Transit Authority (Metro) bus rail and subway lines, including Torrance Transit, Long Beach Transit, Culver CityBus, Gardena Transit (GTrans) and LADOT Dash.

If your student has a TAP card from last year, you will just need a new code, which you can pick up from our school office. We also have a stock of TAP cards for new riders or those who lost their old cards. New cards will need to be activated before being used. For more information, visit https://www.tusd.org/administrative-services/metro-gopass.

Students and families, this year we currently have 2 Madrona Teams (see below) participating in the Pier to Pier Friendship Walk. Let's ignite our school spirit by joining 1 or BOTH of our Madrona School Skechers Pier to Pier Friendship Walk Teams!!! Remember you don't have to actually do the walking you can also join the teams as Virtual Walkers!!!

Madrona Wildcats!' Team

This fundraiser aims to support the Friendship Foundation and enhance our school. We aim to update our Cafeteria/Multi-purpose Room audio/visual system, which is frequently used for family meetings and student assemblies. We currently use an older model projector stationed on a rolling cart connected by multiple cables and power cords. If you have sat in one of our presentations before, you'll notice that this unit may hinder the view of school presentations.

• The Madrona Wildcats! Team fundraising goal of $18,000 is ambitious, but with your support, we can achieve it. This amount will cover the cost of purchasing and installing a new projector screen, ceiling-mounted digital projection system with a wireless connection, state-of-the-art speakers, mixer, equipment rackmounts, security cage, and ceiling-mounted drop-down microphone system for Drama class stage productions. Your contribution, no matter how big or small, will make a difference. Another goal is to have our cafeteria repainted with our new logo incorporated into a unique and eye-catching design, a project that we can all be proud of.

Madrona Leadership Team

We will be walking in the Skechers Pier to Pier Friendship Walk to help make a difference! This important event is organized to raise funds for Madrona Middle School's Leadership students. Our fundraising goal is $2,700 and our students will be using this money to organize our Spring Dance, purchasing birthday gifts for EVERY Wildcat and teachers, equipment and supplies for our assemblies, spirit supplies, and helping to keep our campus beautiful. Thank you for considering us as you donate. We are so grateful for your support!

Madrona Music Family! Team

This year we are hoping to raise $40,000 to go towards the purchase of music, instruments, sound equipment and field trips.

As the South Bay's Best Public Middle School, we have a reputation to uphold. This event is not just a fundraiser; it's a chance for us to come together, show our pride, and make a difference at Madrona Middle School. Let's show everyone why we are THE BEST by signing up to attend and participate in this exciting event!

We hope to see you walking with family and friends at the Skechers Walk on Sunday, October 20!

Looking for a way to help out our school? We are ALWAYS in need of school supplies! Any help we can get is ALWAYS greatly appreciated. If you do purchase an item(s) please have it delivered to:
Madrona Middle School 21364 Madrona Avenue Torrance, CA 90503 310-533-4562. Thank you!
If you have it delivered to your home, please drop off at the front office (or) have your student bring it in. Madrona Middle School Wishlist Link

Sign up for Ralphs Community Contribution Program ad NO added cost to you. Use Madrona's Organization ID UF902. Click here The program requires registration each September to stay active!

Madrona Middle School was voted the Best Public Middle School in the 2024 Daily Breeze/Beach Reporter South Bay Best Readers' Choice survey! Thank you to our families who voted for us. This recognition is a testament to the supportive and safe learning environment created through the collaborative effort of our student body, staff, and families.

The Daily Breeze / Beach Reporter published its annual Readers Choice Awards - link to the webpage and insert: https://dailybreeze.readerschoice.la/2024-south-bays-rc-on-issuu-com/

School Website: https://www.tusd.org/schools/madrona

Address: 21364 Madrona Avenue, Torrance, CA, USA

General Email: madronainfo@tusd.org

Attendance Office: madronattend@tusd.org

Main Phone #: (310)533-4562

Visit our school website and follow us on Instagram for updates on school events and activities.