

The Cougar News
January 31, 2025
A Note from Principal Bame
Dear AMS Families,
This week, we proudly celebrate National School Counseling Week, recognizing the dedication and impact of our outstanding counselors—Ms. Dabagian, Ms. Kazi, and Ms. Mueller! These three incredible professionals work tirelessly to support our students' academic, social, and emotional well-being. Please join us in thanking them for their invaluable contributions to our school community!
Report Cards Go Home Today
Second-quarter report cards will be sent home today. While this is an important snapshot of your child’s progress, we encourage families to regularly monitor grades and attendance through the PowerSchool Parent Portal for the most up-to-date information. If you have any questions about your child’s progress, please reach out to their teachers.
Stay Connected!
Our Apex Middle School website is a great resource for learning more about school programming, upcoming events, and important updates. We encourage families to check the site regularly for the latest information.
Spring Dance Update
We know students are eager for details about our Spring School Dance! We are currently working to secure a DJ and will share the official date and details as soon as possible. Since many area high schools are booking entertainment for proms and other events, we are finding locating a DJ that is approved through the county more challenging this year.
Events for the Upcoming Week:
Monday, 2/3 – Basketball AWAY vs. Lufkin Road MS
Tuesday, 2/4 – No events
Wednesday, 2/5 –
- Spotlight on Students Breakfast (Invitation Only)
- Basketball AWAY vs. Herbert Akins MS
- Rising 9th Grade Night – AMS Auditorium, 6:00-7:00 PM
Friday, 2/7 –
- Souper Bowl Lunch for Teachers
- All-County Chorus Event (Invitation Only)
Warm regards,
Raleigh Bame
Principal, Apex Middle School
A/B Day Calendar - Updated to Reflect 3rd and 4th Qs
General School Updates
High School Musical Tickets on Sale NOW
IT'S TIME! Tickets for Apex Middle School's production of Disney's High School Musical Jr. are live! Use the QR code in the image to buy your tickets now! Come out and support the arts for an evening and see all of the hard work so many Apex Middle students have done! Ages 0-17 - $6; Ages 18+ - $11.
Spring Athletics Interest Meeting:
Our Spring Athletics Interest Meeting will be held during WIN time on Tuesday 2/4 in the gym. All 7th & 8th graders interested in Boy's Soccer, Girl's Softball and Track & Field should attend the meeting.
8th grade band parents! Have questions about high school band? High school in general?
Come attend our virtual meeting at 7pm on Monday February 3 with Mr. Jarvis, band director at Apex High School!
Band Boosters Meeting with Special Guest - Mr. Jarvis
Monday, Feb 3 · 7–8:30 PM
Google Meet joining info
Video call link:
https://meet.google.com/cyh-mhpu-uqshttps://drive.google.com/open?id=1wZeOrhf3Qv2ZZRa06A1MaOT76QYsN9fq
AIG Spring Nominations
The purpose of the Academically or Intellectually Gifted (AIG) Program is to provide an appropriately challenging educational program for students who perform, or show potential for performing, at remarkably high levels of accomplishment when compared to others of their age, experience, or environment. Nominations for AIG evaluation during the spring testing window can be made now through January 24, 2025 using this form. For more information or questions, contact our AIG teacher, Dana Pilkington, at dpilkington@wcpss.net or visit her AIG website at https://sites.google.com/wcpss.net/aig-at-ams/frequently-asked-questions
Lost and Found
Our Lost and Found is at capacity! We kindly request any hanger donations to help with organization. Please encourage your child to check for any misplaced items. There are many water bottles, sweatshirts, and jackets waiting to be returned to their owners! Before purchasing replacements, please ensure that the Lost and Found has been checked.
🍎High School Open House Dates 🍎
Apex Friendship High School: February 13, 2025, 6:00–8:00 p.m.
Apex High School: February 12, 2025, 6:00–7:30 p.m.
Green Level High School: February 20, 2025, 6:00–8:00 p.m.
Felton Grove High School: February 5, 2025, two sessions at 5:30 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.
Green Hope High School: February 6, 2025, 5:30 p.m.
REMINDER - 2025 AMS Yearbook Now Available for Purchase!
Ensure your child receives a copy of this year’s memories! Order the AMS yearbook online by March 28, 2025, to secure your copy. Visit the Varsity Online Yearbook Center (www.yearbookordercenter.com) and enter school code 10708. Each yearbook is $40 (plus shipping and handling), and ordering online is the only way to guarantee your copy. Don’t miss out—order today!
8th Grade Yearbook Ads – Celebrate Your Student!
Visit the Varsity Online Yearbook Center and enter school code 10708 to get started. Choose from 1/4-page ads for $30 or 1/8-page ads for $30, with a variety of font and image layouts available. For any questions, please contact Ms. Dabagian at hdabagian@wcpss.net.
Grade Level Updates
6th Grade Reminders
Report Cards: Be on the look out for report cards as they were distributed today, Friday Jan 31st. Honor Roll certificates will go home with student shortly. If you know your student earned all A’s and B’s in Quarter 2, make sure the certificate sees its way out of their backpack and onto your fridge! We are so proud of all of our 6th graders for their hard work.
Power School: As a reminder, please check PowerSchool regularly. Below are some of the icons you may see next to your child's grades. If there is a comment, please be sure to view it as this is another way for teachers to communicate with you!
Student of the Month: Congratulations to the following students for Achieving their PEAK for the Month of January.
Islanders: Remy Hayes
Explorers: Cannon Robbins
Pirates: Nikita Demydenko
These students know what it means to be PREPARED! They have continued to come to class on time with all the necessary materials, their HW completed, their Chromebooks charged and personal electronics put away. They are prepared for discussions and are an active part of our classrooms. Thank you for being a wonderful example to all your peers!
Field Trip Donations Needed: We are excited for our upcoming field trip and want to ensure our students have plenty of snacks for the long bus ride there and back. We would greatly appreciate any donations of bottled water and individually wrapped snacks such as chips, granola bars, cookies, oreos, crackers, or fruit snacks. If you’re able to contribute, please send your donations to your child’s ELA teacher by Monday, March 3rd. Thank you so much for your support in making this trip a great experience for our students!
6th Grade Updates
ELA UPDATES:
This week we will provide explicit instruction on the appropriate use of AI and clarify the difference between AI-partnered and AI-authored work. Our goal is to create the mindset that AI can be used to help students be efficient but should not replace personal creativity and critical thinking.
We will also be taking our second NC Check In. As a reminder, this grade will not be posted in Power School. It will be used to track growth and drive instruction in the classrooms.
On Monday February 10th we will begin reading FLUSH. If your child likes having their own copy of the novels we read so they can annotate and mark things in the book, here is a link for the novel in English and in Spanish.
Upcoming Major and Minor Assessments:
Mon Feb 3rd: AI in the Classroom Lesson
Thurs Feb 6th: NC Check In B (Not a PowerSchool Grade)
Tues Feb 18th: M3U1 Mid Unit Assessment (Minor)
Thurs Feb 20th: Daily Language Quick Check Weeks 13-17 (Major)
- Wed Feb 26th: M3U1 End of Unit Assessment (Major)
MATH UPDATES:
All 6th grade students should be completing their assignments in DeltaMath and at least 5 lessons in Dreambox each week.
Math 6: We will continue working on Unit 5: Arithmetic in Base 10 (Decimals), covering workbook lessons 8-9. Students will receive their Study Guides on Tuesday, we will do a Review Day on Wednesday, and take the Mid Unit 5 Assessment (Major grade) on Thursday.
Math 6+: We will continue working on Unit 7: Expressions & Equations, covering workbook lessons 7-11.
Upcoming Major and Minor Assessments:
Math 6: Mid Unit 5 Assessment (MAJOR) on Thursday Feb. 6.
Math 6+: None this week! Coming up: Mid Unit Progress Check (MINOR) given in class on Feb 10, can be finished up at home.
SCIENCE UPDATES:
This week students will be making connections between human interaction with the lithosphere and how it affects soil.
Upcoming Major and Minor Assessments:
- Explorers: poster due Friday 2/7 at end of class (minor grade)
- Pirates: poster due Monday 2/10 (minor grade)
SOCIAL STUDIES UPDATES:
6th grade historians will begin their unit on Political Systems of the Ancient World. Students will be working on understanding of systems and how they have changed throughout the centuries.
Upcoming Major and Minor Assessments:
TUESDAY 2/4 MINOR: Types of Government QUIZ
- THURSDAY 2/6 MINOR: Legal Codes activity (teams may differ)
7th Grade Updates
ELA UPDATES
We are beginning our Harlem Renaissance Module on Thursday, 02/06. Please make sure your student has a blank composition OR spiral notebook for this module. Since we do not have workbooks, students will need a notebook that is reserved for this module. Reach out to your student’s ELA teacher with any questions.
- On Wednesday 02/05, all 7th grade ELA classes will participate in a lesson about appropriate use of AI. For more information, please see NCDPI Generative AI Implementation Recommendations and Considerations for PK-13 Public Schools
Upcoming Minor/ Major Assessments::
- Modern Day Child Labor Project DUE 02/06 (Major).
MATH UPDATES
Upcoming Minor/ Major Assessments:
Math 7:
- Unit 5 Rational Numbers Quiz Thursday 2/6 (Minor)
- STAR Math Friday 2/7
- Unit 4 Quiz Thursday 2/6 (Minor)
- STAR Math Friday 2/7
SCIENCE UPDATES
Upcoming Minor/ Major Assessments:
- Genetics Quiz #1 on Tuesday 2/4 (minor)
- Monster Lab Part 2 due Friday 2/7 (Major)
SOCIAL STUDIES UPDATES
Upcoming Minor/ Major Assessments:
- Imperialism Exit Ticket due 2/06
8th Grade Level Updates
Report Cards were distributed on Friday, Jan 31st. Please check in with your student on their progress and set goals for their last semester of middle school.
It is officially cold and flu season. We want to remind families that it is the student's responsibility to follow up on any missing work upon their return.
ELA UPDATES:
Students will finish their argumentative essays and turn them in on Tuesday. Students will work Tuesday and Wednesday on their performance task, the character confessional, to close out Module 2. Students will begin Module 3: The Civil Rights Movement and the Little Rock Nine. You can learn more about this module by clicking the link below.
Upcoming Major and Minor Assignments:
2/4-Essay Due
2/6-Character Confessional Due
2/6-NC Check-In
MATH UPDATES:
Math 8
Students will do the Star Math Assessment, review AI expectations, take the Mid Unit 4 Assessment, and start inequalities.
Upcoming Major and Minor Assignments:
Star Math on Monday, 2/3.
Mid Unit 4 Assessment on Tuesday, 2/4.
Math 1
Students will do the Star Math Assessment, review AI expectations, and start systems of equations and inequalities.
Upcoming Major and Minor Assignments:
Star Math on Monday, 2/3.
Math 2
Students will do the Star Math Assessment and wrap up Module 4. No late work for Module 3 will be accepted after February 5th.
Upcoming Major and Minor Assignments:
Honors Activity
Star Math on 2/4.
Module 4 Post Assessment
Module 5 Discussion Board
SCIENCE UPDATES:
Students will wrap up the Ocean’s Unit by exploring Ocean currents and getting ready for the test.
Upcoming Major and Minor Assignments:
Upwelling/Downwelling Google Form
Ocean Study Guide Quizizz
Ocean’s test on 2/7
SOCIAL STUDIES UPDATES:
Students will finish the Civil War Unit with a unit test. Then they will start the next unit which is focused on Reconstruction of the South after the Civil War.
Upcoming Major and Minor Assignments:
Civil War Unit Test (Major) on 2/5
Community Corner
Resources
WCPSS Public Information Regarding Enrollment Caps
Use School Cash Online to Pay for School Items and Fees
Apex Middle School uses SchoolCash Online (SCO) to collect payments for many school items and activities such as field trips. If you haven’t registered yet please take a moment to create an account. This will help save time and reduces the risk of lost payments. In addition, you are automatically informed about school activities! Scan the QR code and follow the directions below.
School Social Media and Contact Information
Join the Official Apex Middle School Facebook Page for Updates and Announcements
Search for "Apex Middle School News" and follow us!
Apex Middle School
Email: apexms@wcpss.net
Website: www.wcpss.net/apexms
Location: 400 East Moore Street, Apex, NC, USA
Phone: 9193872181