

TMS OCTOBER NEWSLETTER
October 18th, 2024
A MESSAGE FROM MR. BOWEN
Hello Titan Families,
It is hard to believe we are at the end of the first quarter of the school year. It has been a busy start, but we are starting to get into a solid routine. I want to provide some clarity on our 4c's time during 4th period at Teeland Middle School:
What is 4c's?
- It's a program during 4th period focused on personalized learning
- It's a program to accelerate learning for all kids remedial to advanced
- It has faced some resistance and confusion from parents and district staff
- The school is implementing changes to make it more structured and effective using IReady
New Structure for Quarter 2:
Student Grouping:- Students will be grouped based on their IReady diagnostic scores
- Groups are flexible and can change based on student performance
- Goal is to group and teach students with peers at similar performance levels
- Each student will have 2 days of math and 2 days of reading each week (a change from the last 4 weeks of every other week math/reading)
- Will include whole class teaching
- Small group instruction
- Individual instruction when needed
- Focus on unmastered skills or pre-teaching in reading and math
- Weekly completion goals:
- 2 math lessons
- 1 reading lesson
- Students can work on lessons:
- During 4c's class
- During downtime in other classes
- At home
- Can exceed minimum requirements if desired
- Lesson completion will be graded
- Grades for completed lessons will be recorded in math and language arts classes
The overall purpose of these changes it to create a more structured and predictable support for our students in reading and math using IReady and focused instruction. With 37% of our total school population being two or more grade levels below in math and 42% two or more grade levels below in reading, we have to do something to accelerate learning for all students. The way we are using IReady should allow us to accelerate learning for lifting our low and high performers to increased proficiencies. There is lots to be done and we will keep looking at our students and their data in order to change our instruction to meet their needs.
RIGHT TO KNOW LETTER
Please follow the link above for the Title 1 RIGHT TO KNOW letter
PSAT for 8th grade students
PSAT for ALL 8th grade students
We will be administering the PSAT exam to all TMS 8th graders on October 24th. If you have any questions regarding the PSAT, please contact Cheyenne Breshears at cheyenne.breshears@matsuk12.us.
The PSAT is free for all students.
The PSAT will be administered at TMS.
Visit the College Board website for more information about the PSAT: https://satsuite.collegeboard.org/psat-8-9
S.T.A.R.
Saving Teens at Risk (S.T.A.R.)
Saving Teens at Risk (S.T.A.R.) is a lesson designed to teach students the warning signs of suicide, how to offer hope to others, and how to get help from a trusted adult. Teeland will train a group of 8th grade students to develop the skills required to teach the S.T.A.R. lesson to their 7th grade peers. Dates will be announced soon. If you have any questions regarding the S.T.A.R. lesson, please contact Zoe Dietz at zoe.dietz@matsuk12.us.
POSITIONS AVAILABLE AT TMS
LUNCH MONITOR
PARAPROFESSIONALS
BUILDING SUBSTITUTES
https://www.matsuk12.us/business-departments/human-resources/hr-jobs-page
6TH GRADE BASKETBALL
6TH GRADE BASKETBALL BEGINS NOV. 18 UNTIL DEC. 18.
STUDENTS SIGN UP IN BIG TEAMS AND MUST HAVE A CURRENT SPORTS PHYSICAL
NO SCHOOL DAYS COMING UP
11/4 - PARENT TEACHER CONFERENCES, 12 - 7 PM
11/5 - TEACHER PROFESSIONAL LEARNING.
11/11 - VETERANS DAY
11/28 - 29 - THANKSGIVING BREAK
TMS DANCE!!
OCTOBER 31 @ 2:30 - 3:45 JOIN US FOR DANCING, GYM ACTIVITIES, FOOD, PRIZES AND A TON OF FUN!! TICKETS ARE $5 AND GO ON SALE OCT 28. STUDENTS CAN ALSO PAY AT THE DOOR. STUDENTS MUST PROMPLY BE PICKED UP NO LATER THAN 4PM.
MR. ROBSON IS THE DJ!!!
IT'S GOING TO BE A SPOOKTACKULAR TIME!!!
JOIN A TMS CLUB!
GIRLS WHO CODE- Oct 24 - Dec 5, Tues/Thurs. No fee. Guys can join too!!!
YEARBOOK CLUB- Begins Oct 21 No fee
HOMEWORK CLUB- Begins Oct 2, Tues/Thurs. No fee
BATTLE OF THE BOOKS- Begins Oct 23, Wednesdays. No fee
CHESS- Begins Jan 7.
PERMISSION SLIPS ARE IN THE OFFICE
LOST AND FOUND IS OVERFLOWING
TELL YOUR CHILD TO LOOK IN LOST AND FOUND FOR ANY MISSING ITEMS. CLOTHING, COATS, LUNCH BOXES, BACKPACKS AND MANY WATER BOTTLES ARE IN THE LOST AND FOUND. UNCLAIMED PROPERTY WILL BE DONATED