Goodrich Middle School

Congratulations to the following students who were nominated by their teachers to be our GMS Students of the Month for May! Students are nominated based on many factors, including but not limited to: work ethic, grades, positive attitude, helpfulness and other PRIDE qualities. Congratulations to: Jason Hilts- 6th (left), Makenna Stockwell- 7th (center), and Zoey Adams- 8th (right).

We would like to thank those of you who participated in the Goodrich Middle School Parent Survey. Our students also took a survey providing results on their perceptions of our school. Please take a few minutes to review the results below.

A huge THANK YOU to our EGG-cellent GMS families for helping to make our PRIDE celebration a BIG success! Your donation of hard-boiled eggs was EGG-xactly what kids needed to show their creativity!

On Friday, April 5, our Middle School Student Council sponsored a visit from Mid-Michigan Therapy dogs. Our fur therapists and their handlers spent the morning visiting our students in their classes. There were nine dogs in total; from a Bull Mastiff named Clifford to a Chihuahua, named Milly. Students enjoyed learning about the breeds, the purpose of therapy dogs, how to approach a dog, and of course, interacting with these four-legged friends. Our student body is so grateful Mid-Michigan Therapy dogs are willing to visit and share their comfort with us.

Mid-Michigan Therapy dogs are coming back to GMS on Thursday, May 23rd from 8-10:30 am. For more information, please check out their website http://www.midmichigantherapydogs.com/

Our Student Council sponsored a Make A Wish Happen campaign in February! Students and staff who donated were able to put a star with their name on the “Make a Wish Happen” STAR Banner. $150.00 was raised to benefit the Make-A-Wish Foundation, which helps make terminally-ill children’s dreams come true.

On Wednesday, April 3, our Leadership and Service students hosted a time of appreciation for our first responders. We were honored to have police officers, EMT’s, firefighters, 911 operators, and hospital personnel, join us and share about their daily lives in service to us. We started the event by having a few of our 8th graders read welcome statements that they had written. Here are portions of those letters.

“Today we are here to proudly present our thanks and appreciation towards all of you and although we may be deemed the leadership and service class, we are truly here to learn from your leadership and commemorate your services.” (Conner McGuffin)

“Our classes today wanted to get to know the people that maybe one day will save our lives, our home, and those who keep us safe every day. We gather here today to celebrate all that you have done for us.” (Jadon Urogdy)

“We would also like to thank you for being an inspiration to others. We hope you enjoy your time here and one last time thank you.” (Auttumn Allen)

The students had an opportunity to then go around in a small group setting and spend time with those in attendance. Our young men and women did an excellent job, asked great questions of our 1st responders, and truly learned a lot about who they are and what they do. It was nice seeing our students get to meet, make connections, and learn more about what these men and women do each day.

Thank you again to each one of you who came and shared a little about yourself and the experiences you have had in your career. We truly do appreciate you and your service.

SYNC Audiobooks for Teens is a service that the Michigan Department of Education (MDE) has been promoting as a resource for families to use to support student reading. This platform offers audio books geared toward teens and there is also an app that can be downloaded offering various selections, some of which are free and others are available to purchase. This could be a great resource for students to utilize over the summer as it is geared to support students in reading through listening. Please see below or click here for additional information.

Students in Mrs. LaRowe’s 6th grade math classes battled each other in Integer War to practice comparing positive and negative integers. They quickly discovered that positive cards ALWAYS beat negative values, since positive numbers are always greater than negative numbers.

Beginning in mid-April, for the fifth year, Goodrich Middle School will administer, the Michigan Student Test of Educational Progress (M-STEP). This test is developed by the Michigan Department of Education’s Office of Standards and Assessment. M-STEP will include online summative assessments designed to measure current student knowledge. Testing windows during April and May are established by the Michigan Department of Education. All testing, including make-up tests, must be completed during the four-week testing window established for each grade level.

Please note the testing dates below for your child:

Grade 8: Has completed all state testing

Grade 7:

May 7, 9 - Math and ELA

Grade 6:

May 14, 16 - Math and ELA

It is important that students be in school on their testing dates. Missing any day will require a make-up session. Please refrain from making dentist and doctor appointments on testing days.

The M-Step tests are important to parents, teachers, students, and the school district. The results of these tests are analyzed to see if adjustments need to be made with curriculum objectives and alignment to the state standards. The results are used for the Michigan School Accountability ratings. Most importantly, individual student achievement is examined. The staff will be working with students to familiarize them with online tools that will be available during the tests, in addition to working through sample test items.

Please encourage your child to:

• Get plenty of sleep for the tests.
• Eat a good, nutritious breakfast on the mornings of the tests.
• Be at school on testing days, and be prompt.
• Bring a pencil and fiction pleasure book to the testing.
• Wear glasses, if needed.
• Ask the test administrator if the testing directions are not clear.
• Focus on one question at a time.
• Put forth his/her best effort on the tests.

If you have any questions regarding M-Step, feel free to contact the Robyn Batterbee, school counselor, at 810-591-4210.

Our next GMS Credit Union deposit day will be May 9th. Representatives from ELGA Credit Union will be here to assist our student leaders in taking student deposits. All students that opened an ELGA Credit Union savings account should plan on bringing their money to school if they plan to make a deposit. The grade level with the greatest combined number of deposits will earn a pizza party!

Ashley Herriman, ELGA Credit Union Branch Manager, is available at 810-600-2518 for any student account related questions.

The Martian PTO is always looking for people that would like to get involved and volunteer their time. The next meeting is Wednesday, May 8th at 9:00am in the middle school Media Center.

Please email the Martian PTO at Martianptoinc@gmail.com or visit the Martian PTO Facebook page for more information.

Lights, Camera, Appreciation! is our theme for teachers appreciation week May 6-10, 2019. Please join us in thanking our staff for another great year! We have many items we need donated to make this week a hit! Items can be sent in early with your child or feel free to bring them in at the set up time. Please click here to sign up.

We greatly appreciate your time and donations!

Thank you,

Martian PTO

Goodrich Families & Staff:

As previously explained, the Michigan Department of Education (MDE) requires all public school districts to provide a minimum of 180 days of pupil instruction. A minimum of 1,098 hours of pupil instruction must be scheduled and provided within the day requirement. A district failing to comply with the minimum required days of pupil instruction AND/OR the minimum required hours of pupil instruction, will forfeit from its total state aid allocation.

Due to weather conditions, and for the safety of our students, Goodrich Area Schools closed 12 days this school year. Taking into account the 6 forgiven days and the 3 additional days of forgiven time that we have applied for, and been granted, we will be required to reschedule 3 days of instruction. These days cannot be made up by adding minutes or hours.

In order to meet both the day and hour requirements, the district will make June 12, 13, and 14 FULL DAYS of instruction at all buildings and will add 3 half days to the calendar; Monday, June 17 through Wednesday, June 19, will now be half days of instruction. This will push the high school exam schedule forward. Final exams will be administered on the 17th, 18th, and 19th. If you already have travel plans that cannot be changed, please contact our high school office to schedule exams for your student, upon your return. Should we have any additional inclement weather days or if the MDE grants additional forgiven days, which would alter this schedule, we will inform you.

We must have at least 60% of our students in attendance on these rescheduled days, to avoid a state aid deduction. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and we thank you in advance for your cooperation and understanding.

We recognize that many of you are waiting for the 2019-2020 district calendar, in order to facilitate your family holiday planning and vacations. The calendar is negotiated between the teacher's union and the Board of Education and can only be shared once both parties agree upon and vote on it. As with all Genesee County school districts, we support a common calendar to minimize interruptions of instruction in student programs and to benefit students enrolled in shared programs between districts. The common calendar sets the first day of instruction, winter break, mid-winter break, and spring break. Teacher Professional Development days, half days of instruction, and the last day of instruction are determined by the local school districts. Therefore, our 2019-2020 school calendar will include the following:

• First Day of School: Monday, August 26, 2019 (pending approval of a waiver from the MDE)
• Winter Break: Monday, December 23 - Monday, January 6, 2020
• Mid-Winter Break: Friday, February 14 - Monday, February 17, 2020
• Spring Break: Monday, March 30 - Friday, April 3, 2020 (Good Friday April 10, 2020)

We will share the district calendar as soon as it is ready. We appreciate your patience with this process.

To follow up from our mental health/suicide student assembly and parent meeting, we wanted to share the following resources with our families. As a reminder, during a crisis, the first-line of suicide prevention is the National Suicide Hotline. Below are some additional Genesee county-based initiatives.

1. Genesee Health System (GHS) Emergency Hotline

The Genesee Health System Hotline is in place to help with any mental health emergency. Whether a situation is an emergency or not is up to the person making the call, and GHS encourages anyone who feels that they are having an mental health emergency to call.

http://www.genhs.org/Services/Crisis-and-Access-Services

(810) 257-3740. Toll free: (877) 346-3648

2. Genesee Health Text Line:

Create a new text message to: 741741

Body of the text message: FLINT

Immediately following, the texter will receive an automated response that says “What’s on your mind?”

The texter responds with current crisis, and within minutes is connected to a live, trained Crisis Counselor

The Crisis Counselor will talk with the texter until the situation has calmed

3. Hurley Mental Health Associates: Online Screening for Depression

http://screening.mentalhealthscreening.org/HURLEY

Dates and times are subject to change.

Please check our school calendar at http://www.goodrichschools.org/GMS/Events/

for the most up-to-date information!

May:

5/8: PTO Meeting - 9:00am - Middle School Media Center

5/9: ELGA Credit Union Deposit Day

5/18-5/22: 8th Grade DC Trip

5/23: ELGA Credit Union Deposit Day

5/27: NO SCHOOL

5/29: 8th Grade Parent EDP Night - 6:00pm - HS Auditorium

5/30: GMS Band Concert - 6:30pm - HS Auditorium

5/31: 8th Grade Visit to GHS

5/31: 8th Grade Farewell Celebration - 5-7pm - GMS Cafeteria

5/31: 6th Grade field trip to Groveland Oaks (rain date of 6/4)

June:

6/5: 7th Grade Field Trip to CJ Barrymore's

6/7: 8th grade Cedar Point Trip

6/12: 7th Grade Awards - 8:00am - GMS Cafe

6/12: 6th Grade Awards - 9:15am - GMS Cafe

6/13: 8th Grade Awards - 9:30am - GMS Cafe

6/17: *MAKE UP DAY - 1/2 Day - Records Day

6/18: *MAKE UP DAY - 1/2 Day - Records Day

6/19: *MAKE UP DAY - 1/2 Day - Records Day

*Please see below for information regarding changes to the end-of-year calendar to accommodate school closures.

For DAILY updates on GMS events and announcements, please be sure to check www.goodrichschools.org/GMS/! Just click on "News and Announcements" on the left side of the page. You can also check the online calendar to see upcoming events and activities!

Every Student, Every Time – We Are Goodrich!

The vision of Goodrich Area Schools is:

“Preparing People for Life”

Email: mdurant@goodrichschools.org
Website: http://www.goodrichschools.org/GMS/
Location: 7480 Gale Road, Goodrich, MI 48438, United States
Phone: 810-591-4210
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Goodrich-Area-Schools-750600228283708/?fref=ts