The Marshall Memo

Parents, over the Holiday Break, you should have received your child's progress report, which captures his/her performance in each class for the first 5 weeks of Marking Period 2. The last day of this marking period is January 31st, so it is important that students strive for all passing grades in each class!

TMMS is happy to announce several opportunities to help students stay on top of their grades!

• Mondays, Tuesdays & Thursdays: after school help from 2:30pm to 3:30pm
• 1 Saturday each Month: 10am-1pm on Jan 11, Feb 8, March 8, April 12, May 10, June 14
• During February and April Recess: 10am-1pm on Feb 18th to Feb 21st and 10am-1pm on April 15th to April 18th
  

*Students will need to have their own transportation for these opportunities.

Thurgood Marshall Middle School is on the rise! Since our doors opened in Sept, we have been busy keeping students engaged, connecting with families, partnering and networking to provide an exemplary education for our baby Jags and families! Just so you know, every week we have a student engagement activity, and every month we recognize student success! We average 85% student daily attendance, 95% staff daily attendance, and our goal is to keep our attendance, behavior and academics JAGGY! Thank you for your continued support!

If your child is a current TMMS 8th grade student and you have NOT completed your school choice application, we can help! It is very important that you select a high school for your child to attend next year for grade 9! The application to make your selection is live, but if you need assistance in completing the application, we can help you! Stop in on January 21st anytime between 4pm and 6pm and we will have staff members available to walk you through the process! If you do not select a school, your child will randomly be placed at a high school with open seats. The deadline to complete your application is February 21st. https://www.rcsdk12.org/Page/58797

Guardians,

We need your immediate support in helping us address a major area of concern with our 7th & 8th grade classes: horse play and inappropriate physical contact. We are witnessing an increasing number of students engaging in excessive horseplay. Although students are not malicious when running, playing, and horsing around, the effect is contributing to an unsafe environment, where instruction and safety are being impacted each day. Please help us address this concern with your child by discussing school safety at home. We will host small group conversations with students to reiterate expectations and reinforce our zero tolerance for inappropriate physical contact and horse playing. Students who cannot abide by this expectation will be assigned a consequence of lunch detention and/or loss of privilege. Continued violation of this expectation will result in a parent/guardian conference to discuss next steps. Thank you for your cooperation and support.

8th grade students active in Student Voice with a GPA of 75+ will be invited to a TMMS incentive trip to Baltimore/DC during April Break! Attractions include visiting the Thurgood Marshall Memorial & Thurgood Marshall House, Capitol Hill/Supreme Court, Great Blacks in Wax Museum, American Latino Museum at Smithsonian, College tour, Site seeing & team building activities! The cost of the trip is $200. Currently, the trip is open to active Student Voice members in the 8th grade, but the trip will open up to other interested 8th graders meeting academic and behavior qualifications until all 40 seats fill up! Any interested 8th grader should express interest to Ms. Mouzon (trip advisor), Mr. Rosa or Ms. Rufa (Student Voice coordinators) or any administrator.

Each day in classes, students can earn Jimmy Jag bucks (Live School points) for doing the right thing, excelling academically, being responsible and/or demonstrating our school values. As points accumulate, students can use their Jimmy Jag bucks to shop! They can purchase prizes & gifts from our School Store, they can purchase VIP entry to our Student Lounge, purchase take out lunch, buy admission into dances and trips, and much more! Ask your child to show you their Live School check (pictured below). They will receive their newest check with their available balance on Wednesday, Jan 8th! Parents can also access their child's progress and performance with Jimmy Jag bucks by scanning the bar code on their child's check!

Let's Go Jags! So far in Jag Nation we have kicked off:

• Bowling
• Cheerleading
• Cross Country
• Girls Basketball
• Football
• Soccer
• Volleyball

At TMMS, over 25% of our students are participating in Sports!

NEXT UP??!.................... Boys Basketball!

Let's get registered! Registration is live as of December 27th!

Sports participation requires a yearly physical through your Primary Care Physician. Once your child has their physical completed, register at Arbiter Sports (formerly Family ID) https://students.arbitersports.com/organizations/rochester-city-school-district. Be sure to register for the Thurgood Marshall Middle School (TMMS) Sports only.

Our Houses are competing to be the first House to earn 100 team points. Houses earn points through Live School bucks, having good attendance and good grades. Currently the JUSTICE HOUSE led the charge with the highest percentage of students passing ALL classes on their 5 week progress reports! All students with a progress report of all passing classes earned 25 Live School points and earned their house 10 points towards our next field trip, which will be to NOVA (trampoline park)!

• December 27th

Registration opens for Boys Basketball! Visit our Website for more information!

• December 28th

Parents should have received 5 week progress reports in the mail by this time.

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*In the month of January, we will have a recognition event for students passing all classes on their progress report and students improving in attendance. Students can also shop at the School Store each Wednesday & make purchases throughout the month using Live School points.

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• January 6th

Students return from Holiday Break! Time to lock in. Only 4 weeks before the marking period ends (January 31st).

Our after school program starts. Students can stay after school from 2:30pm to 3:30pm on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays for extra help in classes. Students will need their own transportation home.

• January 9th

Students passing all classes on their progress report will be recognized in lunch with a special treat!

Boys Basketball tryouts

• January 9th & January 13th

These are big assessment days at TMMS. Students will take an assessment in ELA and Math classes to inform us on their individualized needs to perform well on state testing.

• January 11th

Saturday School! Students should join us from 10am-1pm if they want to prepare for upcoming assessments. We offer literacy & skill building sessions for students in our Saturday School program.

• January 20th

No School! MLK Day!

• January 21st

8th Grade guardians should stop by TMMS between 4pm and 6pm if they need assistance selecting a high school for next year.

• January 23rd

Boys Basketball tryouts

• January 29th

No school for students. Superintendent's Conference Day

• January 31st

Last day of Marking Period 2!

Principal: Nakia Burrows

Nakia.Burrows@rcsdk12.org

Assistant Principals:

William Hucks, Supreme & Justice Houses

William.Hucks@rcsdk12.org

Carey Belair, Legacy & Truth Houses

Carey.Belair@rcsdk12.org

Associate Director of Special Education

Marissa Nicholson

Marissa.Nicholson@rcsdk12.org

Athletic Director

Ashley Pierce

Ashley.Pierce@rcsdk12.org

Thurgood Marshall Middle School

4115 Lake Avenue

Rochester, New York 14612

(585) 663-7070 (main office)

(585) 935-7438 (fax)