Madrona Family Memo
Our Wild Cat Motto: Be Responsible, Be Respectful!
Saturday, October 12, 2024
Greetings, Madrona Families!
Gentle Reminder: No School this Monday, October 14 due to staff professional development. On Tuesday, October 15 we will observe the Tuesday Late Start Bell Schedule.
This Thursday, October 17 - come out to cheer on our Madrona Wildcat Girls' and Boys' Soccer Teams as they play Central Torrance rival Hull Middle School on the Torrance High School Zamperini Field. Our Boys will play first at 6:00 pm, followed by Girls at 7:00 pm. The Madrona PTSA will be hosting a snack bar.
Get ready for a spooktacular time at Madrona Middle School's 1st Annual "Trunk or Treat and Halloween Festival," this Friday, October 18, from 5:00 pm to 7:30 pm. We have a lineup of exciting activities including Food Trucks, a Trunk or Treat Zone with creatively decorated trunks, a Haunted House, live performances, a silent auction, and more! This is a great opportunity for our local elementary and middle school students and families to come together and have some fun. We can't wait to see you there - in your costume or hosting/ sponsoring a trunk! Please see the event flier for more details.
Don't forget to complete the Torrance Unified School District 2024-25 Educational Benefit Form. Less than 300 families of our 683 students have completed the online form, which only takes a few minutes. 100% of Madrona's family completion of the form helps 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.
We are truly grateful for your ongoing support and involvement in our school community. Have 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.
Madrona PTSA Trunk or Treat Donations Needed!
Madrona PTSAโs Trunk or Treat is 6 days away!
The Madrona PTSA are seeking candy or prize (pencils, erasers, stickers etc.) donations to help make sure they have a good supply to give away to the trick or treaters.
To make it easy to donate, decorated bins are located front of the main office (El Dorado side).We will be accepting donations until the day of the event, October 18.
- Help us feed our Candy Monster!
- We are also accepting Halloween craft donations, which can be placed in our Witch Craft bin.
Our Madrona PTSA are still in need of trunk hosts or sponsors and event volunteers! To host or sponsor a trunk, please fill out the application: https://forms.gle/aQHV5zvYp41Ps7rBA
Sign up to volunteer here: https://signup.com/client/invitation2/secure/92746330076/true#/invitationThank you for helping us make this inaugural event a success!
eSports!
Drop-Off, Traffic and Health Office Reminders
Drop-Off Update
Starting Monday, 10/15, we will no longer accept drop-offs during the school day, including lunches, books, water bottles, or any other personal items. Note: School lunch is free for all students.
Two reasons for the update:
- Minimizes disruptions to valuable instructional time happening in classrooms.
- Helps students learn responsibility and time-management skills, which will encourage independence and personal growth.
We appreciate your understanding as we work together to create a focused learning environment for all our students.
School Traffic Updates
We kindly ask for your cooperation in following all traffic laws during school drop off and pick up hours.
- Follow posted traffic signs
- Park in designated areas only
- Do not double park or leave your vehicle unattended in the drop-off zone.
- Drive slowly and cautiously within the school zone, particularly during arrival and dismissal times. Be mindful of pedestrians and other vehicles, particularly students crossing the street.
Letโs work together to ensure the safety and well-being of our students.
Health Office Reminder
If your student calls you directly during the school day about a health concern, such as feeling unwell or experiencing discomfort, we kindly ask that you inform them to go directly to the Health Office for assistance and evaluation by our trained health professionals.
Our health office staff will contact family directly if a student needs to go home or requires further attention. We appreciate your cooperation in reminding your student of our Health Office procedure.
Trunk or Treat hosted by Madrona PTSA - Oct.18 (5-7:30 pm)
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
2024-25 PTA Reflections "Accepting Imperfection" Due 10/18
Calling all Madrona Wildcat Artists! Enter PTSA reflection contest!
Arts Categories
Students create and submit original works of art in the areas of:
Dance Choreography, Film Production, Literature, Music Composition, Photography and Visual Arts.
Entry form is due by 10/18/24: https://forms.gle/MxQBe9timoarQ3Y98
Website: TCPTA Reflections Arts Program | National PTA
Videos: https://youtu.be/F30WEbPSYIs | https://youtu.be/R6kx-a2HpWs
Lost & Found!
Families! Has your student lost an item at school?
We have quite the collection of clothes, jackets, hoodies, water bottles, pencil pouches, hats, shoes, and more waiting to return home.
Please stop by the Lost & Found rack on the inside of the main gate. All items will be donated to a local charity at the end of Quarter 1/November 1.
Campus Snapshots!
This week, students in Mr. Snow's Fine Arts Appreciation students wrapped up a 1920s visual and performing arts unit by creating artwork inspired by the artists of time while listening to 1920s jazz.
6th-grade students participating in the JR CEO Program sponsored by the Torrance Chamber of Commerce completed Session 1 of 5 where they learned about the importance of thoughtful business plans - in preparation for their participation in the Torrance Chamber of Commerce Business Expo.
Madrona Athletics!
SOCCER
Madrona Girls and Boys Soccer
Shout-out to Madrona Girls and Boys Soccer this past Thursday! Our Girls beat Casimir 6-2!
- 10/17 vs Hull MS (location THS Zamperini Field at 6 pm - Boys First). This will be our LAST game of the year. Come out and cheer on our Wildcats!
CROSS COUNTRY
Students interested in joining the Cross Country team, please complete this Google Form.
VOLLEYBALL
Volleyball tryouts are happening soon. If you are interested in signing up for tryouts, please fill out this google form by October 15th. https://forms.gle/JW7WfcmvRQGETThU9
You must use your TUSD account to fill out the form. In order to try out for the team, you must have a 2.0 GPA and no more than 1 U in citizenship. Your progress report grades will be used to determine if you qualify for tryouts. Once the Google Form closes on October 15th, you will be emailed a tryout date and time. Tryouts will occur during the week of October 21st after school in the gym.
Athletic Clearance Packet & Physical Form
uStudent 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.
TOP READER - October Week 1
Reader of the week = Aidan Pham = 420 minutes
Top Class = Dr. Torres P4 = 3,969 minutes
Everyone = 58,919 minutes
Madrona Wildcat Shout-Outs!
Kudos to the following students who have done an exceptional job reading their lines in our text, "12 Angry Men": Dustin Santiago, Vivian Park, Emma Delgado, Lucille Rondeau, Josie Burke, Yalda Hakim, Molly White, and Christopher Na.~Mr. H
- Shout out to the following students for outstanding citizenship and participation in ELA: Yasmeen Al Natour, Kyra Castrillon, River Rodriguez, Layal Campbell, Fadi Al Achkar, Daisy Rojas, Joel Ko, Noah Lee, Dashiell Sluyter, Lilygene Joslin, Mia Fredricks, and Dante Pascual. ~Mr. H
- Additional shout out to Leah Atha for outstanding poetry recital. Bravo! Final shout out to Emy Ayala and Aliora Kirsch for two outstanding and highly creative dream tree projects! Bravo! ~Mr. H
- Josiah Zimmerman - for interacting well in Language Arts class and really listening to and talking to your pair share partner very productively and helpfully. ~Ms. Brown
- Thank you parents for the donations for making S'mores. I appreciate you! ~Miskimen
- Thank you to Aoi Muramatsu for being so kind. She helps out translating and bringing in PE equipment. You are a very sweet girl. ~Miskimen
- Congratulations to Mrs. Miskimen's Super Science Students who scored 100% on their Conduction, Convection, Radiation Quiz: David Bang, Kaspar May, Ray Nago, and Audrey Ondatje. The following students only missed 1: Soraya Ehsan, Nicholas Sonandres, Gavin Spangenberg, Javier Dulku, and Anel Garcia. Great job!
- Miskimen's Fast Mile Times for 10/10: Tatum Salinas(6:37), Kaden Wall(6:48), Reyli Anguiano(7:09), Joel Lee(7:28), Nick Arcuri(7:35), Dylan Oshita(7:55) Way to run!
- Thank you for your outstanding participation to my highly motivated, responsible 7th grade students : Finn H, Keira B., Jordan P., Raymond P., Isabelle E., Malia D., Alex S., Viviana M., Sara G., Nathan M., Diago G., Royal H., Sofia B., Milan M., Cru G., Anthony L., and Connor C. Keep it up, everyone! ~Miskimen
- Miskimen's Fastest Mile Times Period 6 on 10/10: Aoi Muramatsu (7:45), Eli Levy (7:47), Wylliam Brazil (7:50), Cian Bondoc (8:08) and Leona Chiv (8:39). Great job!!
Mrs. Fisher would like to thank Lori Cohen, Hannah Lavi, and Alfonso Tarula for being friendly and caring students who always thank me and ask how my day is going. You always brighten my day!
Thank you, JR CEO 6th-graders for your lunchtime meeting engagement in the Session 1 meeting for the JR CEO / Torrance Area Chamber of Commerce Program. ~Dr. Key
After School Math Homework Club
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 (Madrona CJSF and THS National Honor Society Students). 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) - cancelled only this week - 10/15
- Wednesdays (Room 6 w/Math Teacher Ms. Wulpern)
Sign-up your student(s) HERE. A reminder will be sent to students who are signed up. We have a 35 student limit for each session.
Your student does NOT need to be scheduled for any of the teachers running the club. Any student, any grade level and math content is welcome. Also, weekly attendance is flexible students - students are not required to attend sessions weekly, but we ask that families sign-their student up at least the day of the club.
Students! Join Madrona Clubs!
Students! Are you interested in joining a Madrona club? Talk to the club sponsor to learn more!
Important Dates*
October
- Monday, 10/14 - No School/Staff Development Day
- Tuesday, 10/15 - Tuesday Late Start Schedule
- Thursday, 10/17 - Soccer vs Hull/THS Zamperini Field (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
- Monday, 11/11 - Veteran's Day Holiday, No School
- Thursday, 11/14 - Quarter 1 Report Cards Sent to Families via PowerSchool
- Thursday, 11/21 - Volleyball @ Calle (4:00 pm/Girls first)
- Monday, 11/25- Friday 11/29 - Thanksgiving Break
* more events & dates to be added each week.
Madrona PTSA News
8th-Grade Donation Letter
8th-grade families! The Madrona PTSA needs your help and contributions ensure your student's 8th-grade class activities are fun and memorable. Click here to learn how to help.
Renew Your Madrona PTSA Membership for 2024-25!
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
Family Accounts & Ways to Support Your Student
Textbooks, Learning Resources & More Through CLEVER
All students can access the online version of textbooks as well as educational resources through the Torrance Unified School District CLEVER portal
Please take a moment to have your student log in to CLEVER (https://clever.com/in/torrance) using their TUSD email and password to show you all the wonderful learning tools they have access to including:
Use the PowerSchool App to Monitor Student Progress!
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.
Mental Wellness - School Counseling Referral Form
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.
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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 ๐๐ข๐๐ง๐๐๐ฃ๐๐ฎ and you do not have immediate access to the counselor, please call 911 and/or contact the Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 988.
Optional School-Related Items for Purchase
TUSD & COMMUNITY NEWS & RESOURCES
Metro GoPass Program Continues for 2024-25 School Year
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.
๐Support Madrona Middle School ๐
Join Us on Sunday 10/20 For the Skechers Walk!
Students and families, this year we currently have 3 Madrona Teams (see below) participating in the Pier to Pier Friendship Walk. Let's ignite our school spirit by joining 1 or all three 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 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!
This year we are hoping to raise $40,000 to go towards the purchase of music, instruments, sound equipment and field trips.
Madrona Wildcats!' Team
This fundraiser aims 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.
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!
Madrona's Amazon Charitable Donation "Wish" List
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
Shop at Ralphs and Support Us All Year Round!
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!
๐TUSD Portrait of a Graduate & Madrona Middle School ๐
Middle School is a three-year span during which students experience the most growth academically and social-emotionally. They build their organizational and interpersonal skills as they manage school and personal responsibilities.
The TUSD Portrait of a Graduate is a collective vision that articulates the desired outcomes of all K-12 students in Torrance Unified, including competencies and personal qualities that position them for success in life and career. These elements include:
- Growth Mindset & Lifelong Learning
- Communication & Collaboration
- Leadership & Character
- Healthy Habits & Life Skills
- Civic Engagement & Global Citizenship
At Madrona Middle School, we take pride in being the stepping stone that prepares your child for the transition to high school and beyond. Our focus on rigorous, relevant, and engaging academics and enriching activities ensures that your child is well-equipped for their high school journey. Our upcoming newsletters will continue to spotlight programs and learning activities that further this mission.
Madrona - South Bay's Best Public Middle School!
Madrona Middle School was voted the Best Public Middle School in the 2024 Daily Breeze/Beach Reporter South Bay Best Readers' Choice survey! 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/
Contact Us
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.