#iamsouth

Email: msattendance@avon-schools.org
Website: https://www.avon-schools.org/mssouth
Location: 7199 East US Highway 36, Avon, IN, USA
Phone: 317-544-5700
Twitter: @avonsouth

ACSC 2023 - 2024 School Year Calendar is now available.

Click the 2nd link below to view.

February 20, 2023 - President's Day - NO SCHOOL!

March 20 - March 31, 2023 - Spring Break - NO SCHOOL!

Mr. Will Mahan - AMS South Athletic Director

2/13 AWAY at Brownsburg East vs. County Round 1 5:30PM

2/14 County Round 2 - Time and location - TBA

2/16 County Final - Time and location - TBA

Good luck!

The photos below are from Teacher Appreciation Night at the Girl's Basketball Game from February 9th.

2/15 HOME vs. Zionsville MS 5:30PM

2/16 AWAY vs. AMS North @ Avon High School 6:00PM

Good luck!

Track - 3/6 first day of practice (Call-Out date TBD)

Girl's Tennis - 3/7 first day of practice (Call-Out date TBD)

Boy's Golf - 3/6 Call-out meeting at 4:15 after school & 3/8 first day of practice

2024 Fall Cheer -

3/9 – Tryout call-out meeting – 6:00 in the cafeteria

4/7 – Clinic 6:00-8:00 in gym

4/11 – Clinic 6:00-7:30 in gym

4/14 – Tryouts – incoming 7th graders @ 5:30 and incoming 8th graders @ 6:30

Practices will be starting at the beginning of March. Students should listen to morning announcements for when the call-out meetings for these sports will be.

We will also post that information here in our newsletter as the time gets closer.

A physical must be dated after April 1, 2022, uploaded to your PRIVIT account and cleared by the Athletic Trainer before an athlete is eligible to participate in any tryout or workout.

A copy of the ISHAA Physical Form can be picked up in the offices at school, or there is a link below that you can download/print out.

The following fees will need paid prior to participating in each sport:

• $50.00 for Avon School Corporation (This fee is paid per sport)
• $25.00 for Avon Middle School South (This fee is paid once per year)

Students should come to school each day with their laptops charged and ready to start the school day. Students are able to charge their computers in the classroom while here at school if they have their charger with them.

Please remind your student(s) to charge their computers each night.

South Families! Don’t miss out on getting your yearbook.

The deadline for ordering is February 28!!

If you have any questions reach out to Mrs. Boroff at mvboroff@avon-schools.org

Below is more information for ordering this years yearbook, there is a flyer and a link to Josten's webpage.

Happy Birthday

to our students celebrating a birthday this week:

Jacob Fultz

Haylee Silver

Jack Rentsch

Karsyn Hines

Angeline Zarate Deras

Alae Nachid

Ifedayo Adelola

Jennifer Spalding

Dylan Williams

Henry Barrett

National Junior Honor Society will offer after school study help sessions on Wednesday’s after school from 4:10 - 5:00PM. Students will then go to the front commons area and wait for the late bus or parent pick-up. During this time, there will be a supervisor with the students while they wait for the late bus to arrive. Students that will be a car rider home on these days can be picked up at door 1 at 5:00PM.

If your student will be staying for the study session and they need bus transportation home they must sign up for the late bus in the Guidance Office at lunch that day. For those students taking the late bus home, the bus will leave AMS South at 5:10pm.

Each week your child's team will give an update about the current week or week ahead. Please find your child's team below for that information. In addition, you will find news from our Encore teachers, Media Center, and PE/Wellness teachers.

Mrs. Dugan, Mrs. Williams, Mr. Schubert & Mr. Uhl

In Social Studies, we will begin discussing the colonization of Africa. In Science, we will investigate how Earth has changed over time through continental drift and plate tectonics. In Language Arts, students will continue to analyze nonfiction on the topic of the brain and will review their narrative skills with some fictional writing. In Math, we will be finishing up solving equations, reviewing for our test, and taking the Ch 6 Test on Friday!! In Pre-Algebra, we will be revisiting slope-intercept form, proportional relationships, and solving algebraic equations.

Mrs. Barnes, Mrs. Boroff, Mrs. Schroer & Ms. Weinstein

In Language Arts, we will continue our look at the story of Phineas Gage. We will start the week with a Flex Day designed to help us dig into our priority standards, and we will begin moving the unit toward more traditional nonfiction texts as we wrap up Phineas’ story and begin studying the adolescent brain. Math students will be finishing up their equation and inequalities solving unit. The test will be on Friday, February 17th. Pre-Algebra students will be continuing their work with slope, learning how it presents in different way, and learning how proportional relations relate to slope. Social Studies students will be learning about Atlantic slave trade, colonization, and imperialism of Africa. How that period of time affected the people of Africa, their cultures, and modern-day counties. Then we will learn about the Berlin conference and scramble for Africa. In Science this week we wrapped up our unit on Rocks and Minerals. There were several cute pet rocks created at the end of last week. Pictures will be posted to ParentSquare soon. Wrapping up this week and heading into next, we will be learning about Earth’s layers, tectonic plates, and continental drift.

Mrs. Clark, Ms. Hatton, Mrs. Ringham & Ms. Schaber

Ms. Costello, Ms. Gawrys, Mr. Thoennes & Mr. Walker

Language Arts

Mrs. Ringham - In Language Arts, students will read to distinguish between more reliable and less reliable information and will consider the reasons why authors might incorporate both in their writing.

Mr. Thoennes - In Language Arts, we will be continuing to learn about Phineas Gage and think about what a day in life as Phineas would be like.

Math & Pre-Algebra

Mrs. Clark - In Math, students will be reviewing for our Inequalities and Equations test on we are taking on Wednesday. In Pre-Algebra, we will be interpreting and analyzing data in scatterplots.

Ms. Costello - In Math, we will be reviewing our unit on equation solving and taking a test on Thursday (2/16).

Science

Ms. Schaber - Science students will be learning about plate tectonics and continental drift.

Ms. Gawrys - In Science, we will be learning about plate tectonics and continental drift.

Social Studies

Ms. Hatton - Social Studies students will be learning about the Atlantic Slave Trade, Colonization and Decolonization of Africa this week.

Mr. Walker - In Social Studies, we will be learning about the ancient African Kingdom.

Mrs. DeBow, Mrs. Mellen, Ms. Tobin & Mrs. Zimmerman

Ms. Costello, Ms. Gawrys, Mr. Thoennes & Mr. Walker

Language Arts

Mrs. Zimmerman - This week, students will begin unit 8F which will cover the space race.

Mr. Thoennes - In Language Arts, we will be starting Unit 8F: The Space Race Unit and learning about Sputnik.

Pre-Algebra & Algebra

Mrs. DeBow - Pre-algebra students will test over Chapter 9 on Wednesday, February 15. Algebra students will learn new methods for solving quadratic equations including completing the square and the quadratic formula.

Ms. Costello - In Math, we will be reviewing our unit on real numbers and Pythagorean Theorem and taking a test on Wednesday (2/15).

Science

Ms. Tobin - We will be identifying the different parts of an atom by looking at diagrams and the periodic table of elements.

Ms. Gawrys - In Science, will wrap up atom basics with a quiz on Friday.

Social Studies

Mrs. Mellen - Jefferson Era. Starting on Thursday, we will begin our new unit of the Age of Jackson.

Mr. Walker - In Social Studies, we will be taking a test over the Jeffersonian Era and Era of Good Feelings.

Mrs. Warthan, Ms. Kegley, Mr. Casey & Mr. Osen

In Science, Students will quiz over atomic basics on Friday, 2/17. Biology students will be investigating the structure of DNA. In Algebra, students will solve quadratic equations by completing the square and by using the quadratic formula. Pre-Algebra Students will test over the Pythagorean Theorem and the real number system. Social Studies classes will be learning about factory conditions during the 19th century as well as preparing for their Unit 7 test on the Jefferson Era. In Language Arts, students will be reading about the Space Race and gathering information to write space blogs from the perspective an astronaut or a cosmonaut.

Greyhound Team News:

Please make sure your students are charging their computers each evening. We are having the same students need to charge daily.

Mrs. Hood, Mr. Rodgers, Mrs. Taylor & Mr. Williams

In Science, students will continue our chemistry unit by taking our vocabulary terms and putting them into action. This will help students to better understand how we can use the information to make predictions about the atoms. There is an atomic basics quiz Friday, 2-17. ** course selection cards are due 2-14 so we can sign up for high school classes on 2-15. Biology classes will begin DNA lessons by building the structures and model the replication process. ** course selection cards are due 2-14 so we can sign up for high school classes on 2-15. Pre-Algebra students will complete their work with the Pythagorean Theorem and begin reviewing for the test. The unit test will be Thursday, February 16, and will cover classifying numbers as rational or irrational, approximating square roots, the Pythagorean Theorem and will contain review questions from previous chapters. In Algebra, students will be learning 3 new ways to solve a quadratic equation. They will be learning to complete the square, use the square root method, and everyone’s favorite quadratic formula. Students will be given the opportunity to earn bonus points if they sing or otherwise perform the quadratic formula to a song of their choice. Language Arts classes will begin a new unit: The Space Race. They will be reading about the battle between the Soviet Union and the United States of American to conquer space first, and ultimately the moon. In Social Studies, we have a test over Unit 7: The Republican Era Wednesday. Next, we will begin studying The Age of Jackson.

Señora Barker (Spanish), Mrs. Hauptmann (Japanese), Mr. Parr (Computer Science), Mrs. Leonard (Art), Mrs. Gleissner (FACS), Mr. Hamsley (Engineering and Technology), Mr. Wolf (Robotics) and Mrs. Snyder (Flight & Space and Medical Detectives)

Spanish

Next week students will be learning frequency words in Spanish to be able to express how often they eat/drink certain items.

Japanese

In Japanese, students will be working on going for a purpose; drawing days of the week kanji from memory; culture Japanese entryways and bathrooms.

Art

7th grade students will begin their monochromatic landscape paintings with the elements of unity, emphasis, and scale in the composition.

8th grade students will learn to draw three dimensional forms using linear perspective drawing. At the end of next week, we will glaze all three of our clay projects once they have all been fired.

Our 8th grade root beer float pitch in is on March 3rd. On our last day of middle school art, we will use our handmade mugs for root beer floats. Sign-up sheets for ingredients are posted on parent square. Students can bring in items at any point and will earn 5 PBIS points per item brought. PBIS points can be cashed in for prizes during lunch.

Computer Science

7th grade students will be starting advanced sprite control and working towards their final project.

8th grade students will be testing out their safe projects and will be starting their final “Shark Tank” project.

7th & 8th grade FACS

7th grade students will continue the Nutrition and Cooking unit by learning about kitchen equivalents and measuring and preparing French Toast in the food lab.

8th grade students will continue the Nutrition and Cooking unit by researching nutrient categories and creating a poster for the classroom. 8th graders will be making Breakfast Quesadillas in the food lab.

7th grade Engineering and Design & 8th grade Gateway to Technology

7th grade classes will be finishing construction on their Pinewood derby cars.

8th grade classes will be finishing up their Solar light projects.

Flight & Space - 7th grade

Students will continue learning about how to survive in space. They will learn about propulsion, how to eat in space, how to exercise, and how to sleep.

Medical Detectives - 8th grade

Students will learn more about the brain and begin dissecting a sheep's brain.

Robotics

Students will spend the week learning to code digital and analog sensors on their testbed builds.

Mrs. Fair, Mrs. Lucas & Mr. Jackson

With students having their second unit assessment out of the way, students in Physical Education will be moving to their last activity rotation for the quarter. On Monday, Mr. Jackson's attendance class will begin fitness, Mrs. Fair's attendance class will begin speedball and Mrs. Lucas' attendance class will begin badminton. Students that begin their new unit will be learning the rules of speedball, badminton and components of fitness. Our final week of the quarter will start on February 27th. Students will have three tests that week, a comprehensive final of all three activities, the assessment of their current activity, and the post fitness test of push-ups, sit-ups, sit and reach, and pacer test…..all were tested week one of this quarter and we are looking for improvement in each category. Please continue to have students bring their PE clothes back on Monday, Thanks!

Mr. Abbey (Band), Ms. Szymkow (Band), Mr. Zimmerman (Choir) & Mr. Miller (Orchestra)

Band

Band students are reminded that Friday, February 17th is BAND PICTURE DAY. Students need to arrive to class with their concert attire already on. Wearing a hoodie or sweatshirt over your Performing Arts polo is recommended. Concert attire is Black Performing Arts polo, plain black pants (no leggings, sweatpants, or ripped pants; nice black jeans are acceptable), black socks, black shoes (no Crocs, sandals, or colored shoes).

Choir

Our 8th graders will be attending the “8th Grade Choir Day” on Friday, February 17th during from 1:55-5:00 PM at Avon High School. All students will be preparing for a voice test over their contest tunes in class. All classes will participate in the ISSMA Organizational Contest on Saturday, March 11th during the morning/afternoon.

Orchestra

Playing tests in both grades are due February 15th by the start of class. Students should be checking that their camera and microphones are working properly so that they can submit on time.

Contest preview concert is Tuesday, February 28th at 6:30 in the AMS South Auditorium. More info linked here. 7th Graders should arrive at 5:45, and 8th Graders should arrive at 6:45.

ISSMA Contest is March 10th or 11th. We will get our times about two weeks before.

As always, keep checking that students are bringing instruments home and practicing. Thank you!

Ms. Sever

February is Black History Month. In the library and on Sora, we have a variety of books written by Black authors and featuring Black characters and cultures. In honor of this celebration, I wanted to highlight Ophie’s Ghosts, a middle grade historical fiction and suspense novel, by Justina Ireland. This book is also a Young Hoosier Book Award Nominee for the 2023-2024 school year!

Ophelia Harrison used to live in a small house in the Georgia countryside. But that was before the night in November 1922, and the cruel act that took her home and her father from her. Which was the same night that Ophie learned she can see ghosts.

Now Ophie and her mother are living in Pittsburgh with relatives they barely know. In the hopes of earning enough money to get their own place, Mama has gotten Ophie a job as a maid in the same old manor house where she works.

Daffodil Manor, like the wealthy Caruthers family who owns it, is haunted by memories and prejudices of the past—and, as Ophie discovers, ghosts as well. Ghosts who have their own loves and hatreds and desires, ghosts who have wronged others and ghosts who have themselves been wronged. And as Ophie forms a friendship with one spirit whose life ended suddenly and unjustly, she wonders if she might be able to help—even as she comes to realize that Daffodil Manor may hold more secrets than she bargained for. – Blurb courtesy of HarperCollinsPublishers

To read more about Ophie and her friendly ghosts, check out Ophie’s Ghosts by Justina Ireland from the AMS South Library!

ABSENCE PROCEDURE

If a student is absent from school, the PARENT must call the school by 10:00 A.M. to report the absence. If no call is received, the automated school system will make an effort to contact the parent, but if NO PARENT CALL has been received by 3:00 P.M. the day following the absence, the student will be charged with an unexcused absence. You may also send an email to us to notify us of your child's absence at msattendance@avon-schools.org.

EARLY DISMISSALS

** Please be advised that we cannot take early dismissal information over the telephone. **

If your child needs to leave school early during the school day please send a note in with your child to bring to the office first thing in the morning or email us at

msattendance@avon-schools.org with all the necessary information: students name, date and time picking up, and the name of the person picking your child up if someone other than a parent or guardian will be picking up. This email will go directly to the front office secretaries and they will be able to get your child an early dismissal pass so that they can be in the front office when you are ready to pick them up. If you are unable to email us we will need you to come into the office with your valid ID, once we verify it is a parent/guardian picking up we will be able to call the student down for dismissal.

If someone other than a parent or guardian will be picking up your child we MUST have this information in writing from a parent/guardian. Please include his or her name on the note or email. Once we verify their photo ID then the student can sign out and leave.

If leaving early for a doctor/dentist/orthodontist appointment, please provide verification note from the appointment to the main office to ensure that the absence is excused.

Using this email will ensure your child will get a pass out of class to be in the office. Please do not use Parent Square to send a message to your child's teachers as we cannot guarantee that this message will get to the front office to get your child a pass. Our teachers are very busy throughout the day and may not be able to check Parent Square often, or if the teacher is out that day we would not get that message in the front office in time to get your child an early dismissal pass.

We want to make sure that your information is getting to the right person in a timely manner, and hopefully prevent any miscommunication or missed messages.

It is our belief that students can best achieve academic success by being in school every day. We also understand that a student may occasionally have an opportunity to experience extraordinary opportunities that may result in a missed day of school. The principal or designee may grant a pre-arranged absence, if the absence provides an extraordinary opportunity for the student and/or family. The request must be submitted at least five school days in advance of the requested absence. The student will be required to complete all missed work upon his/her return to school.

No more than three days of pre-arranged absences will be approved each year. Pre-arranged absences may not be granted during the following circumstances:

• I-Learn
• During semester exams
• When the requested absence would push the student’s attendance record into excessive absence status or if the student has surpassed the allowable number of absences.

For Visitors to our Building

Avon Schools require all visitors to check-in at the front office using our visitor management system, Safe Visitor. This system requires visitors to scan their driver's license or state identification card for a check of their record. A temporary badge is provided to all visitors to wear while in our buildings. As our visitors leave school, they scan and return that badge to front office staff.

Entering the Building

Anyone entering our building beyond the front office will need to have a valid photo ID with them so that they can be checked in through our Safe Visitor Solutions system. You will be given a badge to wear while in the building so that you are identified as a visitor. When leaving you will return to the front office so that we can check you out of Safe Visitor Solutions and take your badge.

Visiting Students during Lunch

At this time, we are allowing parents/guardians to have lunch with their child during their specified lunch time in our commons area outside of the cafeteria. Parents must follow our policy for entering our building listed above; present a valid photo ID and be checked into our Safe Visitor system. Please take note that this process may take a few minutes to get you checked into our system so please allow for a few extra minutes for that process.

**If someone other than a parent/guardian would like to have lunch with your student, we MUST have that information in writing in advance from a parent/guardian. You can either send a note in with your student to bring to the office when they arrive at school in the morning, or you can email our attendance line with the information at msattendance@avon-schools.org

In all Avon Schools, safety of our students and staff is our highest priority. Visitors will utilize an intercom and camera system to gain entry to the school offices.

Please be prepared to identify yourself, provide a valid photo ID, and provide a reason for your visit when you arrive. Thank you for your patience in adapting to the updated and more secure system.

7th and 8th grade parents: Your children may be eligible for a college scholarship!

View the form below for more information.

Avon Community Schools has chosen Worth Ave. Group as the vendor of choice to insure school-issued laptops rented by students. Insurance with Worth Ave. Group will protect the device against: Accidental Damage, Theft, Fire, Flood, Natural Disasters, Power Surge and Vandalism. This insurance policy will provide full replacement cost coverage and will protect the item worldwide (on and off school grounds). The policy is also transferable to a replacement unit. Insurance plans may be purchased online.

• Coverage Term: July 18, 2022 - July 18, 2023
• It is up to you to renew yearly.

• Deadline to Purchase Coverage: September 5, 2022

• Yearly Insurance Rates:
• 6th-12 Grade: Lenovo 11e Laptop $45.00
• Costs are prorated for enrollment after September 5.

Need help with Math and Science homework?

Call the Homework Hotline

1-877-ASK-ROSE

Click below to visit their website

www.askrose.org

The Avon High School Athletic Administrators asked us to pass along the following information regarding middle school students attending football games. Please read carefully as students must purchase tickets online prior to showing up at the stadium.

Students must have a digital ticket or All Sport Pass for entry. Tickets are $7 this year for Varsity events. To expedite entry, the ticket should be purchased ahead of time via the link with a credit card. Ticket info for purchasing online single event tickets and/or All Sport Passes (which will be sent to the purchaser’s phone) can be found at https://websites.eventlink.com/s/avon-high-school/Tickets. Tickets can be purchased on the link provided for Home and Away events throughout the school year.

K-8 STUDENTS ATTENDING FOOTBALL EVENTS AT AVON HIGH SCHOOL - It is highly encouraged that all elementary and middle school students be accompanied by a paid adult. Unsupervised students will be required to sit in the middle school section on the SW corner of the Football Stadium and will not be allowed to wonder around. Backpacks, shoestring bags, and sports equipment (footballs, frisbees, etc.) are not permitted at AHS athletic events.

The Mary Lee Maier Community Pantry is available to Avon school families and employees.

Every Thursday from 5:00 - 6:00PM (when school is in session)

at Avon Intermediate School East

Please do not arrive before 4:30PM due to AIS bus/school traffic

Enrollment is simple. Please complete your 2022 - 2023 enrollment before you shop. Below you will find more information for enrollment, please click the link below.

Please click on Community Flyers below to take you to the ACSC web page of all the Educational Flyers and Community Events Flyers happening in our community.