Principal Mr. Tim Koehler

Assistant Principal Mr. Richie Hutchinson

Dean of Students Ms. Sarah Muller

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/gerogemcgoverneagles/

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/gmmseagles/?hl=en

George McGovern Middle School

6221 W. Maple Street

Sioux Falls , SD 57104

P: (605) 367-4440

F: (605) 367-4434

Dear GMMS Families,

As we gear up for the upcoming state testing season, it is crucial to emphasize the significance of preparation. These assessments serve as vital checkpoints in evaluating our students' progress and ensuring they have the tools needed for their academic journey. At George McGovern Middle School, our students will be taking math and ELA assessments from April 15th to April 24th, with eighth-grade students also tackling a science assessment on April 10th.

Preparation is key, and we are dedicated to empowering our students to excel. Here are some tips to help your child prepare effectively:

1. Encourage your child to give their best effort and showcase their true abilities.

2. Remind them of the importance of rest, nutrition, and exercise. A healthy body and mind are fundamental for optimal performance.

3. Maintain a positive attitude towards testing. Reassure your child that their diligent preparation has equipped them with the skills needed to succeed.

State testing is just one aspect of your child's academic journey. Regardless of the results, what truly matters is the effort they invest and the growth they achieve. Together, we can support our students as they strive for success.

Thank you for partnering with us in preparing our students for the opportunities and challenges ahead.

Warm regards,

Tim Koehler

Principal

George McGovern Middle School

April 16 - Band Concert (6th @ 6:30) (7th & 8th @ 7:30)

April 23 - 6th Grade Chorus Concert 6:30

April 26 - Elementary School Ensemble Tour (during the school day)

May 2-Band Performance 6:00

May 23- Last Day of School

Please report any absence to the office at 605-367-5145 before 8:45am.

We ask that parents/guardians come to the front office door when picking up a student. If an emergency contact is designated to pick up a student for any reason, the parent/guardian must notify the office of the emergency contact taking their student early from school.

The place to buy Chromebook Insurance, pay fees, apply for free and reduced meals, view student's schedule, email teachers, view student attendance, grades, missing assignments and more!

NOTE:

Your link to complete the Annual Student Information update is now available for the 24-25 school year. Please keep in mind that this CANNOT be done on your phone or handheld device. You will need to complete it on a laptop or desktop computer. If you don't have access to one, you can complete it at a Chromebook kiosk at the school.

Math:

Math will be working on rational numbers at the beginning of April. This unit will include identifying positive and negative numbers, using temperature, elevation, and account balances. We will also be graphing inequalities and working with plotting points in the coordinate plane. We will end the unit with graphing, writing, and solving inequalities.

Social Studies:

This month we just finished ancient Greece, and we’ll be moving on to learning about ancient Rome. Studying ancient Rome will take us into the end of the school year.

Language Arts:

We are reading Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief to end the school year. As we read, we will practice our listening comprehension skills and review elements of plot and characterization. We will also integrate some nonfiction reading as we read the novel.

Science:

This month we will be working on our final module. This module is all about Space Science. We are discussing the reason we experience seasons, and the solar system as a whole.

ELA/Math+

We have an IXL competition going in ELA+ and Math+, and students are welcome to work at home on their skills as well. We are also preparing for state testing, so please encourage your students to do their best work on the test!

7th grade CORE classes...

Science - Mrs. Kruse & Mrs. McComber

For the rest of April, students will learn about common ancestry in animals and the connections between adaptations and natural selection. They also will complete a hands-on lab to simulate natural selection with peppered moths. Towards the end of April students will learn about human influence on inheritance.

Social Studies - Mr. Flock & Mr. Moulton

7th Grade Geography is currently learning about Japan and how their culture has to deal with the high population density. Our next unit, we will begin our simulation activity "Baldicers" which introduces economies and globalization. We will spend a few weeks covering economies and globalization and will wrap up that unit with a district assessment.

English Language Arts - Mrs. Huwe, Mrs. Dossett & Mrs. Flock

7th grade has been busy working on argumentative writing. Their essay prompt asked them to choose whether they were for or against gaming. There were some interesting responses! We are moving forward with a great story by classic author Rudyard Kipling called “Rikki Tikki Tavi”. Students will get to participate in a reader’s theater for this one! It is going to be a great time! Then we are going to explore a few more well-known authors and wrap it up with a project everyone is sure to enjoy! Even though the year is winding down, keep the excitement of reading alive by reading together, visiting the local library, and read, read, read! After all, the road to becoming a life-long learner is paved with books!

Math - Mr. VanRoekel, Miss Auch & Mrs. Hieronimus

In math, we have just completed our unit writing, solving, and graphing inequalities. Our next unit (Unit 7) covers our geometry standard. In this unit we will be measuring angles, determining missing angles using equations, drawing different polygons, and finding the volume and surface area of right prisms. We will complete this unit during the last week of April.

Greetings from the Coyotes/Jackrabbits Eighth Grade Teams

Our year is coming to a close. It’s been a great one! We look forward to ending the year strong with your students. We have SD Assessments coming up. We have some incentives planned for students who are working hard during this time. We are also planning our End of the Year Honor’s Night. This will be held on Monday, May 20th and we’ll recognize students who have excelled in a variety of areas throughout their middle school years. More information will be coming about this.

Here is the news from the core classes:

English Language Arts— Mr. Carmany and Mrs. Freese — We are into our poetry unit. The students will all be writing a poem and sharing that with their classmates. A select group of students will be presenting their poems to the entire 8th grade on Thursday, April 25th. From that group, the three top poems will be shared at the District Poetry Slam. Everyone will be able to watch this live with this link - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wktxQEtKFDE . After we finish the poetry unit, we’ll read one more novel as a class as well as look at how intelligence affects everyone differently.

Science— Mrs. Bates and Ms. Cota -- Before starting our final unit of the year, we will look at magnets and the forces they can apply in different situations. After that we will be starting our final unit of the year on Waves. During this unit we will be looking at the relationship between amplitude and energy along with the different parts of a wave.

Math—Ms. Boer and Ms. Stene -- 8th grade math is working on Unit 8: Pythagorean Theorem. In this unit, students will be using algebraic and geometric aspects to solve side lengths of a triangle. Also, they will learn about square roots, cube roots, and rational vs. irrational numbers. After this unit, we will finish up the year with Volume, followed by Statistics. Acc. Algebra is working on Unit 7: Quadratic Equations. In this unit, students will interpret, write, and solve quadratic equations. This unit will take us all the way to the end of the year before finals.

Social Studies—Mr. Maier and Ms. Walquist -- We just took our fourth district assessment called “Pushing National Borders”, which covered the westward expansion of the United States. Currently, students are learning about the Mexican-American War. Soon, students will start our final unit on President Abraham Lincoln and the US Civil War.

Staff:

Band - Jason Rygg - jason.rygg@k12.sd.us

Band - Marian Beck - marian.beck@k12.sd.us

Chorus - Erin McFarland - erin.mcfarland@k12.sd.us

Chorus - Kelsey Burns - kelsey.burns@k12.sd.us

Orchestra - MJ Borchart - michael.borchart@k12.sd.us

Spring Concerts @ GMMS:

April 9 - 6th, 7th, and 8th Orchestra 6:30 p.m. - GMMS Auditorium

Tuesday, April 16 - 6th, 7th, and 8th Grade Band 6:30 p.m. & 7:30 p.m. - GMMS Auditorium

April 18 - 5th Grade Orchestra Festival w/Gryphon Ensemble 6:00 p.m. - GMMS Auditorium

April 23 - 6th Grade Choir 6:30 p.m. - GMMS Auditorium

April 26 - Gryphon, Jazz Band, Expressions All day - Elementary School Roadshow

May 2 - 5th Grade Band Festival w/Jazz Band 6:00 p.m. - GMMS Auditorium

May 3 - Ensembles Concert (Gryphon, Jazz Band, Expressions, 8th Grade Percussion Ensemble) 7:00 p.m. - GMMS Auditorium

It is hard to believe, but SUMMER IS NEAR!

If your child has medication in school, be advised that any remaining medication will be sent home with your child on the last day of school. If you do not want medication sent home with your student, please call the office, and make other arrangements with the nurse. Any medication remaining at school after 4pm on Thursday May 23, 2024 will be destroyed, unless you have made special arrangements with the nurse.

In order to have everything in place for the beginning of the school year, I have attached a link where you can find our medication forms. Each year a new form needs to be completed if your student will need medication in school. The appropriate forms need to be filled out and signed by both your physician and the parent/guardian. The forms can be provided to you by the school, or accessed using the following link, https://www.sf.k12.sd.us/page/health-services

Have a safe and healthy summer. See you in August!

Tiffany Urban RN, BSN, MSP Tiffany.Urban@k12.sd.us

605-367-4440

Middle School Preparticipation Physical Evaluation- AKA Sports Physical

If a 7th or 8th grade student wishes to participate in the interscholastic middle school athletic program, a physical evaluation is required prior to participation. The physical evaluation shall occur any ​time after April 1 of the student’s 5th grade year and before participation begins. When students go in for immunizations, this is a good time to get their sports physical evaluation completed. Forms and additional information can be found here: https://sfsdathletics.k12.sd.us/information/activity-forms

Completed forms should be turned in to the MS Athletic Coordinator.

Immunizations

All students 11 years old and entering 6th grade must have:

· One dose of Tdap vaccine (Tetanus, Diphtheria, and Pertussis); AND

· One dose of MCV4 (meningococcal vaccine)

The requirements apply for 6th grade entry and transfer student’s 6th – 12th grade. If your child is 10 years old when entering the 6th grade, they have 45 days after their 11th birthday to be vaccinated.

*Please note Hib, Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B, HPV, annual Influenza, and Pneumococcal vaccines are recommended but not required. If you have any questions about the required or recommended immunizations, please contact your health care provider or school nurse

April is National School Library Month! We celebrated with staff doing a Bingo sheet and treats! Students had daily trivia, Blackout Poetry, and a design the cover of your favorite book contest-all submissions went into a drawing. Winners will be announced in the next newsletter!

April 18th is the next McGovern Makes with the Siouxland Library! We are making Diamond Dot Stickers! Be in the lobby of the school by 8:00 am on April 18th!!

Author Spotlight this month is Gordon Korman!

Welcome to the wonderful world of a regular guy who just happened to write 100 books for kids and teens. I was born on October 23, 1963 in Montreal, Canada, and grew up mostly in the Toronto area. My writing career began virtually by accident when I was in 7th grade. THIS CAN’T BE HAPPENING AT MACDONALD HALL was published by Scholastic when I was a freshman in high school, and I was on my way. I’ve been writing for more than three-quarters of my life. My books have been translated into 32 languages and have sold over 35 million copies worldwide. I have a BFA degree from New York University with a major in Dramatic Writing and a minor in Film and TV.I now live on Long Island, outside New York City, with my wife and family. When I’m not writing, you can usually find me on the road, appearing at schools, libraries, and bookstores, meeting my readers.

Books:

Slugfest, Linked, Unplugged, Whatshisface, Restart, No More Dead Dogs, The Unteachables, Notorious, War Stories, Pop, The Fort and several others. His series include: Masterminds, The Hypnotists, Swindle, The Titanic Trilogy, The Everest Trilogy, The Dive Trilogy, The Island Trilogy, On the Run and the Kidnapped Trilogy!

ALL Athletics information can be found on the Athletics Website,

https://www.sf.k12.sd.us/o/gmms/page/activities. Click Activity Calendar for practice and game/meet schedules.

Spring is an exciting time for McGovern Athletes. Soccer is under way with practice after school and games out at the Sanford Sports Complex. The track and field teams have been working hard running halls and stairs and getting outside on the track when the weather is good. Results of the meets can be found in two places.

1. Live results during meets can be found at https://dakotatiming.com/

2. All Results will be loaded into https://www.athletic.net/TrackAndField/MS/SouthDakota/

We are already looking forward to next year and planning big things in athletics.

Current 6th Graders: should be scheduling their physicals right now so they can participate in Middle School sports next year. Mr. Flock has talked to all the 6th graders about the sports that are offered, and an email was sent out with the information that was shared with the kids.

Please reach out to Mr. Flock if you have questions. joseph.flock@k12.sd.us

Current 7th Graders: your physicals are good for next year also. I hope you can get to some summer camps to improve your skills. Stay active and get stronger and faster over the summer with some hard work. You will be the school's leaders next year.

Current 8th Graders: who want to play sports next year at Jefferson should also be scheduling physicals in order to participate in the summer open gym, open field, and weightlifting programs they have to offer. The physicals you got for middle school sports will expire on May 31, 2024. Please contact the Jefferson High School Athletics Department with any questions. You can get on the coaches email lists for specific sports your student athlete would like to participate in to get updates and workout schedules.

Jefferson Summer Camps: Sign up for a Jefferson Sports Camp. Jefferson offers a variety of sports camps throughout the summer. Going to summer camps keeps you active, you get to know the Jefferson coaches and some of the upperclassmen, and you get to play with some of your friends and teammates. Summer is the time to improve your own skills to make you a better athlete during the next season. Staying active as your body grows will help you with coordination and strength. When you are not doing a camp just getting together with friends or family and throwing a ball or frisbee around at a park also helps your development.

Track Meet Event Order with APPROXIMATE Times of Event

We use a rolling schedule so events may start earlier.

Field Meet Event Order with APPROXIMATE Times of Event

We use a rolling schedule so events may start earlier.

Joe Flock

Athletic Director

https://www.sf.k12.sd.us/o/gmms/page/activities

Jennifer Atkinson- All Grades A-L

Stephanie Burgeson - All Grades M-Z

Deb Bergland: Success Coordinator/504 Coordinator

Stay In Touch

Click here for the NEW George McGovern Counseling Department site:

https://sites.google.com/k12.sd.us/gmms-counseling-department/home

If your student is struggling and just needs some help through a difficult time reach out to their school counselor. Parent Counseling Referral Form:

https://forms.gle/pav76DSwQyBcpmzi7

Attendance Update: Making Every Day Count at McGovern Middle School!

We're thrilled to share some exciting news about our ongoing attendance initiative! Recently, Mrs. Bates Pro emerged as the victor of our Raise the Bar attendance contest, earning a well-deserved breakfast treat from Chick-Fil-A Empire Place. Let's give Mrs. Bates Pro a round of applause for their dedication and commitment to attendance excellence!

As part of our efforts to recognize and incentivize regular attendance, we continue to celebrate the top achievers every Friday with delicious Flyboy Donuts. Additionally, we ensure that each grade level has its weekly attendance winners, fostering a spirit of healthy competition and encouragement throughout our school.

Parents and guardians, we encourage you to engage in conversations with your learners about the significance of consistent attendance. Beyond academic benefits, regular attendance cultivates responsibility and discipline, essential qualities for lifelong success.

Should you encounter any challenges or barriers hindering attendance, please remember that our attendance liaison, Kristal Shoffeitt (605.906.3555 kristal.shoffeitt@k12.sd.us) ,is available to provide support and guidance. Your partnership is vital in ensuring that every student can overcome obstacles and thrive academically.

Thank you for your continued support as we strive to make every day count at George McGovern Middle School!

Kristal.Shoffeitt@k12.sd.us

605.906.3555

Students can be dropped off beginning at 8:00am and must be off school grounds by 4:15pm, unless participating in a before-school or after-school activity or program.

Students will not be able to enter the building until 8:30am (unless there is inclement weather or the temperature with wind chill is below 0 degrees). Breakfast is served beginning at 8:40am.

School begins at 8:55am and ends at 3:48pm.

PTA is always looking for new members. The cost to join is just $5. We would love to see more parents involved. The next meeting will be at George McGovern on March 5th at 6:00 PM. See you there!