Middle School Update

Volume 7 Number 22

March 10 , 2008

CALENDAR:

MONDAY ENVELOPES IN GRADES 6 AND 7 will include the elective registration form for 2008-09. Please have the student complete the form. Signatures are needed from the student and a parent. These should be returned by the end of the week. While these selections are not final, it is important that students try to be accurate.  Some electives are yearlong, others are only a semester.  Students who choose band and orchestra will be in that for the entire year. There is a yearlong Advanced Art class. The yearlong art class is usually oversubscribed and the art teacher determines which students have the appropriate skills and attitudes to be in the advanced class.  Other students choose electives by pairs, for example art/drama or art/robotics.  We try to schedule students into their first choice of electives but this cannot always be done due to numbers or conflicts with other courses.  Students who turn in elective forms on time are given priority over those who turn them in late or change their minds.

CONFERENCES THIS SEMESTER:  Please note that due to the government mandated school closing in May we have changed the Student-Led Conference Week to May 5-9.  You will receive an appointment slip in April so that you can plan your time.

REMINDERS FOR STUDENTS WHO DO NOT RIDE THE BUS:  Gate 2 is open until 7:55 and may only be used by students who show current ID cards as they enter.  Students are asked to have the ID cards in hand BEFORE they get to the gate.  Students who arrive late or do not have ID cards MUST enter through Gate 1 and will remain there until cleared by the office. It is likely these students will be late for class and will receive an unexcused tardy. By now, every student should have an ID card.

STUDENTS RIDING THE BUSES should also have their ID cards as they will be asked for them periodically as they exit the bus.

MOST STUDENTS have ID cards that indicate they have parent permission to leave through Gate 2 at the end of the day. They need to show that pass to the guard at the gate.  If they do not have a Gate 2 pass they must leave by bus, be picked up in the car pickup area beyond the elementary school, or walk out the front gate WITH a parent or nanny.

STUDENTS LEAVING THROUGH GATE 2 AT THE END OF THE DAY  must exit the gate and turn right or left and extend the line along the wall. Students may not wait in the grassy area beside Las Palmeras to be picked up there, that is a no stopping zone, cars must pull into the pickup lane or stop in an area beyond the cones. Only students who have parent permission to walk home should cross Las Palmeras.  Students should NOT cross the street to meet parents or drivers. Students who do not obey pickup rules will lose their gate 2 privileges.

SHORT SEMESTER:  This is a short semester and has become shorter due to the visit of the EU heads of state in May.  We will be having 3 long weekends this semester. They will begin at 12:20 on Wednesday and continue through Sunday. Please do NOT take additional days, it is important that students be in class. Using school days for travel is considered an unexcused absence.