ARUNDEL MIDDLE SCHOOL

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FROM THE PRINCIPAL BY GEORGE LINDLEY

The second marking period is perhaps my favorite time of the year. It is during this time that we celebrate a number of holidays where family and friends can get togeth-er. There is always the anticipation of a snow day in the air as children (and adults) keep a sharp eye on the weather man. While we anticipate some time off, we also know that during the school day our work is ever before us. Our Arundel Middle School faculty and staff continue our drive to raise student performance so that every child is able to demonstrate a high level of proficiency at his/her grade level. This time of year it is typical to see student effort drop, so we need your help to keep students on task. Please continue to monitor your child’s progress through Parent Connect, interim re-ports, and ongoing communication with school staff.

If your child brought home a report card with anything less than an honors grade for his/her classes, please encourage him/her to stay for Office Hours to help bring up the lagging grade. If your son/daughter receives an assessment grade that is lower than expected, he/she may be able to redo the assignment with corrections or addi-tions to raise the grade and their level of understanding. Please investigate and en-courage your child to do so. “Good enough” cannot be good enough for our students. We want their best. In order to get the best from a child, he/she needs to be encour-aged and held accountable. No one can do that as well as mom and dad. As the year wears on, students’ work habits begin to falter. Please work with your child to maintain good study habits and engagement in school.

Student Led Conferences will be held Monday and Tuesday, November 23rd and 24th. This is your opportunity to review the work your child has accomplished so far this school year. Our hours will be from 8:00 am to 7:00 pm Monday with two meal breaks for teachers, and 8:00 – 11:00 am on Tuesday. We are able to accommodate everyone, so please plan to attend even if you did not schedule an appointment. If you are availa-ble on either of these days, please join us.

This is also a time of year when regular family routines break down. If possible, work to have/keep your routines in place including a regular meal time, homework, and bed time. Children at this age need 8½ to 9¼ hours of sleep a day for healthy phys-ical and cognitive development. Include downtime or playtime too. A scheduled play-time gives you control and frees your children to enjoy that time without other tasks looming over their heads. During homework time, ask your child to explain what he/she is doing in each of his/her classes. By having your child recall what he/she is study-ing, you are helping him/her process the information in ways that will allow him/her to remember it better.

In today’s fast paced age of information, it is critical for children to be able to com-municate through the written word. I heard a recent radio advertisement for business owners to consider outsourcing tasks for which they would traditionally have to hire someone. Today we are not only competing with our neighbors, but with other nations as industries are being outsourced to other parts of the world. A high school diploma may not be enough for opportunities in today’s job market. A post-secondary educa-tion (community college, technical training, or university degree) is a minimum require-

Principal’s Letter 1-2

Important Dates 2

Counseling Office/Sharing Foundation

flyer 3

Parent Link Information 4-5

AMS Early/Late Dismissal Guidelines 6

PTA Membership 7

PTA Volunteer Form 8

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IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER

December 2015

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

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20 21 22 23 24 25 26

27 28 29 30 31

Date Event

Tuesday, Dec. 15 School-wide Spelling Bee 8am Science Fair Awards Ceremony

Wednesday, Dec 16 Band, String & Chorus Concert-7-9pm

Thursday, Dec 24-January 1, 2016

School Closed for Winter Break

Monday, Jan. 11 to

Friday, Jan 29

Dance Company Fundraiser (Popcorn Palace)

Monday Jan. 11 PTA Meeting 6PM in Media Ctr.

Thursday, Jan 14 AMS Talent Show 6-7pm Gym

Monday, Jan. 18 School Closed-MLK Birthday

Tuesday, Jan. 19-

Friday, Jan. 22

2 Hour Early Dismissal

1/22– End of 2nd MP

Monday, Jan. 25 School Closed

Tuesday, Jan. 26 School Closed for Students

Wednesday, Jan 27 Parent Scheduling Night 6:30-8pm Cafeteria

January 2016

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

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ment for young adults to enter into a career that will meet the financial needs of their families. Such a level of education also provides the opportunity to better con-tribute to the well being of our society. Please continue to make your child’s education a priority in the lives of your family.

As the weather turns colder, please consider layers for your child as they come to school. Our building is quite old and some areas of our building warm up far more than others. Our routine for the mornings will re-main the same as it has for school opening. Unless the temperature falls below freezing (32o or below), or un-less it is raining, students will line up outside for a few minutes before entering at 7:50 am. Please understand that our staff is not available to supervise children before 7:40. Children who arrive prior to that time will be unsu-pervised until our staff report for duty. This issue of our newsletter covers events for December and January. Our next newsletter will be published early February, which will begin our second half of the school year. On behalf of the faculty and staff of Arundel Middle, I wish you Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and a safe holiday season.

George Lindley

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EARLY DISMISSALS:

Students who are going to

leave early should bring a note

from the parent to the main

office in the morning, before class starts,

simply stating:

Student’s name

Grade of student

Reason for leaving early

Time to be picked up

Name of person picking student up, if

other than parent/guardian.

Parent / guardian signature

At the main office, the student will be given

an Early Dismissal Pass. Student’s time of dis-

missal will be 5 minutes earlier than stated so

the student has time to go to the locker, if

necessary.

Students are expected to show the teacher

the pass in the class that he/she will be leav-

ing and bring the pass with him/her to the

office.

If it is a last minute doctor’s appointment,

please call the office at 410-674-6900 and let

us know as soon possible so that we can

arrange for your student to meet you in the

office. We try very hard not to call students

on the PA system during instructional time.

Please explain the procedure to your stu-

dent.

The Parent/Guardian MUST COME IN to the

Main Office and sign the student out. A pic-

ture ID must be provided to the secretary.

If the student is returning to school, he/

she must come to the main office to be

signed back into school. The parent/

guardian does not need to come back

into the school.

LATE ARRIVALS:

We ask parents to make every effort to ensure

that their student arrives at school on time.

Repeated lateness will result in a letter home

and possible referral to the schools pupil per-

sonnel worker.

Students are let into the building at 7:50 AM.

Those that arrive after 7:58 AM are consid-

ered late and must come to the office for a

late pass. Parents may email Ms. Tammy

Wonder at twonder@aacps.org with late stu-

dent information as shown below.

Students that are late should bring a note

stating the reason. Oversleeping and missing

the bus are considered unexcused lateness.

All students without a note/parent will be

coded unexcused. Note should include:

Student’s name

Grade of student

Reason for being late

Parent/guardian signature

Students that are late to school will do as

follows:

Enter school through the main en-

trance because all other doors are

locked.

Get a Late Pass from the main office.

Provide Late Pass to

the classroom

teacher.

AMS PROCEDURE FOR EARLY DISMISSALS

AND LATE ARRIVALS Safety Reminders!

Each student must have a completed Emergency Card on file in the office. Parents must take the responsibility to update any telephone number changes, addresses, etc. immediate-ly.

You must show a government

issued ID to sign a student out of the school.

The ID will be scanned into our

Raptor system and the following information will be collected: your photo, your name, and your date of birth. This information will be utilized to check you in, create an ID badge, and compare your infor-mation against sexual offender databases throughout the country.

Only persons on the emergency

card may sign a student out of the building.

All visitors to the building must

sign in and out and wear a visitor’s badge.

Parents and students should re-

view the procedure for going home in case there is an unsched-uled emergency.

We thank you for your help as we try

to keep your children safe!

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Arundel Middle School

PTA GENERAL MEMBER SHIP/VOLUNTEER FORM 2015-2016 By joining the AMS PTA, you are showing your support for all we do, including:

Maintaining an informational website for parents and students

Funding for programs that benefit all students

Giving departments funds for trips and resources

Providing funds to teachers for student incentives and classroom supplies

(Please check below if you would like to volunteer and one of our volunteer coordinators will email you with more information

and fill out the volunteer form on the next page)

______Yes, I would like to volunteer for school or PTA!

Reminder: You do not have to be a PTA member to volunteer, please fill out the name/email section below if not joining.

Name: ________________________________ Email: _________________________________

To learn more about the PTAor for questions regarding membership, send an email to gdcarris@verizon.net

PTA Use:

Date Rec’d: _____________ Amt. Paid $____________ Cash/Check#_______________ Date Card Sent Home:________

GENERAL MEMEBERSHIP 2015-2016

Please PRINT All Information Amount

Parent 1 Name: $8.00

Email Address

Child 1: Grade:

Homeroom Teacher: 6th Period Teacher

Child 2: Grade:

Homeroom Teacher: 6th Period Teacher

Parent 2 Name:

Email Address: $7.00

I wish to make an additional donation to kick start/general donations for our PTA!

PTA Dues Total:

Please make checks payable to AMS PTA

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Home of the Wildcats

Name: _________________________________________________________________________

Email: __________________________________________________________________________

Phone: ______________________________________

I would like to volunteer for: (check all that apply)

______Teacher/Staff Help ________Event Help ______Hospitality Help

______Watch DoGS (Food and Appreciation)

Volunteers must watch the volunteer video and turn in a copy of the acknowledgement form as well as have a current

background check on file. The video and form links can be found at the following sites:

https://www.aacps.org/applications/billboardmanager/arms_inc_billboardmanager.asp?ItemID=143

http://www.aacps.org/Parents/chaperone.asp

I have viewed the video Y N Acknowledgement Form_____ Background Form_______

Questions: Sandy Vogel 410.674.3938 or the vogel4@msn.com

Teacher/Staff Help Possibilities: Event Help Possibilities

Out of class help: Picture Days

Photo copying Hearing/Vision screening

Teacher Projects Science Fair Judge

In class help: Grade Level Assemblies

Listening to students read Service Learning

Supervision Dances

Lunch Monitors STEM Career Day

Watch DoGs