GROSSE POINTE PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM

PIERCE POINTER

Pierce Middle School 15430 Kercheval Grosse Pointe Park, MI 48230 313.432.4700 Attendance Line 313.432.4701

www.gpschools.org

December 2016 January 2017

Dear Pierce Parents,

Due to the holiday break, please note that this edition of the Pierce

Pointer includes both December and January information.

First, thank you for taking the time to stop by to connect with your

child’s teachers during parent/teacher conferences. We recognize

that there are a variety of ways to communicate (phone, e-mail,

etc.) surrounding your child’s progress. Thank you for continuing

to show your interest and enthusiasm for learning.

November was a busy month at Pierce. Pierce students had the op-

portunity for several outstanding experiences this month, including:

an exceptional Career Day, an enthusiastic Turkey Trot, the start of

Boys Basketball, an 8th grade orientation at South High School, an

excellent Band and Orchestra Concert, and the Lion King Jr. cast

and crew knocked it out of the park.

The fun continues in December as well. The South Band and Or-

chestra will visit Pierce during the day on December 9th, and the

South Choir will be performing at Pierce during the day on Decem-

ber 22.

As hard as it is to believe, we will begin January with the prepara-

tion for the 2016 -17 school year. Our 8th graders will be doing

their initial scheduling for South High School, and our incoming 5 th

graders will begin their preparation to join us at Pierce. In addition,

current 6th and 7th graders will be working on their 7th and 8th grade

schedules. Highlights of the scheduling process include:

Jan 11 @ 6:30pm South Parent Night (for current 8th grade parents)

Jan 17 @ 6:30pm Current 5th Grade Parent Night in the Pierce Aud.

Jan 24 @ 2:30pm Pierce Staff visits Maire

Jan 25 @ 2:30pm Pierce Staff visits Trombly

DECEMBER 2016 / JANUARY 2017

LETTER FROM THE PRINCIPAL

DECEMBER Choir Concert

Thursday, Dec. 1st - 7 PM

Band-O-Rama

Monday, Dec. 19th - 7 PM

South H.S.- Main Gym

Hungry Howie’s Fundraiser

Monday, Dec. 21st All Day

Strings Extravaganza

Tuesday, Dec. 21st - 7 PM

South H.S.- Main Gym

Winter Vacation Begins at the

End of day Friday, Dec. 23rd

JANUARY Classes Resume

Monday, Jan. 9th

8th Grade Parent Night

At Grosse Pointe South

Wednesday, Jan. 11th

6 PM -7:30 PM

No Classes

Monday, Jan. 16th

Martin Luther King Day

Incoming 6th Grade Parent Night

Tuesday, Jan. 17th

6:00 PM - Auditorium

Pierce Book Fair Tues., Jan. 17th - Thurs., Jan. 19th

Pierce Library

Hungry Howie’s Fundraiser

Monday, Jan. 18th

5th grade Coney Night

Thursday, Jan. 19th

6 PM - 7:30 PM

PTO Meeting

Tuesday, Jan. 24th

6:30 PM - Library

No Classes

Friday, Jan. 27th ~ Records Day

LETTER FROM THE PRINCIPAL - continued

Page 2

The beginning of a new year is a great time to take stock of our achievements and set goals for the upcoming months. At Pierce we will spend the month of January looking back, reviewing past policies and practices as well as planning for the spring and beyond. In December and January our counselors will be working with our eighth graders and their parents to review their career at Pierce and plan for their futures at South. Also in the new year, the parents of our sixth and seventh graders will be working with their students to choose their courses for next year and we will begin to meet with fifth graders from Defer,

Trombly, Maire, and private schools to welcome them to Pierce.

During the first few weeks of the new semester, we will also be reviewing school policies with your students. A copy of these policies and our PBS behavior matrix can be found in the front pages of your student's planner. Please take a moment to review them with your student.

One of the most important policies in place here at Pierce is our policy on bullying. We take bullying very seriously and have been working with our students to understand bullying and develop strate-gies to prevent and report it. We will follow up on any incidents that are reported to us. If your stu-dent has been a victim of bullying, or has witnessed a bullying incident, please encourage him or her to share that information with any adult in the building. If your student is reluctant to come forth, please consider doing so yourself. Our most important objective is the physical and emotional safe-ty of our students and we strive to provide a positive learning environment for all of our students. As always, we appreciate your support and if you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me.

Sincerely,

Judith Gaffrey Assistant Principal

FROM THE ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL’S DESK

Jan 26 @ 2:30pm Defer comes to Pierce Auditorium

Jan 31 (during advisory) - 7th graders get 8th grade course sheet

Feb 1 (during advisory) - 6th graders get 7th grade course sheet

Feb 2 8th graders enter high school courses on-line throughout the day

On behalf of the faculty and staff of Pierce Middle School, Happy Holidays!

Sincerely,

Chris Clark

Principal

Pierce Middle School

Page 3

5th GRADE PARENTS

MARK YOUR CALENDAR!! COME JOIN US ON

THURSDAY, JANUARY 19th From 6 pm to 7:30 pm

All fifth graders and their families from our feeder schools are invited to join us for their first official Pierce event.

5TH GRADE CONEY ISLAND NIGHT

COUNSELOR CORNER

Attention 8th Grade Parents: High School Registration

During the month of January, 8th graders will be filling out worksheets during their individual appointments (parents will receive a letter with information and appointment time in mid De-cember) and they will input the classes they selected on their worksheets into Zangle (the computer scheduling program) at the end of January. Once they have been processed in the system, parents will be able to view the courses that are entered through Parent Connect. In addition, 5th, 6th and 7th graders will choose their courses for next year in January /February. Counselors will do presentations for our current 6th and 7th graders during advisory time, outlining what choices are available and walking them through the registration process before the February mid-winter break. Counselors and administrators will also present information to each of the elementary schools on this process the week of January 23

rd and meet with 5th grade parents on January

17th at 7:00 p.m. in the auditorium. Once the forms are complete for all four grade levels (including parent signature), we will input their choices for next year. Parents will be able to go online to check and make sure the choices reflect what they helped their child choose. More details on this procedure will be shared in the next Pierce Pointer newsletter. Andrea Bolton Margie McKoy 432.4716 432.4717

Page 4

PAINLESS PTO FUNDRAISING!

Support the PTO, the easy and painless way!

The PTO sponsors the following easy fund-raising that require minimal effort but bring maximum re-wards:

KROGER: Did you know that a portion of your qualifying Kroger purchases could be do-nated to Pierce? Visit http://www.kroger.com/community/Pages/community_rewards.aspx to enroll your Kroger Plus card and select Pierce under the Community Rewards tab.

BOX TOPS and LABELS FOR EDUCATION: Start saving Box Tops and Labels! Later this year, Box Tops contests will bring the chance for some great prizes! More information is coming, but in the meantime, save those Box Tops!

8TH GRADE PARENT INFO

ATTENTION PARENTS OF PIERCE 8TH GRADERS! 8TH GRADE PARENT NIGHT at GROSSE POINTE SOUTH HIGH SCHOOL WILL BE JANUARY 11th at 6:30

South administrators and counselors will highlight South’s curriculum with a video followed by a short presentation emphasizing the 9th grade scheduling procedures, class selections and the class of 2020 graduation requirements.

Make sure to attend this important informational meeting!

NONDISCRIMINATION STATEMENT

The Grosse Pointe Public Schools System does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, disability, or age in its programs and activities and provides equal access to the Boy Scouts and other designated youth groups.

The following person has been designated to handle inquiries regarding the non-discrimination policies:

Stefanie Hayes, Director of Student Services

20090 Morningside

Grosse Pointe Woods, MI 48236

Phone: (313) 432-3851

Stefanie.Hayes@gpschools.org

If the individual filling the grievance alleges that the Section 504/ADA coordina-tor has engaged in discrimination, then the individual filing the grievance must provide the documentation to the:

Deputy Superintendent for Educational Services

389 St. Clair

Grosse Pointe, MI 48230

Phone: (313) 432-3016

Page 5

PTO POINTS

It appears that Winter is here! There’s lots going on as we wrap up 2016 and welcome the cold weather…… Many thanks to Michelle Agosta and her crew of culinary wizards for hosting a spectacular Ethnic Dinner. Tasty food and good conversation with friends made for a fantastic event! Pierce Spirit Wear makes a wonderful gift for your Trojan! Please contact Wendy Bruetsch at: wbruetsch@sbcglobal.net if you would like to get some Christmas shop-ping done…… Scholastic Book Fair is coming to the Pierce Library on Tuesday, January 17 - Thurs-day, January 19. The fair will be open for student and parent shopping from 8 AM until 3:45 PM. Additionally, there will be evening hours on Thursday. Students will be visiting the fair with their English classes during school hours. Anyone wishing to volunteer to work at the fair, please email Kim Shine at kdshine1@comcast.net. Pierce Progressive Dinner It's never too early to start thinking about the annual Pierce Progressive Dinner. We are looking at a earlier date, poten-tially January or February, and will firm that up shortly and announce that to everyone. We are searching for a kind soul(s) to provide the appetizer house (accommodate about 160 people) as well as 15 or more dinner houses (accommodating 6 to 12 people). Food and beverages are provided, making hosting an absolute breeze. Thank you to Renee Jakubowski & Stacey Chen for agreeing to chair this event. Many more details to come!

No PTO Meeting in December. Please feel welcome to join us for our first meeting of the new year on Tuesday, January 24th at 6:30pm in the Pierce Library. Please feel free to contact me at any time if you have questions or concerns. Along with the entire PTO Board, I would like to wish you a safe and blessed holiday sea-son. I hope everyone enjoys family, friends, & good food, along with some much needed re-laxation.

Warmly, Juli Rybicki PTO President

Page 6

Attention Parents:

The January 21st Deadline to order your year-

book is quickly approaching.

Order yours on the Pierce home page today!

There’s still time!

Only $35

Visit the Pierce Middle School website

Click on the: For Parents tab

Click on the: Registration for all Students tab

Choose: Pierce

Click on the: Webstore tab

Login using student's ID number and the access key will be

your student’s birthdate: xx/xx/xxxx

Make memories

You’ll be proud of,

by Purchasing a yearbook.

Directions for purchasing online:

DID YOU ORDER YOUR YEARBOOK?

Page 7

On November 11th, the 44rd Annual Turkey Trot Run was held!

This year, 241 Pierce 6

th, 7

th, and 8

th graders participated in a series of half mile runs. All run-

ners earned a participation ribbon and the top two finishers, in each of the six events, took home a Thanksgiving turkey! Treats were also provided.

Special thanks to the Pierce PTO, parent volunteers, staff members, and administration, for continually supporting this event. The PTO, once again, purchased the turkeys and adult vol-unteers bought and delivered the turkeys to Pierce. We couldn’t have held this annual event without your help.

Photography coverage, was provided by WPNC. Thank you to those students who took pic-tures of this event.

Congratulations to all runners. You did an outstanding job. Thanks for keeping this tradition alive!

Mr. Benz and Mr. Pertile

44th ANNUAL TURKEY TROT RUN

THE PERIODIC DISTRIBUTION OF NON-SCHOOL-RELATED WRITTEN MATERIALS DOES NOT CONSTITUTE AN

ENDORSEMENT BY THE SCHOOL SYSTEM OF THOSE MATERIALS OR OF THE GROUPS SPONSORING THEM.

Page 8

44th ANNUAL TURKEY TROT RUN

Page 9

2016 TURKEY TROT - THIS YEARS RESULTS!

7th Grade - 1/2 Mile

Boys Girls

Name Name

Asher H.. 2:55 1st Maddie B. 3:11 1st

Seth M. 2:56 2nd Kamryn R. 3:13 2nd

Michael T. 3.01 3rd Evie K. 3:16 3rd

Robert D. 3.04 4th Megan D. 3:19 4th

Max M. 3.06 5th Kate W. 3:25 5th

Lukas B. 3.09 6th Olivia Y. 3:50 6th

6th Grade - 1/2 Mile

Boys Girls

Name Place Name Place

Anthony B. 2:58 1st Megan R. 3:12 1st

Ryan K. 2:59 2nd Gia C. 3:16 2nd

Luke W. 3:00 3rd Sophie S. 3:18 3rd

Sam M. 3.04 4th Sienna C. 3:30 4th

Ethan F. 3:13 5th Vivian L. 3:32 5th

Logan E. 3:23 6th Emily F. 3:37 6th

8th Grade - 1/2 Mile

Boys Girls

Name Name

Aaron D. 2:36 1st Cailee C. 3.01 1st

Charlie R. 2:46 2nd Jacquelyn W. 3.03 2nd

Rene’ R. 2:55 3rd Paloma B. 3:05 3rd

Abraham A. 2:56 4th Kate B. 3:08 4th

Jack C. 2.58 5th Miranda O. 3:09 5th

Mairin H. 3:12 6th

Page 10

MEMORY SKILLS

Does Your Child Have Trouble Remembering Things?

Good memory skills are essential for a successful school experience. Helping your child de-velop strong and automatic memory skills is one of the best things you can do for them. A student’s memory is important in building relational awareness, establishing patterns of recog-nition for people and events, and for transforming information into knowledge that facilitates problem-solving at a later time. Strong memory skills will enhance your children’s experience in school during social activities and also at home. Below are some suggested activities to help develop essential memory skills.

1. Make sure your child has memorized basic family information including full names, ad-dresses, phone numbers, cities, relationships, important landmarks and occupations.

2. When doing chores, give 2-3 chores at a time so your child practices remembering more than one thing at a time.

3. Have you child practice retelling stories they enjoy, using proper sequence and grammar. Model and gently correct as needed.

4. Practice math facts involving addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. Higher level math comes more easily when kids have internalized their math facts. This also helps to develop their overall number sense and ability to do mental math.

5. Play “20 Questions” games. This helps individuals hold on to facts in order to come to a conclusion.

6. Take spelling and vocabulary practice one step further. Make sure they can define the words and use them properly in sentences. Help them create a knowledge connection (relating the word or concept to something they already know) so the word isn’t lost the minute the test is over. Try to use the words with them during conversation.

7. Talk about topics being discussed in school. This gives the student opportunities to re-member and repeat facts they know on relevant topics.

8. Encourage your child to memorize and tell jokes. This is a key social skill that is often overlooked. You may have to demonstrate how to deliver a joke and explain why it’s fun-ny.

I hope you will find one or two tips that you can use with you own child. Good luck! JoEllen Cumpata, M.A., CCC-SLP Speech Language Pathologist Grosse Pointe Middle Schools Joellen.cumpata@gpschools.org These suggestions were adapted from an article by Teresa Sadowski, M.A., CCC-SLP in 2003

Page 11

GIRLS BASKETBALL 2016 - 2017

8th GRADE TEAM

Coach Sarnowski

Practice Mon - Fri 4:30 - 6

7th GRADE TEAM

Coach Williams

Practice Mon - Fri 3:30 - 5

Date Day H / A Opponent Time 7th/8th 2/14/17 Tuesday Home Kennedy 4:00/5:00 2/16/17 Thursday Away Brownell 4:00/4:00*** 2/27/17 Monday Home Southlake 4:30/5:30*** 3/1/17 Wednesday Home Jefferson 4:00/5:00 3/3/17 Friday Home Brownell 4:00/5:00 3/6/17 Monday Away Parcells 4:00/5:00 3/8/17 Wednesday Away Kennedy 4:00/5:00 3/10/17 Friday Away Jefferson 4:00/5:00 3/13/17 Monday Away Southlake 4:30/5:30 3/14/17 Tuesday Home Parcells 4:00/5:00 3/17/17 Friday Home Roseville 4:00/5:00 3/22/17 Wednesday Away Roseville 4:00/5:00

Page 12

SOCIAL STUDIES OLYMPIAD

GET READY PROSPECTIVE PIERCE OLYMPIANS! The Michigan Council for the Social Studies Olympiad is a state-wide competition for students in grades third through twelfth. This year’s theme is Women Who Make History.

This event encourages the educational development of a strong social studies skill set, participatory experience, so-cial and intellectual interactions, and strengthens personal

confidence by asking students to plan activities as a group and to cooperate with an ensemble as well as competing in various individual events . Pierce has a proud tradition of success in the many categories. This year Pierce en-ters the competition as the reigning state champs in Quizbowl and persuasive es-say. We also return as silver medalists in posters and creative drama. The Pierce team is coached by Jeannie Brousseau. Students should watch for announcements for try-outs and practices. The completion will be held on Saturday May 13

th at Center

Line High School.

WASHINGTON D.C. GROUP PHOTOS

Have you gotten

Your 8th Grade Group Photo

From the Washington D.C.

Trip in October?

If you haven’t,

Be sure to stop in Room 212,

And pick one up from Mr. Benz

For only $5.00!

Page 13

Let’s help raise money for Pierce Middle School!

Hungry Howie’s will donate 20% of our Pizza Night

purchases back to our school.

Just fill in the slip below and hand it to the cashier or delivery

driver and enjoy your dinner! Let’s all make this a great year. If

you happen to forget your flyer please mention it to the cashier

or driver so we can credit the school. We will have extra flyers

available at the store. Please fill out your teachers name on the

slip. The teacher that has the most participation is awarded a

free pizza party for their class!

PIERCE MIDDLE SCHOOL

PIZZA NIGHT

SCHOOL FUNDRAISER

Monday, December 21st & January 18th Grosse Pointe Park Location

(15316 E. Jefferson)

313-823-7000

Simply turn in the slip below and we will earn our 20% donation.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Name:__________________________ 6th hour Teacher:__________________

Grade:__________________ Total Order Amount:______________

Pierce Middle School

*2016*

* *

Kenny

* Stackpoole *

Gaffrey * Brengman *

Rabaut * Davenport * Bolton

Leslie * Allen * Scott * Bainbridge

Overs * Lovelace * Noonan * Thompson

* Dolle * Korkmaz * Lawrence * Cumpata

Booker* Ignagni * Holman * Finazzo * Scully

Tocco * Mc Koy * Takis * Paddock * Graham *

Starkey * Fadanelli * Littlejohn * Corbet * Claeys

Albrecht * Turk * Pertile * Kotes * Brock * Etheridge

Marsh * Zens * Davenport * Dillon * Richards * Benz

K.Quinn * Brousseau * Schaupeter * Vickers * Bezak *

Engen-Wulf * Plieth * S. Quinn* Clark * Williams * Embree

Gross * Taylor

Lappin * Vuljaj

Rocheleau * Buffa

May the New Year

Bring Joy, Peace and Happiness

To You

And

Your

Entire

Family!

2017