THE MIDDLE VIEWTHE MIDDLE VIEWTHE MIDDLE VIEW

A PUBLICATION OF THE GARDEN CITY MIDDLE SCHOOL

A National Blue Ribbon School of Excellence

PRINCIPAL’S MESSAGE FEBRUARY

February 2

Incoming 6th Grade Parent

Orientation

7:00 PM @ MS

World Language/Music

Fair

8PM @MS

February 14

Board of Education

Budget/Work Session

8:15 PM @ HS

February 15

PTA Meeting

7:30 PM @MS

February 16

SEPTA K-12

Informational Meeting

7:30 PM @HS Library

February 20-24

Winter Recess

No Classes

Maria Cafaro—Editor

A n E f f e c t i v e P r a c t i c e M e n t o r S c h o o l

E s s e n t i a l E l e m e n t s : S c h o o l s t o W a t c h

Volume 9 Issue 5 February 2012

“The Duke has decreed that the Castle is not cold." The gentleman's lips are almost blue from this lack of cold.

"And the Duke is right and correct in this as in all things."

― Christopher Peter Grey

Dear Parents,

When I tell people that I am a middle school principal, a common response is a look of sympathy.

When I try to explain the joys of this age-group – their innocence, idealism, a desire to help others, and

a strong sense of civic responsibility – I often get incredulous looks. However, with all earnestness,

rarely am I disturbed by the children. Instead, what does cause me frustration is the ongoing frontal

assault on public education and educators. Of course, there are school systems which need to be re-

formed. Even here in our school we are always seeking ways of making it work better for the children.

However, it is a grave injustice to our children when the State forces all teachers and principals to be

numerically rated on a 1-100 scale through unreliable and invalid assessments and rubrics, and concur-

rently caps the property tax levy at a maximum rate of 2%, or the rate of inflation if lower, without a

super-majority 60% community vote. Also, the State, in its rush to receive Race to the Top Funds

(which Garden City does not receive), is once again changing the curriculum by eliminating local con-

trol through adoption of National Common Core Standards. Incredibly, we still do not know all the

subjects which will have eventual State exams, how students’ scores in non-State-tested subjects will be

counted in teacher or principal evaluations, or how ―contact time‖ for push-in and co-teacher services

will be measured and counted. Moreover, the district’s monetary and personnel expenditures are enor-

mous just for the administration of the assessments, preparation materials, and for teacher and admin-

istrator training. Alternatively, these assessment-related expenditures would have been far better spent

on lower class sizes, students’ programs, or lower taxes.

As public servants, we work for the community. Therefore, our community members must know that

we will always do our very best with what we are given for the children in our care. I certainly do not

envy the extraordinarily difficult choices that our School Board must make in these challenging times.

Over the past several years our own middle school’s programs and personnel have already been sig-

nificantly pared down or eliminated – athletic programs, clubs, intramurals, student recreation pro-

grams, supplies, secretaries, cleaners, matron, audio-visual technician, computer aides, and teachers,

have all been greatly reduced. The Administrators’ Association negotiated to freeze their salaries last

year. Yet, even in these very difficult times, our parents should know that we all stand together to en-

sure that our children continue to get a first class education here in Garden City.

Best wishes,

Peter Osroff, Ed.D.

IMPORTANT REMINDERS

Spring Parent/Teacher Conferences

As in past years, appointments will be reserved for teachers or parents who need to address specific concerns.

You will be contacted if any of your child’s teachers feel the necessity to meet with you. Of course, any parent may also

request a conference by calling the main office at 478-3000. You will receive confirmation of the appointments by mail.

As always, if you have any immediate concerns, please feel free to contact your child’s teacher directly.

School Closing Information/Delayed Openings

In case of an emergency, you will receive a telephone call and/or email to your home, cell, and work numbers

and/or email address you have provided to the middle school. In order to guarantee delivery of messages, please keep

your contact information up-to-date.

Radio Stations

WCBS 880AM

WALK 1370 AM

WINS 1010 AM

WOR 710 AM

WBLI 106.1 FM

WHLI 1100 AM

Television Stations

News 12 Long Island

WABC 7

WNBC 4

WCBS 2

FOX 5

News Web Sites

www.1010wins.com

www.7online.com

www.news12.com

Board of Education Budget Meetings and Work Sessions

February 7 Work Session

February 14 Regular Meeting

February 28 Work Session

March 6 Work Session

March 20 Regular Meeting

April 3 Work Session

April 17 Regular Meeting

May 8 Public Hearing and Work Session

May 15 Budget Vote 6 a.m.—10 p.m. at the high school

All meetings will be held at the high school at 8:15 p.m.

Music Box Players Present Cinderella

The Garden City Middle School Music Box Players present Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella! Join us on

Friday, March 23 and Saturday, March 24 at 7:00 p.m. for a magical evening in which anything is possible.

The 2011-2012 production is directed by Mrs. Kristen Aguilo with Choral Director, Mrs. Nancy Menges; Techni-

cal Director, Mr. Kevin Pollit; and Assistant Director, Mr. Rich Hoffmann. Tickets will go on sale in early March. Con-

tact Mrs. Aguilo for more information.

IMPORTANT REMINDERS

Eighth Grade Art Reception—Change in Date

The eighth grade Art Reception has been changed from April 18 to April 23. The event will still be

held at the middle school at 7:00 p.m.

Sixth Grade Orientation and World Language and Music Fairs

The sixth grade orientation will begin at 7 p.m. on Thursday, February 2 in the auditorium. The World Lan-

guage and Music Fairs will be held on the same evening from 8 to 9 p.m. The World Language Fair will take place in

the cafeteria, and the Music Fair will be held in the music wing.

New York State English Language Arts Assessment

Students in grades 6,7,8 will be taking the New York State English Language ArtsAssessment beginning on

Tuesday, April 17. Students should be prepared with several sharpened no. 2 pencils on the days the exam is adminis-

tered.

Grade Tuesday, April 17 Wednesday, April 18 Thursday, April 19

6 Book 1

Book 2

Book 3

7 Book 1

Book 2

Book 3

8 Book 1

Book 2

Book 3

ERB Writing Assessment The WrAP is a nonfiction writing assessment program which will be given to seventh grade students on May 8

and 9, 2012. Students will clarify or define various points of view, positions or possible courses of action as viable solu-

tions to a problematic situation through supporting facts or arguments. This assessment is used to get a general sense of

our overall writing program’s effectiveness over multiple years and thus, helps us to target instruction in writing. Even

though we provide parents with a copy of their own child’s test results, the individual student’s results should not be

viewed as a valid or reliable measure of his/her performance level as the test was not designed for this purpose.

New York State Math Assessment

Students in grades 6,7,8 will be taking the New York State English Math Assessment beginning on Wednes-

day, April 25. Students should be prepared with several sharpened no. 2 pencils on the days the exam is administered.

Grade Wednesday, April 25 Thursday, April 26 Friday April 27

6 Book 1

Book 2

Book 3

7 Book 1

Book 2

Book 3

8 Book 1

Book 2

Book 3

Literature Circles

English teachers use literature circles as a collaborative and student-centered reading strategy aimed at allow-

ing students to form a deeper understanding of literature through structured discussion and extended written and ar-

tistic response. Literature circles are meant to give students the opportunity to feel challenged and engaged while hold-

ing them accountable for reading. Collaboration is at the heart of this approach. During a Literature Circle session, a

class is divided into reading groups, with each group consisting of four to five students. Each group then has the op-

portunity to select their own text from a list provided by the teacher. The students are then introduced to the ―roles‖

they must complete within the literature circle: Vocabulary Enricher, Literary Illuminator, Re-

sponder, Connector, and Summarizer. The teacher models the task for each of these roles and

allows students to practice the techniques before they are responsible for completing the tasks

on their own. After this introduction, students are ready to use the strategy independently,

rotating the roles within the group as they read the stories they have chosen. Not only do

Literature Circles raise the level of student engagement, peer collaboration, and reading com-

prehension, they also help students develop the skills they need to be successful readers

across the content areas.

SPOTLIGHT ON

The ENGLISH department

Student Choice

One way that teachers differentiate instruction is through offering students choices on assessment. For exam-

ple one of the quarterly benchmark assessments, ―Description of a Place,‖ provides students the opportunity to choose

a specific literary scene as well as a character perspective from which to write. Providing these options to the students

appeals to their strengths and preferences in order to foster success. In addition, teachers also scaffold the writing proc-

ess to differentiate the instruction. For example, when introducing the assignment to the students, teachers present a

student to model the appropriate format and content. Next, students are provided with different colored highlighters to

identify the various components of the sample. Once the students select their scene and character perspective, they be-

gin the ―pre-writing‖ phase of the process. In order to guide the students, teachers provide them with a graphic organ-

izer that assists them in eliciting details that appeal to the five senses of the reader. After creating a draft of their writ-

ing, the class begins the revision process. Teachers continue to guide students by modeling how to correct a sample as-

signment on the SmartBoard with attention to the difference between revising and editing. When teachers are confident

that the students are ready to revise their work, students go through the revision process on their own and then again

with their peers. They are paired up to revise and edit each other’s work. The product will be placed in their writing

folders to mark the growth of each individual student. The aforementioned steps appeal to various learning styles and

also provides students with numerous opportunities to create the best work possible.

Instruction can be Differentiated in Many Ways

Differentiated Instruction is happening in English Language Arts’ classrooms in many ways. For example,

teachers send out a parent survey to gather student information regarding their interests. They later use this informa-

tion to tailor their units. In addition, teachers assess each student’s reading ability and then assign

individual reading skill books to meet the student’s needs. Teachers also assess the students in multiple

ways including tests, book projects, and class participation. A variety of materials are utilized when

instructing the students in grammar, writing, and reading. Lastly, giving choices with regard to par-

ticular assignments is something teachers offer frequently. For example, students are allowed to choose

which spelling activities to do each week, topics for journal writing, and topics for poetry writing.

SPOTLIGHT ON

The ENGLISH department

Using R.A.F.T. Assignments to Differentiate in the English Classroom

English teachers also use R.A.F.T. assignments as a way of differentiating writing in-

struction. Writing is an essential element in the English curriculum and instruction comes in

many formats. By using a R.A.F.T. writing assignment, the teacher is giving the student free-

dom to choose from a select group of writing prompts. R.A.F.T. is an acronym for: Role-

which gives the student freedom to choose from a select group of characters and write from

that character’s point of view; Audience- which gives the student the freedom to choose for

whom the writing assignment is geared towards; Format- which allows the student a selection

of writing styles in which to choose from for their writing piece; and Topic- which allows the student to choose what

the main idea of their writing piece will be. This type of assignment not only allows the teacher to differentiate writing,

but empowers and motivates students by giving them ownership of their work. Overall, R.A.F.T. writing assignments

are used to differentiate instruction, but they are also a great tool for teachers to assess a student’s level of mastery in

literature and writing.

The Dead Poets’ Society

The Dead Poets Society, the middle school’s literary magazine club, is proud to announce the results from the

NCTE’s Program to Recognize Excellence in Student Literary Magazines for the 2010-2011 school year. Out of 391 mid-

dle and high school applicants, our magazine won the highest award! This distinction is a very high honor, and the

members of last year’s club and its advisor, eighth grade English teacher, Ms. Zafiropoulos, are extremely proud for

having received this prestigious award. Members of last year’s club include: Elizabeth Butler, Kevin Castellano, Collier

Curran, Jillian Dane, Peyton Flynn, Peter Levchuck, Alessia Merritts, and Madeline Roberti.

The NCTE (National Council of Teachers of English) created this program to encourage students, teachers, and

schools to strive for excellence in writing, as well as active school-wide participation in the production of a literary

magazine. Evaluations of the literary magazines are based on the following criteria: literary content, quality, variety,

and editing/proofreading, as well as graphic design and artistic quality. Magazines must be ranked as superior in all

categories in order to be nominated for the highest award.

―Escape‖ served as the theme that was threaded throughout last year’s magazine. Students defined the mean-

ing of the word as well as the many ways they choose to escape from their daily lives as middle school students. In ad-

dition to their poems, short stories, vignettes, and narrative pieces, students also created a special feature in the maga-

zine. This section served as a tribute to all the victims of the world from past and present, who seek nothing more than

to escape from lives of poverty, pain, and suffering. Pieces in the special feature were written from the voices of both

survivors and victims of the Holocaust, the earthquake in Haiti, and the tsunami and

earthquake that struck Japan just last winter. The collection of their work is truly a hu-

manitarian commentary on the plight so many have been forced to endure, as well as

the resiliency of the human spirit.

The club would like to thank all of the students who contributed to last year’s

magazine, as well as the administrators and staff for their support in creating such a suc-

cessful publication. The middle school is looking forward to the publication of this

year’s magazine, which is under the supervision of Kristen Aguilo and will be made

available to students this spring. Students are encouraged to join the club or submit their

writing to Mrs. Aguilo for publication.

IN & AROUND

G c m s

Math Olympiads

The second meet of Math Olympiads was held on Tuesday, December 13, 2011. The school score (total of the top

10) for our sixth grade Olympians was 45 out of a possible 50. The average score this month was 2.48. Last month it

was 2.00. We performed a bit better on this contest.

Four students scored a perfect 5: Julia Choi, Brandon Gong, John Murphy, and Michelle Parente. Thirteen

students had only one incorrect. We did a super job on this contest!

CUMULATIVE TOTALS

The total school score after two meets (November and December) is 88 points (of a possible 100). Listed here

are the scores for the students who have the highest cumulative scores:

NAME TEACHER MEET 1 MEET 2 TOTAL

Julia Choi Hakes 5 5 10

Brandon Gong Orrego 5 5 10

John Murphy Nardone 4 5 9

Catherine Schick Nardone 5 4 9

Colin Fischer Hakes 4 4 8

John Mignone Orrego 4 4 8

Colby Nolan Orrego 4 4 8

Making a Difference!

Students in the Anti-Bullying Club have been busy making an anti-bullying music video. Approximately 50

students have been participating in this special project. The group has been split into teams of children who have each

been given a different "bullying" song to choreograph. There are a total of eight different song clips being utilized in

the activity. Songs include: ―We're all in this Together,‖ ―Firework,‖ ―Born this Way,‖ ―We Weren't Born to Follow,‖

and more. The club hopes to share their video with the entire school in the spring. If you are interested in joining ABC,

please see Ms. Greenwald in room 151. Meetings are held every Monday from 3:20 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Ms. Biondi’s Art Corner The Fine Arts Department of Garden City Middle School would like to announce that six

middle school students six middle school students have been selected as the winners for the Visual

Arts division of the PTA Reflections ―Diversity‖ Contest. This was a difficult decision for the PTA board of Reflec-

tions based on the thirty student entries.

The first place winner is Kiera Guarino, from Mrs. Biondi’s sixth grade art class. Kiera has also been se-

lected as the Garden City District wide winner with possibility of National placement. In second place is Jessica Pe-

done; third place, Catherine Schick; and honorable mentions: DarioHernandez-Arroyo, Joseph Ostapow, and Sara

Couture.

Congratulations to all the winners and students who submitted work for the visual arts PTA 2011 Reflec-

tions Contest! We are very proud of all the participating students artistic achievements here at Garden City Middle

School.

The Garden City Middle School Library

Recommendations by Library/Media Specialist: Mr. Daniels

The GCMS Library opens at 7:30 am

The Great Wall of Lucy Wu by Wendy Wan-Long Shang Nothing goes according to plan for sixth-grader Lucy Wu. Lucy Wu, aspiring basketball star and interior designer, is on the verge of having the best year of her life. She's ready to rule the school as a sixth grader and take over the bedroom she has always shared with her sister. In an instant, though, her plans are shattered when she finds out that Yi Po, her beloved grandmother's sis-ter, is coming to visit for several months and is staying in Lucy's room. Lucy's vi-sion of a perfect year begins to crumble, and in its place come an unwelcome roommate, foiled birthday plans, and Chinese school with the awful Talent Chang.

Warp Speed by Lisa Yee Entering seventh grade is no big deal for Marley Sandelski—same old boring classes, same old boring life. The only thing he has to look forward to is the up-coming Star Trek convention. But when he inadvertently draws the attention of Digger Ronster, the biggest bully in school, his life has officially moved from bor-ing to far too dramatic . . . from invisible to center stage.

Hero by Mike Lupica Zach Harriman knew that his dad was something of a hero, a man trusted by the president to solve international crises at a moment's notice. Suddenly people are telling him he has powers - people who know much more about his father than Zach ever did. But there are the Bads, who appear out of nowhere and attack him and his best friend. One thing is clear: Zach can do things ordinary people cannot. Like fend off grown men as though he possesses the strength of a hundred. Like sense when evil is about to strike. And evil is about to strike in a very big way. Zach Harriman is his father's son, and he, too, is a hero.