Viper News March 2013

The Counselors’ Office

Common Core Support for Parents

Important Dates

3/12 VCMS Showcase for Rising 6

th

Graders 7 pm 3/14 VCMS Dance 4:30-6 pm Ticket $5 3/15 Early Release 1:30 pm Parent Conferences 3/20 Progress Reports 4/1 – 4/5 NO SCHOOL Spring Break 4/10-4/19 CRCT Testing 4/22 Progress Reports 4/26 NO SCHOOL Inclement Weather Day 5/6-5/10 Teacher Appreciation Week 5/11 8

th Grade Dance

5/15-5/17 8

th Grade Savannah

Trip 5/24 Last Day of School

A Note from the Principal

The Common Core is just more of the same……Or is it?

As a middle school principal of the Forsyth County School System, I would emphatically say, “No!!” Although we have all seen changes in educational practice, one thing is clear; the Common Core is a huge shift and definitely increases the expectations well beyond what our students have experienced up to this point. The Common Core is bringing a whole new and very exciting challenge to our students and our schools. With the adoption of the Common Core, the expectation to prepare our children to be ready for post-secondary education and career opportunities has been set. By knowing that final goal, we can now design and implement the best plan so our students are able to meet this goal. Part of that plan has to include understanding how classroom instruction is shifting. Hopefully, you and your children have had conversations about how instruction is changing from rote memorization to analytical thinking and how student writing now permeates every subject at school. If you haven’t already, ask your child when they last had to write in math or science class or when they had to read “paired texts” and then write a response. What we expect you’ll hear is that these practices are now wide-spread throughout all the subjects at school. Instead of simply being able to memorize and recall facts, the emphasis for the Common Core – Georgia Performance Standards (CC-GPS) is on application and analysis of the concepts learned. Students will be reading more informational text as well as responding in writing in order to evaluate or analyze what they have read. Students will have to defend their answers by citing specific details from the texts that they have read. In addition, students will have to read multiple sources of information, from literature as well as non-fiction texts, in order to glean information or analyze how the selections support or refute each other. Of course, with changes in instruction and learning expectations, there will also be changes to how students are assessed. Although this year and next, we will continue to assess students using the CRCT, even this assessment will change in the areas of Reading, Language Arts and Math. As we prepare to transition to the national PARCC assessment in the spring of 2014-15, the 2013 CRCT for the three subjects above will include longer reading passages along with Of course, with changes in instruction and learning expectations, there will also be changes to how students are assessed. Although this year and next, we will continue to assess students using the CRCT, even this assessment will change in the areas of Reading, Language Arts and Math.

Viper News March 2013

A Note from the Principal (continued)

As we prepare to transition to the national PARCC assessment in the spring of 2014-15, the 2013 CRCT for the three subjects above will include longer reading passages along with PARCC model content frameworks for ELA and Math. http://www.parcconline.org/parcc-model-content-frameworks

Sample Questions- Question Tool- NAEP (National Assessment of Educational Progress) http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/itmrlsx/default.aspx

Since 2007, your child has received a Lexile score along with their CRCT scores. This Lexile measure gives you, your child and his or her teacher a clearer understanding of their reading comprehension. It can also be used to select books that stretch a child without frustrating him or her. As we increase the rigor of instruction, so too will the expectation for reading comprehension increase. According to information from the Lexile website, in order for students to be successful, their Lexile band will need to increase from the current expectations to a new “Stretch” goal as shown in Chart A. Chart A:

Grade Band Current

Lexile Band

“Stretch”

Lexile Band

K – 1 N/A N/A

2 – 3 450L – 725L 420L – 820L

4 – 5 645L – 845L 740L – 1010L

6 – 8 860L – 1010L 925L – 1185L

9 – 10 960L – 1115L 1050L – 1335L

11 – CCR 1070L – 1220L 1185L – 1385L

*COMMON CORE STATE STANDARDS FOR ENGLISH, LANGUAGE ARTS, APPENDIX A (ADDITIONAL INFORMATION), NGA AND CCSSO, 2012 For a more in-depth explanation of Lexile measures, please use these links. http://www.lexile.com/about-lexile/lexile-overview/ http://www.lexile.com/using-lexile/lexile-measures-and-the-ccssi/text-complexity-grade-bands-and-lexile-ranges/ As you can see from this higher bar for reading comprehension, it is more important than ever for our students to step away from the television, the gaming device and social media in order to spend more time reading for pleasure and for information. Only through practice can students strengthen their ability to read fluently and comprehend deeply.

Viper News March 2013

A Note from the Principal (continued)

The Common Core and its associated assessments may be a challenging adjustment for students. We are now asking them to compare and contrast, evaluate literature and text, defend their answers, and find new ways to apply what they have learned. Of course, very few of us have to simply memorize and recall facts in our daily jobs. Problem-solving, analysis, planning and collaboration are the skills that are more highly prized and useful in college and careers. Although the new standards and corresponding assessments are challenging, both are necessary. Through these new standards, more rigorous instruction and assessment, we have begun shaping students who will be better prepared to take on the rigor and expectations of college or career after graduation. As educators, we understand how important it is for parents to understand these new expectations and to help their children with this change. How can you help your child as we fully transition to the new standards? First, if you haven’t already, I would encourage you to read the article, Common Core Curriculum: Classroom Implications for 2014. This article, written by Willard Daggett, EdD and Susan Gendron, will explain the rationale for the Common Core as well as how instruction and assessment will change. In addition to reading this article, we encourage you to continue helping your child persist through challenging assignments and higher teacher expectations. This may mean re-reading instructions or content material to fully understand a topic and what is expected in an assignment. Whether your child plans to go to a technical or four-year college, into the military or directly into a career, the work they do and the habits they develop at each step of middle school and high school will determine their level of preparation and success. We all want our children to have the best preparation for future education and careers. Together, as educators and parents, we can achieve that for our students. Each of us at VCMS is here to partner with you on this journey toward an even better education for our children. Teachers appreciate and need your support at home as they prepare appropriate instruction for the new level of rigor required by the Common Core standards and prepare for the redesigned CRCT assessments in Reading, Language Arts and Math. As the VCMS administration, we will continue to focus each day on helping our teachers and staff provide students with the right balance between challenge and support. Please contact us if you have questions about the Common Core Georgia Performance Standards or the 2013 CRCT. We are here to help.

Kathy Rohacek – Principal Karen Ogline – Assistant Principal

Van Lewsader – Assistant Principal

Viper News March 2013

The Counselor’s Office

Attention: Volunteers Needed

PALS is our Peers as Leaders program.

Volunteers are needed to help supervise small peer tutoring groups. Various days and times are

available for you to volunteer. Please contact Amy Ingram at aingram@forsyth.k12.ga.us to find out

more information. We would love to have you volunteer here at VCMS!

8th Grade News

Our 8th graders in all classes are preparing for the upcoming CRCT’s. In addition, science classes are

continuing preparations for the EOCT. To further assist students with math and ELA help our math and

ELA teachers have been making great strides with the instructional extensions before and after school.

Viper News March 2013

VCMS Science Fair Winners

Congratulations to the following student scientists/researchers for placing as ‘Top Ten’ winners in the VCMS Science Fair. These students (with their top 10 projects) qualified to compete at the Northwest Georgia Regional Science Fair competition, held on February 9th.

Team project - Brady Baskette, Grayson Chase, Jackson Hester

Team project - Isabel Herrick, Nikki Dotson, Emma Boudreaux

Individual project - Conner McMillan

Team project - Zach Fredrick, Manas Chakka, Manish Varaganti

Team project - Courtney Butler, Madeline Cheshire, Colin Mulhurn

Individual project - Abby Kennedy

Team project - Abby Poe, Kyla Jones

Individual project - Terry Phang

Team project - Lexie Herbert, Kayla Pearson, Christine Yang

Team project - Adrianne Crawford, Lindsay Bellerose, Chloe Sparwath – 1st place in Regional Science Fair – will compete at the state level!

Special congratulations to Adrianne Crawford, Lindsay Bellerose, and Chloe Sparwath whose team project, Insulation Effectiveness, won 1st place at the Northwest Georgia Regional Science Fair. Adrianne, Lindsay, and Chloe will now compete at the state level in the Georgia Science and Engineering Fair, to be held March 21-23, 2013, in Athens, Georgia. Best wishes for continued success to these young women as they represent VCMS at the state level!

Viper News March 2013

Cumming Library

Internet Safety for Teens

Learn to be safe with your technology. Presented by the Forsyth County Sheriff’s office.

Sunday, March 17

2:30 p.m. No registration required

Hampton Park Library

Learn how to create awesome book trailers using Windows Media Player and other video editing

software programs! Use our laptops or BYOT!

Tuesday, March 12

6:00 p.m.Registration required

Sharon Forks Library

Geek Out @ Your Library

Play, create, and Geek Out with cool technologies. Experiment with different apps, Pinterest, meme

generators, research tools, and more. Enter to win an eReader!

Saturday, March 16 2:00-4:00 p.m

No registration required

During March, the Forsyth County

Public Library is hosting a series

of tech programs to celebrate

Teen Tech Week. We encourage

all interested students to attend.

Viper News March 2013

Young Georgia Authors Competition

Congratulations to this year’s winners of the VCMS Young Georgia Authors Competition!

The eighth grade winners are as follows:

First place Sydney Waters for her short story titled “Don’t Think You Can Escape,” Second place Hannah Duncan for her short story titled “The Coldest Winter: First Frost,” Third place Meekail Zain for his short story “Life: Blessing or Curse.”

Next, the seventh grade winners are as follows:

First place Carly Snidow for her short story titled “News worthy,” Second place Jafnun Kaderin for her short story titled “The Great Zambini,” Third place Ryan Li for his short story “A Dairy on a Bench in Central Park.”

Finally, the sixth grade winners are as follows:

First place Alyssa Jane for her short story titled “The Adventure of a Lifetime,” Second place Lauren Hale for her short story titled “I Lost My Tooth on Christmas Eve,” Third place Ayonica Bhattacharya for her poem “A Funniest Nonsense of 2012.” The halls of VCMS are filled with gifted writers. Hannah Duncan has written numerous short stories and

is currently working on a novel; Carly Snidow has won first place at VCMS for the Young Georgia Authors

competition in both her sixth and seventh grade years; and Alyssa Jane has a passion for writing. Who

knows…we may have the next Suzanne Collins, James Patterson, Nikki Giovanni, and Arthur Miller

walking through the hallowed halls of VCMS!

Viper News March 2013

Getting to Know You

In this section of the Viper News we profile the staff and faculty members of VCMS. This edition

highlights the Connections faculty.

Melissa Grizzle – has been teaching Chorus at VCMS since 2008. She holds a Bachelor of Music Therapy degree

as well as a Master of Arts in Teaching. As she encourages students to reach their potential she enjoys watching

them grow in confidence and ability. Interestingly, she prefers talk radio to music stations.

Connie Waters- teaches 8th grade Health and also 7th grade science. She was a nurse for 6 years and has been

teaching for the past 22 years. In addition to enjoying time with her family, she loves eating, working in the yard,

reading, swimming, boating and playing tennis.

Mark Taylor– teaches PE/Health to 6th, 7th and 8th graders. He has been at VCMS for 9 years and also enjoys

coaching Viper football.

Debbie Pollack- is the Art teacher for 6,7,8th grade is currently enjoying her 14th year at VCMS. She taught

in Hoover, Al for 2 years in elementary & alternative high school and was also a youth director in

Birmingham, Al and Houston, TX. When she first moved to Atlanta 23 years ago she worked for an

advertising agency in their art department. She loves to travel and enjoys photography and cooking in

her spare time.

Kiril Slavov- is the Drama teacher for VCMS. He holds a Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees in Fine Arts

from the Academy of Film and Theater – Sofia, Bulgaria and the University of Paris 8, France. He has

worked as a theater and film actor in Bulgaria. Before joining VCMS in 2007, he was a Theater Instructor

at Georgia Perimeter College for four years. He likes spending time and traveling with family. He also

enjoys working with the Drama Club or watching good movies and NBA games.

Kellie Racine- teaches Computer Literacy 6-8, Yearbook – 8 and Connect time – 7th grade. She has over

10 years of teaching experience in Forsyth County at the elementary and middle school level. She has a

teaching degree in Special Education PreK through 12, and a Master’s Degree in Science with an

emphasis on Integrating Technology in the classroom 3-12. In her free time she enjoys spending time on

the lake with family and friend and watching her daughter grow up and become an amazing young

adult!

Karen Yaryan- has run the Media Center here at VCMS for 15 years and spent 12 years at a private

school and 9 years at a bank in Ft. Worth, TX. She loves to go on trips with family, especially the beach.

She loves cooking, gardening, concerts and loves to swim.

Viper News March 2013

VCMS Sports

Track Schedule

Date Location Teams Time

March 20 FCHS OMS (PGMS & LSMS) 5:00

March 27 NFHS RMS (LSMS & LMS) 5:00

April 10 NFHS LSMS (NFMS & RMS) 5:00

April 15 WFHS SFMS (LMMS & LSMS) 5:00

April 24 SFHS Make-up Date 5:00

May 1 FCHS County Championship 5:00

May 2 FCHS County Championship 5:00

*Home meets are in bold.

*Spring Physicals are on April 23rd after school.

Golf Schedule

3/19 Forsyth Invitational @ Olde Atlanta

3/26 SFMS and RMS @ Olde Atlanta

4/9 RMS @ Polo 4:45

4/16 PGMS @ Polo 4:45

4/25 County Championship @ Country Land 12:00

4/30 LMMS @ Polo 4:45