PARENT NEWSLETTER March 2012
Frank Perkins-
Principal
Ginger Davis-
Assistant Principal
Stephawn Newsom- Dean of Students/ Athletic
Coordinator
Beth Ornelas-
Grade 7 Counselor
Allison West-
Grade 8 Counselor
Inside this issue:
ISTEP+ Test Taking Tips 2
Honor Roll List 3
Director’s Corner /
APPC News
4
Counseling Corner 5
Yearbook Order Form 6
Reminders 7
Community News 8
Calendar 11
1251 N. DAN JONES RD AVON, IN 46123 PHONE: (317) 544-5500 FAX: (317) 544-5501
Principal’s Message
March 6, 7, 8
ISTEP+ Applied Skills testing
March 15
Staff Development
- one hour delay for students
March 23
Report Cards Issued
March 30 - April 6
Spring Break
- No school
Attendance Rates
We all agree that students need to attend school regularly to maximize their learning.
When a student is absent, he/she misses classroom instruction and dialogue that
can never be effectively duplicated. Additionally, schools are held directly account-
able for children’s attendance as outlined in the federal No Child Left Behind Act
and the Indiana Department of Education’s “Four Star School” guidelines. Please
help us help your child by requiring regular school attendance.
Our annual attendance goal is 97.7 %
February Attendance Rate: 95.75%
Year-to-Date Attendance Rate: 96.79%
Dear Parent or Guardian,
ISTEP+ testing is just around the corner. This important standardized test is
given to all Indiana public school students in grades 3-8. Our middle school
students will be tested in math, language arts and social studies (seventh
grade only). The test itself is divided into two different components and
given at two different times during the second semester. The first part of
the test is called the Applied Skills test and it will begin on March 6. This
test consists of essay and open-ended type questions.
In addition to covering the regular course curriculum, our students and
teachers have been working together on specific test preparation strategies.
We have developed a list of Applied Skills Test Taking Tips and included it
in this newsletter. Please encourage your child to become familiar with
these tips to reinforce good test taking habits.
Frank Perkins, Principal
Page 2 March 2012
ISTEP+ APPLIED SKILLS
TEST TAKING TIPS
Before the Test
Get a good night’s sleep, at least nine hours is recommended.
Eat breakfast before a test. Having food in your stomach will give you energy and help you focus, but avoid heavy
foods and sugar which can make you groggy.
Go to the restroom before walking into the exam room. You don't want to waste any time worrying about this
during the test.
Do not bring a cell phone into the testing area. Any use of a cell phone will cause your test to become invalid.
During the Test
When you first receive your test, do a quick survey of that test so that you know how to efficiently budget your
time. Don't rush but pace yourself.
Don’t spend too much time on any one problem, especially if you have trouble understanding the question. If you
decide to skip a question make sure that you write down the number of that question so that you won’t forget
to come back to answer it.
Always read the entire question carefully, looking for key words. Don't make assumptions about what the ques-
tion might be. Some short answer questions have multiple parts.
Think through your answer before you start writing. You may be given a pre-writing space to get your thoughts
organized. Using a Thinking Map or outline can be helpful.
Write legibly. If the grader can't read what you wrote, they'll most likely mark it wrong. Neatness counts.
Restate the question and provide the answer in the first sentence of your essay. Let the reader know exactly
where your essay is going.
Support each topic with a specific example.
Write a concluding sentence. This is often just a restatement of your opening sentence.
Do not leave an answer blank. Show your work and write down your thoughts. Even if you don't get the exact
answer, partial credit is usually awarded.
Don't worry if others finish before you. Focus on the test in front of you.
When you are finished, re-read all of your answers. Make sure that you have answered all the questions. Only
change an answer if you misread or misinterpreted the question. Look for spelling, grammar and content errors.
Remember, neatness is important.
Keep a positive attitude throughout the test and try to stay relaxed. Have faith in yourself. We are all behind you.
Page 3 March 2012
AVON MIDDLE SCHOOL NORTH - SECOND QUARTER HONOR ROLL STUDENTS
8th Grade - High Honor Roll
(Students that earned an A – or above in all subjects)
Amanda Alcorn, Mallory Alcorn, Ethan Ames, Andrew Brown, Michael Campbell, Jessica Devine, Katelyn Dowers, Alex-
andra Edgecomb, Camille Goodwyn, Kaitlyn Hauber, Paige Hawk, Noah Keener, Kaylee Kerr, Mykaela King, Nicole
Mahlmann, Vishaal Mali, Cameron Michael, Chelsea Morgan, Justin Randall, Keidre Reed, Andrea Richardson, Liza Rus-
sell, Caitlin Sever, Kaylin Venezia, Brady Zeller
8th Grade - Honor Roll
(Students that earned a B – or above in all subjects)
Dania Albin, Logan Alford, Andrea Aurelio, Raenah Bailey, Dallas Baker, Elizabeth Bart, Paulina Beleckaite, Rebecca
Bence, Gunnar Bentrud, Andrew Buetow, Evan Christensen, Brooke Christian, Mikayla Curry, Donshelle Daniels, Mya
Davies, Jennifer Davis, Anthony DeMyers, Michaela Dornfeld, Kaitlynn Drake, Taiya Edwards, Lauren Elliott, Riley Eng-
land, Lauren Euler, Jessica Fassnacht, Colleen Fay, Kyndal Feight, Madison Fillip, Ellen Forster, Taylor Fruits, Alejandra
Garcia, Bryce Gregory, Ariel Hagen, Brookelyn Hampton, Benjamin Harmon, Haley Haston, Jacob Hendershot, Aja
Hutchek, Marissa Johnson, Sarah Kendall, Michael Kettering, Spencer King, Brian Kipkulei, Jody Kramer, Michael Kuzma,
Spencer Lampton, Connor Langguth, Whitney Larson, Natalie Lazo, Tommy Lin, Ryan Lingle, Aubrey McClain, Adrian
Mulenga, Solveig Naumann, Sarah Owens, Kaytlin Purcell, Nicholas Rice, Emily Riley, Aaron Roever, Madison Rudolph,
Alexandria Samons, Paul Sanders, Daniela Santana, Nathan Schaecher, Kyleigh Schulz, Lavonne Sieling, Brooke Smiley,
Arianna Smith, Hailee Smith, Ryan Spear, Patrick Spencer, Hayden Stockman, Sydney Stoops, Noah Strahm, Leah
Thompson, Nikola Vekic, Michael Vu, Lauryn Watson, Brittany Whiteside, Benjamin Wilson
7th Grade - High Honor Roll
(Students that earned an A – or above in all subjects)
Cole Bartek, Leah Bode, Jacob Boyd, Samantha Branham, Rebecca Brown, Robert Buetow, Cale Camacho, Evan Cobb,
Jeremy Costelle, Lauren Davis, Mitchell Demerly, Kaleigh Dennison, Kiley Dowers, Nicole Dwenger, Paige Eichelberger,
Carl Erbowor-Becksen, Lauren Francis, Zachary Funkhouser, Elijah Goddard, Abigail Gulley, Nathan Heim, Jessica Hess,
Conner Hutchings, Colette Jackson, Elze Kaupaite, Rachel Kettering, Sarah Kettering, Justin Kopp, Olivia Lazaro, Jas-
mine Le, Ryan Maddox, Jacob McCalment, Nina McGrew, Austin Mock, Zachary Mullen, Christian Myers, Taylor Nichol-
son, Carson Nihiser, Emily Parsons, Rushi Patel, Kenneth Patterson, Kelly Roy, Jay Sangani, Katy Smith, Logan Smith,
Cassandra Stall, Rebecca Stein, Morgan Terrell, Alyssia Weber, Ethan Willey
7th Grade - Honor Roll
(Students that earned a B – or above in all subjects)
Austin Alarie, Jasmine Alberts, Jacob America, Jennifer Bair, Jonathan Ball, Riley Banks, Reve Beckler, Georgia Bentrud,
Crystal Blazek, Frank Bogan, Nicholas Boodt, Carson Botner, Tristan Brewer, Emily Bridegroom, Christopher Brodasky,
Savannah Brown, Mallory Bruce, Andrew Buis, Alec Burcham, Riley Burton, Brayton Cagle, Annalee Camacho, Tabbitha
Clinton, Michael Coley, Bafee Colnoe, Zane Conner, Brady Dean, Erika Deming, Mika Deming, Hurshdeep Dhami, An-
thony DiMatteo, Katelyn Jean Dixon, Megan Dodson, Jason Donner, Perry Drum, Emily Edlund, Duncan Emsweller, Gil-
bert Escobedo, Maria Flores, Jordan Foster, Matthew Gaby, Elizabeth Garcia, Destiny Glover, Jasmine Graves, Rhys
Grealish, Abigail Handlon, Emily Hannefey, Stephan Hardy, Brandon Hatfield, Audrey Hay, Michaela Hess, Hannah Hilt,
Madison Howell, Rachel Hubbard, Haley Hurtman, Austin Johnson, Claire Johnson, Hunter Johnson, Cambria Kamm,
Ikbir Kaur-Bassi, Sydney Kerr, Crystal Ketelhut, Kennedy Kidd, Luke Kimery, Noah Klein, Maurice Lacy, Gunnar Larson,
Zackary Leech, Lauren Lekse, Bryce Lenz, Avery Lyon, Brea Malone, Kaili Marriner, Hallie Martin, Ian McCreary, Kayleigh
McIntyre, Griffin McPhail, Carlos Mendez, Ryan Michael, Taylor Mock, James Moeller, Shirlyn Mthethwa, Noah Navarro,
Athena Neace, Tylor Norman, Chelsea Owens, Logan Para, Nandini Patel, Dylan Patterson, Kaelin Porter, Katelyn Qualls,
Emily Rasmussen, Katherine Riley, Ariahna Rodgers, Sydney Rosene, Evan Schafer, Dorien Scheets, Rishi Shukla, Mal-
lory Smith, Logan Springer, Autumn Starner, Stephanie Stegemann, Amanda Thompson, Ethan Thomson, Nathan Valdez,
Camille Vann, Robert Ward, Jace Wharton, Nicholas Whitlow, Alex Wilhoite, Kayla Wingler, Jacob Woodrow, Zachary
Zeis, Amanda Zoiss
Page 4 March 2012
The seventh grade choir students will participate in a Festival Day on
Wednesday, March 14. During the school day, judges will be here to listen
to the students sing their concert music and work with them during their
choir classes. Each choir student will be required to wear their complete choir uniform to school
that day: black, short-sleeved polo, khaki pants, and dark-colored dress shoes. Parents will not
attend these in-class performances.
The eighth grade choir students will be competing in the ISSMA Organizational Contest to be held
here at Avon Middle School North on Saturday, March 17. They, also, will be responsible for at-
tending that performance and wearing their complete choir uniform. Specific times will be sent
home as soon as they are sent to us from the state.
The show choir students will also compete at the ISSMA Organizational Contest on Saturday,
March 17. The students will wear their show choir costumes and change to accommodate the
eighth grade choir performance. If the times are close together, they will leave their show choir
costumes on for our eighth grade choir performance. More information will be sent home as
soon as it is received.
By: Mrs. Gregory
The Avon Parent Partnership Committee (APPC) is comprised of
two parent representatives from each building. The purpose of the
APPC is to facilitate communication between parents and adminis-
trators on academic issues in the Avon Community School Corpo-
ration. At the February 6th meeting the group was eager to discuss the pending Superintendent
transition in light of Dr. Ogle’s recent retirement. It was expressed that although we are certainly
sad to see him go, we are happy for Dr. Ogle and his family to have the opportunity to serve in
Arizona. In the meantime, we are confident that we are in good hands and look forward to hear-
ing his successor possibly named as early as March. Procedure and timing for High Ability
placement was also discussed, including the various assessments utilized. The group was also
very pleased to hear that Avon High School was among only 124 high schools in the state to re-
ceive the IHSAA Sportsmanship Award. To be eligible for this award, students and coaches had
to follow stringent rules, demonstrate consistently good sportsmanship (no player or coach
ejected from any game) and the school had to have an active sportsmanship program. Way to
go Avon High School! Additionally, information about preschool programs and students’ readi-
ness for kindergarten was shared. For more details about any of the above items, please see full
APPC minutes posted on the website.
Page 5 March 2012
Beth Ornelas
Seventh Grade Counselor
Avon Middle School North
1251 N. Dan Jones Road
Avon, IN 46123
(317) 544-5500 ext. 5517
Fax: (317) 544-5502
Carry out a random act of kindness, with no expectation of reward, safe in the knowledge that one day someone might
do the same for you. -Princess Diana
A laugh, to be joyous, must flow from a joyous heart, for without kindness, there can be no true joy. - Thomas Carlyle
UPDATED GUIDANCE WEBPAGE
Check out the updated Guidance web-
page! Both students and parents will find
helpful information on such topics as im-
proving study skills, note-taking, and re-
ducing test taking anxiety. Parents will
also find helpful internet resources they
can access. The website is updated of-
ten. Please ask to join the grade specific
page to get even more information for
your child. Be sure to check back fre-
quently for new information.
ISTEP+ Applied Skills Test Dates -
March 6, 7, 8
The Indiana Statewide Testing for Educa-
tional Progress-Plus (ISTEP+) is used to
show student achievement while providing
educators with the opportunity to see how
well Indiana students are measuring up to
our state's academic standards. Students
will take the ISTEP+ test during the months
of March (part 1) and April (Part 2). To
read more about the specifics of ISTEP,
what is on the test at each grade level,
when the testing windows are, etc. click
on the link below:
http://www.doe.in.gov/achievement/
assessment/istep-grades-3-8
Important Dates:
March 6, 7, 8-ISTEP Applied Skills Test Dates
March 11-Daylight Saving Time begins
March 23-Report Cards issued. Please ask
your child to see his/her report card. The
report card will be sent home with your child,
not mailed.
March 30-April 1-Spring Break!
Page 6 March 2012
Don’t Miss Out On
MIDDLE SCHOOL
MEMORIES
Order Your Yearbook SOON!
Final Collection Date: March 29, 2012
----------------------------------- AVON MIDDLE SCHOOL NORTH
YEARBOOK $20.00
Student’s Name: Grade:
Team: Flex Teacher:
Payment (circle): CASH CHECK
*NOTE: Please make checks payable to Avon Middle School North
Page 7 March 2012
NOTICE TO STUDENTS AND PARENTS
AVON COMMUNITY SCHOOL CORPORATION 2011-12
SCHOOL CALL-OFF, EARLY DISMISSAL AND DELAYED OPENING PROCEDURES
At times it is possible that school may be called off, dismissed early or delayed in opening because of weather and road condi-tions or failures of heat, water, etc. in school buildings. If this occurs, school officials will notify TV and radio stations that have offered to make “NO SCHOOL” announcements. These stations have offered to make our announcements:
Every effort will be made to arrive at a decision and notify the radio stations by 6:00 AM if school is to be called off or delayed
by an hour or two. Announcements will be made EACH DAY there will be no school.
✮Students and parents are requested to not call school officials on mornings when weather conditions are
questionable. It is important that telephone lines be free to gather information and communicate with TV
and radio stations.✮
On school days when weather conditions worsen during the day, it is possible that school officials may determine that it is nec-essary to dismiss school early. Parents are urged to keep tuned to our cooperating TV and radio stations on such days so that they may be made aware if schools are going to be dismissed early. SPECIAL CARE AND ARRANGEMENTS SHOULD BE MADE IN ADVANCE FOR THE POSSIBILITY OF EARLY SCHOOL DISMISSALS IN CASES WHERE BOTH PARENTS
WORK AND NO ONE IS AT HOME DURING THE SCHOOL DAY TO CARE FOR CHILDREN.
WRTV TV – 6
WCBK – FM 102.3 Martinsville
WISH TV – 8 WEDJ – FM 107.1 Indianapolis
WTHR TV – 13
WXIN TV – 59
Athletic schedules and
forms can be found on our
web-site
(http:avon.msn.schoolfusion
.us/)
Please check the schedule
on a regular basis as our
athletic calendar will un-
dergo changes throughout
the year.
If you have changed your telephone
number or e-mail address recently,
please contact our guidance office with
your updated information.
Page 8 March 2012
Check out the
tab marked
“Flyers” at the
top of the
ACSC webpage
(www.avon-
schools.org)
where flyers will
be posted. The
tab is next to
the Staff tab in
the upper left
corner of the
schools’ and dis-
trict’s home
pages. Please visit the
website for fly-
ers and more!!
Quality of Life Survey
As you may have heard, Hendricks County In Focus is a joint effort to help local resi-
dents identify the factors behind Hendricks County’s quality of life, and then develop
ways to measure and monitor those factors in the coming years. While nearly everyone
agrees that Hendricks County is a great place to live and work, it can be difficult to
pinpoint exactly the factors that create that environment. It is for that reason, we are
reaching out to you and requesting your participation in identifying the factors you be-
lieve are important to our quality of life in Hendricks County. By keeping focused on
what’s most important, and knowing how Hendricks County measures up, we’ll all be
able to ensure that it remains a great place to live today, tomorrow, and for future gen-
erations. And the better that local leaders understand the factors that contribute to
making this such a great place to live and work, the better they’ll be able to make the
right decisions to keep it that way.
You are encouraged to complete the online survey www.hendrickscountyinfocus.com,
or to pick up a paper copy at any of the county’s libraries, town chambers, or at the
Hendricks County Economic Development Partnership’s office at 5250 E. US Highway
36, Suite 1000-5 in Avon (Prestwick area). The survey takes approximately five minutes
to complete.
In Honor of the Super Bowl, be a
S u p e r S t u d e n t S u p p o r t e r
Here’s how:
Make a tax-deductible donation to the Avon Education Foundation (AEF)
equal to your favorite Super Bowl team’s final score
Goal = Enhancing creativity, innovation, and excellence in
education for Avon’s students!
No matter the game’s outcome, you are a “winner” by helping our team reach the goal line.
YES! Draft me to join the winning team of Super Student Supporters.
I am sending my “super donation” to AEF at 7203 E. US Hwy 36, Avon IN, 46123
T O U C H D O W N – A v o n !
AEF is a 501(c)3 charitable organization
www.avoneducationfoundation.org
Page 9 March 2012
Page 10 March 2012
AVON MIDDLE SCHOOL – NORTH
Important Dates
2011-2012
March 5 - 14 ISTEP + Applied Skills
March 15 (Thursday) Staff Development (K –12 on one-hour delay)
March 16 (Friday) End of 3rd Grading Period
March 23 (Friday) Report Cards Issued
March 24 (Saturday) ISSMA Organizational Contest
March 29 (Thursday) Parent Newsletter Posted
March 30 - April 6 SPRING BREAK No School
April 9 (Monday) Return to School
April 13 (Wednesday) Spring Pictures
April 19 (Thursday) Staff Development (K-12 on one-hour delay)
April 20 (Friday) Progress Reports Issued
April 26 (Thursday) Parent Newsletter Posted
April 27 (Friday) Snow Make-up Day No School
April 30 (Monday) ISTEP+ Multiple Choice Test Begins
May 8 – 18 (Tuesday) NWEA Testing Window Begins
May 7 (Monday) 7th & 8th Grade Band Concert 6:30 pm
May 10 (Thursday) 7th & 8th Grade Choir Concert 6:30 pm
May 14 (Monday) 6th Grade Parent Information Meeting 6:30 pm
May 17 (Thursday) Orchestra, Jazz Band, Show Choir 6:30 pm
May 25 (Friday) Parent Newsletter Posted
May 28 (Monday) MEMORIAL DAY No School
May 29, 30, 31 Final Exams
May 31 (Thursday) Students Last Day of School Full Day
June 1 (Friday) Teacher Record Day No School
June 4, 5 & 6 Make-up Days If Needed
June 6 (Wednesday) Report Card Mailed Home
* Dates and times are subject to change.