Welcome Back Falcon Families! 2018 – 2019 School Year

What a great start to the 2018-2019 School Year! We

appreciate all of the help and support with our Falcons in

the start of a new school year.

We will again this year utilize our Principal’s Corner and

News from the Nest. The Principal’s Corner and News

from the Nest is a monthly Newsletter where you can find

out all of the exciting information about what is going on

here at ETMS. In the newsletter you will find a message

from myself, upcoming events at ETMS, and news from your child’s teachers. The Principal’s Corner and

News from the Nest will be emailed to all families and posted on our website under the Site Shortcut:

Principal’s Corner. Please check the website frequently for the newsletter and all other important

announcements from ETMS.

As we enter our second year of digital report cards and progress reports, I encourage all families to

register on the Parent Portal. All progress reports and report cards will be posted on the Parent Portal.

We no longer print and mail any of these student reports. If for any reason you would like a printed copy,

please contact us at your convenience. Once registered, please ensure all parent/guardian information and

email information is up to date in the Parent Portal.

Just a reminder that our Open House is on October 4, 2018 from 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm.

I am looking forward to seeing all the parents and families at our Open House.

– Mr. Jordan Schmidt, Principal

Upcoming Events

October 1 thru 19 – HSA Spirit Wear Sale

October 2 thru 4 - Book Fair

October 4 – Open House 6 – 7:30pm

October 5 – Progress Reports Close

October 8 – Indigenous Peoples’ Day

October 23 – NetSmartz Presentation 6pm

October 25 – HSA Parent Meeting 6pm

October 26 – Halloween Dance 6-8pm

Principal’s Corner Edward Town Middle School 10/3/2018 Edition 1

Announcement Food/Drinks

Please refrain from your child bringing in:

Hot/Cold coffee drinks

Any food into homeroom

Please encourage your child to finish all food and drinks before entering our building.

Any student bringing these items in the morning will be asked to finish the food/drink in

the cafeteria or dispose of it before entering homeroom or class.

News from the Nest

October News from the Nest: Ms. Hammond-Axberg

Welcome back to the 2018-19 School Year at ETMS! We are off to a very busy and exciting start to the

year. A warm welcome is extended to all of our incoming 6th graders and our next students.

We will be adding to our Falcon Wing program this year with an exciting new School Store! Students will be

able to purchase things with their earned wings from our School Store, including school supplies, trinkets,

Nest Passes, Lunch Passes to eat with some of their favorite staff members, free Dance Passes and even

Spirit Wear! Students can earn Falcon Wings for exhibiting our Falcon Fundamentals. Our Falcon

Fundamentals are “Be Respectful, Be Responsible, and Be Safe.” I would like to thank our dedicated

staff for their help in making this program possible. Also, a special thank you to our entire HSA for

supporting this initiative. It is truly appreciated!

We were able to reward the first 3 homerooms for returning 100% of their Parent Acknowledgement Letters

regarding the Parent/Student Handbook. Congratulations to Mrs. J. Miller’s Sixth Grade class, Mr. Myers’

Seventh Grade class, and Mrs. Marotta’s Eighth Grade class. We hope you enjoyed the breakfast party!

I do have a few important reminders regarding our expectations at ETMS.

BE RESPONSIBLE …. BE ON TIME. This includes being on time to every class, & lunch.

BE RESPECTFUL This includes showing RESPECT to ALL adults.

BE SAFE! This includes many behaviors – such as keeping your hands and feet to yourself, maintaining a safe speed while moving through the building, following directions of adults (especially during Emergency Drills), and making safe choices!

Finally, we are enforcing a 0 Tolerance policy with cell phone usage this year. Students should be turning

their devices off when they enter the building and the device should be kept in the locker for the duration of

the school day.

As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please contact me.

Ms. Hammond-Axberg

Team 6-2 Mrs. Budzich, Mrs. Gramza, Mrs. J. Miller

The Falcon on Team 6-2 are already soaring into a fantastic school year! The opening weeks were busy learning to open lockers, navigate the hallways at ETMS, and becoming familiar with classroom expectations and procedures. In ELA, students have walked through the writing process to craft and publish personal narratives, and we are diving right into our first fiction unit. We will begin our unit with a couple of short stories and a play before reading the novel Freak the Mighty. In Social Studies, we recently completed a unit on geography and are now exploring prehistory. We have been examining artifacts and making inferences about the earliest humans. We viewed cave paintings, created cartoons about “Neolithic Nick,” and are looking forward to our marketplace day, where we will simulate how people traded back then. Next up….Mesopotamia! Math is off to a great start. We started the year working with decimals. We looked at adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing decimals. Students worked hard to remember the steps and rules for each operation. Weekly reviews have started and our morning help sessions on Thursday have begun. Our next topic of study will be working with ratios and problem solving.

Team 6-1 Mrs. Acklin, Mrs. DiFilippo, Mrs. Gotowko, Mrs. Sabo

Team 6-1 started the year with a team building activity. In small groups, the students had to create the longest paper chain using two sheets of construction paper, scissors, and tape. Not only did the students have to work efficiently and quickly, they had to apply what they previously learned about positive character attributes and how they impact group work. Earlier, they attempted a task while they were assigned roles that were detrimental to achievement. Over the last few weeks, the students have been applying what they learned from these exercises in their math, ELA and social studies classes. We are looking forward to continued growth and cooperation this school year.

News from the Nest

Team 6-3 Miss Bauer, Mrs. Ponivas, Mrs. Qualiana, Mrs. Rider

It is hard to believe that September is already over! The students on Team 6-3 have had a successful transition to middle school! They have been hard at work reviewing and learning important concepts.

In ELA, we have been reviewing reading strategies using the books, A Spoon for Every Bite and Tiger. We have also been studying the parts of plot with a variety of stories. Each student has begun the independent reading challenge, Strive for 25. Hopefully all parents have seen our weekly reading charts and maybe even a book completion sheet or two. Our first writing project gave us all a chance to get to know each other. The students created “selfies” and sets of “texts” that express just who they are. These projects are proudly displayed on our back bulletin board. Weekly vocabulary and grammar units are also being implemented, and all of the students are doing very well. As the weeks pass, it is easy to see the students become more and more comfortable with middle school and all of its new demands. Congratulations to everyone on our team for making it successfully through September!

In Math, we started the year with a unit on decimals. This included adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing decimal numbers. Decimal operations is an important skill that the students will use continually in their lives. We are now working on another essential unit, ratios, which will last almost four weeks. In class we use a journal, glossary, and book daily. The glossary is extremely helpful to the students because it contains notes about all the topics we learn in class. The students also have a Weekly Review, which is given on a Friday and due the next Wednesday. It helps to review the skills we have been doing in class, so the students will become proficient in them. Imagine Math is done on the computer to also enhance the learning of material. We will be setting goals for the year soon.

Students did a fantastic job on their “History of Me” collages and paragraphs in Social Studies! Historians would be able to infer a great deal of information from these projects. We have been learning about geography skills and prehistoric times. We’ve discussed the roles of archaeologists and how they use artifacts to learn about people of the past. Students even had a chance to act as archaeologists by examining the “trash” left behind by Mrs. Rider and her family. They came up with some great inferences! Next, we’ll be moving on to our Mesopotamia unit as we weave our way through history.

There are several things that can help you keep up with the middle school transition. Our homework is updated daily on our team calendar found on the school’s website. The Parent Portal will provide grades of assignments as well as progress reports and report cards. Your child’s agenda should have his or her nightly homework listed and a homework folder should come home nightly with any papers or work that needs to be completed. We know that sometimes the transition can be daunting, but the kids are doing a great job! With your cooperation, we are looking forward to an amazing year!

News from the Nest

Team 6-4 (Part 1) Mrs. Braham, Mrs. K. Miller

Math classes are off to a great start with our review of decimal operations. Students have set up

accounts with “Imagine Math” on the school website. Ten lessons should be completed per marking

period. They are allowed to work from home if internet access is available.

Science classes have been learning about skills that scientists use. Hurricane Florence tied in

with our classification of the ten costliest hurricanes in the US history. Students created a graphical

representation using an x – y axis system to plot the data. We ended our lesson with a fun team

competition to see who could build the tallest structure to withstand the highest “wind” speed on our

classroom fan.

Austin and Ella scored the highest with 4,239 points.

These structures scored the highest points based upon height, time under the wind conditions, and

the level of the wind.

Team 6-4 is off and running in ELA class. Our focus for the month of September has been on how to write the perfect paragraph and reviewing the parts of a story's plot. Students have been writing about some interesting topics like why we should all have a camel as a pet and about foods of the future. The students are making great progress with their writing. In Social Studies, we have been learning all about prehistoric people and about why farming may have been the greatest invention of all time. Students made a comic book to show off what they have learned. We have also spent time daily discussing current events after watching CNN10.

News from the Nest

Spanish Classes – Mrs. Letcher, Mrs. Merchant and Mrs. Werth

Spanish Classes celebrated Mexico’s Independence Day by reading about Father Miguel Hidalgo’s

“Grito” (Shout) for Independence on September 16, 1810. Mrs. Letcher, Mrs. Merchant and Mrs. Werth

brought in tortilla chips and guacamole so that students could sample guacamole. For some students,

it was the first time they have ever had guacamole! ¡Viva México!

French Classes – Mrs. Gedeon, Ms. Yash

Madame Yash and Madame Gedeon’s French classes are off to a great start!

Seventh-graders are able to greet others and introduce themselves, count to 70 in French, and

talk about their birthdays. They recently completed a calendar project, where they

demonstrated accurate knowledge of the European calendar, days of the week and months of the

year. Coming soon, they will be describing themselves, and others using a variety of adjectives.

Eighth-graders are working on a strong review unit where they are to perfecting the most

important and commonly used verbs. Next, they will learn how to order a full meal in a French

café. After that, shopping for food becomes the focus. Hopefully, they will enjoy some of the

dishes they learn about. The students are also looking forward to upcoming units on clothing,

travel, and sports.

À bientôt!

News from the Nest

Writing & Research Skills – Mrs. Bubar

Writing & Research Skills kicks off another year with a letter from the President!

Students in Mrs. Bubar’s Writing & Research Skills practice writing business letters to people in

power to initiate a positive change. These well-researched “action” letters are then mailed out to

leaders from within our district, to big corporations, and some - even to our U.S. President.

Superintendent Ljiljanich and Mr. Schmidt also receive many letters and visit each class as guest

speakers addressing student concerns at the building and district level. Many of the letters resulted

in new clubs being added, a school store, and even changes in the lunches offered here. This past

summer, one of our own ETMS Falcons actually got a reply to his action letter to President Donald

Trump! Much to the surprise and delight of current 8th grader Nick Paszt who had Writing and

Research Skills last year, his letter was shared by his mom with Mrs. Bubar. The letter from President

Trump is pictured below.

News from the Nest

School Counselors – Mrs. Lombardo and Mrs. Yeates

WEB Program Kicks Off at ETMS

In September, ETMS welcomed nearly 300 new 6th graders to its family. This year, those students participated in a new program called WEB (Where Everyone Belongs), which kicked off on August 28 with a high energy assembly and orientation for 6th graders.

The program recognizes that the transition to middle school is one of many changes that occur throughout life. While some students have systems or people in their lives to ease that transition, those without a strong support network may experience academic, emotional or social difficulties throughout the first year of middle school. WEB is a year long transition program designed to guide 6th grade students through the challenges of their first year of middle school by linking 6th graders with 8th grade mentors and creating an environment where they feel cared for, supported and connected to other students.

This summer, 31 incoming eighth graders were trained by school counselors and WEB Coordinators Mrs. Lombardo and Mrs. Yeates to serve as WEB Leaders. Those students went through an application process which centered on selecting leaders who are responsible and above all else, kind. On orientation day, the WEB Leaders participated in the opening assembly, then broke down into small groups where they worked with the 6th graders to help them get to know each other, school rules, strategies for middle school success and tour the school. It was hard not to notice students leaving the building smiling, chatting and looking much more relaxed than when they entered. As for the eighth grade leaders, they have the opportunity to learn and practice leadership skills that will serve them well throughout life.

Activities are currently being planned for WEB activities which will take place during the remainder of the school year and will continue to foster the mentor relationship between 6th and 8th graders. A new group of WEB leaders will be selected from the current seventh grade class next spring.

News from the Nest

News from the Nest Mrs. Failing, Mrs. Pluff

Team Failing/Pluff

Our classrooms have started the year with a ! We have been so excited to be back in our Nest! To start the year, we have learned about having a Growth Mindset! In ELA, we created a Grow Our Brain Poster! In Math, we have been working on exploring the distributive property. In Social Studies, we learned about Remembrance Day and are now exploring Geography! In Science, we are diving into the Scientific Method! All students have also been exploring different grade level specials!

The students in Mrs. Pluff and Mrs. Failing’s classroom started our monthly Coffee/Muffin Sale at ETMS on September 28th. Students are raising money for service learning trips! We plan on helping students learn and grow their life skills from their involvement in these sales and our learning based field-trips. Students are learning to take the lead and have more responsibilities with each sale! Our first service learning trip is scheduled for October 12th to Greg’s U-Pick Farm to explore agriculture and how to live off of the environment!

Our students’ hard work was celebrated this month during our monthly incentive to celebrate their achievement of at least an 85% of positive behaviors on our Class Dojo System. Students are striving towards becoming more independent and achieving the goals set for them and goals they are setting for themselves! We are thrilled to be back at school and all the exciting things we have to look forward to this 2018-2019 school year!

Team 7-1 Mrs. Bender, Mrs. Carson, Mr. Creamer, Mr. Evarts, Mrs. Gleason, Mr. Hanzly, Mrs. Jordan, Mrs. Sipowicz, Mr. Steinel

Welcome Team 7-1 Families!

We are so excited to have started our year on a strong pace. We feel that it is a

privilege to have your child on our team. We have many activities in the works. As some of

you may not be aware, Team 7-1 is unique. We would like to use this outlet to introduce

ourselves. Our team has an additional teacher for each core subject area. Mrs. Bender

teaches five sections of social studies and Mr. Hanzly teaches one. Mr. Evarts teaches five

sections of Science 7. Mr. Creamer will be teaching one section of our students. We

welcome Mrs. Carson back to teach math. Mr. Steinel will be here to teach our enriched

math course. Mrs. Sipowicz teaches five sections of ELA with Mrs. Jordan teaching the

sixth. In addition, some students will be taking FACS and Writing and Research Skills.

Mrs. Gleason is our consultant teacher and with the assistance of Mrs. Brooks, will offer

additional support in many of our classes. Please feel free to contact any of our team

teachers if you ever have questions or concerns. Please remember to sign up for Parent

Portal! We look forward to a terrific, rewarding and memorable year with your children and

we hope to see you at Open House on October 4th!

News from the Nest

Team 7-2 Mr. Goehle, Mrs. Jasper, Mrs. Jones, Mr. Myers, Mrs. Zamorski

News from Team 7-2 Welcome back everyone! Our team is excited to begin another amazing school year. Each class has been busy getting to know the students on our team. Building relationships is essential to success! We’ve also been reinforcing ideas about working as a team and disagreeing respectfully as a part of our school-wide character education program. In ELA, students have been focusing on the parts of a story and the different types of conflict. Students also chose books to read for their first quarter book report, which will be due October 30. In Science, we built and tested three different sized hot air balloons and tested to see how they flew (pictured below)! We continue to learn about the scientific method through analyzing different experiments and identifying variables. Mr. Goehle’s Social Studies classes have been working with Miss Kimoto, a student teacher from Niagara University. They’ve been creating maps of their own personal utopias while applying the concepts of geography and mapping. Students have been discussing different ideas about how the earliest Americans lived. Finally, in Math class, students have been working on Ratios and Proportions this month. They’ve also started working on Imagine Math, a computer program that teaches topics to students based on their ability level. Each student took a placement test in early September that determined where they would start. Each week, students are to work on at least one lesson and complete a worksheet that goes with that lesson. Students have copies of each weekly Imagine Math assignment, as well as two opportunities to complete extra credit work. We look forward to a great year with the Team 7-2 students!

Please remember to stop in at Open House on October 4th from 6-7:30pm to learn more about what's happening at ETMS!

News from the Nest

Team 8-1 Mrs. Benk, Mrs. Braun, Mr. Coulter, Mr. Creamer, Mr. Hanzly, Mrs. Jordan, Mrs. Marotta, Mr. Pavan, Mrs. Zimmerman

News from Team 8-1

Science students designed and performed their own experiments testing the

variables which affect the swing of a pendulum. Groups collected and analyzed data to determine the variables which change the length of time a pendulum takes

to complete its period of swing. Next, students will be learning about the remarkable success of the reintroduction of the population of wolves to Yellowstone

National Park.

In ELA, we are started the year with creative writing. We read the short story, "The Elevator" by William Sleator. This story ends with a huge cliffhanger. Each

student was tasked with giving the story an ending in their own style. From there we spent some time on 2nd Step, which is our Character Education program. We

discussed how to be an ally and how to identify others who may need an ally. Students had great stories to share with the class, adding different perspectives.

Currently, we are analyzing the plot structure and conflicts/resolutions in the story "The Ransom of Red Chief" by O. Henry. Next, we will be exploring how Edgar Allan

Poe uses a character's actions, vivid descriptions, and word choice to create suspense in "The Tell-Tale Heart".

Math for all 8th grade students is filled with brand new topics which are built on a large foundation of prior knowledge and skills. Math 8 students are learning this

first hand as they are learning the Laws of Exponents and Scientific Notation. Previous integer skills must be applied to execute the new content. Algebra

students are beginning to realize that a regents level course, combined with the

8th grade math curriculum, will keep them on their toes. All in all, math is out to a great start!

Social Studies students have been looking at the reasons why people immigrated to America and the changing society of the time. In the coming weeks, they will

explore the Progressive Era.

News from the Nest

News from the Nest Team 8-2 Mrs. Callahan, Mr. Chimera, Mrs. Jamieson, Mr. Kaderli, Mrs. Moran, Mr. White

As the saying goes, “Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end.” Although we all hated to see the summer end, the start of a new school year brings with it many new beginnings and opportunities. 8th graders have the privilege and the responsibility of leading the classes in the middle school. Hopefully, they will enjoy their time together and while experiencing all that middle school has to offer.

Several of our 8th graders are enrolled in high school courses and will be earning credit toward graduation this year! Many of our student athletes are competing at the Modified, Junior Varsity and Varsity level for the fall sports! Tryouts will be starting soon for this year’s musical performance.

While on team, students have been learning about Industrialization in Social Studies and exploring the laws of exponents in their math classes. In ELA, they’ve been reading short stories to focus on conflict, plot and resolution. Ecology has proved to be an interesting way to start the year in Science; everything from the circle of life (think of The Lion King) to the changing geography of Yellowstone National Park due to the reintroduction of wolves into the park!

Chorus – Mr. Fick

VOCAL MUSIC NEWS

We are off to a wonderful start of activities in our Vocal Music Department this year! The excitement is in the air as this year’s musical was announced! ETMS will proudly be presenting “The Wizard of Oz” as this year’s musical production. Students will begin the audition process in early October and the final cast will be posted on October 16th! The ETMS Jazz Choir will begin its rehearsals in October. The group meets Monday and Wednesday mornings from 7:00-7:30am and is open to any interested Chorus member. Congratulations to five NW Chorus students who were accepted by audition into this year’s Junior High Area All State Choir! Hannah Simonin, Brayden Cox, Andrew Giandomenico, Nicolette Faller, and Cody James will be representing our school the first weekend in November in Akron! Congratulations to all on this prestigious honor! Please mark your calendars now for our annual Winter Concert! The Concert will be Tuesday December 11th in the Senior High School Auditorium. The 6th Grade Concert begins at 6pm and the 7th/8th Grade Concert begins at 7:30pm.

News from the Nest

Art – Miss Culligan

6th & 7th graders made "All-About-Me" origami cubes for their first art project! Specific

images had to be present. Students will be getting a "test" to show they know how to make an

origami cube but may use a handout. This project was "mixed-media", using gel pens, sharpies and

colored pencils. 6th graders have started their paper Mache "owls" to correspond with Halloween!

They are coming along very nicely -photos to follow.

7th graders will be starting an "op art" origami cube that must show 24 different patterns in

the triangles which show on each side. They are learning about the "Op Art" movement by watching

a Power Point presentation. There will be a quiz as well.

News from the Nest

Art - Mrs. Neville Welcome to Art Class with Mrs. Neville!

It has been a creative start to the school year in K102! I can honestly say that I've been lucky to meet so many imaginative and artistic students this fall. We have a lot of fun projects planned!

Grade 6 students started the quarter by incorporating all seven art elements (line, shape, color, value, space, form and texture) into a name design, in graffiti style. Then, students studied the element of line more closely by creating contour drawings of paintbrushes in the style of artist, Jim Dine. Currently, students are studying form, creating paper mache owls (and other creatures...because when a student says, "Mine looks like a....", we run with the creativity)!

Grade 8 students started the semester by using their names to create an abstract shape painting. These paintings became the cover of their sketchbooks, which will be used for various activities all semester long. Currently, they are making "mini masterpieces", small replicas of famous paintings, along with sculpey frames.

Student in Art began the year with drawing....and more drawing. We've practiced blind contour drawings, contour drawings and grid drawing for proportion. They are currently enlarging a subject matter, using a grid, for correct proportion. Value will be added to these drawings using line, specifically, zentangle patterns.

WE NEED YOUR HELP!!!! K102 is looking for donations of old paperback books for an upcoming project! The thicker, the better!

Band – Mr. Scime

News From the Band Room:

In the Spring of 2018, thousands of students from Niagara, Erie, Chautauqua, and Cattaragus Counties participated in the New York State School Music Association (NYSSMA) solo festivals. As part of these annual festivals, students perform a solo and are given a score by a judge. The highest scoring students are then selected to participate in the Area All-State Honors Ensembles in November. Three Band students from ETMS auditioned: Aaron Shanor (flute), Vinnie Ciraolo (euphonium), and Carter Galyen (percussion). All three have been selected to be part of this year’s NYSSMA Area All-State Jr. High Band. Congratulations Aaron, Vinnie and Carter!

8th Grade Class information– Mrs. Gleason

The 8th Grade Class is participating in the Niagara Chocolates Fundraiser. The money raised from this fundraiser will go towards the 8th Grade Class activities.

Student Council – Mrs. Gleason The ETMS Student Council will be hosting the first annual Pumpkin Decorating Contest. Students can sign up to paint a pumpkin and enter to win the decorating contest.

News from the Nest

Library - Mrs. Heilemann

Library Limelight

http://www.nwcsd.org/Domain/224

Welcome to the Mary L Bruce - Niagara Wheatfield Secondary Library

The above link can be copied and pasted to your browser and will take you directly to the library

web site. You will find interesting information there.

Here are some FAQ’s:

Q. When can I come to the Library Media Center (LMC)? A. In addition to your scheduled class times, the Library is open before school and during study halls and lunch. All students must sign in. If you are coming from study hall, you need to have a pass and a purpose (research, homework, looking for books, reading/studying). For safety and attendance, you MUST report to your study hall then get a signed pass with your name on it. Q. How long do I get to keep the library materials that I have checked out? A: Materials are checked out for 2 weeks. Q: What if I’m not finished with my library book after 2 weeks? A: Renew it! You can renew any item as long as it is not on hold for another student. Q. What happens if I lose my library book? A: You can replace the book yourself or pay for the book and we will buy a replacement copy. All of the information you need regarding payment or replacement can be given to you at the LMC. Q: What should I do if my library book becomes damaged? A: You should immediately tell the library staff. Many times we are able to repair the book with special materials we have available in the library. However, if the book is damaged beyond repair, you will be expected to pay for or replace the damaged item. Q: What if I don’t have a study hall or free period to return my books? A: There is a box in the main office for library book returns. It is emptied daily.

News from the Nest