#iamsouth

Email: msattendance@avon-schools.org
Website: https://www.avon-schools.org/mssouth
Location: 7199 East US Highway 36, Avon, IN, USA
Phone: 317-544-5700
Twitter: @avonsouth

Feb. 19, 2024 - NO SCHOOL - President's Day

Mar. 18 - 29, 2024 - NO SCHOOL - Spring Break

Mr. Will Mahan, Athletic Director/Dean of Students

Ms. Joni Johnson, Athletic Trainer

2/20 AWAY vs. Cascade Middle School 5:30PM

2/22 AWAY vs. Zionsville Middle School 5:30PM

Good luck!

2/20 AWAY vs. Paul Hadley JHS 5:30PM

2/22 HOME vs. Zionsville Middle School 5:30

Good luck!

Please see the flyer below about an opportunity for boys interested in volleyball.

Students from Avon Middle School North and South got in on the NBA All-Star Game action at the Indianapolis International Airport. Mascot Mania took place on Monday evening and Avon students were there to participate in the fun.

The event received a lot of media coverage and Boomer, Freddy Fever, Rowdie, Zeke, Nitro, and more all shared the fun online as well. Avon students and staff were in the thick of things and they did an excellent job representing Avon Schools.

Enjoy the photos below!

Our Athletic Department is offering a season ticket option for all students. This season pass is $40. This pass will get all students into each regular season game hosted by South. Regular ticket price is $5 per event. We host approximately 45 athletic events this year at South. This pass will also allow students to enter the three tailgates this year.

The season pass for students is offered through EventLink. EventLink is the online ticket platform that we use for athletic events at South. The student will simply need to show the barcode via cellphone to the ticket taker when entering a game.

The link to purchase this ticket is below:

https://websites.eventlink.com/s/avon-middle-school-south/Tickets/Passes/2900/276

Happy Birthday

to our students celebrating a birthday this week:

Dylonte Sullivan

Nick Stanford

Miguel Ibanez-Trinidad

Miley Miller

Blaine Haile

Samantha Serrano

Xiomara Rodriguez Alarcon

Wisdom Williams

Sydney Higgins

Helain Musiana

Damien Koehler

Do you want to be involved with the AHS Student Government next year? If you want to participate, please download the application attached to this message or stop by the AMS South main office to pick up an application. All applications are due before first period on Friday, March 8, 2024.

Below you will find all of the information needed for our upcoming Washington DC Trip this fall break.

If you have any questions please contact Mr. Rodgers at gdrodgers@avon-schools.org

2023 - 2024 Yearbooks are on sale now!

Follow the link below to order your yearbook today.

Yearbook school ID: 15098424

National Junior Honor Society will offer after school study help sessions on Wednesday’s after school from 4:10 - 5:00PM. Students will then go to the front commons area and wait for the late bus or parent pick-up. During this time, there will be a supervisor with the students while they wait for the late bus to arrive. Students that will be a car rider home on these days can be picked up at door 1 at 5:00PM.

If your student will be staying for the study session and they need bus transportation home they must sign up for the late bus in the Guidance Office at lunch that day. For those students taking the late bus home, the bus will leave AMS South at 5:10pm.

Each week your child's team will give an update about the current week or week ahead. Please find your child's team below for that information. In addition, you will find news from our Encore teachers, Media Center, and PE/Wellness teachers.

Mrs. Dugan, Mrs. Williams, Mr. Schubert & Mr. Uhl

In Language Arts, students will write a ToSEEEEC response as they continue to read informational text in our Brain Science unit. They will also read a sonnet about science to continue to apply literary terms to different text structures. In Social Studies, we will finish our unit with a test on Wednesday before beginning our following unit on South Asia. In Science, we will finish up our unit on body systems and begin our research project. Students will have a quiz on Tuesday, March 5th. In Math, we will be solving inequalities by multiplying and dividing by positive and negative coefficients. In Pre-Algebra, we will be learning about triangles and using their angle relationships to solve problems.

Mrs. Barnes, Mr. Blackmore, Mrs. Boroff & Ms. Weinstein

In Science, Grizzlies students will continue learning about the different organ systems. At the end of the week, we’ll begin talking about our end of unit project called “Organ Trail.” Also, students have an opportunity to earn up to 10 pts of extra credit by completing the Organelle FlipGrid video activity that is posted on Schoology. Math students will be continuing to learn how to write, solve and graph inequalities. The next test is scheduled for Thursday, February 26. Pre-Algebra students will continue their work on angle relationships/measures, triangles, and scale factors between 2D shapes. The next test is scheduled for Tuesday, February 27. In Language Arts students will be pivoting from studying Phineas Gage and his accident to learning about Brain Science more specifically targeted toward adolescent development. We will also continue building our narrative writing skills through various revision exercises. Social Studies students will be taking the end of the unit test for Africa on Wednesday, 2/21. Students will begin studying on Friday, 2/16 and continue Tuesday, 2/20. Games and review activities are already posted on Schoology for any student to use.

Mr. Leach, Mrs. Miller, Mrs. Ringham & Mrs. Schaffer

Mr. McDonald, Ms. Schaber, Mrs. Shambaugh & Mr. Thoennes

Language Arts

Mrs. Ringham - In Language Arts, students will begin the second half of our Brain Science unit with reading excerpts from The Secret Life of the Teenage Brain. In these excerpts they will discover how their own brains work, and why their own brain development contributes to how they think and behave.

Mr. Thoennes - Students will be taking the Stems and Skills quiz on Tuesday, and we will be reading about the adolescent brain.

Math & Pre-Algebra

Mrs. Schaffer - In Math 7, we will continue practicing writing and solving inequalities in Module 7. We plan to take the test on Friday, February 23rd. Pre-Algebra students will be using characteristics of triangles to determine angle measurements and possible side lengths. We will also be looking at the topic of scale and how we can shrink or enlarge shapes proportionally.

Mrs. Shambaugh - Students will continue to solve one variable inequalities. The unit 8 test will be Friday, February 23.

Science

Mrs. Miller - Science students will be studying the Respiratory, Circulatory, and Nervous systems. We will be starting our common summative assessment, or at least talking about our CSA, at the end of the week. This CSA will be a research-based project where students will be focusing on one particular organ of the human body.

Ms. Schaber - Students will be learning about our last two body systems. We will be learning about the circulatory and nervous system.

Social Studies

Mr. Leach - Social Studies students will be getting ready for their Africa Unit test on 2/21. All late work will be due by next Friday for this unit.

Mr. McDonald - Students will take their Unit 6 test on Sub-Saharan Africa.

Mrs. DeBow, Mr. Goson, Mrs. Mellen & Mrs. Zimmerman

Mr. McDonald, Ms. Schaber, Mrs. Shambaugh & Mr. Thoennes

Language Arts

Mrs. Zimmerman - Students will finish their space race packet and prepare to write an argumentative essay.

Mr. Thoennes - Students will be looking at different animals in space during the time of the Space Race.

Pre-Algebra & Algebra

Mrs. DeBow - Pre-Algebra students will learn to solve and graph inequalities. Algebra students will use several methods to solve problems represented by quadratic equations.

Mrs. Shambaugh - Students will write, graph, and solve one variable inequalities.

Science

Mr. Goson - Next week students will continue learning about atoms basics. We will be focusing heavily on understanding how to calculate protons, neutrons, and electrons for an atom. We will be taking a quiz on what we have covered so far on Friday, February 23.

Ms. Schaber - Students will be reviewing parts of an atom and element we learned about last week. At the end of the week on Friday, they will be taking a quiz on this information.

Mrs. Hood - Biology students will be continuing to learn about DNA replication and model it during this week’s lab. They will have a quiz over DNA replication on Thursday, 2-22.

Social Studies

Mrs. Mellen - Next week, we will be studying the Era of Good Feelings 🙂

Mr. McDonald - Students will learn about the Era of Good Feelings and Early American Industrialization.

Mrs. Warthan, Ms. Kegley, Mr. Casey & Mr. Osen

In Language Arts, students will be reading Space Race resources to find evidence to be used to write an argumentative essay. Social Studies classes will understand what caused the Era of Good Feelings during the 1800s. In Science, students will be investigating the structure of an atom and taking a quiz on Friday. Biology students will be investigating different types of DNA mutations. In Pre-Algebra, students will be solving inequalities. Algebra students will be using multiple methods to solve quadratic equations.

Mrs. Hood, Mr. Rodgers, Mrs. Taylor & Mr. Williams

This week Social Studies students will learn about the Era of Good Feelings and the problems formed by sectional differences that will begin emerging to divide our nation. Pre-Algebra will be writing and solving inequalities. We will be solving and writing our own word problems and discussing where we could use this skill in the real world. Students continue to have weekly IXL assignments that are due each Saturday at 11:59PM. Algebra students will be solving quadratic equations in multiple ways. They will choose the method that works best with the given situation and be able to write their answer as an approximation and in the simplest radical form. Science students will continue their studies on our introduction to chemistry. We will be taking a quiz on Friday, 2-23, about the basic vocabulary terms they have been learning for the last two weeks. Biology students will be continuing to learn about DNA replication and model it during this week’s lab. They will have a quiz over DNA replication on Thursday, 2-22. In Language Arts, students will read two articles about animals that went to space during The Space Race. They will also read part of President John F. Kennedy’s speech challenging America to reach the moon by the end of the 1960s. At the end of the week, they will be given the prompt for the unit final writing, an argumentative essay.

Señora Barker (Spanish), Mrs. Hauptmann (Japanese), Mr. Parr (Computer Science),

Mrs. Leonard (Art), Mr. McFarlin (Engineering and Technology), Mr. Wolf (Robotics),

Mrs. Snyder (Flight & Space and Medical Detectives),

and Mr. Tarnowski (Digital Literacy & Communication)

Spanish

Next week students will practice with frequency words and continue with their food/drink vocab. They will receive a study guide by the end of the week for the 3A unit.

Japanese

The Japanese class topics will be katakana and kanji characters, and polite expressions for visits.

Computer Science

7th grade classes will be wrapping up their side scroller project and starting the final two lessons before their final project!

8th grade classes will be working in their final projects and presentations.

Art

Next week students are creating an abstract two point perspective drawing.

7th grade Engineering and Design & 8th grade Gateway to Technology

7th Grade: We will be collecting data on solve times for our puzzle cubes as we close out this project. Students will be able to determine who’s cube is the most difficult to solve based on time and hints given to solve the cube.

8th Grade: We will be finishing the light box project by testing with light sources and durability. Students will also have the ability to paint their boxes before they take them home.

Digital Literacy & Communication

This week in Digital Literacy we are finishing our Narrative Writing unit by creating our own stories! We are pulling together what we've learned about plot, dialogue, description, and new media forms to tell new tales.

Robotics

Robotics 1 – Students will continue coding motors, LED lights, and various sensors on the testbed project.

Robotics 2 – Students will work to design, build, and code a 3-level elevator for their next project.

Medical Detectives

Medical Detectives will be learning about the brain! We will learn about the parts of a brain and dissect a sheep's brain.

Flight & Space

Flight and Space will begin learning about how astronauts eat, sleep, and basically live in space. They will make "space food" and have some more very interesting discussions.

Mrs. Fair, Mrs. Lucas & Mr. Jackson

Students are in their final rotations of the quarter for PE. At the end of the unit, students will have their final unit test as well as a final exam and fitness tests. As we get closer to the end of the quarter, we are continuing to work on push-ups, sit ups, and endurance for the pacer test. These tests will occur the first week of March.

Mr. Basso (Band), Ms. Szymkow (Band), Mr. Miller (Orchestra) & Mr. Nelson (Choir)

Band

Bands are prepping for their March 8th ISSMA Festival at North Middle School. More specific information will be shared soon when we know performance times.

8th Grade Band will be practicing after school on Wednesday, February 28th until 5:45pm.

7th Grade Band will be practicing after school on Thursday, February 29th until 5:45pm.

Reminders were sent home recently on ParentSquare.

Choir

We are trucking through ISSMA stuff and beginning the refinement process of each piece. Classes have been very focused as of recently! I am excited for everyone to listen to what we've worked hard on so far!

Orchestra

7th & 8th Grade Orchestras are hard at work on their ISSMA Contest music. We will host our ISSMA Preview Concert on Tuesday, February 27th here at AMS South.

7th graders should report to South by 5:45, and their performance is at 6:30.

8th graders should report to South by 7:10, and their performance is at 7:45.

We will have three judges with us on the 27th, so it is really important that we have a quiet and respectful audience so that the judges can make comments into recording devices.

ISSMA Contest will be held on either March 8th or March 9th at AMS North. More details to come. ISSMA gives us the schedule about two weeks in advance of the event. Keep encouraging your students to practice at home and ask them to play for you.

Scheduling: 7th graders will need to submit their scheduling forms by Wednesday, February 1st. Orchestra is a full year class, and next year we will have mixed 7th and 8th grade orchestra classes.

Ms. Sever

February is Black History Month. In the library and on Sora, we have a variety of books written by Black authors and featuring Black characters and cultures. In honor of this celebration, I wanted to highlight Isaiah Dunn is My Hero, a middle grade realistic fiction novel, by Kelly J. Baptist. This book is also a Young Hoosier Book Award Nominee for the 2023-2024 school year!

Isaiah is now the big man of the house. But it’s a lot harder than his dad made it look. His little sister, Charlie, asks too many questions, and Mama’s gone totally silent.

Good thing Isaiah can count on his best friend, Sneaky, who always has a scheme for getting around the rules. Plus, his classmate Angel has a few good ideas of her own–once she stops hassling Isaiah.

And when things get really tough, there’s Daddy’s journal, filled with stories about the amazing Isaiah Dunn, a superhero who gets his powers from beans and rice. Isaiah wishes his dad’s tales were real. He could use those powers right about now! – Blurb courtesy of Penguin Random House Stop by the AMS South library to check out Isaiah Dunn is My Hero by Kelly J. Baptist or from Sora!

ABSENCE PROCEDURE

If a student is absent from school, the PARENT must call the school by 10:00 A.M. to report the absence. If no call is received, the automated school system will make an effort to contact the parent, but if NO PARENT CALL has been received by 3:00 P.M. the day following the absence, the student will be charged with an unexcused absence. You may also send an email to us to notify us of your child's absence at msattendance@avon-schools.org.

** Please be advised that we cannot take early dismissal information over the telephone. **

If your child needs to leave school early during the school day please send a note in with your child to bring to the office first thing in the morning or email us at

msattendance@avon-schools.org with all the necessary information: students name, date and time picking up, and the name of the person picking your child up if someone other than a parent or guardian will be picking up. This email will go directly to the front office secretaries and they will be able to get your child an early dismissal pass so that they can be in the front office when you are ready to pick them up. If you are unable to email us we will need you to come into the office with your valid ID, once we verify it is a parent/guardian picking up we will be able to call the student down for dismissal.

If someone other than a parent or guardian will be picking up your child we MUST have this information in writing from a parent/guardian. Please include his or her name on the note or email. Once we verify their photo ID then the student can sign out and leave.

If leaving early for a doctor/dentist/orthodontist appointment, please provide verification note from the appointment to the main office to ensure that the absence is excused.

Using this email will ensure your child will get a pass out of class to be in the office. Please do not use Parent Square to send a message to your child's teachers as we cannot guarantee that this message will get to the front office to get your child a pass. Our teachers are very busy throughout the day and may not be able to check Parent Square often, or if the teacher is out that day we would not get that message in the front office in time to get your child an early dismissal pass.

We want to make sure that your information is getting to the right person in a timely manner, and hopefully prevent any miscommunication or missed messages.

It is our belief that students can best achieve academic success by being in school every day. We also understand that a student may occasionally have an opportunity to experience extraordinary opportunities that may result in a missed day of school. The principal or designee may grant a pre-arranged absence, if the absence provides an extraordinary opportunity for the student and/or family. The request must be submitted at least five school days in advance of the requested absence. The student will be required to complete all missed work upon his/her return to school. No more than three days of pre-arranged absences will be approved each year. Pre-arranged absences may not be granted during the following circumstances:

• I-Learn

• During semester exams

• When the requested absence would push the student’s attendance record into excessive absence status or if the student has surpassed the allowable number of absences.

Below is our Pre-Arranged Absence form.

For Visitors to our Building

Avon Schools require all visitors to check-in at the front office using our visitor management system, Safe Visitor. This system requires visitors to scan their driver's license or state identification card for a check of their record. A temporary badge is provided to all visitors to wear while in our buildings. As our visitors leave school, they scan and return that badge to front office staff.

Entering the Building

Anyone entering our building beyond the front office will need to have a valid photo ID with them so that they can be checked in through our Safe Visitor Solutions system. You will be given a badge to wear while in the building so that you are identified as a visitor. When leaving you will return to the front office so that we can check you out of Safe Visitor Solutions and take your badge.

Visiting Students during Lunch

At this time, we are allowing parents/guardians to have lunch with their child during their specified lunch time in our commons area outside of the cafeteria. Parents must follow our policy for entering our building listed above; present a valid photo ID and be checked into our Safe Visitor system. Please take note that this process may take a few minutes to get you checked into our system so please allow for a few extra minutes for that process.

**If someone other than a parent/guardian would like to have lunch with your student, we MUST have that information in writing in advance from a parent/guardian. You can either send a note in with your student to bring to the office when they arrive at school in the morning, or you can email our attendance line with the information at msattendance@avon-schools.org

7th and 8th grade parents: Your children may be eligible for a college scholarship!

If your child qualifies for free and reduced lunch they are automatically enrolled in the 21st Century Scholars Program.

View the form below for more information.

Avon Community Schools has chosen Worth Ave. Group as the vendor of choice to insure school-issued laptops. Insurance with Worth Ave. Group will protect the device against: Accidental Damage, Theft, Fire, Flood, Natural Disasters, Power Surge and Vandalism. This insurance policy will provide full replacement cost coverage and will protect the item worldwide (on and off school grounds). The policy is also transferable to a replacement unit. Insurance plans may be purchased online. Please note this insurance does not cover accidental loss of the laptop, and families will be charged the full replacement cost for a lost device.

• Coverage Term: July 18, 2023 - July 18, 2024
  • It is up to you to renew yearly.

Need help with Math and Science homework?

Call the Homework Hotline

1-877-ASK-ROSE

Click below to visit their website

www.askrose.org

The Mary Lee Maier Community Pantry is available to Avon school families and employees.

Every Thursday from 5:00 - 6:00PM (when school is in session)

at Avon Intermediate School East

Please do not arrive before 4:30PM due to AIS bus/school traffic

Enrollment is simple. Please complete your 2023 - 2024 enrollment before you shop. Below you will find more information for enrollment, please click the link below.

Please click on Community Flyers below to take you to the ACSC web page of all the Educational Flyers and Community Events Flyers happening in our community.