The Warrior Weekly

Jan 31 - Semester 1 Ends

Feb 1 - Semester 2 Begins (switchovers for Art and Tech Ed/H.Ec)

Feb 1 - I Love to Read Month begins!

Feb 2 - School Based Professional Development Day - No Classes

Looking for Basketball Practices and Game Schedules?

Check our school calendar by clicking here

No one is surprised to hear that strong reading comprehension skills are foundational to student learning. That's why we are excited to again celebrate February as I Love To Read Month! Throughout the month, our students will participate in a wide range of classroom based literacy activities intended to provide enjoyable opportunities to read, and reminders that reading is a life long learning AND recreational skill. Thank you to our ELA teachers for their collaborative work to plan these activities for our students!

The MMS Book Fair is coming again this year, on February 26 - Feb 28. On the evening of Feb 27, the Book Fair will be open to families to browse, purchase, and order books from 4:30 - 7:00 pm.

MMS receives a percentage of sales back from the proceeds of the Book Fair that we use to stock our library and our classroom libraries.

Keep watching the Warrior Weekly for more information on the Book Fair as we get closer to the end of February. Thank you Ms. Doerksen for your work in organizing the Book Fair for our students!

On Feb 7 - 9 our Grade 8 students will travel to Camp Cedarwood for 3 days and 2 nights of outdoor education activities and team building. This is an exciting opportunity each year for our Grade 8 community as they experience a variety of winter activities including ice fishing, cross country skiiing, snow tubing, and snow shoeing! We are thankful for the work and planning that our Grade 8 team puts into this event each year -it is one of the highlights of the Mitchell Middle School experience every year!

We are looking forward to welcoming Ms. Steiner to MMS at the beginning of February to present to our Grade 8 students on the opportunities available to them in Grade 9 at SRSS next year. Ms. Steiner will spend some time with each class talking about course options, registration and also answer questions.

On Feb 22, MMS Grade 8's will attend the half day orientation at SRSS, and in the evening there will be a Parent Orientation and Open House new Grade 9 parents. More information will be shared as we get closer to this date.

The Days of Wonder activities were a regular part of programming at Mitchell Middle prior to the pandemic, and we are excited to offer them again this year! Students chose an activity of interest to participate in, and will join others from different classes and grades as they learn more about the different activities. A wide variety of opportunities have been developed by our teaching staff including Track and Field Skills, Indigenous Beading, Geocaching, Chess, Making Paper Mache Puppets, and MANY more. Days of Wonder are scheduled on the following school days:

• Mon Feb 5 - P8/P9
• Weds Feb 21 - P6/P7
• Thursday Feb 29 P4/P5

Our Phys Ed Classes will be going skating again this year at the Mitchell Arena on February 27 and 28. Parents please complete the permission for this activity found on the Parent Portal by February 20. Thank you to Mr. Penner for organizing this opportunity for our students!

Make no mistake, winter is here! Regular recess breaks outside are beneficial for student growth and development, and our students go outside for 3 recess breaks each day. They also have a scheduled Outdoor Education Phys Ed class once a cycle. It is important that all students come dressed to be comfortably outside each day. This means making sure they bring:

• a toque
• a scarf or neck warmer
• winter jacket
• winter pants
• winter boots

Families, please remind your child to come to school fully prepared for the winter weather every day.

Indoor Recesses may be considered in certain circumstances. Please click here to review HSD's Cold and Hazardous Weather Guidelines.

Parents, please be reminded that, for the safety of all students, if you would like to volunteer with our students you need to complete a Child Abuse Registry Check, and a Criminal Record Check, along with some other related forms. These checks need to be approved and on file with Hanover School Division before you begin to volunteer with us. The time frame for these checks to be processed can be lengthy (weeks or months of wait time) and so we encourage you to complete these forms well in advance. Our secretaries are available to help you with this process.

The canteen sells drinks and snacks each day of the week. Pizza from Santa Lucia will be sold on certain days again this year as well. A gluten free pizza option will be available for those who need it.

Students will continue to make their weekly pizza orders with Mrs. Enns in the office during their lunch recess.

School fees at MMS are used to support the different programs, learning experiences, and learning trips that are students benefit from while they are here. A reminder that school fees can be paid online on the Parent Portal, or by cash or cheque at the school office. Our school office is open between 8:00 and 4:00 pm daily.

It is always important to review the safety practices for coming and going from school.

1. Remember to use the sidewalks when they are available.
2. The crosswalks are to provide safe crossing for all walkers. In addition, the crossing guard is on duty before and after school on Highway 52 to assist students in crossing safely.
3. Drivers, please watch for the crosswalks, school zone speed limits, stop signs, busses and walking students.
4. Always watch for and follow stop signs. Remember when the lights are on and the stop sign is out on busses to please stop to ensure the safe pick up and drop off of bus students.
5. Parents, for those of you whose children use bicycles, please remind your child to follow the rules of the road when cycling. Here is a link to MPI's Cycling 101 to help you have this conversation.

In addition, we would like to remind parents that the drop off zone immediately in front of the school should not be used as a parking area. This area becomes very congested and it is safer if we keep these areas clear. Thanks for your help in this endeavour to keep our kids safe. Parking is now permitted on the east side of Willow street from Stanway Ave N to Morley.

A reminder that work on our 4 - classroom addition continues at MMS. For their safety, students are reminded to:

• avoid entering or exiting the school grounds from Neufeld Drive
• stay out of the parking lot
• stay well away from any area where construction work is happening

Parents, please remember to check the Parent Portal for any updated permissions that may need to be provided. These permissions include

• Responsible Use of Technology Agreement
• Permission to walk to events
• others

These forms can be located in the parent portal and can be approved digitally on that site.

If you need help accessing the Parent Portal, our secretaries would be happy to help you. Please contact them at the school office.

Parents please take note of Mitchell Middle Schools Cell Phone Use policy.

Grade 5/6 students

• cell phones and devices are not needed during the school day
• all Grade 5/6 students are asked to keep their devices at home
• if they do bring a device to school, it should be kept in their locker all day. Please be advised that there are no locks on our lockers so items are there at your own risk.

Grade 7/8 students

• cell phones and devices may be used with permission for educational purposes
• devices should be kept away (pocket/bag/locker) at all other times

All grades

• cell phones and devices are not permitted to be used in the hallways or on school grounds
• cell phones and devices are not permitted to be used in classrooms during breaks and at lunch time
• if cell phone and device use becomes a problem, teachers will confiscate the device for a period or for the rest of the school day. Should the problem continue, the device will be confiscated by school principals and returned to the parents of the student.

At MMS we take our responsibility to supervise student online activity seriously and this policy allows us to ensure that students are interacting with the internet safely during school hours.

School volunteers play a valuable role in the life of our school and we appreciate your gifts of time and energy very much. To ensure the safety of our students, all volunteers must have the following documents approved and on file before working with our students:

• Criminal Record Check
• Child Abuse Registry Check
• Pledge of Confidentiality
• Respect in Sport (if coaching)

Please contact us at the school office for more information

Please be reminded of the following policies for our students at lunch time

• students who go home for lunch each day are dismissed at 12:20. They are expected to remain home for the lunch break, and return for 1:10 pm to rejoin their classes.
• please be reminded that afternoon classes start at 1:15 pm
• students who wish to go to the CO-OP at lunch require a note or email from their parents that is given to the homeroom teacher in the morning. MMS requires new permission each time a student wishes to leave at lunch time. When they leave, they should sign out at the office, and sign in when they return.
• parents please be reminded to send a note or email to your child's homeroom teacher to communicate whether your child will eat lunch at school or at home. This helps us account for our students in the event of a lunch time emergency.

Good information on the school website

To stay on top of everything MMS please follow these sites.

• School Calendar (find school wide events, schedule of practices and games)
• Bell Schedule

A 5-8 middle school located in Mitchell, Manitoba. Part of the Hanover School Division #hsdlearns #warriorshsd

Email: mms@hsd.ca
Website: http://mms.hsd.ca
Location: 203 Willow Street, Mitchell, Manitoba R5G 1H7
Phone: 204-320-9488
Twitter: @mmshanover