KAMSC Newsletter

Everyone has their attention now turned to first semester exams. Please remind your students of the importance of academic integrity. We will wait until into early Feb. to start tutoring. Once all grades are complete in a couple of weeks we will re-evaluate the MTSS needs, and who will come off of tiers or need more support. This may require some parent - teacher- admin-student team meetings to brainstorm. We want to give the most support possible in our rigorous system. Please remind students next week to get plenty of sleep as that will be most important for them to consolidate their learning and recall information. Many think staying up late studying is what they need and the research will suggest the opposite. Eight hours of sleep is what we want for all of our students.

Happy Holidays,

Heather Kortlandt

Director, KAMSC

Our Fun Friday parent group of volunteers is planning a Hot Cocoa bar as the next event on February 13th. Thank you, parents!

Please consider helping to plan and present with Mrs. Fisher at Paramount Charter Academy's STEM night. You can earn volunteer hours. If you are interested, please let Mrs. Fisher know right away. The event takes place on Wednesday, January 28th from 5:30-7 pm. Paramount is located at 3624 South Westnedge, about two miles south of KAMSC, just before the pedestrian overpass. Setup time is 4:45. Students who don't drive can be dropped off at KAMSC (by 4:30) or at the front door (Westnedge side) of Paramount (by 5:30) and picked up at Paramount at 7. Driving students can meet us at Paramount at 4:45. We do have open lab that night so all volunteers must not be on MTSS and in need of assistance back here at KAMSC.

As we enter the halfway mark for school, it is always a good time to review and refresh some expectations and reminders so that we can run a safe and orderly environment here at KAMSC. Here are a few things on my mind for parents and students:

1. Parents - please adhere to drop off procedures to keep our streets safe and our neighbors happy (don't park in lots of businesses for extended times).

2. Student drivers - you must park in the KAMSC student lot or on the street, not in the staff lot.

3. Students/Parents - once you enter KAMSC doors on the 4th floor, you must stay up there unless you have a reason to leave and sign out through the office. Recently, I have noticed a few students coming up in the morning after parent drop off, then coming back down and going to Bagel Beanery. It worries me as I want to be sure parents know their kids are walking through the neighborhood unattended and that once they enter our doors they must remain with us unless they have permission to leave. So, parents, if you give them permission to do so before they come in and they take are of that beforehand, that is totally fine with me, but please remind them once they are here, they must remain here.

Students - please remember to be good stewards of our hallways and keep them clean and orderly.

Hannah Bippley, Sarah Cho and Aichatou Salifou, are part of the KAMSC HOSA Public Service Announcement team. They have created a public service announcement video that demonstrates different brain healthy habits that, when implemented, can help to reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease as we grow older. As part of their competition, they need people to watch the PSA video and complete a survey talking about the video's impact on their opinions on brain healthy habits. Below is a flyer with QR codes for both the video and the survey on it. Please consider participating.

Exams are next week! Please see the calendar below for the schedule. We believe there will be a minor conflict with some Portage students on Jan 13 and 14, we expect that they may arrive late since Portage Exams are expected to run until 11:50. Please try to arrive by 12:30-12:45. We will allow additional time post 2 pm to make up for your late arrival. Please discuss your plans with your teachers and sign in if you arrive late to KAMSC.

The KAMSC parent organization would like to invite you to keep abreast of their meeting agendas/minutes and dates so that you can be as involved as you like. It would be great to get more underclassmen parents involved so that you can help lead as some of our families "graduate" out. Click this link to review meeting minutes.

GALS is a free grade summer science program for high school students across Michigan. The program is designed to expand opportunities for students who identify as female or gender-nonconforming, students of color, students from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds, and others historically excluded from STEM fields. All students are welcome to apply. Her is the link to the program website https://galsmi.weebly.com/ and a blog about the first year's program https://www.kbs.msu.edu/2025/10/gals-program-first-year/

Selected participants spend two weeks in Michigan’s Lower Peninsula, learning science through hands-on fieldwork alongside Michigan State University researchers. We especially encourage applications from students who have had limited exposure to outdoor learning or field-based science. Academic performance is not considered in participant selection—our focus is on students who would thrive in an experiential, supportive learning environment.

The 2025 application window opens December 1 and runs through March 2. Here is a flyer with additional details, and we hope you can help spread the word to Michigan science teachers, potential applicants, and your broader community networks.

If there are any KAMSC families that ever wish to use the food pantry on the third floor, you can simply contact Mrs. Allbee, and she will work with you to get you what you need. It is all anonymous and very simple.

I hope that you all have had a chance to review our KAMSC Handbook and sign the acceptance form through PowerSchool. Here is a direct link to it again. I would invite you to be sure that you have read through the MTSS support procedures. I will pull grades to review the 3.0 requirements and use that as a gauge to get more support for students. If your child is showing that need, Mrs. Allbee or I will email you and the child to set up support provided by KAMSC. This is required for a three week interval and then we pull grades again to review. Our hope is always that that three week interval is enough support but students will sometimes move in and out of support throughout a semester. Please know, that this is meant to be a supportive measure. We take our responsibility of helping your child achieve the high standards of KAMSC seriously.

If you are dropping off or picking up your student at KAMSC, please do so at the Vine Street entrance. Please find a safe place to pull over and then have you student proceed to the Vine street entrance. If students are driving themselves:

1. They need to acquire a parking pass from the KAMSC office - please fill this out

2. They need to park by the El Sol playground off of Dutton Street (but then walk to Vine street entrance)

3. They should be reminded to not keep anything valuable in their car and to keep their cars locked at all times.

4. The building will have a campus security officer at the Vine Street entrance during times of arrivals and dismissals.

January 12 - Math Exam AM & PM students

January 13 - Science Exam AM students and Elective Exam PM Students

January 14 - Science Exam PM students

January 15 & 16 Big Data Days for juniors and seniors (attendance required) normal PM schedule

January 22 & 23 - No students - teacher records days