We Are South, We Are One!

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

Sept. 2 - NO SCHOOL - Labor Day!!!

Sept. 4 - School Picture Retake Day - more information below

Sept. 26 - 27 - Parent/Teacher Conferences - more information to come

Show choir auditions are next week! If any students have any specific questions, you can send them to me.

Monday, 8/26 - 8:10-9:05 (AMS South)

Tuesday, 8/27 - 4:15-5:30 (AMS South)

Thursday, 8/29 - 4:15-5:30 (AMS North)

Friday, 8/30 - 8:10-9:05 (AMS North)

Students can signup virtually, and come to either the South auditions or the North auditions.

A QR code will be posted outside my room before the end of the week for virtual signups, and I will also send a school-wide ParentSquare that will have the active link.

Below are links to our AMS South Spirit Wear order forms. The form is 2 pages of options to choose from.

Order forms are due to the Main Office by Wednesday, August 28th.

Additionally, extra order forms can be picked up in the main office.

Come discover national parks across the country! National Parks Club will meet most Thursday mornings starting at 8:15 AM in Miss Kegley's classroom (C139), students will enter the building at door #1 by ringing the door buzzer for entry. More information and a meeting schedule will be given at the first meeting on Thursday morning, August 29th. See you then!

Our 7th grade Social Studies teacher, Mrs. Weinstein and 8th grade Spanish teacher, Señora Barker, are offering an international travel experience for Spring Break 2026. Students will have the opportunity to travel to Panama in collaboration with EF Tours. This is a student-focused educational tour, with an emphasis on learning about the country, its history, culture, biodiversity, and language. Students will be accompanied by veteran teachers who have a passion for Spanish, Science, and Social Studies. Educational travel will help your child gain a more global perspective, shape their independence, and broaden their horizons. Highlights of this hands-on learning experience include seeing the modern and colonial areas of Panama City, visiting the Panama Canal, ziplining, jungle hikes, nature talks, surfing, whitewater rafting, and more. This opportunity is open to students in the Class of 2026 to Class of 2030.

Meeting date: Wednesday September 4, 2024, 6:00-7:00 PM in the AMS North Media Center (Door 27)

Please RSVP for the Panama meeting here: https://rsvp.eftours.com/vmrar5g , Questions? Email Mrs. Weinstein at eaweinstein@avon-schools.org or Señora Barker at habarker@avon-schools.org

*This opportunity is not school sponsored.

Our picture retake day at AMS South will be on Wednesday, September 4, 2024.

As soon as we receive the ordering information from LifeTouch we will add it in the newsletter - watch our upcoming issues of the Oriole's Nest for this information.

If your student missed Oriole Preview Day they will need to have their picture taken this day.

Avon Middle School South student, Shelton Taylor, earned first place in the All-American Soap Box Derby this summer in Akron, Ohio.

Taylor only started practicing the sport a year ago, so this is a major accomplishment. He is also the first African-American to win the local challenge in his division. Taylor placed top three in the nation out of 500 cars and the top two in the nation out of 50 states. He describes it as “pretty much a big deal”.

Shelton is an inspiration. He's paving the way for other would-be racers, demonstrating sportsmanship, and displaying a great attitude.

He travels to Virginia to compete in nationals over Labor Day weekend.

See Shelton's story on RTV6 by clicking here.

Scott Adams - Athletic Director

Joni Johnson - Athletic Trainer

8/26 HOME vs. AMS North @Avon High School 5:30PM

8/29 HOME vs. Hokum Karem @ Avon High School 5:30PM

Good luck!

8/26 HOME vs. Westfield 5:30PM

8/28 HOME vs. Zionsville 5:30PM

Good luck!

8/26 HOME vs. Zionsville West @ Oak Tree 5:30PM

8/28 AWAY vs. Speedway JR. HS @ Brickyard 5:30PM

8/29 AWAY vs. Brownsburg West @ Eagle Creek 5:15PM

8/29 AWAY vs. Brownsburg East 5:30PM

Good luck!

8/28 AWAY vs. Danville 5:30PM

Good luck!

Avon Middle School South will be offering an online ticket option for all athletic events. Online tickets will be available for purchase on the platform EventLink. These tickets will become available for purchase ten days prior to the date of the event. We encourage you to download the EventLink application on your mobile device from the App Store or Google Play Store.

All athletic tickets cost $5. Children between the ages 0 and 5 years old will be free in addition to adults who are 62 years old and older. When purchasing a ticket online through EventLink, there will be a service fee included.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU:

Izzy Bullen

Lilli Harvey

Dean Wright

Terrence Harvey

Zariah HInes

Alan Puello Gonzalez

Kenny Garcia Santana

Leah Benitez

Ava Denz

Shilah Kirsh

Christian Martinez Sanchez

Jarek Martinez Sanchez

Ian Lugo

Muskaan Kaur

Hadassah Gappy

Amy Lara

National Junior Honor Society will offer after school study help sessions on Wednesday’s after school from 4:10 - 5:00PM, starting the Wednesday, September 18.

During this time, there will be a NJHS teacher sponsor 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. Students will then go to the front commons area and wait for the late bus or parent pick-up.

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.

Ms. Costello, Mrs. Dugan, Mrs. Williams & Mr. Uhl

In Science, we will explore how Earth's tectonic plates move! Students will look into the supercontinent, Pangea, and be able to explain how it broke apart and why the continents are still moving today. Math classes will be learning about adding and subtracting rational numbers. Pre-Algebra classes will be learning about real and irrational numbers. Next week, in Social Studies, we will begin learning about the various styles of government. In Language Arts, students are starting Unit 7B: Character & Conflict. They will begin by exploring background information to prepare reading A Raisin in the Sun. We will explore how Earth's tectonic plates move! Students will look into the supercontinent, Pangea, and be able to explain how it broke apart and why the continents are still moving today.

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

In Math, the students will start to work on computing with rational numbers (fractions & decimals). In Pre-Algebra, the students will start learning about real numbers including square and cube roots, identifying real numbers, estimating irrational numbers, and comparing and ordering real numbers. Next week in Language Arts, students will begin work on our second Unit, Unit 7B! This Unit involves reading and analyzing Lorraine Hainsberry's play A Raisin in the Sun. Note: This Unit will involve some serious conversations around the historical phenomenon of Racism in America. Make sure that students come to class ready to take this seriously! There will be no warnings for disrespectful comments made during class discussion. Students in Social Studies will be continuing to learn about the different types of governments in the world. Students will also begin to learn about the different types of economies, traditional, command, mixed and market. In science, we will continue learning about the formation of rocks. We will have a rock cycle investigation using Airheads. We will also begin learning about Pangea, Alfred Wegner, Continental Drift, and sea floor spreading.

A reminder that labs and projects are weighted at 40%. Students need to make sure they are rising to meet 7th grade expectations by fully answering and completing lab reports in order to receive A’s & B’s on them.

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

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

Language Arts

Mrs. Ringham - Language Arts students will begin our second unit which explores character development and conflict in fiction. They will start the unit by building background knowledge about the 1950s in preparation for reading the play “A Raisin in the Sun.”

Mr. Thoennes - Students will be starting to read A Raisin in the Sun by Loraine Hansberry and will be studying the characters within the play.

Math & Pre-Algebra

Mrs. Schaffer - Students will be adding and subtracting rational numbers, including fractions and decimals.

Mrs. Shambaugh - Students will be adding and subtracting rational numbers, including fractions and decimals.

Science

Mrs. Miller - Science students will be practicing working with our skills of hypothesis, observation, inference and independent/dependent variables, as well as looking at the root causes for the changes in the shaping of our Earth.

Ms. Schaber - Students will be continuing to learn about Earth science. We will be talking about seafloor spreading and Pangea this week!

Social Studies

Mr. Leach - In Social Studies, students are learning about population trends, how to read population data, and why people move or stay in an area. We will transition into type of governments next week. Please check Schoology if your student has been absent; all of the classwork/notes are posted in their daily folder.

Mr. McDonald - Students will learn about different types of Governments and Economies.

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

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

Language Arts

Mrs. Zimmerman - Finish working with Poe's, "The Masque of the Red Death" and complete the reading comprehension quiz.

Mr. Thoennes - Students will start to use the narrative techniques we have learned the past couple weeks to write their own narratives about a time they learned a lesson.

Pre-Algebra & Algebra

Mrs. DeBow - Algebra students will focus on understanding slope and equations of lines in different representations. Pre-algebra students will learn to represent and simplify expressions using algebra tiles.

Mrs. Shambaugh - Students will simplify and evaluate expressions, focusing on the meaning of “minus.”

Science

Mr. Goson - Science students will begin our new unit: Human Impact. We will take a look at how humans utilize the environment and its effect on other living organisms. Biology: Students will continue their ecology unit. We will be looking at abiotic factors through an experiment with radishes. We will then begin taking a look at global Earth systems.

Ms. Schaber - Students will be starting our new unit on human impact! We will start the week by researching an eco-disaster and end our week by taking about the human impact on the geosphere.

Social Studies

Mrs. Mellen - Next week, we will be studying the Pilgrims and Puritans, Salem Witch Trials, and William Penn and the Quakers.

Mr. McDonald - Students will learn about the differences between the New England, Middle, and Southern Colonies.

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

In Science, students will be investigating human impact on Earth's systems. Biology students will be preparing for their biobottle investigation. Please have your child bring in two 2-liter bottles. In Pre-Algebra, students will use algebra tiles to simplify expressions. Algebra students will work with linear functions, specifically slope and rate of change. In Social Studies, students will learn how the first colony of Jamestown was established in America. Language Arts students will be reading “Battle of Athens” and analyzing the narrative techniques the author uses to both speed up and slow down the action of the story.

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

In Science, students will begin their human impact vocab terms and apply those terms to an ecological disaster of their choosing. Biology students will begin their radish lab to gain an understanding of how abiotic factors impact living organisms. In Language Arts, classes will be reading and analyzing three excerpts from Roald Dahl's book Going Solo. Social Studies students will be covering the Pilgrims and Puritans, Salem Witch Trials, and William Penn and the Quakers. In Pre-Algebra, we will be practicing using the Order of Operations to evaluate expressions and will be introduced to using Algebra Tiles to begin simplifying algebraic expressions. Algebra classes will explore linear relationships and rates of change.

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

Spanish students will be working with telling time in Spanish and have a quiz on Thursday. They will be starting classroom vocabulary and learning about definite articles in Spanish, which are the 4 ways to say ‘the’ in Spanish and talking about the gender and number of nouns.

Japanese

The Japanese class topics will be numbers in the hundreds, drawing and recognizing old and new kanji, counting people, and additional polite expressions.

Computer Science

7th grade students will be working on using keyboard and mouse inputs and conditional statements.

8th grade students will be wrapping up their safe projects and presenting them.

Art

In Art, we are finishing our graphite portrait project and will be beginning our next project later in the week. For students who finish their project early they can do an extra credit portrait of whoever they like (with a few guidelines). You may see them come home with a portrait of themselves, a family member, a friend, or celebrity.

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

7th Grade: Students will be starting the puzzle cube project this week. This project will have students working with 3d modeling software to create a cube that can be solved in five minutes or less.

8th Grade: Students will be starting on the light box project this week. The project allows the students to design a jack o' lantern style wooden box with a design of their choice on the front.

Digital Literacy & Communication

This week in Digital Literacy, 7th graders will be learning about how to create and analyze comics, then exploring some more types of media in the library! 8th graders will be learning how narrative techniques apply to film and comics and hosting a debate on the importance of adaptations.

Robotics

7th grade – Students will continue designing and building a model wind turbine with their team.

8th grade – Students will continue designing, building, and coding a model dragster with their team.

Flight & Space

Students will continue building their airplanes for their first project. We will then begin everyone's favorite unit-Space!

Medical Detectives

We will begin our unit on the nervous system. Students will learn how the nervous system works and what happens when it isn't communicating properly.

Below are some photos of Medial Detectives students doing their first project where they had to play doctor and figure out what their patient has.

Mrs. Lucas, Mr. Jackson & Mr. Van Winkle

Students completed their first unit assessment last week and have now started a new rotation. We will continue these rotations for the next 2 1/2 weeks. The units still consist of flag football, soccer, and fitness. Thank you again for having PE uniforms clean and ready each Monday for class. This is one of our best groups of students that are remembering their clothes each day.

Photos below from kickball and frisbee - students enjoyed this beautiful weather this week outside!

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

Band

The band classes will all have fundraising orders and money due Monday, August 26th.

The bands are all working hard on their music for their fall concert on October 1st!

Choir

We worked on our Elements of Music Research project in the library. It was great to learn more about music and citing our sources for research!

Orchestra

For Orchestra:

-FUNDRAISER forms and money are due MONDAY, 8/26! Please make sure money matches the form.

-ABC Orchestra sign-up form is due on Friday, 8/30.

-Information was passed out to students for the optional All Region and Junior All State Orchestra. Please review this material with your students and ask them if they took these papers. More info will be sent out on ParentSquare.

7th Grade Orchestra: We have started the year off well and only have a couple of students without instruments. Please see my message in ParentSquare if your student doesn't have an instrument. We have been working on posture and position in the first week of playing, and here are some pictures to help guide your students when they are practicing at home:

8th Grade Orchestra: We are now in rehearsal mode! Keep encouraging your students to resume practicing at home.

Chamber Orchestra: We have worked through all 4 of our pieces now, and we are starting to really rehearse! 7th graders should be looking through their purple Essential Elements book to practice new concepts as well as their music.

Mrs. Sever

This week, we will finish up our second checkout rotation. Encourage your students to continue to bring their books to school and to WINN every day. Mrs. Mellen's 8th grade social studies class will visit the library to complete a stations activity, as well!

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.

EARLY DISMISSALS

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 leaving early for a doctor/dentist appointment, please provide doctor/dentist verification to ensure that the absence is excused.

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 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.

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.

If your child will be absent from school due to a virtual doctor appointment, whether leaving early or coming to school late, to ensure that the absence is excused we will need you to provide written documentation of the appointment from the doctor. Please be sure to ask your doctor to email you a note to provide to school for the appointment. You can either print the email out and send to school with your child to bring to the office, or you can email it to our attendance line at

msattendance@avon-schools.org.

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 will not be granted during the following circumstances:

• NWEA and ILEARN testing
• End of Quarter Assessments
• Last three days of a semester
• 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.

You can either print this form out and complete the information requested and send into school with your child to bring to the front office, or you can fill it out and email it to our attendance email address at msattendance@avon-schools.org

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

Avon Community Schools has chosen Worth Ave. Group as the vendor of choice to insure school-issued laptops rented by students. 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.

• Coverage Term: July 18, 2024 - July 18, 2025
  • It is up to you to renew yearly.
• Enrollment Deadline: September 6, 2024
• Cost is prorated for policies purchased after September.

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, see district calendar for these dates) at Avon Intermediate School East, southside of building enter door #13.

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

Enrollment is simple. Please complete your 2024 - 2025 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.