In the Middle of Fairfield

The Knights of the Month are selected by their teachers for best representing

the qualities of a Knight, by being Respectful, Responsible, and Ready to Learn!

🎉 Congratulations to the following students! 🏰

We are proud to recognize these students for being selected as September Knights of the Month!

These outstanding students were chosen by their teachers for consistently demonstrating what it means to be a Knight — by being Respectful, Responsible, and Ready to Learn each and every day.

👏 Keep up the great work, and thank you for being shining examples for your peers!

Front Row: Left to Right, Sophia Rondinelli, Vivien Fry, Madison Richardson and Owen Wastler

Back Row: Left to Right, Mr. Hoffacker, Xander Michaels, T.D., Emry Ebaugh, Adelynn Weatherly and Jaxon Redding

🛡️ Xander Michaels

Xander has shown the true qualities of a Knight in many ways. He always tries his best with every assignment and works hard in class, asking questions whenever needed. Xander follows directions, stays on task, and consistently works to the best of his ability. He excels both independently and in group settings. Always prepared for class, Xander serves as an excellent role model for other students. He is respectful to both his teachers and peers. We are very proud of Xander and all of his effort and dedication that have earned him the honor of being October’s Knight of the Month.

🛡️ Madison Richardson

Madison is an outstanding example of what it means to be a Knight of the Month. She is consistently respectful toward her peers and teachers. Madison demonstrates responsibility by always being prepared for class, completing assignments on time, and staying on task. She sets a wonderful example for others by always trying her best, participating actively in class, and asking thoughtful questions. We are very proud of Madison and all of her hard work and positive attitude both in and out of the classroom.

🛡️ Jaxton Redding

Jaxton, you have been doing an excellent job in all areas and have worked hard to make great improvements. You are respectful to your teachers, responsible in your daily habits, and always ready to learn when we switch classes. Thank you for being a positive example for your classmates. We are proud of your efforts and dedication—congratulations on being recognized as October’s Knight of the Month!

🛡️ Vivien Fry

Vivien demonstrates the qualities of a knight by being respectful, responsible, and ready to learn. She shows respect as she gives eyes and attention to the speaker, whether it is a classmate, teacher, or substitute. She is responsible by keeping her materials organized, completing her work on or before the due date, and arriving to class promptly after transitions. She leads by example during small group tasks, staying focused, and using her time wisely. She shows she is ready to learn by making a conscientious effort to consistently produce work of the highest quality, and she even takes notes in social studies class during lectures and videos even when they aren’t even required. We are very proud of Vivien and the example she sets for her peers.

🛡️ Owen Wastler

Owen demonstrates the qualities of a knight by being respectful, responsible, and ready to learn. Owen is respectful to whomever is in the room, be it a teacher, counselor, or substitute. He listens and follows directions consistently. He waits patiently to speak without interrupting others’ conversations. He shows he is responsible in the way that he organizes his materials, stays motivated to complete work in a timely manner, and he advocates for himself and others when he notices wrong doing. Owen is someone who will stand up to bullying and stand for what is right. He shows he is ready to learn by actively participating in class. Most days he answers ten or more questions in a single social studies class. He looks for and responds to constructive feedback on assignments, and he asks thoughtful questions. We are very proud of Owen and his hard work this month!

🛡️ T. D.

T.D. is an enjoyable student to have and everything a teacher looks for in a Fairfield Knight.

T.D. comes to class with a smile and a positive attitude. He is very receptive to constructive criticism from his teachers and always puts his best effort into his work. T.D. is willing to work with all of his classmates and gets along with all of his peers. T.D. is a leader for his classmates by modeling respect, responsibility and a readiness to learn when he comes to school. The 7th grade team is proud of T.D. and the hard work he has put into his academics this school year.

🛡️ Sophia Rondinelli

Sophia is a delight to have as a student and demonstrates respect, responsibility and a readiness to learn at Fairfield Middle School. Sophia makes sure that she is ready for class with all of her school supplies and homework and always on time for her classes. In class, Sophia asks great questions and demonstrates that she is always ready to learn by listening to her teachers and peers. Sophia is kind to all of her peers and can work with anyone. The classroom is a better place when Sophia is in it because of her kindness, dedication to her classes and smile that she brings with her!

🛡️ Adelynn Weatherly

Adie is a student whose intelligence and maturity elevates the learning environment for the entire class. Her academic preparation is second to none, and her contributions in class serve to propel class discussions as well as comprehension. Adie’s presence within as well as outside the classroom exemplifies what it means to be a Fairfield Knight of the Month, by being respectful, responsible, and ready to learn.

🛡️ Emry Ebaugh

When contemplating what it means to be a Fairfield Knight of the Month, one immediately thinks of Emry. Not only does Emry exceed expectations academically, but he exemplifies trustworthiness and honor. He is thoughtful and empathetic, anticipating when assistance is needed and then providing it. Emry embodies the leadership qualities, which serve to strengthen the entire school community.

👏 Keep up the great work, and thank you for being shining examples for your peers!

As the first marking period comes to a close, we’re excited to celebrate our students’ hard work and positive behavior!

Our top ticket earners from each grade level will be invited on a special field trip to mini golf and McDonald’s in Gettysburg on October 29th.

In addition, our Principal’s Challenge winners will be selected based on attendance, behavior, and completion of assignments. These students will receive a special treat in recognition of their efforts!

Looking ahead, on Monday, November 10th, all students with no illegal absences, no missing assignments, and no discipline referrals will enjoy donuts delivered by the Principal as part of our ongoing Principal’s Challenge.

The Principal’s Challenge is held each marking period to reward students who demonstrate strong attendance, positive behavior, and academic responsibility.

I If you have a chance please stop by and check our lost and found for any items your student may have left behind or can't find. We are having our Parent Teacher Conferences by appointment only tonight and tomorrow. November 5th & 6th but we will be here from 3:30-7:00 if you would like to come in and look.

📘 No School: November 7th – Teacher In-service

🦃 Thanksgiving Break: November 26th–28th – No School

If your son or daughter is planning on playing a winter sport, a registration survey must be completed by Nov 10th. The link is below:

👉Middle School Winter Sports Registration

We have taken the Fairfield Middle School Morning announcements into the VISUAL world by using Google Meet each day. We need students to support this endeavor by volunteering to be the announcers, submitting requests for songs and videos, or showcasing their top-notch work and demonstrating their pride in their accomplishments. Please have your student utilize the links provided for them to support our efforts to make the most of each morning with GOOD VIBES.

Join the FAMS in the AM TEAM

Make a SONG REQUEST

Submit an entry for STUDENT SHOWCASE

5th grade has learned about the DESIGN PROCESS and worked their way through on how to design and create an APP for a specific customer and purpose. 7th grade has been working their way through the DESIGN PROCESS to create their own glider to be cut from our school engraver. They found out about the forces of flight, parts of a plane, the importance and reason for call signs on planes, and a drafting program to send their design to the engraver. Learning new programs and getting our different programs to talk to each other have been some of the highlights of this HIGH FLYING adventure!

Students worked to manipulate their call sign onto the glider template and set it up so the engraver would cut out the plane pieces, but engrave their call sign.

These Students are SOARING!!

~Mrs. Mentzer

Math/Algebra

This past month we dove into exponent properties, exploring product of powers, power of products, quotient of powers, power of a power, zero exponents, and negative exponents. Our students also learned how to convert numbers from standard form to scientific notation and perform operations with scientific notation. Mastering the ability to use exponents and scientific notation is a valuable skill that will serve them well in real-life situations, especially when working with very large and very small numbers. Please encourage your child to stay engaged and motivated as we begin the second quarter! Thank you for your continued support, it truly makes a difference in their academic success!

In eighth grade science WIN the students created elephant toothpaste! In an elephant toothpaste science lab, students prepare for an energetic demonstration of a catalyzed chemical reaction. They watch as hydrogen peroxide rapidly decomposes into water and oxygen gas when a catalyst, such as potassium iodide or yeast, is introduced. The oxygen gas is quickly trapped by a small amount of dish soap, which causes a large amount of foam to erupt from the container, resembling a giant tube of toothpaste. This dramatic and rapid reaction allows students to observe the creation of an exothermic reaction, where the release of heat and gas visibly illustrates chemical change

There are lots of great things happening in 8th Grade Social Studies. The students have learned a great deal about Native American tribal cultures and the earliest parts of U.S. History so far this year. They have also created some amazing culturally relevant works of art. The new marking period will include learning about early explorers, colonial life and America’s first steps towards independence. I am also excited to welcome Mr. McCaulley to the 8th Grade Team. He will be taking over teaching 8th Grade Social Studies at the beginning of November. I hope he finds not only the Fairfield Area students, but faculty, staff, and community as warm and supportive as I have these past 7 years. I will be leaving for a new adventure in administration at the end of October. And with that said, I want to thank all of the students, parents, teachers, and staff in the Fairfield Area School District for all of your help and support in educating the next generation. This school district is and I hope will always be a special place to teach. I am a better person for being a part of this wonderful community.

~Mr. Ditty

🎉 Congratulations, Viven Fry! 🍎

We’re thrilled to celebrate Viven Fry for winning 1st place in the Apple Harvest Festival with her stunning Apple Art drawing! Your creativity and talent truly shine — what a beautiful way to capture the spirit of the season!

🍏✨ Way to go, Viven!

This month in ELA, we are continuing to read the novel Holes by Louis Sachar. Students are learning new vocabulary and practicing writing concepts by responding to open ended questions. They are reviewing essential questions that go along with the novel with themes that include friendship, justice, and fairness. Students have completed their first book report project of the year. Along with a written report, students had several options for their projects. The project that was the most popular was the bottle buddy! Students created a project out of a bottle to represent a character in their book. Students are continuing to learn new grammar concepts as well as strengthening their reading skills.

🍎🎨 Your creativity and talent truly stood out — well deserved! 👏✨

In social studies class, students have been learning about the two religions that originated in ancient India- Hinduism and Buddhism. They enjoyed immersing themselves in a caste system simulation. Even the untouchables were having fun touching their artifacts and engaging in chores! Students enjoyed learning about Hindu gods and goddesses and creating posters for their favorite deities. When we switched gears to study Buddhism, students were able to watch Mrs. Kemp’s WIN and Knight Time groups perform two Buddhist fables that communicated the Buddhist themes of nonviolence and generosity.

In Math we have been learning about rational numbers and how we can compare them and convert them when they are in different forms so we utilize them to cook, with construction, and many other real life tasks. We will be extending our knowledge of fractions and decimals in the month to come.

🧮 Math Class

In math class, we have mastered place value and powers of 10, as well as double- and triple-digit multiplication, division, and interpreting remainders. In November, we’re moving into an exciting new topic — numerical expressions! Students will be learning how to write and evaluate expressions using the correct order of operations.
💡 Ask your child to try to stump you with a numerical expression challenge — it’s a fun way to practice together at home!

📚 ELA Class

The fifth graders have completed their first letter essay and delivered all book talks for the first quarter — and they did a spectacular job on both! Students continue to focus on grammar skills and applying them in their weekly paragraphs and other written assignments.

We have been diving into the novel Because of Winn-Dixie. Ask your child what metaphor the main character, Opal, uses to describe her father, the preacher — it’s a great way to spark discussion about figurative language and character development.

To round out the first quarter and transition into the second, the fifth graders are working on a nonfiction book project in the library with Mrs. Mickley and Mrs. Shaffer. It’s always exciting to see what topics the students choose to explore in greater depth through this project!

🔬 Science & Social Studies Class

As we begin the second marking period, our focus shifts from social studies to science. Our first unit will explore matter, including chemical and physical changes.

November also brings Veterans Day, a special time to honor and reflect on the service of our veterans. We are looking forward to meeting with families during parent-teacher conferences on November 5th and 6th, and of course, we’re all excited for the upcoming Thanksgiving break at the end of the month!

We cannot believe that we have completed Quarter One. It seems like just yesterday that we were starting this brand new school year. Last month, we definitely worked hard in both Math and ELA. In ELA we continued reading passages where we made connections, made predictions, discovered the main idea, created a summary and identified the genre. To branch out with Genres we decided to take a look at Biographies. The students chose Tim Burton to learn about. We also took a look at the many movies that he is famous for. We researched his style, and the characteristics that he uses when he is creating his characters. We actually viewed some scenes from The Nightmare Before Christmas. After learning all that we could learn about Tim Burton the students were able to model Tim Burton’s style and create their very own “Spooky Selfie “. They had to write facts that they had learned about Tim Burton on an Index Card that was attached to their Spookie Selfie and follow the guidelines of a Rubric. The students did a fantastic job! These are now proudly hung in our halls outside Mrs.Bechtel’s room. Don’t forget to look for Mrs.Bechtel’s and Ms.Robin’s who have a Spookie Selfie hanging as well! Next, we will look at Poetry and tour 5th grade students who already have a head start making an Acrostic Poem on a Famous Explorer for Mrs.Kozack’s Social Studies class!

In Math, we continue to use CUBES to work through Word problems which are now multi-step word problems where there is more than one operation to be used in order to solve. We have been creating our own word problems, as well. We are also solving Two digit by 2 digit multiplication problems. We have been working on our Fast Facts and the students love it when they beat the timer! We have discovered that we know our 0, 1, 2, 5, 10, and 11’s. We are very close with our 3’s and 4’s. Moving forward we will be starting with Division.

The students work very hard and give wonderful effort. Mrs.Bechtel’s students are ROCK STARS!

🎵 6th Grade General Music Update – Quarter One 🎵

Quarter one has wrapped up, and what a fantastic start it has been! Our 6th-grade musicians ended the quarter by learning to play the ukulele — and they did a great job! It was wonderful to see their enthusiasm and musical growth.

📅 Stay Up to Date with Knight Time Rehearsals and Events
Check the Knight Time calendars for November to stay informed about upcoming rehearsals and performances:

Knight time 5th and 6th Band & Chorus November Calendars - click here

Knight time 7th and 8th Band & Chorus November Calendars - click here

🎖️ Musicians of the Month

Congratulations to our outstanding students!

• Ellie Yost – 5th & 6th Grade Musician of the Month
  Ellie displays exceptional leadership, strong musicianship, and serves as a positive role model for her peers.

• Qianna Chendikum – 7th & 8th Grade Musician of the Month
  Qianna shows leadership, musicianship, initiative, and sets a wonderful example for her classmates.

Veteran’s Day Performance

The 7th & 8th Grade Band and Select Chorus will perform at the Veteran’s Day Breakfast on November 11 at Liberty Mountain Resort in honor of our veterans.
Please visit the district website for RSVP information for veterans. More details will be shared soon with student performers.

🎶 ACMEA County Chorus Festival
The ACMEA County Chorus Festival will take place November 21–22 at Gettysburg Area High School.
The concert will be held on Saturday, November 22. Congratulations to all the students selected to participate — we’re proud of you!

Attention band and chorus students in grades 7–12:

October/November fundraiser with The Freckled Moose!

We'll be selling Butter Braids and Cake Rolls—just in time for the Thanksgiving season.

Started on Oct. 27th

Forms & Money Due by November 12th

Delivery - Monday, November 24th from 2:30-4:00 at Exit 18 by the chorus room.

If your child has come home with a school ice pack, please return it to the office.

We’ve loaned them all out and haven’t received many back.

Thank you for your help and support!

Our district has amazing faculty and staff that deserve to be celebrated! 🎉
Please take a moment to nominate an outstanding Fairfield Area School District employee!
Do you know a teacher, staff member, or colleague who goes above and beyond? Whether you're a coworker inspired by a fellow employee, a parent impressed by your child's teacher, or a student impacted by a dedicated staff member, we want to hear about them!

Nominate someone today for the Shining Knight recognition and help us celebrate those who make a difference every day! ✨

We’re thrilled to welcome Miss Sites as our new Attendance Coordinator for Middle School and High School! She will be your primary point of contact for all things attendance-related.

Whether you’re:

• Reporting an absence

• Following up on a tardy

• Or have questions about attendance policies...

Miss Sites is here to help!
Welcome to the team, Miss Sites — we’re so glad to have you!

📝 Need to Send a Note? It’s Easy!

Option 1: Go old-school
Handwrite a note and send it in with your student. ✍🏻

Option 2: Send an email
📩 Email Miss Sites directly at: sitesc@fairfield.k12.pa.us

👉 Be sure to include the reason your student was absent or late.

⏰ A Few Friendly Reminders:

• Students are allowed 10 parent notes per school year for absences.

• Doctor’s notes are best whenever possible — they help ensure absences are excused properly!

Thank you for helping us keep attendance on track. We’re looking forward to a great school year!

You'll need to complete an Educational Journey Form. Students are allowed 5 educational journey days per year. Please submit your Educational Journey Form online or send in with your student. Please try and get it in at least 10 days prior to your trip.