The Warrior Weekly

Dec 6 - MMS Choir at SCU in the morning

Dec 7 - Term 1 Learning Expo

Looking for Basketball Practice and Game Schedules?

Check our school calendar by clicking here

Term One Report Cards are now available on the Parent Portal. Families please remember that report cards are a snapshot of your child's learning at a particular point in time. Regular communication and a strong partnership between home and school are important indicators for student success at school.

Parents, if you need help accessing your Parent Portal account, please contact the school office during regular office hours (8:00 - 4:00) and our secretaries will be happy to help you.

Families, we are looking forward to welcoming you to our Term 1 Learning Expo on Thursday, Dec 7 between 4:15 and 7:15 pm. The Learning Expo is an opportunity for our students to show off their learning during the first term. The format may look a little different depending on which grade your child is in, but at all levels parents can expect their child to take the lead in talking about and demonstrating their learning in class, and particularly with respect to our Literacy and Numeracy School Goals.

Students and families are invited to attend during the following times (note these are a little different from the times indicated on the Term 1 report card). Please take the scheduling reported here as accurate:

Students with Last Names L - Z: 4:15 - 5:40

Students with Lat Names A - K: 5:50 - 7:15

Parents, please feel welcome to contact your child's teacher at any time if you have questions about your child's progress. A strong partnership between teacher and home is an important factor in successful student achievement.

Also, for those parents interested in volunteering at the school, the school office will be open, and Mrs. Enns will be available to help parents with volunteer paperwork. As long as you are here, please consider taking a couple of minutes to begin the process of completing this paperwork. Thank you in advance for your willingness to work with our students!

At MMS, we are always searching ways to support our ABCs (academics, building character, community). Each December, our students have an opportunity to demonstrate tangible support for our community through participation in the Community Christmas Food Drive. We will be collecting themed items each day next week to contribute towards the provision of Christmas Hampers for the benefit of families in the Southeast.

Click here to see the themes and suggested donations for each day of the week. Monday is Mama Monday!

Our band and music students have been working hard in preparation for our upcoming Christmas Concert on Dec 14, and they are excited to show you what they have learned! We have two shows scheduled:

1:45 pm (doors open to public at 1:30 - families are welcome to attend this matinee)

6:30 pm (doors open to public at 5:50 pm)

As well please be reminded of two opportunities to support our fundraising efforts to build a wind shelter for our students on the playground that will be available for you at the evening show.

1. Baked goods will be for sale for your enjoyment during the show, or to take home after.
2. Draw tickets for our Gift Basket Silent Auction will be for sale before the show as well. More information about the Gift Basket Silent Auction can be found below.

We look forward to seeing our school family gather again to celebrate the season on Dec. 14!

Our next fundraising opportunity in support of the playground wind shelter is a gift basket silent auction. Some of the great baskets up for grabs include: "Winnipeg Jets Tickets," "A Night Out," "Harv's Air," and more! These gift baskets make a great Christmas gift!

Each MMS grade is also putting together a prize basket for the auction:

Gr 5 - Christmas Theme

Gr 6 - Games Night Theme

Gr 7 - Baking/Cooking Lover Theme

Gr 8 - Coffee Lover Theme

A Pizza Party will be awarded to all students in the grade that has the coolest, most stocked basket, as determined by Mr. Neufeld and Mr. Terrick.

Baskets will be on display at the Learning Expo on December 7. Tickets can be purchased from PAC members at the Learning Expo (Dec 7) and also before the evening Christmas Concert on Dec 14. During the week, tickets can be purchased from the school office.

Ticket prices are:

1 Ticket for $1.00

5 tickets for $3.00

Armlength of Tickets for $10.00

Our Phys Ed Classes will be going bowling again this year on December 12 and 13. Parents you can find the permission form on the Parent Portal. Please complete this permission form online for your child on or before December 8. Thank you Mr. Penner for arranging this Learning Trip for our students!

Warrior Wear from the official MMS Entripyshop makes a great Christmas gift too (really, between gift baskets and Warrior Wear you could do all your Christmas shopping for someone just at MMS over the next couple of weeks. Talk about convenient!). Order by December 7 to ensure your delivery arrives before Christmas! MMS receives 10% back for every clothing order made in our Entripyshop.

We know that there will be warm temperatures this weekend still, but 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.

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.

Of particular note - if you are thinking about coaching a basketball team in January, you should be having your checks completed now. Please be in contact with the school if you have any questions.

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.

Our lost and found is already REALLY full! Parents, please remind your student to check the lost and found if they are missing an item. There are a lot of hoodies in there right now! Items left in the lost and found at the end of each term are donated to charity.

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