Cubs Newsletter

The "Sleep On It!" project has officially started. Students in Ms. Albrecht's Leadership class visited home rooms on Friday to tell their peers all about getting more sleep. Students are encouraged to track their sleep and will get prizes for participating. There will be a friendly competition between homerooms, and I've agreed to buy doughnuts for the homeroom with the most kids participating.

This project is special because it was the student's idea, they did all the planning, and they have done a lot of work to make it a reality.

They have asked our Parent Support Team for help funding some of their ideas. We need your help, too! Here is a link to sign up to contribute to this important project. Thanks so much!! MMS Leadership Class: MMS Sleep Campaign

MMS Sleep Campaign

The Leadership Class of Moscow Middle School is hosting a school-wide event in order to help students create healthy sleeping habits, improve students' emotional well-being, and raise awareness on the importance of sleep as a growing teen. This event will be taking place during the last two weeks of April, right before our State's ISAT testing in hope to make students feel more prepared and ready for the long testing season. Students will participate by filling out daily sleep trackers and will submit their trackers for raffle prizes. Our class is requesting parents for the items below to put inside these prizes. Thank you! Mrs. Albrecht's Leadership Class Students

signupgenius.com

We have made it through the first week of "The Great Locker Experiment of 2026." There were no riots or walk-outs. All the students were respectful albeit a bit disgruntled. I got some side eye...some looks of exasperation...but I also had the opportunity to have a lot of conversations! We all did our best - the 7th graders, the teachers, and me.

I've told the kids that if they want to go back to schlepping backpacks around on April 27th, that they could - I would declare the experiment finished after Friday April 24th. I'll also give them the opportunity to share their thoughts in a quick survey they will complete during home room. If students choose to keep using their locker after that, they sure can!

Monday: A lot of angst. Some of the lockers still had locks (I thought we had them all off...we didn't) which made the experiment harder for some kids, but it was good to see the difference between those that had to work their locks and those that didn't.

Tuesday morning: Much easier! All the locks were off and the shock and awe had dissipated.

Tuesday after school: "Mrs. Summers, I actually like my locker!" "Mrs. Summers, can I hang a mirror up in my locker?" Even..."Mrs. Summers, I LOVE my locker!"

Wednesday: A couple of 8th graders got a little jealous and decorated their locker. They broke a few rules in doing so, but since none of the kids were using lockers, they didn't know we had rules! We got it sorted. :)

Thursday: Some kids asked how much longer the experiment would be in effect...they are still on the fence. Many were admitting that it did feel better not packing so much stuff around. Others are still feeling unsure about leaving their "stuff" behind in lockers.

Friday: For 7th graders, using lockers had become the new normal.

As promised - this is truly an experiment, and we are gathering a lot of information. How will the kids do with lockers? Will teachers want to go back to lockers? What procedures and protocols would we need to implement if we did decide to go back to lockers? This experiment will help us make decisions and preparations for next year.

Thank YOU for all your support! I heard from several parents, and kids too reported that parents had chatted with them at home about giving this a chance. I truly appreciate your help. I'm sure you all got some side-eye and eye rolls too...on my behalf...I'm sorry about that. Solidarity forever. ✊

The first week of our after-school Homework Club was a success. We had one or two more parents sign up every day! Word is getting out!

Note - parents will need to fill out the form every week. We are doing this for a variety of reasons, some of which have to do with the grant that is funding this project, but also because we want to make sure that parents know about their student's after school plans. We need to know that you know that your child will be staying after school. We know how busy kids are and some might come to HW Club for part of a week, but not every day, or they might need help for one week, but then not need it anymore! There are a lot of adults involved that need to be sure we know where the kids are! 😊We also want to make sure that kids are discussing their progress, and how school is going, with their parents at least once a week. Filling the form out together is a great way for parents and students to check-in with each other, and with us.

What: MMS after school "Homework Club"

When: Monday - Thursday at MMS in Ms. Bird's room #101

What time: Homework Club ends a bit before 4:30 PM

What about transportation? Students can walk, get picked up, OR ride the bus

Who: Ms. Bird is our Homework Club Leader. MHS senior, Taylor McLuen will be her assistant

How: Students must be referred by a parent and/or teacher and be officially signed up to attend Homework Club each week using this form:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeXxTCODN9AlU0VGilsS8jIP0-L4DfVC6YnWr2HwYCNlne48A/viewform?usp=header

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8th Grade Science - UI Engineering EXPO

Parents - you received an email from Belinda Sell last week about the UI Engineering EXPO - another one. We will be taking all 8th graders to this event to see how engineering is used to solve real-world problems in the morning on Friday, May 1st. Ms. Sell's email is confirmation that you give permission for your 8th grader to attend this event at the University of Idaho and to fill out the registration forms that UI requires. If you want to "Opt Out" your student, from any of these events or UI registration requirements, please reply to Ms. Sell as soon as possible so that we can make other arrangements for you student on the day of the field trip. Or if you'd like to help with this event from 9:00 am - 11:00 am. All communication should go through Ms. Sell directly at sellb@msd281.org

This is the time of year when we are getting kids all set up and registered for next year. This includes getting current 5th graders ready to make the giant leap from elementary to the secondary level. We host a few events to help with this - one event is for 5th graders that attend an MSD elementary school - West Park, Lena Whitmore, or McDonald Elementary. That is happening this week, and those families have heard all about it from their teachers and respective schools.

However, we also hold a special event for anyone that currently attends one of the local private, charter or home schools. Those families are harder for us to reach...because they aren't yet part of our school system. If you know of anyone that might be interested in having their middle school age student join our school, please let them know that we are holding a "Join the Cubs" information night on April 28th at 6:00 here in the MPR.

Everyone - Cubs, former Cubs, future Cubs, maybe gonna be Cubs, and all their adults are invited to attend our EXPO night on May 21st. (More info on EXPO night is coming your way soon!)