Pacific Intermediate

Pacific Intermediate families:

Thanks for a great start to the year! It was fantastic to see so many people at our open house and welcome our new and returning families into the building.

Your help and support during morning drop off and afternoon pick up has been great. This allows us to quickly and safely drop off and pick up students. We ask for your continued support in not dropping students off before 7 a.m., as we do not have staff to monitor them at school during that time. Furthermore, we very much appreciate cars following the one direction traffic in our parking lot.

There are two home football varsity football games in September. We love seeing PI students and their families at the games! As a reminder, all PI and Riverbend students need to be escorted by their parents to the games. They also should remain seated with their parents during the game.

Picture day is September 15th. More information about this day will be sent soon. During this time, all students will have an opportunity to have their picture taken for updated student identification cards.

We have a couple of different places on the internet for you to find our information about what’s going on at Pacific Intermediate. Our website address is www.mvr3.k12.mo.us/o/pi in addition to updates about occurrences, all staff emails can be found under the Explore→Staff tab at the top of the page. While printed copies of the handbook can be found in the student planners, the most up to date copy of the board approved handbook can be found on the website. Additionally, our twitter is @PI_MVR3 and our Facebook page is Pacific Intermediate.

We are working with a new system this year for check in and check out of students. If you need to pick up your student, you will be required to present your identification in order to verify you within the system. This system will help us provide one more layer of security while we are protecting our kids and we thank you for your help!

We are looking forward to a great year and lots of exciting memories!

Yours in education,

Matt Agee

Pacific Intermediate Principal

Mrs. Alcorn~Math

Mr. Gilcrease~Language Arts & Reading

Mrs. Bielicke~Science & Social Studies

Mrs. Aubuchon~Math

Ms. Shearin~ Language Arts & Reading

Mr. Wengler~Science & Social Studies

Ms. DiBlasi~Math

Mrs. Menley~ Language Arts & Reading

Mrs. Jackson~Science & Social Studies

In 5th grade math students are working with whole numbers. We will be spending the first few days in September adding, subtracting, rounding, and comparing. We will soon be moving to multiplication and division. Students are encouraged to review their basic multiplication facts (0-12) for their weekly facts test. This will also help with our upcoming unit.

Reading: We started the year with Elements of Fiction, learning about plot, setting, and characters. Later this month we will be talking about Point of View.

Grammar: Students stated learning Parts of Speech. Ask your student what an article is. We will be learning about nouns, pronouns, verbs, adverbs, adjectives, prepositions, conjunctions, and interjections.

Writing: Students are working on sentence structure. Students have been practicing writing in complete sentences and restating the question. This will progress in to writing complete paragraphs.

5th Grade Science: We are beginning our first unit using our Mystery Science resource. Students will begin to explore and deepen their understanding of how matter and energy flow through different ecosystems. In addition, students will use the scientific process to make observations, ask questions, and design fair tests.

5th Grade Social Studies: Students will continue to study American Government. We will analyze the roles and responsibilities of our local, state, and federal governments. We will then start traveling along the timeline of history post-revolution through the 21st century!

Math~ Mrs. Weil

English~ Mrs. Stumborg

Science~ Mrs. Todahl

Social Studies~ Mr. Slaughter

Math~ Mrs. Voss

English~Mrs. Boling

Science~Mrs. Vondera

Social Studies~Mr. Effan

Mr. McMahon

Welcome to 6th Grade! We have hit the ground running. Most of us have settled into our routines and know what we are doing. Please make sure you are checking Tyler SIS to keep up to date with your child's grades and assignments.

English:

Sixth-grade English students are currently working on academic terms for our first vocabulary unit. They are also going to start brainstorming for their first project, the survey project, soon. For this unit, students come up with an idea for a new invention and write questions about what types of features the invention should have. Eventually, the students turn their questions into a survey for their classmates to take. They will then take that information and present it to their classmates.

Reading:

In 6th grade reading, we are wrapping up the beginning of the year testing. We are testing the students for fluency and comprehension. After all the students finish testing, we are going to start our first unit in the Into Literature textbook. This unit is entitled "Finding Courage". The unit contains fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and media analysis. They have a classroom textbook, but all materials can be accessed online through Clever.

Math:

6th-grade math is off to a fast start! Your child will be bringing home math homework most nights. Please check the Big ideas website for any assignments. If your child is having difficulties they may see their teacher in the morning from 7:05 – 7:25. Please make sure your child has plenty of pencils to get them through the month.

Social Studies:

6th grade Social Studies has gotten off to a great year. We are getting into our first unit about stone age mankind, discussing everything from cavemen to the very first farming civilizations. We will be exploring how to design our own villages and understanding how to survive in the ancient world. We should be ending our first unit and taking the unit test the third week of September.

Science:

In science, we started off the year reviewing the Scientific Method. Your student may have homework so please be checking in with them nightly to see if they have any. Make sure you are receiving emails from the school so you are staying up to date. We will be having our end-of-the-unit test at the end of the month.

PI Parents,

Pacific Intermediate students and teachers are off to a wonderful start this year. Our returning sixth graders are enjoying their new freedom of changing classes, and having the opportunity to meet more of their classmates. Our fifth grade students are transitioning well to a new building, starting earlier and merging with the other four elementary schools. This is the beginning of making new lifetime friends. Teachers are impressed with the students listening skills, ability to follow new routines, and most of all their respect towards each other.

Most of the students I talk to are adjusting to the new year and the new challenges. However, I know some are struggling. If your child is struggling, please let their homeroom teacher and/or myself know so we can reach out to discuss how we can help. Sometimes just knowing you can talk to someone regarding an issue will make it seem less overwhelming. As always, parents can also contact us and let guidance know any concerns you may have.

I will be in your child’s classroom each month to discuss guidance topics such as avoiding peer pressure, staying safe, steps to making effective decisions, making and keeping friends, healthy relationships, conflict resolution, bullying- our school’s policy and how to help stop. In addition, I will cover respecting each other as individuals and parts of a group, setting goals, careers, mental health and the importance of reporting suicide ideation. This month I will be in the 5th and 6th grade classrooms discussing our school policy on bullying and how we want students to report.

Finally, Mrs. Kerbel is back again as our Educational Support Counselor. This is her third year at Pacific Intermediate. She works with students needing additional counseling support due to school, family or personal issues.

Thank you for sharing your wonderful children with us at Pacific Intermediate. We are looking forward to a great year. Please let me know if I can be of any assistance.

Sincerely,

Jeanne M. Diamond

PI School Counselor

Pacific Intermediate

195 N Indian Pride Dr.

Pacific, MO 63069

www.mvr3.k12.mo.us

Phone: 636-271-1425

Fax: 636-271-1465