The Warrior Weekly

March 12

• Indoor Track Team at U of M (am)
• Lunch Choir at SE Music Festival (pm)

March 14

• Indoor Track Team at U of M (full day, returning at 4:45 pm)

March 15

• Grade 8 Farewell Portraits (am)

Looking for Practices and Game Schedules?

Check our school calendar by clicking here

A friendly reminder that Daylight Savings Time happens this weekend, and we will all set our clocks one hour forward as we "Spring Ahead!"

Term 2 Report cards will be available on the Parent Portal on March 8. Parents and guardians are always encouraged to be in contact with your child's homeroom teacher if you have any questions about your child's progress at school.

We look forward to celebrating our students' learning in Term 2 at our spring Learning Expo on March 21, from 4:30 - 6:30!

As basketball season comes to an end for another school year, we want to acknowledge the significant amount of personal time and skillful expertise invested in our students by our volunteer coaches. Our extracurricular athletics are dependent on these amazing people.

Grade 7 Boys Basketball Coach - Mr. Carlton Reimer

Grade 8 Boys Basketball Coaches - Mr. Chris Elias, Mr. Marlin Adrian, Mr. Chris Carr

Families, please join us in extending thanks and appreciation to our basketball coaches!

Families, if your child has a Student Specific Plan (SSP) that documents specific supports received at school, the SSP will now be found on the Parent Portal. Term 2 SSPs will be available to view on the Parent Portal on March 25.

Each year at this time, our Grade 8 students gradually begin the process of saying goodbye to MMS and reflecting on the memories of their time in Middle School. To give families an opportunity to commemorate this milestone in their child's academic career, Lifetouch Portraits will be at MMS on the morning of March 15 to take Grade 8 Farewell Portraits!

We are excited to take the entire MMS student body to Winnipeg on March 19 to participate in the Manitoba Moose Project 11 School Day Game. A couple of reminders to begin considering now:

1. students who are bringing their own lunch on that day are asked to bring a bag lunch. Please do not bring canteens or lunch kits that may be forgotten.
2. students will not be permitted to bring their backpacks with to the hockey game.

We are looking forward to this great event, with an opportunity to learn about mental health as well as watch a hockey game. Thank you to Mme Francine for your work in organizing this event.

Click here to see more information about the event.

Families, recently we have observed an increase in the number of students wishing to leave the school grounds at lunch time.

Please be reminded of the following MMS 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 off school grounds 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.

After an extended period of spring like temperatures, we were reminded this week, that it is February, and February is cold! 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.

Indoor Recesses may be considered in certain circumstances. Please click here to review HSD's Cold and Hazardous Weather Guidelines.

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.

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.

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

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