Notes from Mrs. Barringer

Happy weekend families! There's lots of information today! Feel free to read a few times to not miss anything!

We are solidly into fall here at GIMS, with lots of great things happening around the school daily! Middle schoolers are excelling in their classes, in the hallways with behavior and on the sports teams! Way to go!

A new opportunity was offered to 7th and 8th graders this week in the form of of GIMS Honors and Leadership Club! Its motto is: Devil Pride, Honor Inside. Learn More. Do More. Be More.

Students received an email with the eligibility requirements and the application this week. It is strikingly similar to what you may know about in the national program, however it is all Grosse Ile to make it special for our students! 6th graders will have the opportunity to join the GIMS Honors and Leadership Club second semester by demonstrating character and academic effort and achievement!

The fall diagnostic test scores will be released to you through Parent Connect shortly. We really focused on good test taking and will continue to do so as they come to these tests again midyear and end of the year. When you look at these test scores, keep in mind that they are a snapshot of the child's academic skills at that moment. We will be using the data from these assessments to support student learning, so how they perform will impact the additional work that they will be given in reading and math to enhance their learning. Students who are most at risk for not being academically successful will be working with staff during advisory in a small group to build reading and math skills. While standardized tests are just part of the picture for student learning, it is one that can easily be tracked over time, and indicates success on the state mandated tests as well as future scores on the SAT (for our 8th graders). Taking testing seriously and doing their best should always be part of what is important for students. For sixth and seventh grade parents, see the letter below to learn more about the i-Ready report and your child's score. Students in 8th grade took Progress Learning instead of iReady. This test aligns to the PSAT that they will be taking at the end of the year. Copies of the report will be available at conferences, or you can let me know that you would like it sent to you by emailing me.

Parent/Teacher Conferences will be October 22nd. We look forward to seeing you there to speak about your child's growth and success! We will be available in our gym to meet with you from 1-3 pm and 5-7 pm. If you have specific concerns and may take longer than 5 minutes, please contact your child's individual teachers to set up phone conferences.

I am hosting Coffee and Conversations several mornings this year again. The first one will be October 30th at 7:30am. This is an open, casual time for parents to come in and chat with me about middle school ideas and happenings. These chats help me to think about the needs of our students and possible opportunities that can be brought about- like the Honors Club! I hope to see many of you there!

Michele Barringer Middle School Principal

This year, students have access to digital learning platforms to support their strength and learning needs. The platforms are aligned to their scores and success on our screening tools that are listed above, and may show work above or below their grade level accordingly. Students in 6th and 7th grade have access to IXL, which has created learning paths related to their needs based on the iReady assessment. 8th graders have learning pathways built into Progress Learning, which is the assessment tool that they used. Students have protected time in advisories on Fridays to work on these platforms, which present information to them in the same format as our standardized assessments. This will help them prepare for these high stakes tests, and give us more up to date information about their learning. Students have access to these platforms at any time, and teachers can use it to assign extra skill work throughout the year to support unit learning, and you can utilize it at home with work if needed as well. Access to these platforms is through the students' Clever account, and they can utilize their school issued chromebook to do this practice work easily!

I discovered that parents can log into Schoology on their own to check their student's work, grades and progress! I apologize for not sharing this sooner as I was not aware of this ability. To sign in, follow the steps below. Your Parent Connect login information is the same login for Schoology

Directions on how to log in as a Parent/Guardian can be found below:
● Navigate to https://gischools.schoology.com/login/
● Type your ParentConnect e-mail address in the “Email or Username” field.
● Type your ParentConnect password in the “Password” field.
If you are unsure what your ParentConnect password is, please select “Need Your Login
Information?” on the ParentConnection webpage. Passwords are synced each night from
ParentConnection to Schoology

Please be sure to follow the map and pull up all the way during drop off and pick up. Ensuring that you pull up before stopping to let your child out or in will ensure that we don't have vehicles blocking East River. We have had some close calls safety wise lately, and I don't want to have an issue with a student or adult being hurt during these times. Please be patient with construction traffic which continues in that area, and do not ask your child to cut through the parking lot to get to your car.

Middle School is a big change for students in a lot of ways. One of the ways is that students are asked to call home from the office when they need things. This is very different from what they are used to with cell phones these days. Many students struggle with these "old fashioned phones" and how it operates. If you get a call from the office from your student, know that the office staff have gone through the following questions (and may need some review at home if you have an old phone lying around):

1. What is a dial tone?

2. We dial "8" to get to an outside line, and "1" goes before the area code

3. Pick up the receiver before making a call

4. What's a receiver?

5. Memorizing AT LEAST one parent/guardian phone number

6. They should be thankful we don't have a rotary phone!

Using the office phone supports our cell phone policy that is place at the middle school. Thank you for helping your child uphold the policy by encouraging them to call from the office.

The Middle School Soccer Club has come out of the gate strong! Our kiddos did a great job defeating Airport 4–3! We are so proud of them!

Red Devils Volleyball Keeps Battling and Bringing Home Wins!

The Red Devils have been keeping busy on the court, showing plenty of heart, hustle, and determination!

After opening the season with two straight wins, the Red Devils faced a tough Milan team. The girls came out strong, taking the first set 25–15, before Milan battled back to take the next two sets 21–25 and 2–15.

From tough losses to tournament championships and exciting comeback victories, these girls continue to show what it means to be a team. Their hard work, resilience, and never-give-up attitude are paying off, and it’s been so much fun watching them grow and compete! So please come watch them this next week as they end their season with 2 away games and their last 2 home games With their P!NK OUT game next Thursday October 15!

Keep working hard, keep fighting for every point, and keep making us proud, Red Devils!

The 8th grade girls volleyball team won a tournament last weekend with first place over 7 teams! That was super impressive, but they ALSO won every set! Amazing work ladies! So proud of you!

The Cross Country Team had 2 meets this past week. On Saturday October 3rd was the Carlson Marauder Invitational at Lake Erie MetroPark. The team ran awesome, Several runners achieved a Personal Best Time including Rino, Max, Owen, David, Cole, Crosby, Jimmy, Weston, Axton, Vivi, Lila, and Benicia. Others that achieved a Season Best Time are Aiden, Kellen, and Kaden. On Tuesday October 6th we ran the Huron Jamboree #2 at Munson Park in Monroe. This was a challenging race for the team as the course has 2 hills. Yet they persevered and proved to themselves they could do it, with Marcus and Lila both achieving a new Personal Best Time. Our next race is the Riverview Gabriel Richard Invitation at Lake Erie MetroPark on Friday, October 16th. This is a familiar course and it will be time for the team to shine.

Thursday evening, the JV football game versus Jefferson marked the last game for the Middle School Sideline Cheer team and the last time the 8th graders will cheer a game as part of the GIMS team.

Congratulations to these middle school athletes for being nominated by their coaches for their awesome work in their sports! Well done everyone!

The Middle School received a wonderful Educational Alliance grant from Michigan Fuels and Exxon Mobil. They support schools through grants funded when citizens use their gas stations. The mission is to support the students through science and math program funding, in order to support the next generation in pursuing careers and studies in math and science fields.

Upcoming Events:

October 19-23: Scholastic Book Fair

October 22: 1/2 day for students (Parent/Teacher Conferences)

October 26: Delayed Start (Class begins at 8:55 am)

October 29: Picture Retake Day, 9-11 am

November 3: Staff only- Professional Development