William Cullen Bryant

The MISSION of Middletown Middle School is to engage students as 21st century learners who strive to achieve their goals. We support students through rigor and active participation within a culture of cooperation, organization, determination and excellence to prepare our students for college and careers.

“The Vision of Middletown Middle School is to challenge students of all abilities to achieve excellence in a wide range of academic and cultural pursuits. Students are equipped to meet the demands and opportunities of the 21st century by receiving a differentiated, effective, and rigorous curriculum. Staff believe and demonstrate that all students can master the essential 21st century skills. The culture of Middletown Middle will include high expectations for all, frequent monitoring of student progress, multiple opportunities for student learning, high levels of engagement, exceptional communication, and daily purposeful integration of technology. We will make it a priority to recognize the academic and extracurricular achievements of our school community. Middletown Middle School will have highly-motivated professional staff and authentic partnerships between the school and home.”

At MiMS we believe...

• Knowledge is enthusiastically cultivated through all endeavors, which lays the foundation for students to be lifelong learners is a primary focus.
• Nurturing creativity allows students to grow and develop their own personal strengths so that their unique talents are celebrated each day.
• Investing in others’ success creates a school environment where those around us are held in the highest regard and their needs are sought out and elevated.
• Generously serving others in our community and beyond sets ourselves on a path to ensure that their welfare and happiness is a priority.
• Honoring the rich diversity that exists within our school community where respect and inclusiveness promotes and celebrates the uniqueness of each of our students.
• Transcending the status quo will build a world where Middletown Middle School students lead the way towards a future that is prosperous and beneficial to all.
• Safety for all those that set foot in our building is a paramount concern because without it the high standards we hold for student achieve and instruction cannot take place.

April 11 (Monday): MiMS Parent/Community Meeting, 6:30-8:00 PM

April 15-18 (Friday-Monday): Schools and Offices Closed

April 19-22 (Tuesday-Friday): Schools Closed for Students

May 6 (Friday): 2-Hour Early Dismissal for Students

May 20 (Friday): 2-Hour Early Dismissal for Students

May 30 (Monday): Schools and Offices Closed

MCAP Testing Date Reminders:

APRIL 11-13: 6th grade ELA and Math

APRIL 25-27: 7TH grade ELA and Math

APRIL 28 & 29: 8th grade ELA

MAY 4 & 5: 8th grade Social Studies

MAY 9: 8th grade Math

Testing season is upon us! Your student has been working hard all year! Consider reviewing these test taking strategies to ensure they are giving their best efforts on all upcoming assessments.

BEFORE, DURING & AFTER

• Get a good night’s sleep!

• Eat a hearty breakfast.

• Allow yourself some extra time to relax.

• Listen attentively to all verbal directions.

• Read over the directions carefully.

• Read each question and each answer choice closely.

• Budget your time wisely.

• Use the tools provided to you.

• Stay positive!

• Double check you’ve answered every question before submitting.

• Remain quiet until all students have finished their assessments.

• Enjoy some water and a snack.

• Bring a book to read.

All students were given a Verification Sheet that indicates the classes they are scheduled for next year. This Verification Sheet was due to the counseling office on March 25. Counselors will use these to create schedules for next school year. This is a lengthy process and schedules will not be available until August. Please watch your email for information about our Annual Knights Essentials Day and our Back to School Night in early August. If you have any scheduling questions please reach out to your student’s grade level counselor.

Did you know that Frederick county has 14,546 children with hunger-related issues? Food insecurity means that children go to school with empty stomachs, that parents, grandparents, and other caregivers skip meals so that children can eat. The MiMS Student Government Association is sponsoring a Food Drive for the Middletown Food Bank from April 4- April 8. Please send in your non-perishable food items and personal hygiene products to help stock our local food bank.

Over the past three weeks, our school community has shared an experience together that has caused all of us to step back and take a pause. We pause to react, recover, heal and renew. Our reaction was one ranging from shock, sadness, fear and anger. Collectively, we came together to support one another, which was beautifully illustrated by the rally held on Friday, March 11th. When experiencing feelings and emotions such as those above, there is a need for recovery. Experiences that weigh so heavily on the human spirit take a toll that is not easily viewed on the surface, requiring purposeful, dedicated time to convalesce and move towards a place where we are able to begin to heal. Healing from what took place last month takes time, support for one another and renewal of the collective spirit that exists at the core of any school community. Middletown Middle School affirms our commitment to renew and affirm who we are as a community where we rededicate ourselves to sustaining an environment that welcomes, appreciates, celebrates and loves all that are a part of our beautiful and unique school family.

During the time since March 9th, Middletown Middle School staff and administration have dedicated time to look at our processes and protocols to determine what needs adjusting, refining or reinforcing to clearly declare to the community who we are. As a first step, we sought to reaffirm our commitment to the students and staff at MiMS through the message found here, which was read each day during our morning announcements. On March 21st, students representative of our community gathered for the first of many “Student Voices” discussions. This FCPS program involves small groups of students participating in focus groups facilitated by central office staff from the Office of Cultural Proficiency/Equity and MIMS staff. The program aims to create an ongoing structure where students listen to the perspective of others, discuss misconceptions and plan how to transform their school into a place where everyone belongs, is united, and has a voice. From these discussions, the students and staff create action plans to make positive culture change. The focus groups have follow-up meetings, and students in the focus group can change to capture as many student voices over time. In addition to the March 21st student group, the FCPS Equity Office returned on March 22nd to engage our Black and African American students in an open forum where, again, students were provided with an opportunity to be heard and offer feedback so that action can be taken to positively impact our school’s culture.

On Friday, March 25th, our students gathered in their grade level groups to hear messages from me as well as from the Frederick County Sheriff’s Office. We took the opportunity to reaffirm who we are and what we believe. Students and staff reflected on events of the last two weeks while also being purposeful about renewing our commitment to one another and to the community as a whole in everything we say and do. The focus and renewal for who we are and what we believe centered around the KNIGHTS acronym and descriptions below. I hope you can take some time this weekend to talk over with your child(ren) what their thoughts and feelings are based on what the beliefs below mean to them. We also had the opportunity to hear from Lt. Deater, Deputy Smothers, Sgt. Britt and Cpl. Hadeed from the Frederick County Sheriff's Office on the importance of being responsible with digital communication, specifically social media. Their message resonated well with the students as they reinforced how they can remain safe and responsible in regard to their digital practices. Finally, Dr. Eric Louers-Phillips (Executive Director of Public Affairs) shared some affirming comments, which included some personal examples that reinforced our message and provided additional motivation for the students.

In the near future, a “Town Hall Meeting” will take place through a collaborative effort between the Frederick County Sheriff’s Office, FCPS and the MiMS administration. Please be on the lookout for details on this event coming soon. In the meantime, the MiMS adminstration will host our own Parent/Community Meeting on April 11th from 6:30-8PM in the MiMS cafeteria. Please join us that evening as we dialogue about recent events and listen to your thoughts and feelings based on the last three weeks as well as your experiences as a MiMS parent/community member. Additionally, MiMS is taking distinct efforts to involve families more in the daily occurrences of the school day. We are asking parents and guardians to consider volunteering in different ways throughout the school day assisting with lunch/recess supervision, various office-focused activities or other identified needs in and around the school. Research shows that parental/guardian involvement in their child(ren)’s school results in higher academic achievement, lower emotional challenges and a stronger connection between the home and school. Please complete the form here: https://forms.gle/XJRjR5fzsNU9dXRp7 if you are interested in serving as a volunteer at MiMS. Also, please make sure to complete the FCPS volunteer training found here: https://tinyurl.com/5y5uw2pe.

Additionally, as a school staff we have and will also ensure that students, staff and families understand how to report acts of hate and racial discrimination at MiMS. Our expectations are that any and all incidents need to be reported, documented and thoroughly investigated.

We are reinforcing to students their responsibility as Knights can extend to their social media posts and how school consequences can be enforced if they do not uphold these values and their actions impact other students or the daily operations of the school day. We also commit to reinforcing our procedures in regard to the use of progressive discipline and that our zero tolerance for hate and discrimination is our constant and unwavering vow to the community. If a parent/guardian or a student feels the need to report a situation involving bullying/harassment/intimidation/discrimination, the form for reporting it can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/2jxte223. Finally, students will participate in the intentional implementation of appropriate SEL lessons that address the issues that are facing MiMS students. Finally, we recognize that there is always room for activities that focus on unity and the strengthening of our commitment to one another in all we say and do. We are excited at the prospect of planning and participating with students in unity-focused time working towards a stronger school community.

We want to thank all of you for your support and continued collaboration in the days and weeks ahead. Internationally acclaimed organizational consultant and author, Idowu Koyenikan, has said, “A community that is engaged and working together can be a powerful force.” I truly believe that we will serve each other as a powerful force AND we will show this power to the larger Frederick County community where we will be an example to all.

Honored to Serve,

Paul Fer

paul.fer@fcps.org

240-236-4209

HUGE thank you to Melissa Lippy, Marianne Lipinski, Jennifer Casey and the PTSA for an amazing event where families worked through the various breakout boxes to acquire the magical gems in order to free the sword from the stone. Sadly, Mr. Fer thought he could remove the sword without the magical gems!

It's fourth quarter! Students in sixth grade science have just completed their study of climate factors (latitude, elevation, topography, proximity to water, and global winds.) Each student had the opportunity to research a location of their choosing to determine how each climate factor forms the climate of that area. Students also shared with their classmates why their chose their location, and any additional information they wanted to include regarding culture, cuisine, tourism, and fun facts.

Moving forward, classes will begin focusing on natural hazards (earthquake, volcanic eruptions, flooding, hurricanes, tornadoes, and tsunamis) and the available mitigation strategies for these events. This unit will include distinguishing between interior and exterior events, if and how these events can be predicted, and what can be done to reduce their impact. Classes will be engaged in learning through groupwork, research, and watching footage of actual events.

6th grade ELA has enjoyed diving into novel studies for the past few weeks. We have analyzed characters' thoughts, words and actions. We have loved reading parts of the novels together. We encourage you to help your students to keep motivated as we navigate through our last term. Keep reading!

We have just recently started our unit on ancient Greece. Students have been learning about the geography and forms of government that were present in ancient Greece. This week, we have been discussing the invention of democracy in ancient Athens. Next week we will be starting a Sparta vs. Athens activity in which students will be creating a recruitment fair. During the first week of May, we will be brining our classes to the media center to display their projects and actively "recruit" people (staff, parents, potentially other classes if they would like to visit) to their assigned city-state of Sparta or Athens.

6th Grade is writing and evaluating expressions. Students will use variables to represent numbers solving real-world problems.

Food Science students are wrapping up the Food Systems Unit with the group presentations of their "Food Museum" projects. They have explored the evolving ways food is/was grown, harvested, preserved and prepared from the 1600's all the way into the future. The projects have included posters/trifolds, video's, skits, 3D models and websites. Students have also watched their basil plants grow and are ready to repot them into their own take home flower pots. This month we will be moving ahead with the Food Preparation Unit and will begin with safety and sanitation in the kitchen.

This week, we just began the social media safety and online etticate unit, where we will be diving into a few tough topics of the dangers and risks of using social media and the Internet. The topics we will cover are as follows: cyberbullying, phishing and scams, social media and online etticate, online preditors, the dangers of talking to online strangers, how to decide if posting something on the Internet is appropropriate or not, Internet and social media addiction, and perhaps other topics if students bring them up into conversation through our class discussions.

One way that you can facilitate similar conversations with your pre-teen at home if you wish to do so is using what I like to call "Table Talk" conversation starters, which are great to discuss around the dinner table. Some children (especially boys--as found through researched studies) feel more comfortable talking about sensitive topics such as these when not having to make eye contact, so perhaps these conversations would also be beneficial on a walk with your child or driving in the car (just a tip!).

"Table Talk" Conversation Starters

1. I heard that you're starting to talk about Social Media safety in Mrs. Duvall's class. What did you talk about today?

2. Do you think social media is more of a positive or negative influence for pre-teens? Why/Why not?

3. What would you do if one of your friends commented something alittle mean on social media, even though they were trying to be funny? How could you talk to your friend about that? What would you say?

4. What's so dangerous about social media? Have you even encountered any of these dangers before, either on your own accounts or your friends?

5. What are the good things about social media?

6. What advice would you give a friend if they had a guy or girl they've never met before begin talking to them online? What if they talk so much it becomes like a relationship, and they want to meet up with them? Would this be safe, and what advice would you give your friend?

7. What makes for a good solid password? What would be an example of a bad password?

8. If you got an email asking for personal information such as your birthday, grade, school, and address, would it be safe to give that information out, even if it looks like it came from a reliable source?

9. Why should you have your provacy settings set on your social media accounts? Why should you never "check in" to a location?

10. Discuss your family rules/expectations with them about social media and internet use. Hear out their perspective, and share your perspective as to why certain expectations and rules are the way they are in your house.

11. What kinds of things should you NOT post online? Why shouldn't you? How could posting the wrong things affect your life, others, or your future?

12. What are the dangers of overusing apps and social media? Discuss as a family if going "unplugged" for a day, week, etc. would be something you might be willing to do to test out how it feels to be away from technology. Perhaps coming up with a family reward at the end of the unplugged time would be enticing and competative for kids to get on board with as well.

7th Grade is also working on algebraic expressions. Students will solve multi-step real life problems with positive and negative rational numbers.

In 7th grade history, Ms. Emerick and Mr. Bittner’s classes will begin April focusing on the new ideas and discoveries of the Renaissance, Reformation, and Enlightenment and the beginning of Modern Times. As we get closer to the end of the year, we will investigate the colonization of the New World: including reasons for the forced immigration of African slaves, English settlement in North America, and differences among the regions of the thirteen British colonies.

Happy AWESOME April ! I hope your "April Fool's Day" was scientific and fun! We are having a blast in Science class!

The amazing 7th grade students have discovered remarkable Chemistry facts this March and will begin April by participating in more cool Chemistry labs. The students are investigating chemical and physical changes (including endothermic and exothermic reactions). The students are using their knowledge of reactants, products, and the Law of Conservation of Matter to explain chemistry concepts. The students are presenting excellent element facts and sharing their wonderful chemistry knowledge in class discussions. The students have shown extraordinary understanding of chemistry including atoms, elements, protons, electrons, neutrons, physical & chemical properties, physical & chemical changes, reactants, products, endothermic & exothermic, subscripts, coefficients, elements, compounds, substances, atomic number, atomic mass, & so much more!

The fantastic 7th graders will begin our Final Science Unit = "Human Impact on Earth" this month. Students will evaluate and analyze relationships between resource availability and organisms in an ecosystem. Students will determine how ecosystems, communities, populations, and organisms can survive with changes to resources. Students will explain concepts including population sizes, biotic & abiotic factors, population growth, and organism survival rates. Students will analyze data, formulate scientific conclusions, evaluate research, and graph ecosystem concepts. I am so excited to see students learn more about their impact on this Earth. If you have any questions, contact your science teacher anytime!

Also, in science news...

Our Middletown Middle School Students are AWESOME. Many students from MiMS participated in the Virtual 41st Annual Secondary Science & Engineering Fair! The students from MiMS took the opportunity to submit a research plan, project checklists, approval forms, a project reseach paper (up to 12 pages), and a brief video for participation in the FCPS Science & Engineering Fair. The Virtual Fair is held on Sat. April 2, 2022. So, look in the May MiMS Newsletter for results and more information about the FCPS Science & Engineer Fair. I am so proud of all the participants from MiMS and their dedication to scientific learning and discovery!

7th grade Invention & Innovation (CTE) - The 7th grade I & I students have just finished their first official Engineering Design Process project. Throughout Unit 3, students had the opportunity to design, build, test and evaluate their very own catapult, fidget toy, or rubber band car. Students learned and applied our 8 step design process to complete this project. Next up we will do another Engineering Design Process project before transitioning into our fourth unit on Inventors and Innovators of the past and present. We will gladly accept some of the following materials for our upcoming project choices:

• Metal coat hangers
• Large bottle caps (i.e. the bottle caps to a plastic orange juice bottle)
• Old CD or DVDs (for wheels on a mousetrap or rubber band car)

As we head into Term 4, students will continue to engage in lessons and assignments that offer choice and flexibility for learning. Optional engineering design challenges are always available to students who wish to extend their learning beyond the required work load. These hands-on assignments are designed to teach students the engineering design process as well as critical thinking/ problem solving skills. All engineering design challenges utilize common household materials and minimal tools. Thank you for your continued support throughout this semester.

7th grade Creative Arts (VPA) - The 7th grade Creative Arts students have finished their unit on Visual Arts and Chinese culture. For our next unit, we will study Indonesian culture and

theater. Students will learn how the history of theater culture, specifically Indonesian shadow puppets, has impacted modern day TV, movies, and theater. Please encourage your child to keep in contact with me if he or she is absent and needs art materials to use at home. I also encourage you to take a look at your child’s first two studio projects! Thank you for your continued support throughout this semester.

Seventh grade students in ELA will be focusing on Cycle 7 standards, comparing and contrasting the development of theme or central idea, while considering texts that focus on the topic of social pressure. We encourage students to continue to do their best and to be proactive as the year progresses.

Pre-Engineering - Grade 8

Students have just finished the Gear assignment, their next area of study will be bacis hand tool safety. The students will be creating two different projects where they will be using hand tools and a drill press.

CSI - Grade 7

Students have been working in groups creating an App. Their next area of study will be Data and Society where they will learn about how computers and there programs are used to help us collect information and make our lives easier.

Tech Expo - Grade 6

Students have been learning about basic hand tools and constructing projects using them. The next area will be machines, drill press and band saw where they will be building projects using these machines.

7th and 8th Graders have started our Child Development Unit. They are learning about the physical, emotional, social and cognitive development of children as they mature. They are learning how to hold, diaper and feed a baby. They are learning how to interview for a babysitting job, and how to keep kids safe and entertained. Basic first aid is also being taught in case anyone gets injured while they are babysitting.

In 8th grade ELA, students are working through Term 4 by analyzing poetry and plays. Students will be reading, analyzing, and writing Shakespearean sonnets. Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet will also be a focus through the end of the year. Bi- weekly word wizard vocabulary continues.

In American Studies, students are examining the Civil War while competing against teams in GooseChase challenges. Each week, there will be a new set of challenges: “War Erupts”, “War Wages On”, “Tide of War Turns”, and “Coming to an End”. We will then focus on the period of reconstruction that followed the war.

In eighth grade science class we are starting our final unit on motion. We will focus on Newton's laws, sound and electromagnetic waves, along with kinetic energy. We will relate content to rockets, car crashes, roller coasters and do an egg drop. Lots of exciting, hands-on opportunities to finish out the year.

8th grade is solving linear equations with rational number coefficients. Students will also solve multi-step real world problems involving linear equations.

Algebra students are starting a new unit on solving systems of equations. Students will extend their understanding of systems to systems of inequalities and interpretation of solutions.

“Caregivers and teachers all want the same thing: for students to thrive. When students thrive mathematically, they perform well in school and they have positive attitudes toward math,” according to Robert Berry, a professor of mathematics education at the University of Virginia.

Here are some tips to help your children thrive mathematically:

• Talk about math in a positive way. A positive attitude about math is infectious.

• Encourage perseverance. Some problems take time to solve.

• Encourage your child to experiment with different approaches to mathematics. There is often more than one way to solve a math problem.

• Encourage your child to talk about and show a math problem in a way that makes sense (i.e., draw a picture or use material like macaroni).

• When your child is solving math problems ask questions such as: Why did you...? What can you do next? Do you see any patterns? Does the answer make sense? How do you know? This helps to encourage thinking about mathematics. Understanding math is more than getting the right answer.

• Talk with your child’s teacher about difficulties he/she may be experiencing. When teachers and parents work together, children benefit.

Fantastic Opportunity

This summer, Hood College will be offering free tutoring sessions with a certified teacher. Teachers are candidates in the Hood College Masters of Reading Specialization graduate program. They are highly trained to provide appropriate, explicit instruction and feedback. Click this link for more information.

25 Book Challenge Update

This year’s 25 Book Challengers still have a

few weeks left to read and record their books

for this school year. Forms are due to

Ms.Casey or Ms. Poscover by May 18.

Keep reading!!

FCPL

Check out the Frederick County Public Library

website for great online book and magazine

resources for the whole family!

National Poetry Month

Did you know that April is National Poetry month? Check out this resource from Poets.org for some ideas about how to enjoy a little bit of poetry along with the beautiful spring weather!

30 Ways to Celebrate National Poetry Month at Home

I would love it if you follow my Twitter account for updates and information on exciting library activities. @MIMSlibraryFCPS

There are SO many great things happening in the media center. I hope your child chooses to be a part of some, if not all, of our offerings.

Magazines!! Badly needed

Have some age appropriate magazines you are looking to recycle - look no further!! Please turn them into the front office with a note that they are for the media center. Teachers use them for a wide variety of purposes. Thank you for your contribution.

25 Book Challenge

It’s never too late to join!! Check and see if your child has read more than they anticipated way back in September. It is NEVER too late to join the 25 book challenge. Our celebration is planned for early June. We’d love it if your child could attend. Details in ELA course in the media center folder. All books read from the first day of school until the end date count.

Digital book sources

Sora - FCPS’s new ebook platform has hundreds of fantastic books and is easy, easy, easy to use. Try this new product today!!

FCPL - Frederick County Public Library’s site. Access to a lot of digital content and ebooks. Students can use the following code to access all materials:

119829 + their 8 digit student ID#

The 6th grade has acted as 'guinea pigs' for MiMS as we try out a new recycling program, Lunches Out Of Landfills. Students are separating out food waste, plastics and trash from one another. The entire program is monitored by 6th grade volunteers. They are doing an incredibly phenomenal job. They set up and break down and are even willing to miss recess when its the week they volunteered. Hopefully we will be able to expand the porgram into other grades.

Mrs. Albright, MiMS’s user support, wants parents and students to be aware that all Chromebooks will be collected on June 2. Students will be required to turn in their FCPS Chromebook, charger and case. Please be aware that charges will be incurred for any missing materials. In addition, all Chromebooks will be inspected for damage and further charges might be incurred for said damage.

If your child started March of 2020 with an FCPS device but has since moved over to using their own computer please make sure that you have returned the FCPS device to MiMS. If you are not sure about this, please have your child ask either Mrs. Albright or Mrs. Poscover, the media specialist if this is the case for your child. Either of those individuals can tell your child, or you, whether an FCPS device is still out. Parents are also welcome to contact Mrs. Albright or Mrs. Poscover.

We are welcoming all students back into PE for term 4, and looking forward to our upcoming track and field unit starting next week. Please bring the proper attire for the elements, including proper shoes and athletic wear. We are also really excited for our student vs. teacher volleyball tournament occurring Friday, April 1st.

March/April Music at MiMS

This Spring the band, orchestra, and chorus students have been busy preparing and performing in the Spring Adjudication Festivals. All three groups received the highest marks of “Superior”! Way to go Knights!! Come check us out at our Spring Concerts on Monday, May 9th, and Tuesday, May 10th at 7pm at MHS in the auditorium.

French 1 students have been learning to talk about their family and using adjectives to describe people. They have been working on making family trees and describing the people in their families. They will be presenting them soon!

French 2 students have been hard at work learning two past tenses, the passé composé (perfect) and the imparfait (imperfect). They just finished running Little Red Riding Hood in French and determining which tense of the verb to use to complete their reading.

Spanish 1 students recently finished talking about what clothing they are wearing and are now learning more vocabulary to talk about what to do around town and conjugating stem-changing verbs.

Our 6th, 7th, or 8th grade chorus members deserve a HUGE congratulations! They received straight 1s (best score you can get!) and an overall SUPERIOR rating! The adjudicators even came up to Ms. Jones after their performance and continued to shower praise on their exceptional performance! Congratulations to our students and Ms. Jones!!!!

Enter to Learn. Strive to Acheive.