#iamsouth

Email: msattendance@avon-schools.org
Website: https://www.avon-schools.org/mssouth
Location: 7199 East US Highway 36, Avon, IN, USA
Phone: 317-544-5700
Twitter: @avonsouth

Dec. 25, 2023 - Jan. 8, 2024 - Students return to school Jan. 9, 2024

Math 7 grade – December 18-20

Math 8 grade – December 20-22

Mr. Will Mahan, Athletic Director/Dean of Students

Ms. Joni Johnson, Athletic Trainer

12/18 HOME vs. Zionsville MS 5:30PM

12/19 HOME vs. Brownsburg West 5:30PM

Good luck!

The Student-Athlete Leadership Team delivered stuffed animals to the Avon Police Department. These stuffed animals were collected during the group’s annual “Teddy Bear Toss”. Avon Police Department will equip their police officers with these stuffed animals to deliver to children in the Avon community during a time of need throughout the holiday season.

Our Athletic Department is offering a season ticket option for all students. This season pass is $40. This pass will get all students into each regular season game hosted by South. Regular ticket price is $5 per event. We host approximately 45 athletic events this year at South. This pass will also allow students to enter the three tailgates this year.

The season pass for students is offered through EventLink. EventLink is the online ticket platform that we use for athletic events at South. The student will simply need to show the barcode via cellphone to the ticket taker when entering a game.

The link to purchase this ticket is below:

https://websites.eventlink.com/s/avon-middle-school-south/Tickets/Passes/2900/276

Happy Birthday

to our students celebrating a birthday this week:

Raelynn Dreyer

Damian Eberle

Drew Jannotta

Loryn Major

Alyssa Nugent

Will Kyeremeh

Luis Mejia Villalobos

Chris Payne

Jeremiah Spaeth

Zayd Azem

Jeffrey Zimmerman

Brenna Toole

Charlie Austin

Sofia Cackowski

Yodahe Dawit

Dannely Espinoza-Maliano

Moira Sanders

Nana Israel Pius

Gurtaj Shergill

Brennan Wiles

2023 - 2024 Yearbooks are on sale now!

Follow the link below to order your yearbook today.

Yearbook school ID: 15098424

National Junior Honor Society will offer after school study help sessions on Wednesday’s after school from 4:10 - 5:00PM. Students will then go to the front commons area and wait for the late bus or parent pick-up. During this time, there will be a supervisor with the students while they wait for the late bus to arrive. Students that will be a car rider home on these days can be picked up at door 1 at 5:00PM.

If your student will be staying for the study session and they need bus transportation home they must sign up for the late bus in the Guidance Office at lunch that day. For those students taking the late bus home, the bus will leave AMS South at 5:10pm.

Each week your child's team will give an update about the current week or week ahead. Please find your child's team below for that information. In addition, you will find news from our Encore teachers, Media Center, and PE/Wellness teachers.

Mrs. Dugan, Mrs. Williams, Mr. Schubert & Mr. Uhl

In Math7, we will be taking NWEA. In Pre-Algebra, we will be taking NWEA.

In Language Arts, students are starting a new unit! Unit 7E: Frida & Diego gives students a rich cultural experience through both informational texts and artwork. Before break, they will do introductions to the unit through a gallery walk with a plethora of information and a library lesson with Miss Sever about evaluating sources to conduct quality research. In Science, students will review for their Q2 science final on Thursday, December 21st. In Social Studies, we will finish our unit over the Middle East by testing on Tuesday December 19th. We will finish the semester with a Southwest Asian Country project!

Mrs. Barnes, Mr. Blackmore, Mrs. Boroff & Ms. Weinstein

In Language Arts, students will begin our next unit: Frida and Diego. The beginning of this unit involves a lesson in the library about author credibility, as well as our standard Gallery Walk Lesson to introduce students to important concepts that will be discussed in the unit. In Science, students will be finishing their “Design an Insulated Cup” project. We will take our end of quarter test on Wednesday, 12/20. There are already several links currently on Schoology to help them prepare and students will receive a study guide on Monday. Math students will be learning to combine like terms, review NWEA goals, and take the math NWEA winter test. Pre-Algebra will be learning to find the slope using the slope formula, review NWEA goals, and take the math NWEA winter test. Social Studies students will be finishing the North Africa and Middle East unit. Our test will be on Tuesday, 12/19. Students will review on Monday. They will have access to all review materials starting on Friday 12/15. There are digital review games, digital flashcards for vocabulary review, and a paper review sheet. After our test next Tuesday, we will be researching countries in the middle east and learning about a country that interests us.

Mr. Leach, Mrs. Miller, Mrs. Ringham & Mrs. Schaffer

Mr. McDonald, Ms. Schaber, Mrs. Shambaugh & Mr. Thoennes

Language Arts

Mrs. Ringham - In Language Arts, students will start our next unit by building background knowledge on Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, The Great Depression and diseases of the time period that informed their art. They will also learn methods to determine the reliability of online sources.

Mr. Thoennes - Students will be starting Unit 7E where they learn about Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera while also learning about reliable sources.

Math & Pre-Algebra

Mrs. Schaffer - In Math 7, we will be taking NWEA Monday-Wednesday. Students should make sure they have a book or offline assignment to work on after they complete the test. We will wrap the semester practicing simplifying algebraic expressions. Pre-Algebra students will be taking NWEA Monday-Wednesday also! They should have a book or offline assignment to work on after they complete the test. We will spend a couple of days practicing using slope-intercept form to graph and represent linear relationships to finish up the semester.

Mrs. Shambaugh - Students will review simplifying expressions by combining like terms and using the distributive property. NWEA testing will be Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.

Science

Mrs. Miller - Science students will be finishing up their CSA for Heat Transfers. Students will have created a device to either trap heat in or keep heat out. We also will be reviewing for a TEST on Thursday December 21, 2023. This will cover our last two units over Energy and Heat.

Ms. Schaber - Students will be reviewing for their quarter 2 final. This final will be on Thursday, 12/21.

Social Studies

Mr. Leach - Social Studies students will be taking our Unit test on Dec 19. All late work is due by Dec 18. We will be working on our end of the unit project Dec 20-22.

Mr. McDonald - Students will take their Unit 5 test over North Africa and Middle East

Mrs. DeBow, Mr. Goson, Mrs. Mellen & Mrs. Zimmerman

Mr. McDonald, Ms. Schaber, Mrs. Shambaugh & Mr. Thoennes

Language Arts

Mrs. Zimmerman - We will come to the end of learning about Jesse Owens and his accomplishments at the 1936 Berlin Olympic games. If time allows, we will being part one of Maus.

Mr. Thoennes - Students will be looking at Kristallnacht, “The night of broken glass”, that started the Holocaust and learning more about Jesse Owens competing in the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, Germany.

Pre-Algebra & Algebra

Mrs. DeBow - All math students will take the NWEA test Wednesday-Friday of next week.

Mrs. Shambaugh - Students will use exponent rules to simplify expressions and solve equations. NWEA testing will be Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.

Science

Mr. Goson - Next week we will be taking our semester final Thursday, December 21. It will cover all the topics that we have learned up to this point. I have sent home a study guide for the final last week, so please have students look over their study guide daily and use the science games folder on Schoology to prepare for the exam.

Ms. Schaber - Students will be wrapping up our discussions over genetic engineering by completing a Socratic seminar on Tuesday. They will then be reviewing and taking their semester 1 exam on Thursday, 12/21.

Mrs. Hood - Biology students have been given a study guide. They will need to complete and turn it in for their points for the two days they will have had to work on it. Also, there is a blooket available on Schoology for them to prepare for the final. Our Final will be 2 days and will take place on Tuesday 12-19 and Wednesday 12-20.

Social Studies

Mrs. Mellen - We will be doing some projects that are about what we have learned throughout the semester regarding the U.S. Constitution and the American Revolution.

Mr. McDonald - Students will learn about civic engagement and participation.

Mrs. Warthan, Ms. Kegley, Mr. Casey & Mr. Osen

In Science, students will be preparing for their semester exam. Biology students will be preparing for their semester exam. In Pre-Algebra, students will be taking the math portion of the NWEA test. Algebra students will be taking the math portion of the NWEA test. In Social Studies, students will be preparing for semester 2 by practicing the geography skills they will need for the upcoming unit. In Language Arts, students will be learning about Jesse Owens and “Night of the Broken Glass” while finding the central idea.

Mrs. Hood, Mr. Rodgers, Mrs. Taylor & Mr. Williams

In our Social Studies class, we will be studying the fifty states of the United States of America. Pre-Algebra we will continue to work with exponent rules and scientific notation Monday and Tuesday and finish the week with NWEA. Algebra students will review 8th grade standards and finish the week taking NWEA Wednesday through Friday. Science students have been given a study guide. They will need to complete and turn it in for their points for the two days they will have to work on it. Also, there is a blooket available on Schoology for them to prepare for the final. Our Final will be 1 day and will take place on Wednesday 12-20. Biology students have been given a study guide. They will need to complete and turn it in for their points for the two days they will have had to work on it. Also, there is a blooket available on Schoology for them to prepare for the final. Our Final will be 2 days and will take place on Tuesday 12-19 and Wednesday 12-20. In Language Arts, classes will be writing a ToSEEEEC response related to the Jesse Owens article from last week. They will then be watching the film Race about Jesse Owens and his life before, during, and after the 1936 Olympic Games. They will have an activity to complete while watching the movie. It will be turned in before winter break.

Señora Barker (Spanish), Mrs. Hauptmann (Japanese), Mr. Parr (Computer Science),

Mrs. Leonard (Art), Mr. McFarlin (Engineering and Technology), Mr. Wolf (Robotics),

Mrs. Snyder (Flight & Space and Medical Detectives),

and Mr. Tarnowski (Digital Literacy & Communication)

Spanish

Students have their final study guide due on Tuesday. Their final over the whole semester is on Thursday and Friday. I sent a parent square message last week with details so please see that for the final information. The final exam is worth 15% of their overall grade.

Japanese

The Japanese class topics will be: days of the week, Jingle Bells in Japanese, Christmas and New Year’s as celebrated in Japan.

Computer Science

7th grade classes will be playing each others games and rating them for each other tournament style, and then will be working with Mindstorm Legos.

8th grade classes will be presenting their final projects in class, we will then have a tear down phase, and will be given a bonus opportunity.

Art

Next week we will create an abstract mixed media sculpture using wire, nylon, gesso, and paint. We will put our hand-made mugs to use during our root beer float pitch in on Friday, Dec. 22. Sign up to bring ingredients on parent square. Students will earn 5 PBIS points for each item they bring in.

7th grade Engineering and Design & 8th grade Gateway to Technology

7th & 8th Grade - We will be starting our last project this week talking about 3d design. Students will be making a variety of small items for them to be able to understand how the 3d modeling/printing system works.

Digital Literacy & Communication

This week in Digital Literacy and Communication, we continued working on our Shark Tank projects, writing both a persuasive speech and a PowerPoint to prepare for our presentations next week. On Monday and Tuesday, we'll be practicing these in front of peers, then presenting them to our guest teachers on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday!

Robotics

Robotics 1 – Students continue working in teams to finish constructing and coding a spinning billboard. Robotics 2 – Students will continue working in teams to finish constructing and coding a vehicle for their road trip projects.

Medical Detectives

8th Grade Medical Detectives-Students will continue their final project. They must figure out what is making everyone in a fictional town sick and create a news broadcast to announce their findings.

Flight & Space

7th Grade Flight and Space-We will continue our final project. Students are to create a Mars lander (an egg drop project) and have it tested. Mrs. Snyder will go on to the roof of the building to see if their astronaut (their egg) survives.

Mrs. Fair, Mrs. Lucas & Mr. Jackson

Students will be finishing up the semester with a final exam over all three units of basketball, volleyball, and fitness. This is 20% of the final grade. Students will also do fitness testing, which includes sit-ups, push-ups, and the pacer test. This is 10% of the final grade. As always, please make sure uniforms are clean and ready for class on Monday.

Mr. Basso (Band), Ms. Szymkow (Band), Mr. Miller (Orchestra) & Mr. Nelson (Choir)

Band

The Band's Winter Concert was a huge success! Thank you all for attending! Moving forward with the last week of 2023, the bands will all start preparing for the ISSMA Organizational Band festival coming up in the spring. All band classes are also starting a new unit on playing a solo. Many students will perform their solo at the ISSMA Solo and Ensemble Festival in February.

Choir

Our choir concert was this past Thursday, the students have worked very hard and were excited to welcome the holiday season with some great music.

Orchestra

Congrats to everyone on a wonderful orchestra concert! Links to the concert recordings are below:

7th Grade
Celtic Christmas Fantasy
Hanukkah Prayer of Thanks
We Wish You a Cha Cha Christmas

8th Grade
A La Media Noche
Pacem Noel
Atishbaji

Chamber
Ukranian Bell Carol
Fantasy on Greensleeves

Latin Christmas

Solo & Ensemble will be coming up quickly after break. Students can meet before school on Friday, 12/15, Monday, 12/18, Friday, 12/22 and Wednesday, after school 12/20 if they would like help on their ensemble music or solo music.

Thank you, and Happy Holidays!

Please enjoy a few pictures from our Winter Band Concert that we had on December 12th. Mr. Basso and our students put on a great performance.

Ms. Sever

As we head into the last week of the quarter, please encourage your students to look for any books that they currently have checked out. I have been sending overdue notices so students and guardians know what books need to be returned. Please remind students to check the following places if they think they have misplaced a book:

• Their locker (double-check the bottom)
• Their backpack
• Each of their classrooms
• Their bus/the car(s) they ride in to and from school
• Their homes

Thank you for your help in getting materials back to the library for other students to enjoy!

ABSENCE PROCEDURE

If a student is absent from school, the PARENT must call the school by 10:00 A.M. to report the absence. If no call is received, the automated school system will make an effort to contact the parent, but if NO PARENT CALL has been received by 3:00 P.M. the day following the absence, the student will be charged with an unexcused absence. You may also send an email to us to notify us of your child's absence at msattendance@avon-schools.org.

** Please be advised that we cannot take early dismissal information over the telephone. **

If your child needs to leave school early during the school day please send a note in with your child to bring to the office first thing in the morning or email us at

msattendance@avon-schools.org with all the necessary information: students name, date and time picking up, and the name of the person picking your child up if someone other than a parent or guardian will be picking up. This email will go directly to the front office secretaries and they will be able to get your child an early dismissal pass so that they can be in the front office when you are ready to pick them up. If you are unable to email us we will need you to come into the office with your valid ID, once we verify it is a parent/guardian picking up we will be able to call the student down for dismissal.

If someone other than a parent or guardian will be picking up your child we MUST have this information in writing from a parent/guardian. Please include his or her name on the note or email. Once we verify their photo ID then the student can sign out and leave.

If leaving early for a doctor/dentist/orthodontist appointment, please provide verification note from the appointment to the main office to ensure that the absence is excused.

Using this email will ensure your child will get a pass out of class to be in the office. Please do not use Parent Square to send a message to your child's teachers as we cannot guarantee that this message will get to the front office to get your child a pass. Our teachers are very busy throughout the day and may not be able to check Parent Square often, or if the teacher is out that day we would not get that message in the front office in time to get your child an early dismissal pass.

We want to make sure that your information is getting to the right person in a timely manner, and hopefully prevent any miscommunication or missed messages.

It is our belief that students can best achieve academic success by being in school every day. We also understand that a student may occasionally have an opportunity to experience extraordinary opportunities that may result in a missed day of school. The principal or designee may grant a pre-arranged absence, if the absence provides an extraordinary opportunity for the student and/or family. The request must be submitted at least five school days in advance of the requested absence. The student will be required to complete all missed work upon his/her return to school. No more than three days of pre-arranged absences will be approved each year. Pre-arranged absences may not be granted during the following circumstances:

• I-Learn

• During semester exams

• When the requested absence would push the student’s attendance record into excessive absence status or if the student has surpassed the allowable number of absences.

Below is our Pre-Arranged Absence form.

For Visitors to our Building

Avon Schools require all visitors to check-in at the front office using our visitor management system, Safe Visitor. This system requires visitors to scan their driver's license or state identification card for a check of their record. A temporary badge is provided to all visitors to wear while in our buildings. As our visitors leave school, they scan and return that badge to front office staff.

Entering the Building

Anyone entering our building beyond the front office will need to have a valid photo ID with them so that they can be checked in through our Safe Visitor Solutions system. You will be given a badge to wear while in the building so that you are identified as a visitor. When leaving you will return to the front office so that we can check you out of Safe Visitor Solutions and take your badge.

Visiting Students during Lunch

At this time, we are allowing parents/guardians to have lunch with their child during their specified lunch time in our commons area outside of the cafeteria. Parents must follow our policy for entering our building listed above; present a valid photo ID and be checked into our Safe Visitor system. Please take note that this process may take a few minutes to get you checked into our system so please allow for a few extra minutes for that process.

**If someone other than a parent/guardian would like to have lunch with your student, we MUST have that information in writing in advance from a parent/guardian. You can either send a note in with your student to bring to the office when they arrive at school in the morning, or you can email our attendance line with the information at msattendance@avon-schools.org

7th and 8th grade parents: Your children may be eligible for a college scholarship!

If your child qualifies for free and reduced lunch they are automatically enrolled in the 21st Century Scholars Program.

View the form below for more information.

Avon Community Schools has chosen Worth Ave. Group as the vendor of choice to insure school-issued laptops. Insurance with Worth Ave. Group will protect the device against: Accidental Damage, Theft, Fire, Flood, Natural Disasters, Power Surge and Vandalism. This insurance policy will provide full replacement cost coverage and will protect the item worldwide (on and off school grounds). The policy is also transferable to a replacement unit. Insurance plans may be purchased online. Please note this insurance does not cover accidental loss of the laptop, and families will be charged the full replacement cost for a lost device.

• Coverage Term: July 18, 2023 - July 18, 2024
  • It is up to you to renew yearly.

Need help with Math and Science homework?

Call the Homework Hotline

1-877-ASK-ROSE

Click below to visit their website

www.askrose.org

Please find a flyer attached below about our Giving Season promotion and a smaller QR code. We are raising funds for our three biggest programs: Helping Hand's Grants, Supply Our Schools (SOS) Store, and Supply It Forward. Currently, we have wonderful business partners who are contributing generously to AEF but would love to share our foundation with those who may not know about us.

The Mary Lee Maier Community Pantry is available to Avon school families and employees.

Every Thursday from 5:00 - 6:00PM (when school is in session)

at Avon Intermediate School East

Please do not arrive before 4:30PM due to AIS bus/school traffic

Enrollment is simple. Please complete your 2023 - 2024 enrollment before you shop. Below you will find more information for enrollment, please click the link below.

Please click on Community Flyers below to take you to the ACSC web page of all the Educational Flyers and Community Events Flyers happening in our community.