Pioneer Middle School Newsletter November/December 2015

Message from our Principal UPCOMING EVENTS Wow, this school year is flying by! It’s hard to believe that the holiday season is right around the corner. Our students November 11 ...... No School are well entrenched in their daily routine and our teachers November 12 ...... Report Cards November 13 ...... PTSA – M3 Fundraiser – 10 a.m. are working tirelessly to provide them with the best November 16 - 20 ...... Harvest Drive education possible. Please support our mission and November 18 ...... PTSA Meeting – 4 p.m. continue to monitor your child’s academic progress by utilizing the Pinnacle November 19 ...... Interim Reports Electronic Gradebook System on a regular basis. To access the program, go to Nov. 23 – Dec. 4 ...... PTSA Angel Tree pne.browardschools.com and click on Pinnacle Internet Viewer. To sign on: November 25 - 27 ...... No School enter your child’s ten-digit student identification number as the ID number, December 4 ...... Band Light Up Cooper City followed by @my.browardschools.com and the password is the student's date December 8 ...... Band Winter Concert of birth preceded with a capital P, and typed as MM/DD/YYYY. Two digits for Cooper City High School – 6 p.m. month, two digits for the day and four digits for the year. December 10 ...... Chorus Winter Concert User Login: [email protected] Cafeteria – 6 p.m. Password: PMM/DD/YYYY December 14 - 18 ...... Candy Cane Gram Sale If you have any questions or concerns regarding your child, please contact their Student Council Guidance Counselor and/or Assistant Principal at 754-323-4100. December 16 ...... PTSA Meeting – 4 p.m. Dec. 21 – Jan. 1...... No School 6th grade: January 4 ...... Return to School – Welcome Back Mrs. Aguiar, Assistant Principal Ms. Celestin, Guidance Counselor Out-of-Field Parent Notification 7th grade: Mrs. Keneth, Assistant Principal Our professional teachers are continuously working on professional Ms. Cole, Guidance Counselor development to develop their teaching skills and to increase their levels of content expertise. 8th grade: We are recognizing teachers at Pioneer Middle who are expanding Mr. Campuzano, Assistant Principal their expertise beyond their current certification by pursuing college Mrs. Chartrand, Guidance Counselor course work and/or training sessions to become certified or Parents please remember that there is no supervision on campus prior to 8:30 endorsed in another/other subject(s). a.m. each morning. Students cannot be on campus before supervision begins. Kelly Brennan Michelle Sauer If you need to drop your child off early, Cooper City Parks and Recreation offers Cynthia Hack Patricia Schindler Before Care that begins at 7:00 a.m. Please contact Lynda Good at 954-434- Winfred Hawkins Terry Snipes 4300 for more information. Heath Martin Lucia Troche Michael G. Consaul Sara Ramirez Jean Widmer

SIP Accreditation

In 2016 Broward County Public Schools is preparing to become the first school district to achieve district-wide accreditation three times. Technology is one of the cornerstones of the SMART initiative. The work to improve technology infrastructure and provide new devices Standard 1: Purpose and Direction in schools is already underway. In the upcoming months our school Pioneer Middle School maintains and communicates a purpose and direction will receive 5 new computer labs, 5 mobile computer carts, additional for continuous improvement that commits to high expectations for teaching and computers in the media center and new teacher laptops. learning.  Indicator 1.1 - We engage in a systematic, inclusive, and comprehensive “HARVEST DAYS” process to review, revise, and communicate a system-wide purpose for Collections at Pioneer student success. The process clearly focuses on student success and November 17 – November 20 includes participation by representatives selected at random from all stakeholder groups. We will be collecting non-perishable items (NO GLASS PLEASE), gift cards, and cash donations.  Indicator 1.2 - Our leadership and staff share high expectations for instructional practices that include active student engagement, a focus on Please make sure to mark the items with your child’s grade and 2nd depth of understanding, and the application of knowledge and skills by period teacher’s name. We will weigh the food collected and the class that collects the most food will enjoy a pizza party during lunch. engaging in a systematic, inclusive, and comprehensive process to review,

revise, and communicate a school purpose for student success. Journalism News  Indicator 1.3 - Our school leadership and staff commit to a culture that is based on shared values and beliefs about teaching and learning and Congrats to Bella Ramirez and Molly Golding for winning first place supports challenging, equitable educational programs and learning in the Middle School on the Spot News Writing contest at FSPA on experiences for all students that include achievement of learning, thinking, November 7. and life skills. Yearbooks are available for sale online for $37.00. Price goes up  Indicator 1.4 – Our leadership implements a continuous improvement to $42.00 on January 1st. Ad sales are currently available for sale process that provides clear direction for improving conditions that support online until December 1st. student learning. Contact [email protected]

5350 SW 90th Avenue • Cooper City, 33328

Main: 754-323-4100 • Attendance: 754-323-4102 • Fax: 754-323-4185 • Website: pne.browardschools.com

Pioneer’s Inaugural Speech and Debate Team Language Arts Department – Literary Fair Brings Home the GOLD! • 1/22/16 - Literary Fair student entries due to LA teachers. • 5/10/16 - County Literary Fair Awards Program at Broward Center for the Performing Arts. See the Pioneer homepage for the complete Literary Fair handbook. Raising a Reader One of the most important supports families can offer is ensuring that children practice reading outside of school hours. –U.S. Department of Education Domino Effect of Cumulative Reading Practice Kids who read a lot become better readers. Then they read even more often because we all enjoy doing things in which we excel! The domino effect is st On October 21 , 24 members of the Pioneer Speech and Debate Team in motion as children who read more continue to get better at reading. competed in the epic Broward Novice After-School Tournament at Flanagan Studies Show the Benefits of Reading Every Day High School. Over 1500 students, representing middle and high school speech and debate students from around the county, performed for over 7 Why do reading experts recommend students read at least 20 minutes hours in a variety of competitive events. After weeks of hard work and long outside of school hours every day? hours of practice, our students earned top awards and brought home 6 gold • Research proves that increased time spent reading increases medal blue ribbons as winners in Student Congress, Public Forum, Original vocabulary, comprehension, fluency, writing skills and confidence. Oratory, and Declamation. Riya Babu and Olivia Zuniga were undefeated • Reading outside the classroom helps students experience the world in their selected event, Declamation. Annie Clark and Courtney Ruebens around them and understand how literacy leads to college, career and also earned perfect 100 point scores for their speech performances. Asher beyond. Hensley and Jagger Liguori swept the competition and won both rounds of • Reading every day helps students form a positive habit, increasing the Public Forum. Nathan Berner, Sean Ortiz, and Liron Ravon stood out with likelihood they will establish the value of lifelong literacy. their argumentation and critical thinking abilities in the Congressional Sign up for Just Take 20, a free family literacy web application from the Chamber. Florida Department of Education. Go to JustTake20.org to create a Congratulations to EVERY member of the team who represented Pioneer custom, family literacy plan to learn effective at-home reading and writing Middle and demonstrated excellence and dedication! We look forward to activities. You can build a plan that works for your family on-the-go, finding our next competition in December. Pioneer Middle’s Speech and Debate those teachable moments to incorporate reading activities into your everyday, busy lives! Team…arguably the BEST! NJHS Boys Soccer Broward County Champions On December 2, 2015, three former Pioneer NJHS members who are now Cooper City High School Juniors and members of their DECA Chapter will be attending our meeting to present their DECA Chapter Project to promote Financial Literacy and the . These students will use current Pioneer NJHS members as a test group to evaluate levels of knowledge of financial literacy at the middle school level. To accomplish this, the club will separate into small groups and play KAHOOT to test their knowledge of financial terms. Finally, they will be given a brief presentation on the terms tested as well as an introduction to Cooper City High Schools DECA Program and the Academy of Finance.

3rd Annual Miami Heat Challenge

On behalf of the boys soccer team, I would like to thank our Pioneer family Pioneer is participating in the 3rd Annual Miami Heat Challenge to reduce for supporting our championship team. We've had the best season in school energy usage throughout all Broward schools. From November 15, 2015 history, and an unforgettable experience that will last in our hearts forever. – February 28, 2016 students, faculty, and staff will try to save energy by Coach Torres “Turning It Off” and “Going Low”. Pioneer’s energy usage will be compared to last year’s energy usage during the same time frame, and Girls Soccer Division Champions the winning school will receive a special banner, Heat tickets, and a school rally with mascot Burnie. Please join in this effort at home to reduce your Carbon Footprint as home is a learning environment, too!

Pioneer Middle Partnerships 2015-2016 A special thanks goes out to our Pioneer partners. These types of relationships help provide funding opportunities and other resources that support student programs. If interested in joining our growing list of partners in education, contact school-business liaison Heath Martin at [email protected]  Brunt Insurance, Horace Mann Insurance  Menchies, Davie Congratulations Girls Soccer & Mrs. Ramirez for another great year!  Ligouri’s Fired Up, Davie  Law Office of Alex Borrell  Papa John’s Pembroke Pines/Cooper City Pioneer 2015 Stack UP!  Mathnasium of Cooper City  European Wax Center, Cooper City Pioneer Middle School is once again joining with the World Sport Stacking  Memorial Hospital, Pembroke Pines Association to try and break the Guinness World Record in Sport Stacking. The World Sport Stacking Association (WSSA) has set this year's goal at  Target Red Card, Davie 610,000 stackers for "Most People Sport Stacking at Multiple Locations in Parents and community members can also help out by dropping off, or One Day”. Last year's record was 592,292 stackers! 2,693 organizations sending your child with the following items that are collected at Pioneer from 30 countries worked together to set that record. For the first time we on an ongoing basis. are aiming to break the record with 600,000 stackers in 2015. Pioneer  Box Tops for Education (Uhler) contributed over 300 stackers last year and is aiming for 400 this year.  Campbells Labels for education (Martin, H) Stackers will participate on November 12th, all day in their Physical  Can tabs Education classes. Wish us luck!  Ink/toner cartridges and old cell phones for recycling