Ponaganset Middle School 7 Rustic Hill Road North Scituate, 02857

.JOSEPH PORRAZZO, M.Ed OFFICE: (401) 710-7500 ​ Principal FAX: (401) 647-1792

March 25, 2019

Dear Parents,

Winter has come to an end but it is certainly not the end of the cold weather. We are all anxious for signs of spring – warmer temperatures, green grass, , softball, , etc. The third quarter marking period is moving along pretty quickly, a sure sign that spring is here. Spring is traditionally the season of renewal and cleaning out. Take the opportunity to spend some time with your children cleaning out their book bags, checking to see that they have and are still using their digital calendars, and to organize or replace any school supplies needed to get through the last months of school. It may not feel like spring yet, but Students will start to have “spring fever” and begin to think it is the end of the school year. Yet, we are far from the end of the ​ school year. On the contrary, this time of year is very busy as we begin to finalize plans for future activities such as the Eighth Grade Washington D.C. Trip and the Seventh Grade Boston, MA Trip. It is important to stress to our students that they must continue to study and complete their school work. It is also a good time for you to contact your child’s teachers and/or the ​ guidance counselor, Mrs. Vigneau or Mrs. Flowers, if you have any concerns regarding your child’s progress – it will be too late to help your child in May and June. We want all of our ​ students to successfully complete the 2019 - 2020 school year.

Please be aware of the following information to help you plan for March and the future:

- Please be sure to review your child’s grades with her/him. Don’t wait until the end of the ​ Third Quarter or for the Fourth Quarter, it may be too late to help. If you need assistance, please call Mrs. Vigneau, Guidance Counselor, at 710-7500, ext. 2284. (Third Quarter rd Marking period ends Monday, April 3 .​ ) ​

- Wednesday March 27, 8th grade field trip to PHS. 8th grade students have been invited ​ to attend the Ponaganset High School Unified game against RI School for the Deaf at PHS at 1:00pm. Buses will transport the students from PMS to PHS at 12:15pm and they will be dismissed from the fieldhouse at the high school at 2:15pm. All 8th Grade students ​ will be dismissed from the Ponaganset High School. Bus students will report the their ​ assigned bus while students who get picked up will meet their ride in the athletic parking lot at 2:15. If you need to pick up your student between 12:30pm and 2:15pm, please send notice in with your child in the morning and bring photo ID to the PHS Field House glass entrance for dismissal.

- Reminder: Early Release Day on Monday, April 8, 2019 The schedule is a Day 3 with ​ periods B D F G E and then again on Friday, May 3, The schedule is a Day 4 with periods ​ ​ D F C A E. Students will be dismissed both days at 12:00 P.M. .

nd - Grade 7 Boston, MA Trip final payment was due Tuesday, March 22 .​ Any students ​ ​ ​ missing any of the required forms and/or payments will be removed from the trip. If you have ​ ​ ​ any concerns, please let us know by March 29th. ​

th - Grade 8 Washington, D.C. Trip final payment is due Friday, April 15 .​ Any students ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ missing any of the required forms and/or payments will be removed from the trip. ​

- The Algebra Readiness Assessment will be administered to students in grade seven between ​ th th ​ March 25 ​ and March 29 ​. This Readiness Assessment is comprised of two assessments ​ ​ which will determine each student’s ability/skills as needed to be placed in an Algebra class in grade eight. There is no preparation for this assessment. ​ ​

- State Testing: The RICAS (RI Comprehensive Assessment System) will be ​ th th administered at PMS between April 8 ​ and May 16 .​ While this is a 2nd year ​ ​ ​ assessment, several important attributes remain the same. Most importantly, our state standards have not changed. The RICAS assessments are aligned to the Common ​ ​ Core State Standards (CCSS). Instruction in our classrooms continues to be aligned to these standards in English Language Arts and Mathematics for all students.

The RICAS schedule for each grade level is: o Grade 6: April 8 - 11 o Grade 7: April 23 - 26 o Grade 8: April 30 -May 16 o All students are encouraged to do their best as each student’s results provide information to our teachers about the progress each student is making in attaining the standards as instructed. The results will help to inform us about the successes and needs of each student as well as inform us about our instruction. The results will not be used to promote students to the next year ​ or hold back any student in the current year. ​ Again, we are starting the fourth quarter marking period very soon but we are far from the end of the school year. Our students need to know that it is very important for them to continue to work hard so that they may successfully complete the school year. If you have any questions or concerns regarding your child’s progress, please contact the school; the Guidance Office telephone number is 710-7500, extension 2284.

Sincerely,

Joseph Porrazzo Principal

The Foster-Glocester Regional School District does not discriminate on the basis of age, sex, race, religion national origin, color or handicap in accordance with applicable laws and regulations

P.M.S. Spotlight

PRIDE in our ABCs - Academics, Behavior, Community ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​

Positive, Respect, Integrity, Dedication, Excellence ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​

Yellow Team Science: Wrapping up the large unit covering fossils, relative age of rock, and ​ ​ radioactive decay. We will then look at Earth’s geologic time scale

Social Studies: We just finished writing an essay about ancient India using text ​ ​ evidence from three different sources. We are now moving into our ancient China unit.

Math: The Yellow Team is working on piloting a new resource for mathematics. We are ​ ​ studying ratio relationships and rates. Ask your child about the new resource and the new topics.

ELA: Yellow Team students are starting a poetry unit. ​ ​

Purple Team Social Studies: We’ve been learning about ancient India and how that ancient civilization ​ ​ became so successful. In preparation for the chapter test, the students were put in groups and had to create questions from an assigned text section. During the next class the groups used either Quizizz.com or Kahoot.com or Quizlet.com to create a quiz and we ended with four lively competitions.

We are now finishing up the students’ most favorite activity - a five paragraph essay! They’ve been working diligently making sure to include explanations and details as well as to cite evidence from three different sources. Next up is ancient China!

ELA: The students have been diligently working on essay writing illustrating how a character’s ​ ​ traits change from the beginning to the end of the story and supporting his or her opinion by using information from three different texts. The students practiced effective editing and revising skills through the use of ‘stations’. Thank you to the station leaders who helped make this activity successful! Clip of stations Finally, look for word related riddles in the ​ ​ ​ announcements on Canvas. Mason M. has taken over this task for me. Thank you, Mason!

Science: GEOLOGIC TIME!

Extra-Curricular: Team Wide Podcasts: Natural Disasters

Event: ​ ● Mrs. Flowers gave a presentation and survey in Mrs. Lohr’s classes regarding future possible careers. Mrs. Flowers introduced them to several pathways that are offered right now at the high school as well as answered questions regarding potential career choices.

● As a team, we have been discussing successful test taking strategies in anticipation of the upcoming state testing.

Green Team Teaching and Learning:

Science: We have begun our Virus/Disease unit. During the unit students will be learning the ​ ​ differences between a virus and bacteria, how a disease is spread, and how a vaccine works. Students will identify areas of the school and swab to create bacteria cultures. We also will be working with ELA on a disease research project.

Social Studies: ​ Students have been analyzing the causes and effects of the French and Indian War. They examined how the rivalry between Great Britain and France led to a war for control of North America and impacted the British, French, colonists and Native Americans. As a result, students are beginning to draw conclusions about how this war leads to conflict between the colonists and Great Britain.

New self care break stations have started in social studies. Students have been taking advantage of the opportunity to practice self care, as needed, during class. Students can set a timer for 1, 3 or 5 minutes if they need a break. Stations include a 500 piece puzzle of the Statue of Liberty or coloring mandalas.

Math: We have been working on the ratios and proportions unit. Students have found unit ​ ​ rates to find the “best buy” from several options. They are writing and solving proportions. They are able to interpret proportional relationships from tables, graphs and equations.

ELA: Students finished reading and writing about Farah Ahmedi who faced and overcome ​ ​ tremendous odds, before and after coming to America. They learned of the generosity of others who helped her along the way. They read an excerpt from her memoir, an interview and an article. They then synthesized information from 2 - 3 of the text to analyze and support the themes. We are excited about the quality of the writing on the Green team. We are now beginning to look at how our understanding of media is impacted by the type of media...weather it be print, audio or film.

Extra-Curricular: Thank you to Deb Procopio and her advisory for the beautiful scarves. They ​ made and donated 23 scarves to those in need in our community.

We continue to make blankets for the Linus Project. Thank you to those of you who continue to donate fabric, so we may continue to help those in need.

Orange Team

Social Studies: Students are studying the causes of the American Revolution. They are ​ ​ examining the events that led to the conflict from multiple perspectives and using a variety of sources.

Red Team Science: Students have just completed a series of chemical labs exploring the properties of ​ ​ matter and how the “Particle Model for Matter” explains why substances behave the way they do.

Social Studies: Students are examining the rise of big business in the . ​ ​ Students began by analyzing how the railroad industry led to an industrial boom in the U.S. Students then began to examine what monopolies are and the strengths and weaknesses of monopolies. Students will complete a paired-text reading, and write an argumentative essay about whether or not people like John D. Rockefeller were “Robber Barons” or “Captains of Industry.”

ELA: In ELA, Red Team students are in the middle of a Unit on Poetry. Working off the ​ ​ ​ Essential Question “What is school for?”

Blue Team

Teaching and Learning: Science: The mad scientists are finishing up their studies about chemical changes and ​ ​ will be heading full throttle into motion and forces.

Social Studies: Social studies students are finishing up their discussions about ​ ​ industrialization and inventions and will be travelling into the topic of immigration in the late 1800s and the 1900s. The students will be able to bring in their own connections between the immigration conflicts of today and those from the past.

Math: “Why do we have to learn this?” Math classes are applying their in class ​ ​ concepts to the real world. Specifically, we are using linear equations to make decisions in real world scenarios.

ELA: All groups will be finishing their literature circles with Banned Books in the next ​ ​ ​ few weeks. They will start to build their arguments around whether or not these books should be banned from schools and public libraries. This has been a great experience for all the students who have had been able to read books they may not have otherwise considered.

Extra-Curricular: STEAM Night was on Thursday, March 21st, from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Students from all grades had arts and engineering projects on display to show their creativity and problem solving abilities. We are looking forward to a fun night of displaying their hard work.

The Blue Team will also be hosting the Battle of the Teams on Friday, April 5th. We will be holding a mini Battle of the Teams during advisory to get all students excited for this event. This is going to be an extremely fun night and we hope all students come out to battle for their team!

SPECIALS

MARCH is National Nutrition Month, an annual nutrition education and information​ campaign created by the Academy​ of Nutrition and Dietetics. The campaign focuses attention on the importance of making informed food choices and developing sound eating and physical activity habits. Wondering how you can celebrate? The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics has a handy, helpful toolkit to help you, and you can also check out Action for Healthy Kids for ​ ​ ​ ​ some fun AND educational ways to promote lifelong good nutrition habits. https://www.rihsc.org/

Physical Education/Health th The Ninth Annual Chieftain Challenge 5K Road Race takes place on Saturday, May 4 ​ starting ​ at 10:00 AM. T-Shirts guaranteed to the first 150 registrants… get your registration in before May 4! (NOTE: size preference not guaranteed.) Please see the Entry Form in the Main Office.

Chorus On Wednesday, April 10th, the Chamber Chorus will travel to the Rhode Island Music Educators Association large group festival, where they will sing for a panel of judges as well as other middle school choirs from around the state. We wish them the best of luck!

​Information from Nurse Donnelly

Grade 7 and 8 Required Immunizations REMINDER th Important Message to Parents with Adolescents Entering 7 ​ Grade ​ Immunization Requirements In accordance with the Rhode Island Department of Health Rules and Regulations Pertaining ​ to Immunization and Testing for Communicable Diseases (R23-1-IMM), ​

th all adolescents entering 7 ​ grade are required to have the following immunizations: ​ ​ ​ ➢ Four (4 ) doses of DTap (Diphtheria, Tetanus, Pertussis) vaccine ➢ Four (4) doses of Polio vaccine ➢ Two (2) doses of MMR (Measles, Mumps, Rubella) vaccine ➢ Three (3) doses of Hepatitis B vaccine Two (2) doses of Varicella (chickenpox) vaccine received or a statement signed by your ​ ​ ​ child’s doctor stating that your child has a history of chickenpox disease.

➢ One (1) dose of Meningococcal Conjugate (Meningitis) vaccine ➢ One (1) dose of Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine ➢ One (1) dose of Tdap (Tetanus, Diphtheria, Pertussis) vaccine

th All children entering 7 ​ grade are required to be up-to-date on their immunizations as well ​ as have a physical exam on file with the nurse. Please provide a copy before the start of ​ ​ the school year. REMINDER

Important Message to Parents with Adolescents Entering th 8 ​ Grade ​ Immunization Requirements In accordance with the Rhode Island Department of Health Rules and Regulations Pertaining ​ to Immunization and Testing for Communicable Diseases (R23-1-IMM), all adolescents th ​ entering 8 ​ grade are required to have the following immunizations: ​ ​ ➢ Two (2) doses of Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine Important reminder about flu vaccination: An annual influenza (flu) vaccination is RECOMMENDED for all students. Influenza vaccine is ​ ​ available from October through April each year. Be sure to ask your doctor about flu vaccine.

For more information, please visit: www.health.ri.gov/immunization/for/schools ​ ​

PMS VBYG Immunization Clinic Wednesday, May 22, 2019 at PMS The “Vaccinate Before You Graduate” or VBYG, program is available to all students in grades ​ ​ 7-12 with no out of pocket cost and it is convenient since all immunizations are administered ​ ​ ​ ​ during the school day. All immunizations are reported to KIDSNET (HEALTH'S Immunization Registry) within 48 hours so physicians have documentation of all vaccines administered outside ​ ​ ​ of their office. Most importantly, VBYG offers an opportunity for students to catch up on the required or recommended vaccinations that may be needed for school, college or work. ​ ​

VACCINES AVAILABLE: Hep A Hep B ​ ​ HPV Influenza (Injectable) Meningitis MMR Polio Tetanus (Tdap) Varicella VBYG has helped to vaccinate RI high school students for 14 years. If your child needs to have their first, second or third HPV vaccine for instance, they could have it right at PMS on Wed, ​ May 22, 2019 in the Nurse’s Office. ​ ​ Registration Options: Parents can fill out the consent form and return it to the school nurse OR they can register online by visiting “thewellcomp.com”, and then click on the “Vaccinate Before You Graduate” tab. The online registration will close a week before the event.