Upper Merion Area Middle School
VIKING NEWS – MAY/JUNE 1998 2
VIKING NEWS
Upper Merion Area Middle School
NewslettervvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvAUGUST 2013
Dr. Karen Geller
Principal
(610) 205-8801
VIKING NEWS – August 2013 - 3 -
Dear Parents and Students,
I hope that your summer has been an exciting one, and that you are looking forward to the 2013-2014 school year. This year promises to be filled with challenges and excitement for all our students.
Listed below for your information are procedures for the opening of school. If you have any questions prior to the first day of school, please contact your child’s counselor.
Enjoy the remaining days of summer.
Sincerely,
Dr. Karen Geller
Principal
VIKING NEWS – August 2013 - 2 -
First Day
The first day of school for all middle school students will be Tuesday, September 3. Students should report to school at 7:45 AM. Fifth grade students are to report to the auditorium and sixth grade students are to report to the cafeteria. Seventh and eighth grade students are to report to the small and large gymnasium respectively. Tuesday is a full day for all middle school students with dismissal at 2:55 PM.
Bus Schedules
Bus information is included with this mailing. If there is any problem with the bus information, please call transportation at 610 205-6485.
Student Schedules
Enclosed you will find a copy of your child’s schedule for the 2013-2014 school year. If you have any questions, please contact your child’s guidance counselor as follows:
Grade 5 – Kara Howell – 610-205-8835
Grade 6 – Mandi Donohue – 610-205-8836
Grade 7 – David Burns – 610-205-8837
Grade 8 – Kim Corbi – 610-205-8838
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5TH GRADE TRANSITION MEETING
A 5th grade transition meeting will be held on August 21st starting at 6:30 pm in the auditorium. This is a chance for 5th grade students and any student new to the district to come and tour the school and find their classrooms.
Gym Suits
All middle school students are required to wear gym uniforms. Gym suits may be purchased at the school store. The store is open every morning before the start of class. The store will also be open on August 21, the night of the 5th grade transition meeting.
INFORMATION:
Data sheets are included with this mailing. Please look over the data sheet and make any corrections. Also remember to fill out the medical information on the back of the data sheet. Please have your child return the data sheet to their homeroom teacher on the first day of school. Other forms (school insurance, free lunch applications, etc.) will be distributed to your child the first day of school.
Mark Your Calendar
Our Annual Fall Open House will be held on Thursday, September 19th at 6:30 PM. Mark your calendar now and plan to come out and meet your child’s teachers.
DATES TO REMEMBER
9/2/13 Holiday
9/3/13 First Student Day
9/5/13 Holiday – Schools Closed
9/18/13 PTC Meeting – 7:00 pm
9/19/13 Open House – 6:30 pm
9/19/13 Middle School Picture Day
9/26/13 Middle School Petrucci’s Night 6:00 pm
10/16/13 PTC Meeting – 7:00 pm
10/23/13 Study Skills Workshop 6:30 pm
11/1/13 Middle School Picture Retake Day
11/5/13 Teacher In-Service
11/13/13 Report Cards Issued
11/14/13 ESL Family Night – 6:00 pm
11/20/13 PTC Meeting – 7:00 pm
11/21/13 Conferences – 11:10 am Dismissal
11/25/13 7/8 Band Patriot’s Concert 7:00 pm
11/26/13 Conferences – 11:10 am Dismissal
11/27/13 90 Minute Early Dismissal
11/28-11/29 Holidays – Schools Closed
12/3/13 5-8 Orchestra Concert 7:00 pm
12/12/13 MS Music Concert – 7:00 pm
12/23-1/1/14 Winter Break – Schools Closed
COMMUNITY OF CARING AT UPPER MERION AREA MIDDLE SCHOOL
Upper Merion Area Middle School is a Community of Caring! We welcome our students, parents and guardians into our school family where we teach, live and model caring, respect, responsibility, trust and family. We build a strong partnership with our parents and guardians and work as a team to bring about academic success.
Teachers work diligently with students to establish a respectful classroom in which students are kind and respectful to all members of their school family. We are proud of our diversity and we celebrate it through our literature readings, our clubs and our classroom lessons.
Teachers teach students responsibility for their learning. They integrate all of these qualities throughout the curriculum and all of our activities.
Upper Merion Area Middle School is a National School of Character! We weave citizenship and compassion through our service learning.
Please support us by having high expectations for your child academically and behaviorally and by utilizing and reinforcing the vocabulary and actions below:
Community of Caring
Upper Merion Area Middle School strives to provide an educational environment that is safe for students and staff. We are proud to be a true Community of Caring. The basic tenets of the Community of Caring concept include the following:
Caring: People in the school community demonstrate that they care about each other and about important issues.
Respect: To respect others means to see them as valuable in their own right.
Responsibility: People who care are willing to be accountable for their actions, enjoying praise when things go well and willing to accept responsibility when things go wrong.
Trust: Trust requires knowledge and understanding of others. It means being able to count on and depend on others.
Family: We take family stability, responsibility of family members to one another, mutual respect, and care among family members to be essential to the health of our students and society.Through an orchestrated school, home, and community approach, Community of Caring attempts to create a caring and respectful school environment that supports students as they develop positive character traits and to grow in citizenship.
Volunteer Tutors
Upper Merion Area Middle School has been fortunate to have community members and parent volunteers to tutor our students. This year we are in need of tutors for Reading/Language Arts, Math, Science, Social Studies, and Foreign Language. If you are considering volunteering your time (even 45 minutes per week would be helpful) kindly e-mail with your availability and you will be scheduled with students in need of assistance in your area(s) of expertise.
Upper Merion Middle School TSA Awarded NASA Summer of Innovation Grant
Upper Merion Middle School Technology Student Association Design and Engineering STEM Program has been awarded a NASA ‘Summer of Innovation’ grant for the 2013-14 school year. Matthew Cullen, TSA Advisor successfully completed the online grant application for this program. This is the third year the UMAMS Technology and Engineering Department has received a NASA grant to support the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics initiative.
The TSA program will be run as an extra-curricular academic team. Student applications will be provided the first week of school. The program will be open to all students in grades 5-8 in our public, home schooled, and charter school programs within the school district.
The students will have the opportunity to participate in local, regional, and state TSA leadership conferences. Design, Engineering, Aerospace, and Robotics competitive events will be used to drive activities and design challenges.
The TSA, Science Olympiad Team, and Viking Robotics Team are ongoing organizations that students may participate in throughout their middle school career. Concepts, activities, project samples, and event photographs will be showcased on display in the Design and Engineering Lab to reinforce topics covered in regular course offerings.