Milwee - May 2013

May 2013 Volume 5 Issue 3

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Dear Milwee Family,

Wow, what a year! To better state that- what a GREAT year! Milwee students continue to impress me with their hard work and dedication to excellence.

We have truly made a name for ourselves and are a force to be reckoned with at district and state competitions such as SECME, LEGO League, Math Festival, Sea Perch, Band MPAs, Science Fair and Beta Convention. It is an honor and privilege to work with your students and I thank you for the opportunity. We wish all 8th grade students the best of luck in high school and all future endeavors.

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Summer vacation is almost here! Regression and recoupment refers to the loss of knowledge and the amount of time it takes to recoup the lost knowledge due to time. For most students this equates to summer vacation. Research conducted by Tilley, Cox, and Staybrook (1986) found that most students experience some regression over the summer months. Students in regular education regressed by about 4 percent as measured by standardized tests. To keep skills strong and learning fresh, please encourage your student to read over the summer. If you need ideas about book selection, please go on to Milwee’s website @ http://www.milwee.scps.k12.fl.us/ under the parent tab. There you can select the summer reading list.

Additionally, there are some great websites that will assist students with math problems over the summer as well. Please have your student try http://www.khanacademy.org/ and/ or http://www.mathplayground.com/.

Our math teachers say these are fun websites that assist students in building skills as well as help them get a head start for next year. Your assistance over rin .P st L) A-

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Spartan Herald

Best regards, Michelle Walsh

https://www.facebook.com/#!/scpsmiddleschools

Please like us on your Facebook and you will be able to follow what is happening in middle schools across the district. Liking the SCPS Middle Schools Page means you are connecting to that Page. When you connect to a Page, it will appear in your timeline and you will appear on the Page as a person who likes that Page. The Page will also be able to post content into your News Feed but will not have access to your individual Facebook page if the privacy setting is restricted to friends only.

Parents, PTSA, and SAC

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Thank you for supporting the 2012-2013 FCAT Games.

Both The Hobbit and The Wizard of Oz were a tremendous success! It couldn’t have happened without you.

Remember the key to doing well on the FCAT 2.0 is reading. We encourage your children to read for enjoyment this summer. Why don’t you read a book with them?

Take a look at milweebookclub.weebly.com for the 2012-2013 Sunshine State Readers.

Join the book club! Make sure that you check out the parent tab; there are great suggestions for you to promote conversation on the books your children and you are reading. Have a great summer!

School Supply List 2013-2014

The school supply list will be on the school website this summer. Please check back periodically for the posting.

School Climate Survey

The common theme on the Climate Survey taken by teachers, students and parents were some concerns about the cleanliness of the restroom. The comments generated by the students, in particular, speak to how students in the school create the mess in the restrooms, making it difficult for others to use those restrooms.

Administration has taken these concerns very seriously.

We have arranged for our custodians to monitor student restrooms hourly, noting when damage is done to the restroom and reporting it to the Deans. As students sign in and out of the classrooms when using restroom, we will be able to narrow down who may be responsible for ruining the restrooms for everyone else. Additionally, we are renovating all of the student restrooms this summer replacing tile, toilets and sinks and hope that our students will take care of their new restrooms.

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Have a wonderful vacation! See you next year.

SCPS Middle Schools are on Facebook

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The front office is going to have a “face lift” this summer. Due to a combination of reduced summer office staff and the fumes when laying new tile and carpet, the front office will be relocated to the Media Center during the month of June and beginning of July. Please call ahead if you would like to drop off or pick up items as there may be times that the office will be closed altogether because of vacation schedules.

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the summer months is greatly appreciated.

Open House

We, at Milwee, understand that it is difficult for parents to come to pick up schedules, go to an open house and then come back a few short weeks later to see presentations for a “Back to School Night”. As such, we have, for the past few years combined the two–to try to make the process more accommodating to working parents. On Thursday, August 8 – from 12 noon until 6pm will be our Open House. Students will pick up their schedule and teachers will be available to meet with you – transportation issues can be handled, cafeteria accounts can be opened. Be sure to plan to stop by some time during the day!

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Principal’s Message Continues...

8th Grade Week

8th grade activities are a privilege. As noted in the Milwee Middle School handbook and website, the administration reserves the right to revoke or deny any/ all of the 8th grade activities to students who have: • received In-School Suspension or Out-of-School Suspension on any date after March 1, 2013 • have had 5 or more unexcused absences after March 1, 2013 or are absent on the day of the event –student must be present 75% of the day of the event.

• have an outstanding balance due to the school • arrive at the event out of dress code

8th Grade Dance Dress code • Boys - Sunday Best • Girls - Spaghetti straps allowed, no strapless dresses.

On the day of the events, in order to participate, students must be present in school at least 75% of the day. Seminole County dress code is strictly enforced for all of the activities.

8th Grade Activities Schedule • • • • •

May 10 – Spartan Showdown May 13-17, 2013 – 8th Grade Spirit Week (Spirit Days TBA) Wednesday, May 15, 2013 – 8th Grade Kick Ball Game Friday, May 17, 2013 – 8th Grade Dance Tuesday, May 21, 2013 – 8th Grade Awards Night-Invitations will be sent home with the student

New 6th Grade Parents

Dr. Walsh will host a new parent coffee, May 14 at 9:30 in the Media Center, for parents who prefer the afternoon, a new parent tea will be held May 17 at 1:30 in the Media Center. Feel free to join Dr. Walsh for this informal gathering to meet the experts and help navigate you and your 6th grader through middle school.

Report Card Pick Up and FCAT Scores

Report Cards will be available for pick up in the Media Center beginning June 10. Summer office hours are Monday-Thursday 8:00-4:30. We anticipate that FCAT scores will be available for pick up in the Media Center the last week of June.

Please call the school or check the website to verify the arrival of FCAT scores.

E-Week Winners

Congratulations to the following students for creating an object that will keep themselves or their pet cool.

Invention Winners • 1st - Caitlin Ather AC on the Go • 2nd - Courtney Griffith Portable Air • 3rd - Andrea Ferrer Solar Sol • 4th - Alex Faison- Beverage Belt • 5th – Kelvin Moya Alamo-Fido Cool Home • 6th- James Bolien- Pet Care Cooler • Honorable mention - Kevin Jarvis - Blogo Congratulations to the Wax Museum Participants.

• 1st Place Skyar Swiderski as Rudolf Modrzejewski • 2nd Aliza Cortes as Bente Nesmith Graham • 3rd Maria Guribe as Ruth Wakefield • 4th Geoffrey Eichner as Nicholas Tesla • 5th Chloe LaFaille and Destiny Norman as Max Factor • People’s Choice Award Reagan Seago as Steve Jobs

Calendar of Events May 10

Spartan Showdown

May 14

New Parent Coffee – 9:30 Band Concert – 7:00

May 15

8th Grade Kick Ball Game

May 17

New Parent Tea – 1:30 8th Grade Dance – 6:00-9:00

May 21

8th Grade Awards – 6:30

May 22

6th and 7th Grade Awards – 9:30

May 27

Memorial Day-No School

May 25,28,29

Early Release – 1:50

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Message to Incoming Sixth Grade Parents from Milwee’s English Language Arts

Beta Club

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Congratulations to the following students for being inducted into the Beta Club, they are commended for maintaning a 3.75 g.p.a. or higher: 7th graders Matthew Alter, Nicole Bozik, Gabrielle DeMontrichard, Benjamin Devries, Ashely Donahey, Perry Fraser, Kirsty Griffiths, Aidan Snively, William Teffner, Gavin Wilson and Paxton Wilson. 6th graders Hannah Backhaus, Michelle Bondzie, Alexandra Brown, Srajan Dube, Andrea Ferrer, Nathan Holden, Carmine Ianonne, Trinity Jackson, Kevin Jarvis, Kyle Koehne, Janelle Lehman, Hannah Little, Victoria Marshall, Sara Mobeck, Ansley Morrison, Bridget O’Brien, Markaysha Oliver, Alexandria Pigg, Nathasha Rivero, Jacob Slavkin, Nyah St. Omer, Madison Stubbs, and Bryson Turner.

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SECME

Congratulations to Breanna Swanson, Johnathan Trattner, Logan Clemente, Brett Hartman, Connor Kapoor, Jacob Siudak, Jai Brown, Juan Monsalve-Salavar, Austin Halley, Chris Frizzell and Sydney Warsaw for winning the Florida Solar Energy Center public service announcement video.

The class will receive two hydrogen fuel cells for the Hydrogen Challenge!

Secme and environmental engineering students will be going to Florida solar energy center May 4 to compete in energy whiz Olympics.

Milwee Middle School PreEngineering Magnet School SECME team competed at the UCF-CECS Secme Regional Competition at the University of Central Florida, February, 16, 2013. Milwee’s 27 Secme team members competed in all the regional and state qualifying events.

The students placed 1st and 2nd in bridge building, 1st, 2nd and 3rd in the glider competition, 1st and 2nd in the math competition, 1st in egg drop, 1st in rocketry, 3rd in essay, 1st for rocketry patch, and 2nd for rocketry technical drawing. The Milwee team also won the first place overall team trophy at the competition

We are excited to begin our 2013-2014 school year with your children. The essential question will be: How do engineers meet the cultural, social, economic and environmental needs of the 21st century? We will be busy answering this question all year as our students experience pre-engineering activities and projects that relate to Language Arts.

Because we want to prepare our students for the future, teambuilding activities will be incorporated. Milwee believes that only when students are willing and able to work together will we maximize the learning potential of our students.

The Five Aims of Teambuilding are: • Getting Acquainted • Team Identity • Mutual Support • Valuing Differences • Developing Synergy

In addition, we continue pressing forward with reading literature, composition, grammar, spelling, and academic vocabulary. Students will enhance writing skills through expressive, narrative, expository, and persuasive writing.

Ten Reasons to Read: • To understand the past • To explore the world • To plan for the future • To visit new places • To create great things • To make good decisions • To have fun • To exercise the mind • To keep in touch • Just because you can!

PBS Week Was A Blast!

The week of April 8, Milwee celebrated the first “Positive Behavior Support (PBS) Week”.

The goal of PBS Week was to focus on each of the three Spartan Pillars of Positive Behavior.

Students were recognized each day for displaying the POSITIVE behavior highlighted for that day. Tuesday’s focus was Safety, Wednesday’s focus was Respect and Thursday’s focus was Responsibility. Each student was given a Spartan Helmet and was responsible for getting each of their teachers to sign the helmet indicating that they displayed the Spartan Pillar that was highlighted for that day. The students who consistently displayed the Spartan Pillars of Positive Behavior throughout the week were rewarded with a full size candy bar! YUM! Students were also given the chance to buy a Spartan Shout Out to their friends on Friday during lunch. Everyone had a great time sending, receiving and reading the shout outs which were fun messages to fellow students. PBS was a blast! We are already working on next year’s ideas so that students who continue to follow expectations not only make our school a great place to learn but a POSITIVE place to be!

Lego League and Artificial Intelligence and Mobile Robotics

February also marked the month with the highest number of POSTIVE behavior referrals this year! Traditionally students struggle during February because it is in the middle of the school year, but not at Milwee. OUR students know how to behave safely, respectfully and responsibly as evidenced by such a high number of positive referrals. Keep up the great work and let’s see if we can top February’s numbers each month until the end of school!

FIRST LEGO League students are working on the challenges for the SCPS Fun Robotics day, “Who let the Dogs Out!” on April 27th at Goldsboro Elementary. One of the challenges is to build a LEGO dog that, on a verbal command, finds a ball, and returns it to the starting place.

LEGO Robotics students are working on using all the sensors, and will shortly start on similar challenges. The Artificial Intelligence students have made their robots sing and dance, and will soon start programming their robots to behave like a living thing of their choice.

Social Studies

History Fair

Second Quarter Positive Referral Party

On February 28, our wonderful PTSA assisted with our second quarter positive referral party.

The party was held to celebrate the students who received a positive behavior referral during the second quarter of school. Positive Behavior Referrals are given by teachers and staff to recognize students who go above and beyond and excel in displaying the Spartan Pillars of Positive Behavior. We had well over 100 students invited. Students who attended enjoyed freshly popped popcorn courtesy of the PTSA, lemonade courtesy of our wonderful cafeteria staff and a treat bag courtesy of our PBS committee. If you were able to attend we know you had a great time. If you haven’t yet attended one, keep working on those positive behaviors so you too can be a part of the fun! Thanks again to our amazing PTSA for your hard work and support of our school!

Positive Behavior Referrals

Our sixth grade Spartans are finishing up the exploration of the Roman Empire and nearing a look at the Rise of Christianity. Once completed, sixth grade classes will head East to learn about what life was like in Ancient India and China. To end the year, our sixth grade Spartans will get a glimpse of the Americas during ancient times. All of our students are encouraged to read over the summer. The sixth grade curriculum contains many interesting units including Greece and Rome. Choosing a book from either of these units may also serve as a helpful preview for the students as they head into Civics in the seventh grade!

Engage! That is what our 7th Grade Civics Class is all about! Our students have been analyzing some new and exciting things in our civics classrooms; the economy, foreign policy, and how to get involved in their communities. Students are building community action plans, sifting through primary resources and learning just how America and the rest of the world interact. We have written bills to our state representatives and found out what it means to be a true Floridian! To have a little fun and see what our kids have been up to, head to www. icivics.org and check some cool lessons and sweet games!

Eighth graders are heading West as the United States continues to expand throughout our lessons. We are wrapping up a unit on the Jacksonian Democracy and then plan to experience American’s “Manifest Destiny” in the classroom. Once the United States expands from “Sea to shining sea”, eighth graders will begin investigating the events that led to the Civil War. We will wrap the year up learning about the Civil War itself through various perspectives and then finally ending with Reconstruction. While a Social Studies course is not mandatory for most ninth grades, students are encouraged to look at possibly taking a Social Studies course they may be interested in as an elective. There are becoming quite a lot of Social Studies topics offered at the high school level. Our Spartans who are soon to be ninth graders should check to see what their high school has to offer!

Four Milwee history fair projects (5 students) won awards at the county history fair! Congratulations to: • Zach Beres, individual exhibit, “The Refrigerator: A Turning Point” • Brittany Porthouse and Lily Brenner, African American Heritage Award, “Louis Armstrong’s Influence on Jazz” • Jonathan Trattner, Innovation in History Award, “Eniac: A Turning Point in Computer History” • Noah Nolan, Seminole County Heritage Award, “Frozen Orange Juice Concentrate: Revolutionizing Florida’s Citrus Industry”

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PARCC

Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) is a 22-state consortium working together to develop next-generation K-12 assessments in English and Mathematics for assessing the Common Core State Standards. In the spring of 2015, students in grades 3-11 will take the PARCC exams in English Language Arts as well as grades 3-8 Mathematics, Algebra I, Geometry, and Algebra II. These exams will replace the corresponding FCAT exams that students currently take in these grades/subjects. Students will continue to take FCAT exams in grades 5 & 8 Science, and End-of-Course exams in Civics, U.S. History, and Biology. Below are links to some resources that can assist you in learning more about the PARCC exams: • PARCC Website: http://www.parcconline.org/ • PARCC Florida Department of Education Q & A: http://www.fldoe.org/parcc/pdf/ PARCCfaq.pdf

PARCC Questions

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1. What are the recommended technology and keyboarding skills for students by grade?

A: Third graders will have to do some keyboarding and be able to drag and drop with mouse. Third grade students will NOT have to compose long essays. We do not yet know what grade-level will be required to compose long essays. Grade-level classroom teachers and assessment experts will review the tasks and the responses gathered during pilot testing to ensure that the tasks assess mastery of the CCSS rather than proficiency with technology.

2. What is the schedule for field testing and piloting PARCC items/exams?

A: There will be no field testing of PARCC items in the FCAT 2.0 exams. There are a few districts piloting a small number of items right now. Much larger pilots will take place later in the spring of 2013 and a very large pilot is expected in the spring of 2014.

Information has not yet been released on these pilots but it is assumed that districts will be able to volunteer to take part. There is no way that every school in the state will be able to pilot a PARCC exam prior to implementation in the spring of 2015.

3. What specifically will be required for the speaking and listening portions? Will this be every grade level? Performance items?

A: The speaking and listening portions will be on the optional formative assessments that districts can chose to take part in. There will not be speaking and listening portions to the required performance exams. The procurement document (costs) for these services is still under development.

4. What is the length of each assessment that will be required?

A: We do not yet know the length of the sessions. What we do know is that the performance-based tests for ELA will be given over 2 days and the performance tests for Math will be given in 1 day. These will be in early spring. The end of year PARCC portions will be given in 1 day for ELA and 1 day for mathematics. These will be as close to the end of the year as possible.

5. Will there be a single national standard for proficiency, or will this standard be determined by each state?

A: There will be national cut scores to determine the performance levels and a national standard to determine College and Career Readiness, which will be level 4.

However, each state will be able to determine what level and what scores they will use to determine proficiency or for making determinations of student remediation or grade retention.

6. How will writing be judged as part of the PARCC ELA test?

A: Writing and Reading Comprehension will be scored holistically as part of the ELA performance assessment. The performance assessment for ELA will be given over 2 days and will consist of items that will be human scored utilizing a rubric as well as items that will be machine scored, primarily drag and drop items and some selected response.

7. Will there be a writing subscore?

A: Yes, the plan at this time is to have identifiable sub-scores for Writing.

8. Will the optional formative assessments provide a prediction of PARCC test performance (eg a predicted level)?

A: The optional formative assessments are not intended to be a predictor for PARCC. They are meant to be a progress monitor and are being targeted for states that do not currently have formative assessments in place. Since Florida has developed or is developing very similar assessments, Florida is not pushing this component of PARCC assessments at this time. Districts can choose to take part but it will be at their own expense.

Science

The science department has worked hard to enrich and develop lessons to open your student’s eyes to the world of science. We are always striving to sharpen our skills to create the perfect science lesson that is engaging and interesting to your children. We have truly enjoyed our year with your child. Here is what is coming in our final nine weeks.

The fourth nine weeks marks the continuation of the Chemistry portion of Physical Science. During this period the students will continue the study of the periodic table of elements including atomic configuration, reactivity, and common uses of elements. The students will also study chemical formulas and chemical reactions, organic compounds, polymers, acids, bases, and salts. Projects and real world labs include: Adopt an Element, cheese making, and hydrogen balloons, slime, oil spill clean up, and cookie mining.

Seventh graders will explore human impact and how we fit in the ecosystem this 4th nine weeks. Students will learn to be Eco-scientists. Students will study adaptations and how human impact can drive species adaption. They will also be finishing up their communities engineering project in which students design a city to minimize human impact and allow open spaces for wildlife.

“Space: The Final Frontier.” This famous introduction to the 1970s television show, Star Trek, really sums up our final section for 6th Grade Science. We will be exploring the many aspects of Astronomy from its very long history as the first form of science to our own NASA with its many fascinating plans for the future. We will delve into the study of the sun and planets and marvel at the shear vastness of our universe! We will also have a blast designing and launching water rockets as our engineering project for the next nine weeks. So, get ready and encourage your children to hold tight and press on so that they might finish well! And, “May the Force be with you” (Star Wars).

Attention Next year 7th and 8th grade students: The Florida Keys trip will be offered next year. Look for information on the trip coming out at the beginning of the next school year. Start saving your money for this awesome trip Now!!!! Have A Great Summer!

Math News

The 6th grade Math Team continues to be impressed by the amount of academic growth shown by all of our students. This year we are focused on mastery by skill or benchmark. Many students have already mastered most of, if not all of, the benchmarks for sixth grade!

The Standard Math students have just wrapped up their FCAT preparations with Percents, the Measures of Central Tendency (mean, median and mode) as well as the measure of variability (range), and Geometry. Students will continue on with Geometry before beginning Integers where students will be introduced to negative numbers. We will wrap up the year preparing students for 7th grade.

The Advanced Math and SCPS Pre-IB students have completed the study of two-dimensional and three-dimensional figures which fall under the sixth-grade benchmarks. After a detailed review, we expect our students to shine on their FCAT exams. The lessons will pick up with the study of Geometry which falls under the seventh-grade benchmarks. Finally, we will end the year by looking at integers.

Our 6th grade GEM students have recently learned about finding surface area and volume of three dimensional figures, and have also mastered geometry and spatial reasoning using the Pythagorean Theorem. Next we will be moving on to measurement and proportional reasoning. Finally, we will end our year with exploring transformations in the coordinate plane!

In 8th grade mathematics the students are preparing for Algebra I next year. In Algebra Standard and Honors, we will be ending the year with simplifying radicals and operations with radicals. To prepare students for Geometry, we will also cover the basis of trigonometry ratios which include sine, cosine, and tangent. More so, we will continue to prepare the Algebra and Geometry students for the EOC (Endof-course) exam which will be given during the 2nd week in May. The EOQ (Endof-Quarter) exam will be given at the end of the quarter.

Science Class Fundraiser

“Thank you to all the students who helped raise money for iPad Minis through the Science Fundraiser.

Students sold Thirty-One Gifts Products to family and friends; the profit went to the increase use of technology in Milwee Science classrooms. We raised enough money through the fundraiser and generous donations to purchase at least 4 iPad Minis and additional educational apps! These students were the highest selling students and received a free personalized Cinch Sca from Thirty-One Gifts.

6th grade Joshua Hatfield and Nyah St. Omer

7th Grade Garret Baublitz and Aaron Cichon

8th grade Denver Bourassa Great job Students! And a big THANK YOU to all the parents and community members for supporting this venture and helping Milwee Students and the Science Department!”

ESE Department

Our ESE Department is in the process of preparing IEPs for the incoming 6th graders for 2013-2014. As we begin to develop new relationships with our new parents and students, we can’t help but look back on those relationships we have developed with our current students. It is so important to keep in contact with your student’s teachers but also with his/her IEP Case Manager.

Many of our students are improving the ability to self-advocate. It is such an important skill. As our 8th graders embark on their new journey to high school, we all wish them well! It has been a pleasure working with you!!

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Milwee Middle School Home Of The Spartans

Spartan Herald Milwee Middle School Pre-Engineering Magnet 1341 S. Ronald Regan Blvd.

Longwood, FL 32750

Common Core State Standards

The state of Florida is currently transitioning its educational standards from the Next Generation Sunshine State Standards (NGSSS) to the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). This transition began in the fall of 2011 with our Kindergarten students and continued this past fall with our First graders. Starting in the fall of 2013, Second grade students will be fully immersed in these new standards with a blended curriculum of NGSSS and CCSS for our Third grade through seniors.

The Common Core State Standards are an educational initiative that seeks to bring individual state’s curriculum into alignment with each other by following the concept of standards-based education reform. Currently 45 states and the District of Columbia have adopted these new standards and educators and researchers from across the nation are working together to collaborate on the best instructional practices and curriculum to meet the new, rigorous standards.

Below are links to some resources that can assist you in learning more about the Common Core State Standards and how to support your student(s): • Florida Department of Education CCSS Resources: http://www.fldoe.org/ schools/ccc.asp • Resource Guide: http://www.ccsso.org/Documents/2012/Common_Core_ Resources.pdf • Parent Newsletter: http://www.fldoe.org/newsletter/JustForParents/2012/ JFP_September_Newsletter.pdf • Parent’s Guide to Success: http://pta.org/parents/content. cfm?ItemNumber=2910

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