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Newsletter at a Glance A Message from the Principal 6th Graders Visit Venado State Testing Spirit Days Irvine Junior Games 8th Grade Panorama Photo Title I Parent Education Breakfast Meeting Music Performances in May NJHS Induction Ceremony

Returning Textbooks/Library Books Yearbooks 7th Grade Day Green Team Recycling Program High Altitude Balloon Experiment Immunization Documentation Reminders Water Conservation Challenge Mental Health Awareness

Events for May-June 2018

May 1-9 Math SBAC Testing

May 04 Spirit Day: Color Battle

May 04 Knott’s Permission Forms Due (8th Grade Only)

May 06 Irvine Junior Games, 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., at Irvine High School Stadium

May 09 8th Grade Panorama Photo/Payment Due

May 10 Minimum Day: School Ends at 12:45 p.m.

May 10 Open House: Classrooms Open: 6:30-8:00 p.m.

May 11 Modified Late Start: School Starts at 10:30 a.m.

May 11 Spirit Day: Black and Gold

May 14-16 8th Graders take California Science Test (CAST)

May 17 School Site Council Meeting, 3:15-4:15 p.m., Library

May 18 Spirit Day: Disney

May 24 Title I Parent Education Breakfast Meeting 8:30-9:45 a.m.

May 24 NJHS Induction Ceremony, at Lunch Time, in The Commons

May 24 Pops in the Grove, 5:30-7:30 p.m., Venado Outdoor Theater

May 25 Spirit Day: Pajama Day

May 25 Turn in Textbooks and Library Books

May 25 Music Under the Stars, 6:30 p.m., Irvine High School Outdoor Amphitheater

May 28 Memorial Day: No School

May 30 Musical Revue (Choral), Performances at 6:30 and 8:00 p.m., in the Venado Theater

June 1 Spirit Day: Black and Gold Extreme

June 1 Minimum Day: School Ends at 12:45 p.m.

June 1 8th Grade Promotion Party, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., Venado Middle School

June 4 PTSA Board Meeting, 5:30-6:30 p.m.

June 5 Knight’s Awards, 8:50 to 10:00 a.m., Venado Middle School

June 6 Yearbooks Distributed

Venado Middle School Newsletter

Irvine Unified School District

May-June 2018

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June 7 Minimum Day: School Ends at 12:45 p.m.

June 7 7th Grade Day: Last Day of School for 7th Graders

June 7 8th Grade Knott’s Field Trip

June 8 8th Grade Promotion Ceremony, 8:45 to 9:45 a.m., Venado Middle School

A Message from the Principal The end of the 2017-18 school year is in sight. Students and staff members have been working hard all year long and have learned and accomplished so much. It’s been a great year at Venado. I am so very proud of what we have accomplished this year! As the last day of school this year is in early June, this newsletter contains articles for the months of May and June. This is the last school newsletter of the year. The principal’s message has lots of important information, including information about a number of special events. Venado Receives Pacific Life Foundation Grant: I am pleased to report that for the second year in a row, Venado was awarded a grant by the Pacific Life Foundation in the amount of $3,000. The 3T’s of Education grant provides schools with funds designated for Teacher Training, Technology or Textbooks. Last year’s proceeds were used to fund a day-long workshop on Universal Design for Learning (UDL) by Dr. Katie Novak. I am excited to announce that the funds this year will be used to fund a second all-day workshop by Dr. Novak on UDL next October. We are truly appreciative of the support we have received from the Pacific Life Foundation.

Mr. Luis Torres, Venado Principal receiving the grant check from Pacific Life’s Mr. Earl Kreuzer and Mrs. Pradnya Ranade

Knights Awards Assembly, Monday, June 4, 2018: Each year, we recognize exceptional student achievement, leadership and school service at our Annual Knights Awards Program. This year’s program will be held on Monday, June 4 from 8:50 to 10:00 a.m. Individual student awards will be given in all of our curricular areas. We will also be recognizing students for their participation in our school service groups. Parents whose children will be recognized will be notified in writing about two weeks before the event. The letter will contain all the relevant details.

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Open House, Thursday, May 10, 2018: Venado’s Open House is Thursday, May 10, from 6:30-8:00 p.m. The building and classrooms will open from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. To provide more parking for families, our staff will be parking on the blacktop area at the back of the school. This will provide more parking in our main parking lot. Please feel free to use this parking lot and the lot at Deerfield Elementary School. In addition, we have obtained a parking variance from the City of Irvine, which allows people to park on the school-side of Deerfield, starting at Doe Trail/Deer Creek and ending at Fawn Glenn/Deer Spring. If you live close to Venado, you may wish to consider walking. Promotion Party/Dance, Friday, June 1, 2018 from 6:30-8:30 p.m: The Promotion Party will be held at Venado on Friday, June 1 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Only current eighth grade students from Venado Middle School who meet the eligibility criteria are permitted to attend the party. The party is sponsored by the PTSA and is free of charge. Students will need to arrive at the dance no later than 6:45 p.m. If for some reason your child must arrive later to the dance, please notify the main office in writing prior to May 31, so that we can make accommodations for late entrance. If students need to leave early, they may only be released to parents. Dress for the Promotion Party should be nice school clothes or dress-up clothing that would be appropriate to wear out to a nice dinner (a dress, skirt, blouse, nice pants, collared shirt, etc.). Clothing must meet the Venado dress code requirements. All school rules apply at the dance. Please pick up students promptly at the end of the dance. Promotion Ceremony, Friday, June 8, 2018 from 8:45-9:45 a.m: On Friday, June 8, 2017, eighth grade Venado students will be honored at our annual Promotion Ceremony. The ceremony will be from 8:45-9:45 a.m. on the Venado campus behind the Field House. Students must arrive that day by 8:30 a.m. and report to Homeroom classes. Student dress for this activity will be the same as for the Promotion Party (the dress code applies). Students should leave personal items such as backpacks, purses, etc. at home or have their parents hold on to them until after the ceremony. Family members are invited and welcome to attend the ceremony. Parents and guests are encouraged to bring lawn chairs and/or a blanket on which to sit. Handicapped seating will be provided for family members who make a request to Ms. Mariani, 949-936-6802, by Friday, June 1. To provide more parking for families, our staff will be parking on the blacktop area at the back of the school. This will provide more parking in our main parking lot immediately in front of the school. Please feel free to use this parking lot. (Please do not use the Deerfield Elementary School parking lot as school is still in session there.) In addition, we have obtained a parking variance from the City of Irvine, which allows people to park on the school-side of Deerfield, starting at Doe Trail/Deer Creek and ending at Fawn Glenn/Deer Spring. If you live close to Venado, you may wish to consider walking. Residency Verification: In February, the IUSD Student Services department sent all parents a notification regarding the annual Residency Verification process for all IUSD students enrolling for the 2018-2019 school year.

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Residency Verifications were due by Friday, March 30, 2018. If you still have not submitted your Residency Verification form, I urge you to do so immediately, by either returning the completed forms to the Venado front office, or by emailing them to taritalaughlin@iusd.org along with:

1. Proof of identification (photo ID) for the parent whose name appears on the bills 2. Two current items of proof of residency (For a list of acceptable documents included on the Residency Verification Form, please Click here). To complete the Residency Verification Affidavit, Click here

Students who have outstanding Residency Verifications may be removed from the school’s database at the end of the year. This may cause enrollment issues and jeopardize elective class placements. We want to avoid having you deal with these inconveniences.

The school newsletter is produced collaboratively by a number of staff members who write various brief articles each month. The name of the individual who wrote each article is indicated below the article. I would like to thank this month’s contributors: Mrs. Van Dam, Mrs. Adelman, Mr. Bui, Mrs. Baranski, Ms. Mariani, Mrs. Sarmiento, Ms. Woollett, Ms. Matthews, Mrs. Venlet, Mrs. Engle, Ms. Guccione, Mrs. Fisher, Mrs. Leimback, and Mrs. Muir. I would also like to thank Mrs. Ruki Charna, Office Assistant, who rounds up, creates the layout and edits the articles each month.

We look forward to an exciting and fun end of the year. If your child is moving on to high school, it’s been wonderful having your child at Venado and partnering with you over the past two years to deliver the best educational experience possible. If your child will be returning to Venado as an 8th grader, we look forward to another great year. Have a wonderful summer!

~ Luis Torres, Principal

6th Graders Visit Venado Future Venado Knights from our feeder schools and from around the district descended on Venado on Tuesday, April 20 for a special 6th grade assembly. Students and their teachers were encouraged to show school pride for their new school by wearing our school colors. Prizes were handed out to the most spirited. Assembly topics included learning about student life and activities, our HONOR Code and the spring registration process. Students got to hear about the various elective choices from teachers. As part of the visit, students also learned the Venado Cheer. We would like to wish a warm welcome to all of our new students and their families!

~ Luis Torres, Principal

CAASPP Testing - SBAC and CAST

Venado Middle School is currently administering the state Smarter Balanced Assessments (SBAC) to 7th and 8th grade students. Math SBAC testing will be administered between May 1 and May 7. The Math SBAC is comprised of two sections, the performance task (PT) and the computer adaptive test (CAT) which is a multiple choice/short answer section. Additionally, students in grade 8 will be participating in a field test of the California Science Test (CAST), an online test based on the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), between May 14 and 16 in their Science class. This field test is a “test of the test,” and not a test of student performance. As a result, no scores will be reported for the CAST for Science this

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year by the State. As a reminder, it is very important that students are present at school on-time, all day, each day during our testing process. Students are required to have a reading book with them each day of testing. Please see the CAASPP Testing Schedule on the Venado website for a detailed calendar: Venado CAASPP Testing Bell Schedule Calendar 2017-2018 ~ Shannon Van Dam, Assistant Principal, and Dawn Baranski, SBAC Coordinator

Spirit Days

We only have a few more spirit competitions left for this year, so let’s make sure we end the year strong. Remember, the class with the most spirit points this trimester will win an In-n-Out lunch celebration! Here are the remaining Spirit Days for the year:

May 4: Color Battle- Each 4th period class will be given a color to wear and compete against each other

May 11: Black and Gold

May 18: Disney! Wear your favorite Disney attire, or dress as your favorite character

May 25: Pajama Day

June 1: Black and Gold Extreme We will also have a Black & Gold Extreme day on Tuesday, June 5 for the Knights Awards! ~ Cory Adelman, ASB/Leadership Teacher

Irvine Junior Games

The Irvine Junior Games will take place on Sunday, May 6, and Venado is sending over 40 students who have been working hard to represent our school with distinction and pride. The games begin at 9:00 a.m. on May 6 at Irvine High School. Come cheer for our students and help support the Irvine Children’s Fund, which provides child care scholarships to help parents meet the before and after school needs at IUSD elementary school child care sites. ~ Natalie Leimback, Irvine Junior Games Liaison and P.E. Teacher

8th Grade Panorama Photo

South Coast Photographic will be here on Wednesday, May 9 to take the 8th Grade Panorama Photo. This is a group photo of the promoting 8th grade class and is a wonderful memento for students. Order envelopes, which were provided to all students in Homeroom on April 9, are to be turned in to the photographer at the time of the photo on May 9. The photos are $20 for a plain photo, or $25 for a laminated photo. Please include exact change, or a check made payable to South Coast Photographic. Extra envelopes are located in the front office. The Venado dress code applies and students will not be permitted to wear hats in the picture. Please make sure your student is attired appropriately. ~ Peggy Mariani, Administrative Assistant

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Title I Parent Education Breakfast Meeting

Please mark your calendars and RSVP for the Parent Meeting on May 24 from 9:00-10:00 a.m. In this session, Judy Neeb, Teen Services Librarian/Volunteer Coordinator from the O.C. Public libraries, Irvine Heritage Branch, as well as Cory Adams, the Community Services Program Coordinator, will be here to share endless teen summer activities and opportunities for your children. We will also discuss overall summer enrichment so that your child may continue to thrive during the summer months. Limited parking is available in the lot in front of the school (please do not use the Deerfield Elementary School parking lot). We have also obtained a parking variance from The City of Irvine, which allows people to park on the school-side of Deerfield starting at Doe Trail/Deer Creek and ending at Fawn Glenn/Deer Spring. Many thanks to all of you who have been able to attend the Title 1 Parent Education meetings this school year. This workshop will be our last one for this academic year, and will resume again in Fall 2018. ~ Susana Sarmiento, Title I Coordinator

Music Performances in May

Join the music program at their end of the year concerts. You won’t want to miss out on these amazing shows, so mark your calendars!! You will hear music from Hairspray, The Wizard of Oz, Coldplay, Michael Jackson, Spaghetti Westerns, Tijuana Brass, The King and I, Bug’s Life and much more!

Pops in the Grove Thursday, May 24 at 5:30 p.m. on the outside stage Jazz Ensemble, Bands & Orchestras Bring your blankets, lawn chairs, picnic dinners, family and friends!

Musical Revue Wednesday, May 30, 6:30 & 8:00 p.m. shows All Choir members in a musical theater performance! See choir members for tickets ($5 a person, 5 years and older)

Join the Venado Jazz Ensemble as they make a special guest appearance at Irvine High School’s (IHS) Music Under the Stars. We will share this concert with the two outstanding IHS Jazz Ensembles. It will be an inspiring and amazing night of jazz music. We hope to see you there to support your Venado jazz musicians!

Music Under the Stars Friday, May 25 at 6:30 p.m. Venado Jazz Ensemble IHS outdoor Amphitheater (next to theater)

~ Rebecca Venlet, Music Teacher

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National Junior Honor Society (NJHS) Induction Ceremony

The 2018 eighth grade class of NJHS is pleased to invite new NJHS members to the annual Induction Ceremony on Thursday, May 24 during lunch in the Commons. Students will be invited to celebrate their NJHS status with peers and advisors. This is an event for students only. Please look out for invitations, which will be sent home soon! ~ Ali Woollett and Shelby Matthews, NJHS Advisors

Returning Textbooks and Library Books

All students will return their textbooks on Friday, May 25 during their history class. It is very important that all books are returned on this date and time. Outstanding library books and classroom novels that are checked out through the Language Arts classes should also be returned to the library by Friday, May 25. It is the student’s responsibility to pay for lost or damaged books. If a student has any outstanding books or fees, participation in end-of-the-year activities could be jeopardized and the student may not receive his/her yearbook on time during the June 6 yearbook distribution. Please ensure that your child has all of his/her books to turn in when they leave for school on Friday, May 25. Thank you for your support. ~ Shannon Van Dam, Assistant Principal

Yearbooks are Coming!

Our 2018 Venado Yearbook theme is Ignite the Spark! Yearbooks will be distributed on Wednesday, June 6 during Homeroom. Students will not receive their yearbook until all outstanding fines are paid, and all library books and textbooks are returned. Students also need to have their Residency Verification forms submitted before receiving their yearbook. The deadline to order yearbooks has passed, but there will be very few available to buy, after those who have ordered them receive their books. These final few yearbooks will be $55 and sold on a first come, first served basis in the front office at break, lunch and after school on June 6. Students will need to clear library accounts and Residency Verification in order to purchase a yearbook. ~ Jennifer Engle, Yearbook Advisor

7th Grade Day

Thursday, June 7, is 7th Grade Day! On this day, the 7th grade students will have a fun day with many different activities! Venado students must meet the eligibility criteria to participate in these fun events. The activities have been planned by the Venado Staff, and will include bingo, dodgeball, Minute-To-Win-It Games, yearbook signing, and a slideshow showcasing the 2017-18 school year. The ASB/Leadership Class will also provide a DJ, who will play music on the outdoor stage, where prizes will also be awarded. ~ Dawn Baranski, 7th Grade Day Coordinator

Green Team Recycling Program

In honor of Earth Day on April 22, we celebrated Green Week here at Venado to promote sustainability and environmental awareness. In addition, the Green Team is proud to announce the launch of a new recycling program to encourage students and staff to recycle more and waste less. All interior classrooms, offices, and hallways received new recycling bins that are color coded and labeled. The bins

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for bottles and cans are blue, and the bins for mixed recycling are green. The bottles and cans are collected by our ASB students and recycled to raise funds for school dances and other activities. All students and staff were educated on the new recycling program and the benefits of recycling. We have already seen an increase in the amount of items that are being properly recycled on campus. Way to go Knights! ~ Jessica Guccione & Karen Fisher, Green Team Coordinators

High Altitude Balloon Launch Update The Venado Science Department is pleased to report that the High Altitude Balloon Launch was a huge success! A local non-profit STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) organization, Science Heads, selected four Venado student projects to be included onboard a high altitude weather balloon. Our students’ projects were chosen from a pool of projects submitted by students from all of Orange County. There were only five experiments that were selected to be launched and we are very proud that Venado students earned four of the five spots!

Venado Science teachers with the students participating in the High Altitude Balloon Experiment. Back row, left to right: Ms. Jessica Guccione, Eric L., Katrina B., Timothy C., Aarya P., and Mrs. Karen Fisher

Front row, left to right: Mia K., Li Yuan H., Noah B.

The students and their families joined us on April 21 at Trabuco Hills High School to present their work and watch their experiments launch. Students were able to track the balloon online as it rose to 100,000 feet and then landed in Riverside County before being retrieved by volunteers.

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Here is a link to the GoPro video footage from the actual balloon in flight: https://youtu.be/tcAMEF1u_ko The science experiments have been returned to Venado and our students are currently analyzing the results of their experiments. Congratulations to all our student scientists who worked on this project! ~ Jessica Guccione and Karen Fisher, Science Teachers

7th Grade Science UCI Water Conservation Challenge Winners This year Mrs. Fisher’s 7th grade science students participated in UCI’s Water Conservation Challenge. After researching the causes and severity of the California drought, students were challenged to come up with an original idea to increase water conservation. Middle schools from around Orange County submitted proposals to UCI for consideration, and the top three projects from each school were selected. We are pleased to announce the following students were selected as finalists from Venado:

1. Juan M., Camden P., and Jay M. – “A sink connected to a toilet,” where the water from washing ones’ hands is used to flush the toilet.

2. Rachel K., Nevaditaa M., and Felicia T. – “Underground irrigation pipes”, that would supply water to trees and plants below the surface. It would also reabsorb excess water and be controlled by an app.

3. Shelly P., Meghaa S., and Anusha K. - A “showerhead” that would be motion activated to disperse water while you are standing directly beneath it, but switch to hot mist when you step aside to limit the amount of water consumed in the shower.

The winners will be honored at an award ceremony hosted by UCI in May. ~ Karen Fisher, Science Teacher

May is Mental Health Awareness Month

May 1 kicks off Mental Health Matters Month, a period dedicated to help raise awareness about mental health issues, promote good mental health practices, and encourage people to support others around them. Concerned about someone in your life but not sure what to do?

1. Find a time to talk privately and share why you are concerned. Ask questions that call for more than just yes/no or one word response and then really listen. Don’t accept “fine” as an answer!

2. Offer hope and support: Let them know that struggling with mental health is quite common and that people can, and do recover.

3. Share resources: Offer information about where to find help. Our Counselors and Wellness Coordinator are available with resources.

4. Follow-up: Ask the person how you can help, and follow their lead about what is helpful. 5. To learn more about the signs of suicide, how to have a conversation with someone you are

concerned about, and more resources visit www.suicideispreventable.org

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Here are some simple things everyone (parents and students) can do to boost mental health and wellness:

Get moving. Light exercise 3 days a week improves happiness and work productivity. 20 minutes of sunlight can help your mood, concentration and sleep. Get together with friends or family. Studies suggest that social support networks help you deal

with stress and may even help you live longer. Play games. Keeping your mind active by doing things like playing new games can alleviate

depression, especially as we get older. ~ Maureen Muir, LMFT, LPCC, Mental Health and Wellness Coordinator

Home of the Venado Knights Honest On-time Noble On-task Respectful and Responsible

4 Deerfield Avenue, Irvine, CA 92604 949.936.6800 FAX 949.936.6809 www.iusd.org/ve