PARENT NEWSLETTER March 2012

Frank Perkins-

Principal

Ginger Davis-

Assistant Principal

Stephawn Newsom- Dean of Students/ Athletic

Coordinator

Beth Ornelas-

Grade 7 Counselor

Allison West-

Grade 8 Counselor

Inside this issue:

ISTEP+ Test Taking Tips 2

Honor Roll List 3

Director’s Corner /

APPC News

4

Counseling Corner 5

Yearbook Order Form 6

Reminders 7

Community News 8

Calendar 11

1251 N. DAN JONES RD AVON, IN 46123 PHONE: (317) 544-5500 FAX: (317) 544-5501

Principal’s Message

March 6, 7, 8

ISTEP+ Applied Skills testing

March 15

Staff Development

- one hour delay for students

March 23

Report Cards Issued

March 30 - April 6

Spring Break

- No school

Attendance Rates

We all agree that students need to attend school regularly to maximize their learning.

When a student is absent, he/she misses classroom instruction and dialogue that

can never be effectively duplicated. Additionally, schools are held directly account-

able for children’s attendance as outlined in the federal No Child Left Behind Act

and the Indiana Department of Education’s “Four Star School” guidelines. Please

help us help your child by requiring regular school attendance.

Our annual attendance goal is 97.7 %

February Attendance Rate: 95.75%

Year-to-Date Attendance Rate: 96.79%

Dear Parent or Guardian,

ISTEP+ testing is just around the corner. This important standardized test is

given to all Indiana public school students in grades 3-8. Our middle school

students will be tested in math, language arts and social studies (seventh

grade only). The test itself is divided into two different components and

given at two different times during the second semester. The first part of

the test is called the Applied Skills test and it will begin on March 6. This

test consists of essay and open-ended type questions.

In addition to covering the regular course curriculum, our students and

teachers have been working together on specific test preparation strategies.

We have developed a list of Applied Skills Test Taking Tips and included it

in this newsletter. Please encourage your child to become familiar with

these tips to reinforce good test taking habits.

Frank Perkins, Principal

Page 2 March 2012

ISTEP+ APPLIED SKILLS

TEST TAKING TIPS

Before the Test

Get a good night’s sleep, at least nine hours is recommended.

Eat breakfast before a test. Having food in your stomach will give you energy and help you focus, but avoid heavy

foods and sugar which can make you groggy.

Go to the restroom before walking into the exam room. You don't want to waste any time worrying about this

during the test.

Do not bring a cell phone into the testing area. Any use of a cell phone will cause your test to become invalid.

During the Test

When you first receive your test, do a quick survey of that test so that you know how to efficiently budget your

time. Don't rush but pace yourself.

Don’t spend too much time on any one problem, especially if you have trouble understanding the question. If you

decide to skip a question make sure that you write down the number of that question so that you won’t forget

to come back to answer it.

Always read the entire question carefully, looking for key words. Don't make assumptions about what the ques-

tion might be. Some short answer questions have multiple parts.

Think through your answer before you start writing. You may be given a pre-writing space to get your thoughts

organized. Using a Thinking Map or outline can be helpful.

Write legibly. If the grader can't read what you wrote, they'll most likely mark it wrong. Neatness counts.

Restate the question and provide the answer in the first sentence of your essay. Let the reader know exactly

where your essay is going.

Support each topic with a specific example.

Write a concluding sentence. This is often just a restatement of your opening sentence.

Do not leave an answer blank. Show your work and write down your thoughts. Even if you don't get the exact

answer, partial credit is usually awarded.

Don't worry if others finish before you. Focus on the test in front of you.

When you are finished, re-read all of your answers. Make sure that you have answered all the questions. Only

change an answer if you misread or misinterpreted the question. Look for spelling, grammar and content errors.

Remember, neatness is important.

Keep a positive attitude throughout the test and try to stay relaxed. Have faith in yourself. We are all behind you.

Page 3 March 2012

AVON MIDDLE SCHOOL NORTH - SECOND QUARTER HONOR ROLL STUDENTS

8th Grade - High Honor Roll

(Students that earned an A – or above in all subjects)

Amanda Alcorn, Mallory Alcorn, Ethan Ames, Andrew Brown, Michael Campbell, Jessica Devine, Katelyn Dowers, Alex-

andra Edgecomb, Camille Goodwyn, Kaitlyn Hauber, Paige Hawk, Noah Keener, Kaylee Kerr, Mykaela King, Nicole

Mahlmann, Vishaal Mali, Cameron Michael, Chelsea Morgan, Justin Randall, Keidre Reed, Andrea Richardson, Liza Rus-

sell, Caitlin Sever, Kaylin Venezia, Brady Zeller

8th Grade - Honor Roll

(Students that earned a B – or above in all subjects)

Dania Albin, Logan Alford, Andrea Aurelio, Raenah Bailey, Dallas Baker, Elizabeth Bart, Paulina Beleckaite, Rebecca

Bence, Gunnar Bentrud, Andrew Buetow, Evan Christensen, Brooke Christian, Mikayla Curry, Donshelle Daniels, Mya

Davies, Jennifer Davis, Anthony DeMyers, Michaela Dornfeld, Kaitlynn Drake, Taiya Edwards, Lauren Elliott, Riley Eng-

land, Lauren Euler, Jessica Fassnacht, Colleen Fay, Kyndal Feight, Madison Fillip, Ellen Forster, Taylor Fruits, Alejandra

Garcia, Bryce Gregory, Ariel Hagen, Brookelyn Hampton, Benjamin Harmon, Haley Haston, Jacob Hendershot, Aja

Hutchek, Marissa Johnson, Sarah Kendall, Michael Kettering, Spencer King, Brian Kipkulei, Jody Kramer, Michael Kuzma,

Spencer Lampton, Connor Langguth, Whitney Larson, Natalie Lazo, Tommy Lin, Ryan Lingle, Aubrey McClain, Adrian

Mulenga, Solveig Naumann, Sarah Owens, Kaytlin Purcell, Nicholas Rice, Emily Riley, Aaron Roever, Madison Rudolph,

Alexandria Samons, Paul Sanders, Daniela Santana, Nathan Schaecher, Kyleigh Schulz, Lavonne Sieling, Brooke Smiley,

Arianna Smith, Hailee Smith, Ryan Spear, Patrick Spencer, Hayden Stockman, Sydney Stoops, Noah Strahm, Leah

Thompson, Nikola Vekic, Michael Vu, Lauryn Watson, Brittany Whiteside, Benjamin Wilson

7th Grade - High Honor Roll

(Students that earned an A – or above in all subjects)

Cole Bartek, Leah Bode, Jacob Boyd, Samantha Branham, Rebecca Brown, Robert Buetow, Cale Camacho, Evan Cobb,

Jeremy Costelle, Lauren Davis, Mitchell Demerly, Kaleigh Dennison, Kiley Dowers, Nicole Dwenger, Paige Eichelberger,

Carl Erbowor-Becksen, Lauren Francis, Zachary Funkhouser, Elijah Goddard, Abigail Gulley, Nathan Heim, Jessica Hess,

Conner Hutchings, Colette Jackson, Elze Kaupaite, Rachel Kettering, Sarah Kettering, Justin Kopp, Olivia Lazaro, Jas-

mine Le, Ryan Maddox, Jacob McCalment, Nina McGrew, Austin Mock, Zachary Mullen, Christian Myers, Taylor Nichol-

son, Carson Nihiser, Emily Parsons, Rushi Patel, Kenneth Patterson, Kelly Roy, Jay Sangani, Katy Smith, Logan Smith,

Cassandra Stall, Rebecca Stein, Morgan Terrell, Alyssia Weber, Ethan Willey

7th Grade - Honor Roll

(Students that earned a B – or above in all subjects)

Austin Alarie, Jasmine Alberts, Jacob America, Jennifer Bair, Jonathan Ball, Riley Banks, Reve Beckler, Georgia Bentrud,

Crystal Blazek, Frank Bogan, Nicholas Boodt, Carson Botner, Tristan Brewer, Emily Bridegroom, Christopher Brodasky,

Savannah Brown, Mallory Bruce, Andrew Buis, Alec Burcham, Riley Burton, Brayton Cagle, Annalee Camacho, Tabbitha

Clinton, Michael Coley, Bafee Colnoe, Zane Conner, Brady Dean, Erika Deming, Mika Deming, Hurshdeep Dhami, An-

thony DiMatteo, Katelyn Jean Dixon, Megan Dodson, Jason Donner, Perry Drum, Emily Edlund, Duncan Emsweller, Gil-

bert Escobedo, Maria Flores, Jordan Foster, Matthew Gaby, Elizabeth Garcia, Destiny Glover, Jasmine Graves, Rhys

Grealish, Abigail Handlon, Emily Hannefey, Stephan Hardy, Brandon Hatfield, Audrey Hay, Michaela Hess, Hannah Hilt,

Madison Howell, Rachel Hubbard, Haley Hurtman, Austin Johnson, Claire Johnson, Hunter Johnson, Cambria Kamm,

Ikbir Kaur-Bassi, Sydney Kerr, Crystal Ketelhut, Kennedy Kidd, Luke Kimery, Noah Klein, Maurice Lacy, Gunnar Larson,

Zackary Leech, Lauren Lekse, Bryce Lenz, Avery Lyon, Brea Malone, Kaili Marriner, Hallie Martin, Ian McCreary, Kayleigh

McIntyre, Griffin McPhail, Carlos Mendez, Ryan Michael, Taylor Mock, James Moeller, Shirlyn Mthethwa, Noah Navarro,

Athena Neace, Tylor Norman, Chelsea Owens, Logan Para, Nandini Patel, Dylan Patterson, Kaelin Porter, Katelyn Qualls,

Emily Rasmussen, Katherine Riley, Ariahna Rodgers, Sydney Rosene, Evan Schafer, Dorien Scheets, Rishi Shukla, Mal-

lory Smith, Logan Springer, Autumn Starner, Stephanie Stegemann, Amanda Thompson, Ethan Thomson, Nathan Valdez,

Camille Vann, Robert Ward, Jace Wharton, Nicholas Whitlow, Alex Wilhoite, Kayla Wingler, Jacob Woodrow, Zachary

Zeis, Amanda Zoiss

Page 4 March 2012

The seventh grade choir students will participate in a Festival Day on

Wednesday, March 14. During the school day, judges will be here to listen

to the students sing their concert music and work with them during their

choir classes. Each choir student will be required to wear their complete choir uniform to school

that day: black, short-sleeved polo, khaki pants, and dark-colored dress shoes. Parents will not

attend these in-class performances.

The eighth grade choir students will be competing in the ISSMA Organizational Contest to be held

here at Avon Middle School North on Saturday, March 17. They, also, will be responsible for at-

tending that performance and wearing their complete choir uniform. Specific times will be sent

home as soon as they are sent to us from the state.

The show choir students will also compete at the ISSMA Organizational Contest on Saturday,

March 17. The students will wear their show choir costumes and change to accommodate the

eighth grade choir performance. If the times are close together, they will leave their show choir

costumes on for our eighth grade choir performance. More information will be sent home as

soon as it is received.

By: Mrs. Gregory

The Avon Parent Partnership Committee (APPC) is comprised of

two parent representatives from each building. The purpose of the

APPC is to facilitate communication between parents and adminis-

trators on academic issues in the Avon Community School Corpo-

ration. At the February 6th meeting the group was eager to discuss the pending Superintendent

transition in light of Dr. Ogle’s recent retirement. It was expressed that although we are certainly

sad to see him go, we are happy for Dr. Ogle and his family to have the opportunity to serve in

Arizona. In the meantime, we are confident that we are in good hands and look forward to hear-

ing his successor possibly named as early as March. Procedure and timing for High Ability

placement was also discussed, including the various assessments utilized. The group was also

very pleased to hear that Avon High School was among only 124 high schools in the state to re-

ceive the IHSAA Sportsmanship Award. To be eligible for this award, students and coaches had

to follow stringent rules, demonstrate consistently good sportsmanship (no player or coach

ejected from any game) and the school had to have an active sportsmanship program. Way to

go Avon High School! Additionally, information about preschool programs and students’ readi-

ness for kindergarten was shared. For more details about any of the above items, please see full

APPC minutes posted on the website.

Page 5 March 2012

Beth Ornelas

Seventh Grade Counselor

Avon Middle School North

1251 N. Dan Jones Road

Avon, IN 46123

(317) 544-5500 ext. 5517

Fax: (317) 544-5502

Carry out a random act of kindness, with no expectation of reward, safe in the knowledge that one day someone might

do the same for you. -Princess Diana

A laugh, to be joyous, must flow from a joyous heart, for without kindness, there can be no true joy. - Thomas Carlyle

UPDATED GUIDANCE WEBPAGE

Check out the updated Guidance web-

page! Both students and parents will find

helpful information on such topics as im-

proving study skills, note-taking, and re-

ducing test taking anxiety. Parents will

also find helpful internet resources they

can access. The website is updated of-

ten. Please ask to join the grade specific

page to get even more information for

your child. Be sure to check back fre-

quently for new information.

ISTEP+ Applied Skills Test Dates -

March 6, 7, 8

The Indiana Statewide Testing for Educa-

tional Progress-Plus (ISTEP+) is used to

show student achievement while providing

educators with the opportunity to see how

well Indiana students are measuring up to

our state's academic standards. Students

will take the ISTEP+ test during the months

of March (part 1) and April (Part 2). To

read more about the specifics of ISTEP,

what is on the test at each grade level,

when the testing windows are, etc. click

on the link below:

http://www.doe.in.gov/achievement/

assessment/istep-grades-3-8

Important Dates:

March 6, 7, 8-ISTEP Applied Skills Test Dates

March 11-Daylight Saving Time begins

March 23-Report Cards issued. Please ask

your child to see his/her report card. The

report card will be sent home with your child,

not mailed.

March 30-April 1-Spring Break!

Page 6 March 2012

Don’t Miss Out On

MIDDLE SCHOOL

MEMORIES

Order Your Yearbook SOON!

Final Collection Date: March 29, 2012

----------------------------------- AVON MIDDLE SCHOOL NORTH

YEARBOOK $20.00

Student’s Name: Grade:

Team: Flex Teacher:

Payment (circle): CASH CHECK

*NOTE: Please make checks payable to Avon Middle School North

Page 7 March 2012

NOTICE TO STUDENTS AND PARENTS

AVON COMMUNITY SCHOOL CORPORATION 2011-12

SCHOOL CALL-OFF, EARLY DISMISSAL AND DELAYED OPENING PROCEDURES

At times it is possible that school may be called off, dismissed early or delayed in opening because of weather and road condi-tions or failures of heat, water, etc. in school buildings. If this occurs, school officials will notify TV and radio stations that have offered to make “NO SCHOOL” announcements. These stations have offered to make our announcements:

Every effort will be made to arrive at a decision and notify the radio stations by 6:00 AM if school is to be called off or delayed

by an hour or two. Announcements will be made EACH DAY there will be no school.

✮Students and parents are requested to not call school officials on mornings when weather conditions are

questionable. It is important that telephone lines be free to gather information and communicate with TV

and radio stations.✮

On school days when weather conditions worsen during the day, it is possible that school officials may determine that it is nec-essary to dismiss school early. Parents are urged to keep tuned to our cooperating TV and radio stations on such days so that they may be made aware if schools are going to be dismissed early. SPECIAL CARE AND ARRANGEMENTS SHOULD BE MADE IN ADVANCE FOR THE POSSIBILITY OF EARLY SCHOOL DISMISSALS IN CASES WHERE BOTH PARENTS

WORK AND NO ONE IS AT HOME DURING THE SCHOOL DAY TO CARE FOR CHILDREN.

WRTV TV – 6

WCBK – FM 102.3 Martinsville

WISH TV – 8 WEDJ – FM 107.1 Indianapolis

WTHR TV – 13

WXIN TV – 59

Athletic schedules and

forms can be found on our

web-site

(http:avon.msn.schoolfusion

.us/)

Please check the schedule

on a regular basis as our

athletic calendar will un-

dergo changes throughout

the year.

If you have changed your telephone

number or e-mail address recently,

please contact our guidance office with

your updated information.

Page 8 March 2012

Check out the

tab marked

“Flyers” at the

top of the

ACSC webpage

(www.avon-

schools.org)

where flyers will

be posted. The

tab is next to

the Staff tab in

the upper left

corner of the

schools’ and dis-

trict’s home

pages. Please visit the

website for fly-

ers and more!!

Quality of Life Survey

As you may have heard, Hendricks County In Focus is a joint effort to help local resi-

dents identify the factors behind Hendricks County’s quality of life, and then develop

ways to measure and monitor those factors in the coming years. While nearly everyone

agrees that Hendricks County is a great place to live and work, it can be difficult to

pinpoint exactly the factors that create that environment. It is for that reason, we are

reaching out to you and requesting your participation in identifying the factors you be-

lieve are important to our quality of life in Hendricks County. By keeping focused on

what’s most important, and knowing how Hendricks County measures up, we’ll all be

able to ensure that it remains a great place to live today, tomorrow, and for future gen-

erations. And the better that local leaders understand the factors that contribute to

making this such a great place to live and work, the better they’ll be able to make the

right decisions to keep it that way.

You are encouraged to complete the online survey www.hendrickscountyinfocus.com,

or to pick up a paper copy at any of the county’s libraries, town chambers, or at the

Hendricks County Economic Development Partnership’s office at 5250 E. US Highway

36, Suite 1000-5 in Avon (Prestwick area). The survey takes approximately five minutes

to complete.

In Honor of the Super Bowl, be a

S u p e r S t u d e n t S u p p o r t e r

Here’s how:

Make a tax-deductible donation to the Avon Education Foundation (AEF)

equal to your favorite Super Bowl team’s final score

Goal = Enhancing creativity, innovation, and excellence in

education for Avon’s students!

No matter the game’s outcome, you are a “winner” by helping our team reach the goal line.

YES! Draft me to join the winning team of Super Student Supporters.

I am sending my “super donation” to AEF at 7203 E. US Hwy 36, Avon IN, 46123

T O U C H D O W N – A v o n !

AEF is a 501(c)3 charitable organization

www.avoneducationfoundation.org

Page 9 March 2012

Page 10 March 2012

AVON MIDDLE SCHOOL – NORTH

Important Dates

2011-2012

March 5 - 14 ISTEP + Applied Skills

March 15 (Thursday) Staff Development (K –12 on one-hour delay)

March 16 (Friday) End of 3rd Grading Period

March 23 (Friday) Report Cards Issued

March 24 (Saturday) ISSMA Organizational Contest

March 29 (Thursday) Parent Newsletter Posted

March 30 - April 6 SPRING BREAK No School

April 9 (Monday) Return to School

April 13 (Wednesday) Spring Pictures

April 19 (Thursday) Staff Development (K-12 on one-hour delay)

April 20 (Friday) Progress Reports Issued

April 26 (Thursday) Parent Newsletter Posted

April 27 (Friday) Snow Make-up Day No School

April 30 (Monday) ISTEP+ Multiple Choice Test Begins

May 8 – 18 (Tuesday) NWEA Testing Window Begins

May 7 (Monday) 7th & 8th Grade Band Concert 6:30 pm

May 10 (Thursday) 7th & 8th Grade Choir Concert 6:30 pm

May 14 (Monday) 6th Grade Parent Information Meeting 6:30 pm

May 17 (Thursday) Orchestra, Jazz Band, Show Choir 6:30 pm

May 25 (Friday) Parent Newsletter Posted

May 28 (Monday) MEMORIAL DAY No School

May 29, 30, 31 Final Exams

May 31 (Thursday) Students Last Day of School Full Day

June 1 (Friday) Teacher Record Day No School

June 4, 5 & 6 Make-up Days If Needed

June 6 (Wednesday) Report Card Mailed Home

* Dates and times are subject to change.