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FOREST CITY
MIDDLE SCHOOL
February 2017 Newsletter
Win the Day!
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Middle School Principal
zdillavou@forestcity.k12.ia.us
641-585-4772
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Issue note: If there are arrows displayed in between story sections, click them to display the content.
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From the Principal's Desk...
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Hello parents,
Middle school students are currently taking the Iowa Assessments. Students are required to take the Reading Comprehension, Science, and Mathematics portions of the test. Last year our students demonstrated great effort during the tests and were rewarded with positive achievement scores. With the high stakes placed on these tests we ask that you talk with your student and stress the importance of them giving their best effort.
I'd also like to address the topic of bullying. The middle school staff continues to work diligently to ensure that FCMS is a safe and welcoming place for all students. If your child is experiencing bullying or harassing behaviors please have them report it to a staff member. Our students typically demonstrate high levels of respect toward one another, however, we must continually talk about positive behavior and make it a daily expectation.
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Parent Teacher Conferences
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Parent-Teacher Conferences are February 21 and 23 (3:30 - 7 p.m.). This conference will be a student led conference that allows the student the opportunity to share samples of their classroom work, academic progress and also share a self reflection.
NEW SCHEDULING TOOL: A letter was sent home requesting that parents go online to set up conference times with the designated teacher.
To schedule your child's conference, use this link:
Find your child's teacher's name and click on it. You will be able to see available time slots and if you find the one that works for you and is available, click on it and sign your child up.
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As a reminder, the Forest City Middle School will not be accepting flowers and gifts again this year for Valentine's Day. We would ask that you not order or have items delivered to the middle school on Tuesday, February 14th as they will be denied.
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From the Student Contributing Writers...
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The Bees
By: Elisabeth Gjendem
No, this is not about honey bees! On February 1st and 8th, the Geography Bee and the Spelling Bee will be taking place at Forest City Middle School. The Geography Bee will be held by Mr. Crail, and Mrs. Reece will hold the Spelling Bee.
The Spelling Bee is a bee in which contestants spell words. There are 625 words total, with words like “hieroglyphics”, “nanotechnology”, and “eleemosynary”. The Geography Bee is a bee in which contestants name/locate specific areas in the world, with questions about capitals, mountain ranges, oceans, and much, much more! Last year’s winner of the Geography Bee was Xavier Smith.
These bees will surely be an exciting experience for the middle schoolers, including me, and I hope you have a great rest of your day!
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Meet Mr. Crail
By: Alexandria Brahm
Jason Crail, more commonly known as Mr. Crail, grew up in a fairly large town in Montana. The grade he was in had somewhere around 560 children in it. He moved to St. Ansgar in his Sophomore year. Mr. Crail joined the National Guard in 2008, and he went to basic training in 2009. He’s still enlisted. Mr. Crail graduated from UNI in December of last year with a major in Social Sciences.
Mr. Crail became a teacher because of influential teachers of his from his childhood. Along with few others, a couple of Mr. Crail’s hobbies include reading and travel.
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Forest City Middle School will be hosting a Scholastic Book Fair during parent teacher conferences on February 21 and February 23. The book fair will take place during the same time as conferences are held. A wide variety of books and other items will be available for purchase. The middle school library earns free books based on sales of the book fair, so we appreciate all of your support! Cash, checks, credit/debit cards will be accepted as payment. Everyone is welcome; hope to see you there!
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It is increasing difficult for parents and educators to keep up with the ways our children are using new and ever changing technologies. In each newsletter issue, Forest City Schools Technology Director, Mike Van Oort, will share information on important digital citizenship topics. Contact Mike with any questions at 585-2324 or mvanoort@forestcity.k12.ia.us.
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Excerpt from www.commonsensemedia.org
How do I protect my kid's privacy online?
How do I protect my kid's privacy online? First, there are two kinds of online privacy. Personal privacy refers to your kid's online reputation, and consumer privacy (also known as customer privacy) refers to the data that companies can collect about your kid during an online interaction or transaction.
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Twitter Tip:
Did you know that you can create a list in Twitter, such as "Forest City Schools" and then group those Twitter accounts that apply so that you don't have to scroll through everything to see all of the Tweets?
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Follow us @ ForestCityMS
Teacher Twitter accounts:
@fcms_read_gal
@zdillavou
@FCMSOlsonK
@
WedemeierMr
@Uhlenhopp15
@ELPFC
@helgesont
@dcbang
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Forest City Middle School
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We use SchoolWay to notify our community about weather related changes to our schedules. Share this with family and friends. More information at SchoolWay
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