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Volume 13, Issue 7

January 31, 2019

Maize Middle School News

Principal's Message

Good afternoon,

Here we are a month into our second semester and I think we are off to a great start.

In the December Newsletter I shared that we were nominated for Capturing Kids Hearts National Showcase School from the Flippen Group. We received the call that the Flippen Group will have their team out in March to do their site visit. As we get closer, I will update you on the site visit. We look forward to the visit and think we are EXCELing with Capturing Kids Hearts.

This week the 8 ^th graders have visited the MCA, Maize Career Academy, as they will soon begin the high school enrollment process. There is a High School Enrollment meeting on Monday, February 4 ^th from 6:30-7:30. A separate auto-email will be coming out to just 8 ^th grade parents.

There have been a lot of activities going on as we began our 2 ^nd semester. We are a little over half-way through our basketball season and will wrap up the end of the season February 23 ^rd. The math counts and math relays teams will be competing in competitions this weekend and next week. The School Geography Bee was completed a week ago, and the top three were, 3 ^rd-Ethan Niedens, 2 ^nd-Jack Ring, 1 ^st-Michael Houseman. Science Olympiad has been practicing and will compete at the end of February. Good luck to all of our students as they participate in the many activities coming up.

Maize Middle School has been selected to participate in the NAEP (National Assessment of Educational Progress) this year. Approximately 50 8th grade students will take the assessment in math and or reading. Data is used for statistical purposes only on a national level. The date for that assessment will be February 20th. If your 8 ^th grade student was randomly selected you would have received an email about your child being selected.

I wanted to give some reminders about morning parent drop-off. Please be patient and follow the procedures. I understand that everyone’s time is valuable but not more valuable than the safety of our students. So, please read through the procedures and help abide by them so we can have a safe morning drop-off. An option for students, if you get frustrated with the drop-off procedures, is that your student can ride the bus to school.

Please make sure to only drop off in the zones established from the front yellow line to the back solid yellow line.
Please have your student ready with their belongings so they can get out once everyone gets stopped for drop-off. This helps the line move more quickly.
Please pull all the way forward to the custodian with the stop sign so we can fit as many cars in the line as possible.
When exiting the parking lot please pull into the lane for right and left turns so it helps make two lanes and lets more cars out. They have newly painted lines for the exit area.

If you have any questions or concerns feel free to contact me.

Have a great day!

Brian

Make Today Matter

Attendance Reminders

Regular attendance is necessary to fully realize the benefits of educational opportunities. Students are expected to be present and punctual for all classes throughout the year. The responsibility of school attendance is with the student and his/her parents. Parents/guardians should notify the school via our attendance line in the event the student will be absent. Excused absences include illness verified by a doctor, appointments with a doctors note, school sponsored activities, funerals or administrative approved absences. Parents are encouraged to provide a doctors note for appointments and illnesses. Attendance letters will be mailed to parents of students with 5 or more absences during the semester and disciplinary actions can be taken.

Reference student handbook pages 5-8.

Nurse's Notes

We’ve had a busy but great start to the New Year! We’ve been doing a lot of screenings. Ask your child if he/she has been screened. 6th and 8 ^th graders get the vision screening, and 7 ^th graders get the hearing screening. You will only receive a letter if your child failed his/her vision test. Failed hearing screenings will come at a later date. Flu season is in full swing. Below is an article with some valuable information.

It’s Flu Season

Children are sometime kept home from school for reasons other than illness. Unnecessary absence from school may have a bad effect on a student’s attitude, work habits, and progress.

Sometimes it is tough to distinguish between a cold and the flu. Here are a few characteristics of each illness to resolve some of the mysteries:

· Symptoms for a cold : stuffy nose, sore throat, and cough, complication: sinus congestion

· Symptoms for the flu : fever, headache, stuffy nose, sore throat, cough, complications: bronchitis, pneumonia, earache

“THE FLU” is an illness caused by one of a number of viruses. A vaccine is available each year which may prevent or lessen the symptoms of the flu. The flu is spread when an infected person coughs, sneezes or speaks and sends the flu virus into the air. Germs are often spread when a person touches something that is contaminated with germs and then touches his eyes, nose or mouth.

PREVENTING THE SPREAD OF INFECTION AT SCHOOL

Wash your hands often!! Wash your hands after coughing, blowing your nose or sneezing, after using the toilet, before and after eating, after touching or caring for animals, and before and after caring for a sick or injured person,
Don’t touch your eyes, nose, or mouth to avoid transferring germs from your hands to the inside of your body,
Keep cuts and skin sores covered with a bandage,
Cover your sneezes and coughs with a tissue. Cough into your sleeve when one is not available,
Never share drinks, water bottles, or eating utensils with other people.
Stay home from work or school and contact a doctor for advice when you have these symptoms of infection:

Fever, cough, sore throat, headache, chills, muscle aches, stomach ache, persistent vomiting and/or diarrhea

Remember: Sick children belong at home. Well children belong in school.

It’s been fun getting to know the students at MMS and I look forward to a wonderful spring semester. As always, if you need anything, don’t hesitate to call or email me!

Nurse Shelley Funk

Ext. 2308

LIBRARY

News from the Library

These chilly winter evenings are a great excuse to spend some time with a good book - we have a great collection here available for your student to check out.

If your student has overdue books please remind them to return or renew their book(s). Any book(s) which cannot be returned will need to have the replacement cost paid please. There are no late fees. Please help us keep our books available for all of our students to enjoy.

Stay warm!

Rebecca Jones

MMS Library

Eagle Honor Roll

8th Grade

Isabelle Blasdel, Jenna Blaylock, Topher Cannizzo, Sarah Conner, Kate Crisler, Elijah Cunningham, Zoe Dong, Karsyn Fraser-Slothower, Mason Gutierrez, Lesly Hernandez, Lindsay Jeffries, Zachary Johnson, Gracie Kaumeyer, Elsbeth Knaak, Emmalynn Kohl, Bailey Martin, Taylor McCombs, Brianna Myovela, Catherin Nguyen, Devon Nguyen,Kayla Nicol, Adley Nusz, Zackary Pappan, Elizabeth Patton, Dionne Payne, Enrique Perez-Ruiz, Addonna Powell, Sam Ritchie, Allie Robinson, Evan Rogerson, Maggie Salsbury, Peyton Samek, Micah Schmidt, Madelyn Shove, Isak Smith, Ella Strobel, Tyler Stuckey

7th Grade

Elizabeth Akers, Alayna Alvarez, Eli Blankinship, Reid Carr, Collin Davis, Elsa Dobbs, Joshua Elsea, Luke Gabbert, Teagan Garcia, Lonnie Hampe, Owen Jarboe, Maleigha Johnson, Jena Kirk, Colin Knaak, Sydney Lampkin, Brelee Long, Parker Peterman, Houston Porter, Rebekah Savage, Stahley Sears, Devin Short, Brynley Smith, Ella Stillings, Camdyn Stucky, Cooper Tannahill, Caiden Unruh, Hung Vo

6th Grade

Larissa Aguilar-Lopez, Thatcher Auten, Owen Beeson, Ethan Benjamin, Kaylen Blanpied, Jack Bowen, Tyler Carey, Katie Cassity, Lauren Cherrier, Avi Cooke, Jonathan Crawford, Emani DeLeon, Abigail DeWitt, Lindsay Downing, Avery Duda, Gage Duron, Madison Fluis, Addison Folse, Claire Frentzel, Jacob Froese, Allie Gaylor, Kamerah Gilmour, Abigail Griffin, Emma Hays, Morgan Hewitt, Madison Hill, Mitchell Hoyle, Sabrina Hunt, Lauren Jenkinson, Gemma Jones, Kinslea Jones, Kyah Knutson, Payten LaPoint, Connor Levey, Abigail Linton, Carys Mauldin, Hayden McBroom, Nevaeh Mclachlan, Danica Miller, Falyn Murrell, Christina Nguyen, Morgan Nicholson, Nola Loien, Joey Ott, Chloe Pauls, Adley Pierce, Alexander Prebble, Alissa Ragland, Madelyn Rogers, Braden Salsbury, Jackson Salsbury, Charles Sharp, Kyndall Sites, Johanna Speer, Delaney Sramek, Connor Sternberger, Delainey Stevens, Grant Stewart, Alexis Thompson, Grace Thompson, Julia Vargas, Lauren Welch

MMS PTO

The MMS PTO has now met 3 times this year, including our latest meeting in January. During those meetings we have discussed the direction of the PTO as well as planned a few events. Our goal is to Stay Connected in Middle School. We really want our entire Eagle Family to get to know one another. This includes MMS kids and parents with other MMS families and our fabulous MMS staff. Activities we plan will keep that connection as the focus. Money raised at any events, Spirit Nights, and even the recent spirit wear sales will be used to help fund various classroom and school projects at Maize Middle. We would love to see parents connect together through PTO (among other activities) and we welcome you to join in when and wherever you can! Find us on Facebook and Twitter to stay current with upcoming events!

Current updates:

-in process to become a 501c3 nonprofit

-volunteers stepped in to create a board for the nonprofit status

-PTO will serve in the concession stand February 7 ^th and will need some volunteers!

-MMS PTO General Meeting: Join us February 12 ^th at 6:30 in the conference room. We will be confirming bylaws and discussing upcoming events.

-February 13 ^th we will be sharing some love and appreciation with the MMS staff. If you could join us at 1pm to help facilitate this please email maizemiddlepto@yahoo.com

-April 8 ^th 6:30-8:30 MMS Skate Night at Carousel

Counselor's Corner

Maize High School Enrollment

2019-2020

The Maize High School counselors will be visiting the 8 ^th grade Science classes on February 9 ^th to help 8 ^th graders enroll for next year. If your student is absent on that day, or continues to have difficulties following their visit, you can contact the Maize High counselors at, 316-350-2122. The individual counselors by alphabet are:

A-B = Betsy Manning

C-I = Geri Hickerson

J-Q = Paula Betta

R-Z = Jennifer Cashman

Online Enrollment

February 18-25 is open enrollment in Skyward for students to select their electives for next year. This applies to students that will be in the 7th and 8th grade for the 2019-2020 school year.

KAY Club

KAY club sent 21 students and 1 sponsor to attend the 2019 KAY Unit Conference on Thursday, January 17th. The following students attended the conference: Paige Putter, Jaden Murdock, Natalia Felkins, Emmalynn Kohl, Payton Hobkirk, Harley McElhaney, Jaden Hutton, Kate Crisler, Emily Sprowls, Quinten Recio, Paige Allen, Paity Darling, Ella Morris, Tatum Stewart, Issac Rodriguez, Carlos Garcia, Elizabeth Akers, Lakin Karka, Alexis Doyle, Aliza Grantham, and Conner Fuhrman and club sponsor Ms. Celina GIllespie. The event was held at Halstead High School and the schedule for the day included: a KAY club presidents meeting with the KSHSAA State Director for KAY club Cheryl Gleason, opening general session, team building event, sponsors meetings, guest speaker sessions and a group service project. The service project for the day included making Blessing Bags to be given to the homeless and table place mats for the Wichita Open Door-Homeless Shelter. During the conference, club President Paige Putter, reported that MMS has over 100 KAY club members and she highly recommends that KAY members attend the summer KAY Leadership Camp at Rock Springs camp grounds. Paige has attended the camp twice and says she had a great experience both times. At the conclusion of the conference students returned to Maize for lunch at Pizza Hut.

In upcoming news KAY club will be having a fundraiser from January 31-February 13th where students can purchase a soda or flower for a special friend. Soda is $1 and a single red rose is $2 and the roses are limited so come purchase your order right away. Also, February 25-March 1 KAY club is teaming up with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society to raise money to fight cancer. Through your donation you could be entered in a raffle to win an Olive Garden lunch served at school. Thirty students will win the lunch.

2019 SUMMER FACE TO FACE DRIVER EDUCATION

Mandatory Parent/Student Meetings and Enrollment Information

USD 266 Maize Schools will once again offer summer face to face driver education. Any student who turns 14 on or before May 30 ^st , 2019 and has or will graduate 8th grade by June 1st will be eligible to enroll in summer driver education. Students will attend two weeks of classes in the Maize South High School Auditorium starting Thursday, May 30, 2019 (note: there will be no classes on Friday, May 31 ^st due to Kansas Special Olympics taking place on the Maize South Campus) and ending on Tuesday, June 11, 2019 from 12:30 pm to 3:30 pm each day. Students will also complete at least five, one hour driving sessions (schedule to be determined after class begins). We prefer that students get an instructional permit at the DMV in advance of the class and spend as much time as possible driving in safe locations with their parents. Practicing with parents before class starts is a plus considering that driver education is only five hours of driving.

Two mandatory enrollment meetings will be held in late April and early May. Parents and students must attend one of the two meetings. The first meeting will be on Monday, April 29 ^th at 6:00 pm in the Maize South High School Commons Area. The second meeting will be held on Wednesday, May 1st at 6:00 pm in the Maize High School Commons Area. Eye tests will be given at both of these meetings. Enrollment forms will be emailed out to parents during the month of April. Students will need to bring any type of license or permit they might already have to the meeting.

The cost of summer driver education is $200 with payment due in full on the date of the meetings. Students who qualify for free or reduced lunches may apply for waived fees during the enrollment process. No registrations or late payments will be accepted after the last parent meeting on Wednesday, May 1st .

Students and parents with questions are encouraged to contact Steve Martling at 316-462-8000 or by email at smartling@usd266.com or Curtis Klein at 316-462-8048 or by email at cklein@usd266.com .

Spring Break 2020

I am thrilled to share that world languages classes are taking our next educational tour through Scotland and Ireland in 2020! These lands were once home to ancient Celtic and Gaelic tribes. We will step into the Middle Ages on Edinburgh's Royal Mile and under the towering spire of St. Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin. We also will visit Belfast and more historical and beautiful cities. We want to invite our students and families to participate in this incredible opportunity. If you have any questions please email me aprendes@usd266.com.

From the MMS Front Office

To help the Front Office of MMS run as smooth, friendly and efficiently as possible and communicate important information, please be aware and reminded of the following processes:

Front Office Hours:

6:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m.

When your student is absent:

Please call 729-2464 and leave a message with the students name (and spelling)
Provide a reason for the absence (ill, out of town, appointment, etc.)
If you plan to have your student out of school for 3 or more days stop by the MMS office to pick up an administrative approval form

When dropping off something for a student:

Please have it labeled with their first/last name
Checks/Cash in envelopes with student name
Front office is not responsible for any items left for students

When you have to leave a message for your student:

Please call 729-2464
Provide your student's name/spelling
Concisely state your message
Your student will be notified through instant messaging with the teacher, or a note will be delivered wither 4th hour or Encor through an office aide
Messages must be received 30 minutes prior to dismissal

Students will not be called out of class and to the office until a parent is present to sign them out. Our goal in the Front Office is to not disrupt classrooms except in the case of an emergency.

Are You Moving?

If you are moving out of district, please contact Dawn Ingram, MMS Registrar/Data Secretary, at dingram@usd266.com or by phone at 729-2464. Please include the new school, city and state you will be transferring to so we can prepare your students records for transfer.

If you have moved or will be moving, but are still in district, please send a Proof of Residency to the MMS office as soon as possible. You can email it to dingram@usd266.com, or fax it to our office at 316-729-2479.

A utility bill is preferred, but a mortgage/lease agreement can be temporarily accepted. If you have any questions regarding Proof of Residence, please don't hesitate to call the MMS office.

Important Dates

Saturday, 2/2-Ground Hog Day

Monday, 2/4-7/8 Girls Basketball vs. Eisenhower, 5/6:15

-7/8 Boys Basketball @ Eisenhower, 5/6:15

Tuesday, 2/5-WSL Math Relays, 3:30

-6th Orchestra Concert, 7:00

Thursday, 2/7-7/8 Girls Basketball @ Goddard, 5/6:15

-7/8 Boys Basketball vs. Goddard, 5/6:15

Monday, 2/11-7/8 Girls Basketball vs. MSMS, 5/6:15

-7/8 Boys Basketball @ MSMS, 5/6:15

Tuesday, 2/12-Pre-Festival Band & Orchestra Concerts

Recital @ 6:00, Concert @ 7:30

Friday, 2/15-NO SCHOOL/Professional Development

Monday, 2/18-7/8 Girls Basketball @ Valley Center, 5/6:15

-7/8 Boys Basketball vs. Valley Center, 5/6:15

Thursday, 2/21-7/8 Girls Basketball @ Derby North, 5/6:15

-7/8 Boys Basketball vs. Derby North, 5/6:15

Friday, 2/22-Stuco Dance 6th-8th Grade, 7:00-9:30

Monday, 2/25-Spring Sports Parent Meeting, 6:00

Wednesday, 2/27-Wichita Suburban League Instrumental

Festival 7/8 Grade @ Derby-All Day

Thursday, 2/28-Gragson 6th Grade Choir Concert, 6:00

Dillon's Community Rewards

We're giving away $2 MILLION to local organizations!

Where Shopping and Giving Come Together!

Use your Plus Shopper's Card & help us grow!

Supporting our organization has never been easier-just shop at

Dillons and scan your Plus Shopper's Card!

Here's how to enroll:

Visit www.dillons.com/communityrewards
Scroll down to find your location and click "Enroll Now"
Sign in to your online account, or create an account.
Find and select our organization, and click "Save"

You'll start earning rewards for our organization right away on qualifying purchases made using your Plus Shopper's Card!

Everyone must enroll in the Reward Program. This is necessary in order for purchases throughout 2019 to credit Maize Middle School. Sign-in and make your contribution selection using this new 5 digit NPO number, NI311.

Homework Request

When your student is absent from school and you would like to pick up homework, you must request it by 10:00 a.m. The MMS office will only put the request in when a student has been out for two days in a row. All homework will be in the office after 2:00 p.m.

Thank you.