This time of year is usually filled with concerts here at Apopka Middle. We have band, orchestra and also the chorus performing our holiday favorites. This year has been a challenging year in many ways and many of our traditional events have just not been possible. This past week some of our band students performed in the courtyard and video taped a few holiday tunes. I had the pleasure of listening to them and it just made me smile. If you are lucky enough to have a student who plays an instrument or sings in the chorus, have them share a song or two with the family. Maybe you can have a Zoom meeting with other family members and have them listen in with you and make it an event for everyone. Music has a way of bringing people together and making us smile!  

Are you looking for some holiday song recommendations for the mood you are currently experiencing? Check out this holiday music list: https://christmasallthetime.com/top-10-benefits-of-holiday-music/ 

According to Scripps Affiliated Medical Group (read the entire article here) listening to holiday music can:

As we go into the holiday break, remember this week is the last week of the quarter and ALL your make-up work needs to be turned in by FRIDAY! It is still not too late to get your grades up before the end of the quarter. Also, if you haven’t completed your iReady diagnostic assessment, PLEASE get that done on Monday. Your teachers need the score from this assessment to plan instruction in January and be focused to get you ready for the state tests coming in May. 

 

Dr. Pelletier

Pictured very top: AMMS AVID teacher, Patricia Green, created a room transformation of Surrealism for her students. See more details in her teacher feature.

December 14th and 15th, Semester Exams (CFEs) for all semester courses

Tuesday, December 15th: Craft and Chat with Dr. Pelletier at 6:30 pm. Parent University this month is a holiday craft and time to chat with the Principal.

Below are some fun holidays that you can celebrate with your families at home. Maybe post a picture or video and add a hashtag so all Seahawks can see them!

12/14-National Energy Conservation Day

12/15- International Tea Day

12/16- Day of Reconciliation

12/18- National Ugly Sweater Day

12/21- Winter Solstice

12/23- Festivus

12/24- Christmas Eve

12/25- Christmas Day

12/26- Kwanzaa

12/28- National Call a Friend Day

12/31- New Year’s Eve

1/1/21- New Year’s Day

* Looking for an email address? Click here to access our staff list, responsibilities and email addresses.

We are at the end of the first semester. If your student is registered in a semester-length course, they will be taking a Common Final Exam (CFE). CFEs are for subjects without state-created assessments like the state FSA. First semester CFE testing will be on Monday, Dec. 14th and Tuesday, Dec. 15th. Because CFEs are worth 20% of a student’s semester grade, they are considered high-stakes assessments.

LaunchED@Home students taking the test virtually are required to share their cameras to recreate the in-person proctoring students experience during state and national testing. A teacher will be monitoring them online while they are taking the test.

If parents or students opt not to share their camera during CFE testing, or if the camera is not operational, we will work with you and your student to schedule a time to test on campus with a live proctor. If a student opts not to share their camera during testing nor test on campus, they will receive a score of a 59 on the exam for now, but can make up the exam during Spring CFE testing sessions in May.

If you have questions or need your child to come to the school to test, please contact Parniece Crawford, Testing Coordinator, at parniece.crawford@ocps.net or call 407-884-2208 ext. 5002647.

We will offer middle school athletics second semester but have had to make modifications due to the pandemic. We will be implementing an intramural model where students will be able to participate in the four traditional middle school sports throughout second semester.  Our students will only be playing against our own students. We will not be traveling to other schools or having other teams come to our school. We will have soccer, basketball, volleyball and track. Volleyball will be the first sport.

The intramural format will allow any student on the campus (Launch ED or Face to Face) or (FLVS/OCVS) to participate in a sport and will provide an opportunity for increased participation as cuts will not be necessary and allows our student-athletes to be coached by the coaches on their campus. While we may not be playing other schools we will be playing games with our own teams.

Any student-athlete who wishes to participate needs to make sure their physical is completed using the updated digital packet. These forms can be found online on the Apopka Middle School website, under the Athletics tab, or you can click here: Physical Packet. Please make sure all parts are completed, and if possible, scan it then email it to Coach Axon at brian.axon@ocps.net, or print out the completed packet, and drop it off at the front office, or face-to-face students can drop it off at Coach Axon's classroom, room 168. If you have any questions, please contact Coach Axon at brian.axon@ocps.net.

Join us with your child in person or online to complete a fun Holiday Craft with our Principal, Dr. Pelletier. While we’re crafting she will be available to answer any questions or listen to your feedback and suggestions. If you are joining us virtually, you can pick up your craft supplies from the front office starting Friday, December 11th.

Please submit your questions for Dr. Pelletier using this link: https://forms.gle/G1etD6aDC4bFLBMC7 

After the holiday break in January we will have more students joining us here in the building. Here are the numbers for the Face to Face students starting in January 2021:

Band clip #1 and Band clip #2 (both under 36 seconds)

Copyright Notice

Reproduction of this material, either written or electronically, including the general layout, graphics, analyses, and content topics without the express approval of Target Performance Systems, Inc., a Florida corporation, and OCPS - Apopka Memorial Middle School is forbidden without written consent. Thank you for your support of the Orange County Public Schools and especially Apopka Memorial Middle School. Please contact Dr. Kelly Pelletier at 7216@ocps.net with any questions related to the program.

Apopka Memorial Middle | Dr. Pelletier, Principal | 407.884-2208 | AMMS Website