Thursday, March 11, 2021 – End of Third Marking Period

Monday, March 22, 2021 – Begin Fourth Marking Period

Tuesday, March 23, 2021 at 5:30 PM – SAC Meeting/PTSA

WIDA Continues – If you are Launch-Ed/Face-to-Face and you still need to complete the WIDA test in person and on campus, please, stop by Tuesdays and Thursdays @ 9:30am at the Media Center! Testing ends March 5th.

THIS WEEK! I-Ready Growth – We are administering I-Ready Growth within Intensive Math and Reading, starting Monday, February 22nd and ending Friday, Feb. 26th.

FSAA – Starting March 1st and ending April 16th.

PMA # 3 – 8th Grade Science and 7th Grade Civics will test March 4th (and

7th Grade Science – March 1st); ALGI/GEO – March 9th.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact me.

Mrs. Hawkins

407-249-6309 ext. 5262325

Congratulation to the Econ boys and girls who made the 2020/2021 Track team! Coach Murphy, Lindsay, Dean, and Bernstein are working hard to prepare our student-athletes for success! #GooooooEcons!

Progress reports were made available on Thursday, February 11, 2021. Please make sure that you have either received your student’s progress report or reviewed your student’s grades on-line. All students are required to pass all academic classes in order to be promoted without issue. Any core class that has not been successfully completed will need to be recovered. Please reach out to the appropriate counselor if you wish to schedule a conference with your student’s teachers.

We have 14 weeks left of school and we are encouraging all students to do their very best to finish out the year strongly.

Mrs. DiPaolo Lauren.DiPaolo@ocps.net x-5262248

6th grade and 7th last names A-L Ms. Barbera danielle.barbera@ocps.net x-5262236

7th grade last names M-Z and 8th Ms. Wharton lisa.wharton@ocps.net x-5262237

Secondary Engagement Liaison

T: 407-249-6309, Ext. 526-2346 | E: 941787@ocps.net

Follow our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/upmspfe

An easy to follow guide created by our Secondary Engagement Liaison to help parents support their students in the LaunchEd environment. Should you need additional information, or individual help please contact Nilda Nunez at 94178@ocps.net, or call 407-249-6309, ext. 526-2346.

The purpose of the conference is to provide an atmosphere of open collaboration to empower and support families of students with exceptionalities. All families of students with exceptionalities are invited to attend this virtual event.

A keynote speaker will open the conference, and participants may select subsequent sessions to attend based on their interests and needs.

Participant registration for the 2021 Big IDEA Conference will open March 22, 2021.

If you need additional information, please contact Sylvia Schaffer at sylvia.schaffer@ocps.net or

407-317-3200 ext. 2035503.

Online: Click "Register Now" located next to each event.

Phone: Participants can contact the Parent Academy office to be registered online by staff members at (407) 317-3300.

Jacobi is a wonderful example of a student who is thriving on the LaunchED learning platform. He has been on the A-B honor roll every quarter so far, and is well on his way to achieving the honor roll for the full school year. Jacobi is extremely motivated and unstoppable when it comes to learning in his classes. His teachers say he is a pleasure to have in class and is always enthusiastic while participating in class. Jacobi enjoys reading in his spare time and takes great pride in everything he does.

Congratulations Jacobi! Your UPMS family is so proud of you!

Andrea is a smart, polite, and responsible student who takes pride in her schoolwork. She has an unstoppable drive and determination to be the best student she can be. Andrea has integrity, as her teachers say she can always be the person to do the right thing in a situation. Andrea is respectful to her teachers and fellow classmates, and makes UPMS a welcoming environment.

Congratulations Andrea! We are lucky to have you representing UPMS!

Hello my name is Juwan Murphy and I teach band and orchestra here at Union Park Middle School. I have had the privilege to not only teach here school but also have many performance opportunities as a musician, and to enrich the lives of many through performance. Whether privately or the several marching band groups throughout the area I have worked with I have also taught many levels of students outside of school. I also have played in several local groups in the area which helps me continue to grow as a performer. While I have had much success throughout many endeavors of my life they have not come without the challenges of being a black man in America. Thankfully as a student I had many teachers that continued to encourage and believe in me that helped me to get to where I am today and for that I am very blessed. I am proud of my heritage and the people that helped me to be who I am.

Greetings and Happiness to the Union Park Middle School Family:

I am extremely elated to join the ECON family for this momentous 2020 -2021 school year. As the year began, we entered with hopes of having the ECON family present for a year of excellence and fun. Well, due to circumstances, we are persevering as beacons of light for our families and friends.

I started my teaching career in 1994 in Fort Pierce, Florida and 27 years later, I am still going strong. Thanks to unyielding support from my colleagues and students, I am grateful to continue making a difference in the lives of others. Black History Month is a proud moment in the lives of many people who dare to dream and believe that “If you believe, you can Achieve it.” I am a firm believer that every person can succeed, if given the necessary tools to start with. I cannot stop being a resource for every life that I touch and I encourage educators abroad to make a difference in every life today.

I am Mr. Gerald D. Simmons, 6th and 7th Grade Intensive Mathematics Teacher.

Hello! I am Ms. Sylvain and I teach 6th grade ELA. I think to understand how I feel or my experience as a black teacher at Union Park, I must look to the past. In college, I joined the first black sorority, Alpha Kappa Alpha and since I have surrounded myself in whatever black community I can find. It was definitely different coming to work at this school because I have been in primarily black spaces for the last 5 years. Education means so much to me and even though I made a huge pivot from Public Health to teaching, it has been one of the best decisions of my life. I am in a very special position being who I am and where I work because the students connect with me in a different way. I don’t code switch much, but I think the students pick up on how I speak because it is similar to how they speak as well. When I was in middle school, I went to a predominately Latinx middle school and I remember feeling like none of my teachers understood me until I had an ELA teacher who was a black woman. I hope to be what she was to me to my students.

Hello my name is Whitney Hammond. Growing up in Tennessee, I often encountered situations in which no one around me looked like me. My curly hair and brown skin stood out everywhere I went. Luckily, my parents made sure I attended a school where that was not the case. I was happy to be in classrooms with diverse students and teachers. As an adult, I learned that my experience as a little black girl was far from that of most of my black and brown friends. Many children with curly hair and brown skin do not have teachers who look like them or understand their cultural and social norms. As a teacher, I want to provide my students with the sense of belonging that school gave to me. I want students to see my brown skin and curly hair and know that they are safe to be themselves and can stand out everywhere they go for reasons other than how different they look.

We would like to recognize the University High School PTSA for showing us some LOVE! Thank you for partnering with us to bring a delicious breakfast to our hard working faculty and staff.

We are always looking for more partners in education, so if you or anyone you know would like to become a partner with Union Park Middle School, please click on this link: https://www.ocps.net/departments/community_resources_/partners_in_education

After you have filled out the online form please contact Ms. Amanda Stewart at amanda.stewart@ocps.net or Ms. Quinones at felicia.quinones@ocps.net. We are looking for partners who are interested in supporting supplemental programs for students, student recognition programs, and teacher appreciation efforts.

In his opening message this week, Dr. Serianni wrote, "Time is short but the opportunities are many…help us get your child connected to what they need!"

He was referring to the extra academic support available to our UPMS students during this extraordinary school year and to avoid summer school. The key word in his message is opportunity so we close this edition with a few reminders on how the door to opportunity opens for all of us, including our Econs.

Opportunities and motivation are connected. Motivated people see opportunities, and opportunities are often what motivate people.

Opportunities do not always present themselves in ideal circumstances. If you wait for all the lights to turn green, you will never leave your driveway.

Today is the best day for an opportunity. Opportunity always takes "now" for an answer.

Opportunity is birthed out of problems. If you're looking for a BIG opportunity, find a BIG problem.

Opportunities either multiply or disappear. The more opportunities you pursue, the more you find behind them.

Opportunities are the result of pluck, not luck. The people who succeed seek out opportunities, and it they can't find them, them they create them.

Opportunities must be nourished if they are to survive. As Peter Drucker, the father of modern management, said, "Feed an opportunity, starve a problem."

Great attitudes precede great opportunities. Who you are determines what you see.

Fax 407-249-4404 | EEO Statement

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 - Union Park Middle School is forbidden without written consent. Thank you for your support of Union Park Middle School and the Orange County Public Schools. Please contact Dr. Anthony Serianni at 49165@ocps.net with any questions or for further information.