MARCH, 2011
Thoughts from Dr. Goodman
Thoughts from Dr. Goodman
Thoughts from Dr. Goodman
Thoughts from Dr. Goodman
During my recent conversation with a reporter from the Elkhart Truth, I mentioned that there had been many initiatives in the last few years at Northridge Middle School that I believe have helped us earn the 4 Star School designation by the Indiana Department of Education. Below are more detailed descriptions about many of these programs.
Mandarin Chinese
We are in our third year of offering Mandarin Chinese to our students at Northridge Middle School. We began the program by utilizing a partnership with our AP Collegeboard and the Han Ban group. We had a certified Chinese National guest teacher work with our staff and students to begin the process of introducing the
Mandarin Language and Chinese culture to all of us. This is the second year that we have solidified the program by adding a permanent teacher to our staff. We worked with the American Mandarin Foundation to recruit and secure a long term teacher from East Normal University in China, Ms. Hanlin Shen.
Professional Learning Community
This is our third year in preparing to become a Professional Learning Community. We have followed the model supported and developed by Rick DuFour, Bob Eaker, and Becky DuFour. Our focus has shifted from a focus on teaching to a focus on learning. In the past 3 years, we as a staff developed our Core Standards, Curriculum Maps, Pacing Guides, and have begun the process of creating common assessments in our classes. We as a staff now use our time together to focus on 4 key questions:
1) What do we want our students to learn? 2) How will we know if they have learned it? 3) What will we do if they already have learned it? 4) What will we do if they do not learn it?
Response to Intervention
We have implemented a full pyramid of interventions at Northridge Middle School associated the ideals of a Response to Instruction Model. As our teams meet to discuss student successes and failures, they focus on solutions to students in need. Staff document their interventions used with each individual student via a custom screen on our student management software. Every student that has failed a nine week core class or has been identified as a student in need by their team has a pyramid of intervention document started. This document includes a full background report by the team after reviewing the student’s permanent records. They then begin contacting/ documenting discussions with parents and guardians in terms of strategies that both feel may be in need for their child. These intervention strategies are then implemented and reviewed using concrete data to determine effectiveness. Only after all interventions have failed to produce the desired student achievements are students referred for special education testing. Our Tier 3 intervention model includes both a Math Center and a Language Arts Center. Each consists of a veteran general education teacher as well as a special education teacher. These partners work with no more than 15 students at a time utilizing programs and technology that allow them to focus on specific student needs. This includes the use of Accelerated Math, Math Facts in a Flash, Reading Plus, Making Meaning, and the Lind-Blair Reading program.
MATH MASTERS FOR MARCH
The monthly Math Masters was held on Tuesday, March 8. The sixth graders performed
admirably on a set of problems that were solved with multistep. The honorable mentions with
scoring seven correct were Cayla Garner, Joshua Solis, Caleb Tribble, Alyssa Hoschstetler,
Matthew Van Coppenolle, Brandon Hunsberger, and Max Teunissen.
The runner ups with scoring eight and nine were: Abigail Bache, Sam Grewe, Jacob Rebec,
Ben Zuercher, Ross Kirkton. The magical master this month is Zack Welker.
We have also named a student who will be featured on the announcements. This is Charles
Gorham.
BOYS AND GIRLS CLUB OF MIDDLEBURY –SPRING BREAK
Looking for a safe and FUN place for your kids this Spring Break?
You don’t have to go too far…..
Bring them to the Boys & Girls Club of Middlebury
Early Bird Hours 6:30AM-10AM, Regular Club Hours 10AM-6PM- April 4-8
Daily Science experiments, Arts projects, Athletic tournaments, games, and field trips!
For more information and to register please call 574-825-0873.
3rd Quarter VIP Luncheon
The VIP program at Northridge Middle School recognizes good citizenship qualities. Ten students are selected from each grade level. Each quarter, VIPs will be honored with a Middlebury Dairy Queen luncheon with a speaker from the community They also receive a bumper sticker provided by American Legion Post #210 in Middlebury.
The criteria considered for selecting these students are; they help and care for others, take care of school responsibilities (grades, detentions, over due books etc.) in a positive way, display leadership ,actively involved in school, has good attendance, pleasant personality, respects authority and other students’ rights and property,
The featured speaker for the third quarter was Chris Howell of Goshen. The luncheon was held March 15, 2011 in the Family and Consumer Science room. The students selected for the third quarter were:
6th grade: Kelsey Brickner, James Dugle, Alex Garcia, Heidi Hochstetler, Katherine Hughes,
Jacob Mann, Marci Miller, Jacob Poole, Logan Riffell and Darryl Woodcock.
7th grade: Austin Beckler, Katelyn Kilmer, Kelly Miller, David Prendergast, Mikayla Rayburn, Zach Serikow, Elizabeth Sommers, Isabella Staltari and Lindsey Wilson.
8th grade: Trent Brickner, Brock Downey, Kaeley Geschke, Kasey Kirchner, Mackenzie Martin, Katie Rosezelle, Sydney Skillen, Andrew Talbott, Nick Tibbs and James J. Weber.
* name omitted due to “denial to publish” request”
The “Battle” has begun, and competitions are getting fierce. Can you answer some of
these “Battle” questions: In which Young Hoosier book is a boy accused of floppin’ and in which
book did the nasty boll weevil destroy many farms? How about in which book were boogers put
in some donuts, and what is the title of the book where songs are stored in jars? These are some
of the questions our 80 teams of students will be asked during the “Battle of the Books” contest.
The teams battle for 10 minutes, receiving 3 points for each correct title and 1 point for each
correct author. This is a double elimination tournament, so the students who lose have another
chance to win the grand prize by battling in the second-chancers’ competition. All our winners
and competitors will attend an awards party at the end of April where the champions will be
awarded their prizes. We’re very
excited to have such great
participation this year, and students
have until the middle of April to
earn prizes for reading 10 of the
Young Hoosier Books. Special
awards will be presented to those
students who have also read all 20 of
the Young Hoosiers.
We are currently holding
another fun contest in our library. Do
you know which Young Hoosier books
go have the following Mad Gab titles:
Few It Bull He Row, Hall She Cup,
Rich Ink Force One? Each week a
new Mad Gab is featured in the library
and all students have a chance to win
prizes by guessing the correct Young Hoosier title. For a list of these book titles, stop in the NMS
Library or Middlebury Community Public Library and check out the Indiana Young Hoosier books.
Our March book club coming up will feature Crossroads by Chris Grabenstein. This
mysterious book is about an eleven-year-old boy who moves to Connecticut with his father and new
stepmother and is forced to deal with ghosts left behind by a terrible accident. We have some fun
activities planned and everyone is invited to attend during their lunchtime on March 25th. Our
February book club (Football Hero) had students competing in a football obstacle course with special
snot donuts for a treat (see picture).
Our spring book fair is just around the corner, April 20-29, so mark your calendars to stop in
the library to pick up some great books for your summer reads.
6
thGrade Students of the Month for February:
Sabors
T-Rex
Raptors
Taylor Sellers
Abby Zook
Taryn Curie
SPRING PARENT CONFERENCES
April 14, 2011
4:30 – 8:00 pm
Northridge Middle School will host spring parent/teacher conferences on April 14.
From 4:30 – 6:00 conferences are by teacher invitation to the parents of students who are not
performing up to expectations.
From 6:00 – 8:00 parents are free to come and meet with teachers without an invitation. We
ask that only parents with concerns attend during these times.
The criteria for the invitation to attend the spring conferences have been prioritized. This has
been done because the spring conferencing time span is much shorter than the fall
conference dates when we try to meet with all parents.
The criteria for determining the priority for parent conference invitations is as follows:
1. THE STUDENT IS NOT MEETING PROMOTION GUIDELINES – RETENTION AT
THE CURRENT GRADE LEVEL IS CONCEIVABLE
2. THE STUDENT IS NOT MEETING EXPECTATIONS IN:
a. the academic areas
b. regular attendance at school and/or
c. behavior at school
As always, if a parent or legal guardian has reason to request to meet with a member of the
instructional staff they may do so by contacting any member of the instructional team for an
appointment. The instructional team’s schedule is designed to have all members available to
each other and parents at the same time each school day.
The parent conferences will occur on April 14, 2011 within a classroom rather than within the
cafeteria.
DATES TO REMEMBER
Family Fun Night March 25
School is in session April 1
SPRING BREAK – April 4 – 8
No School April 15
No School April 22
Due to the snow day in February, school is in session Monday, May 9
Last Student Day – June 7
PTO
PTO is asking for Box Tops for Education by Wednesday, March 23.
Box Tops may be dropped off in the office or in any classroom.
This is the final deadline for this school year.
Sun
Mon
Tue
Wed
Thu
Fri
Sat
1 ISTEP 4:45 7/8A GBB Grissom - H 4:45 7/8B GBB @ Concord 4:45 WR @ Grissom 2 ISTEP 3 ISTEP 4:45 7/8A GBB @ Northwood 4:30 7/8B GBB Northwood - H SW Elkhart East - H 4:45 WR Northwood - H 4 ISTEP6th grade lip sync
5 6 7 4:45 SW Elkhart West - H 4:45 WR @ Pierre Moran 4:45 7/8A GBB @ Concord 6:30 PM PTO Mtg 8 4:00 School Bd Mtg 4:45 7/8A GBB Pierre Moran-H 4:45 SW Goshen - T 9 10 4:45 7/8A GBB Discovery - H 4:45 7/8B GBB 1st Rd @ J Young 4:45 SW Concord - H 4:45 A WR Big 11 @ Penn HS 11 Sw pics 12 IMEA 6th gr choir @NMS 7th & 8th gr band 9:00 7/8B GBB Big 11 finals @ Concord 9:00 A WR Big 11 Tour-13 Daylight savings time begins 14 4:45 7/8A GBB 1st Rd- H 3:45 –5:45 Knight Lights / ensemble rehearsal 15 Qtr 3 VIP Luncheon 4:45 7/8A GBB 2nd Rd vs Northwood TBD 4:30 SW Northwood - H 5:00 B WR Big 11 @ Nwood MS 3:45-5:45 choir dress rehearsal
16 17 4:45 7/8A GBB 3rd Rd 5:00 WR Big 11 A 1st Rd @ Penn HS 4:45 SW Wawasee - H 18 7:00 choir concert @ NHS Auditorium 19 9:00 Super Shot Saturday @ OVES 9:00 7/8A GBB finals 9:00 7/8A GBB Big 11 finals 7:00 choir concert 20 21 22 end qtr 3 4:00 School Bd Mtg 23 24 AM assembly
Olweus kick off
25 26 ISSMA 7th & 8th choir contest @ GMS 8:00 - 12:00 Band Pancake Bkfst 27 28 5:00 SW B tournament @ NHS 29 Report cards home w/ students 5:00 SW A tournament @ NHS 30 31
