The General Gist (Week of March 26, 2023)

This Week’s Message
It’s Spring Conference week!  This Monday is a full day with a regular schedule.  The rest of the week are half-days with early release at 11:25 am.  There is no late start on Wednesday.  AM and PM bus transportation will be provided, and sack lunches will be available for pre-purchase.  Conferences will be held on Tuesday and Thursday from 12:30-3 pm and 4-7 pm.  Here is a link to our Spring Conference Schedule. 

The conference scheduling tool opened in Skyward Family Access for families on March 17 and will close at the end of Monday, March 27.  For more information on how to schedule conferences, click on this link.  If you need assistance scheduling conferences, please contact our Registrar, Ms. Zantow at 360-874-6102.  We are looking forward to your visit!

This Week’s Events
Mar. 27: AVID Site Team Meeting, A-234, 7 am (canceled)
Mar. 27: Threat Assessment Staff Training, Library, 3-4 pm
Mar. 28-31: Spring Conferences, Early Release, 11:25 am
Apr. 3-7: Spring Break (No School)

Events on the Horizon (Tentative)
Apr. 11: Guiding Coalition, Library, 3:15-4:30 pm
Apr. 13: STEAM Team Meeting, A-135, 7:15 am
Apr. 18: PTSA Meeting, Library, 6:30 pm
Apr. 20: Staff Meeting, Library, 7:15 am
Apr. 20: Incoming 6^th Grade Registration Night, 6:30 pm
Apr. 21: Volunteer Appreciation Celebration, Time TBD
Apr. 24: AVID Site Team Meeting, A-234, 7 am
Apr. 25: EMS Team Meeting, 7:15 am
Apr. 27: JSMS Family STEAMworks Night, 6-8 pm
May 1: Pacific Science Center “Space Odyssey” Workshops, 6th Grade Science Classes
May 2: Guiding Coalition, Library, 3:15-4:30 pm
May 4: STEAM Team Meeting, A-135, 7:15 am
May 8-26: State Testing Window
May 11: Unity Council Meeting, Library, 3:15-4:30 pm
May 12: PTSA Bingo Night, JSMS, 5:30-7:30 pm
May 16: EMS Team Meeting, 7:15 am
May 16: PTSA Meeting, Library, 6:30 pm
May 18: Staff Meeting, Library, 7:15 am
May 18: 7^th Grade Energy Expo, Commons, 5:30-6:30 pm
May 29: Memorial Day (No School)
May 30: AVID Site Team Meeting, A-234, 7 am
May 31: 8th Grade All-Music Extravaganza, SKSD, 6:30 pm
Jun. 2: Class of 2030 Visit, JSMS, 11:00 am-1:30 pm
Jun. 3: Music in the Parks 8th Grade Field Trip, TBA
Jun. 5: Final Choir Concert, JSMS, 6:30 pm
Jun. 6: Guiding Coalition, Library, 3:15-4:30 pm
Jun. 8: Marine Science Field Trip to Seattle Aquarium (All Day)
Jun. 8: Final Band and Orchestra Concert, JSMS, 6:30 pm
Jun. 13: AVID Site Team Meeting, A-234, 7 am
Jun. 15: Staff Meeting, Library, 7:15 am
Jun. 16: Early Release, 11:25 am
Jun. 16: 8^th Grade Dance, Commons and Gym, 5-7 pm
Jun. 19: Juneteenth (NO SCHOOL)
Jun. 20: 8^th Grade Breakfast and Celebration @ DEFY, TBA
Jun. 20: 6^th and 7^th Grade Carnival, TBA
Jun. 22: Last Day of School, Early Release, 10:45 am (changed from 6/21 due to snow)

*Events added to The General Gist this week

Book Fair
This week, we will be hosting our Scholastic Book Fair, in conjunction with our spring conferences.  This is always an exciting time for our students and families to explore new books and for our staff and school to promote literacy.  As always, all profits go directly back into our school’s library and help to fund new books on our shelves!  The Book Fair will be held in the commons on Tuesday and Thursday during the entirety of our conferences as well as this Monday during lunches for our students to browse and make purchases.  Cash, check, and credit/debit are all accepted.  This year, we are pleased to announce a new option for parents: e-wallet.  This is an easy way for your student to purchase books at the Fair without cash.  All you need to do is visit our school’s Book Fair website and create an account.  Scholastic will walk you through the simple steps of adding money to your student’s account.   We hope to see you there!

Future 7th and 8th Grade Course Registration
Last week, our counselors began visiting our current 6th and 7th graders’ Science classes to prepare them for 2023-24 course registration.  Next year, we will change how we serve our highly-capable student population.  Instead of offering self-contained ELA and Social Studies “Quest” classes, we will offer “Advanced” ELA and Social Studies courses open to all students who want to challenge themselves with more rigorous instruction.  Parental permission will be required to request the courses, and placement will be offered on a space-available basis.  Students must also meet minimum performance levels in order to maintain enrollment throughout the school year.  Specially-designed instruction will be given to highly-capable students in Advanced classes.  Students who are identified as highly-capable but wish to opt out of Advanced classes may do so via a form.  Also, it is likely that National History Day will no longer be part of our Advanced Social Studies curriculum; instead, we are exploring the option of offering it as a club activity available to any student in the school.

In addition, starting next year, students and parents may request placement in Tier 2 Math and ELA Support classes; however, availability will be based upon capacity and student needs.  Students who are below grade level in ELA and/or Math, as evidenced by multiple indicators, will still be automatically enrolled in Tier 2 ELA or Math Support or Tier 3 Universal Support classes.

 

Incoming 6th Grade (Class of 2030) Registration Night
On April 20, we will host our annual Incoming 6th Grade Registration Night.  This year, we welcome families of the Class of 2030!   This event is intended to provide incoming families with a big picture look at middle school, including our schedule, supports, and curricular and extra-curricular offerings.  Our counselors will visit our feeder elementary schools in the following weeks to collect students’ course selections and provide more detailed information.  If someone you know has an incoming 6th grader, please spread the word.

Spring State Testing
This spring, all students will take required Smarter Balanced state tests in the areas of English Language Arts (ELA) and Math.  In addition, our 8th graders will take the Washington Comprehensive Assessment of Sciences (WCAS).  Our testing window this year is from May 8-26.  It will be very important that we have all students in attendance for each test day, so we ask that you schedule appointments outside the school day or outside the testing window.  More details will be provided in coming editions of the General Gist.

Brain Research
Our Guiding Coalition team members are doing a book study on John Medina’s Attack of the Teenage Brain.  The final three chapters address things students can do to develop socially and academically.  Here is a final excerpt from Chapter 6 on Exercise and Teen Behavior:

“Now we’re looking at what we can do in terms of altering school policies, programs, and bricks-and-mortar design features in order to help teens help themselves. 

The physical design of this school is most notable because of what’s at its center: a gym.  The facility will be in constant use, the hub of the school, in fact.  It will be used for general physical education, of course, but this is PE on steroids, if you’ll forgive the metaphor.  Students will be there every day, and it will function as a research test bed, so that the effects of physical activity on their individual progress can be constantly assessed.

I propose two types of physical activities to fill these needs.  The first is mindless aerobic activity as a daily class, something as mandatory as math.  Its purpose will not be to get teens in shape, but to aid and abet their mental health.  This class would be filled with devices for nondisabled populations (like treadmills and spin bikes) and a variety of other aerobic-competent devices for populations with physical disabilities (like handcycles).  The second type of activity is organized, cognitively engaging sports.  These sports don’t have to be the usual suspects (basketball, soccer, track); they could be anything, ranging from Ultimate Frisbee to creative circuit training, as long as the mind tags along.  Whereas straightforward aerobic exercise can address depression, the organized sports can address EF (executive function) issues.”

Athletics
Spring sports are off to a strong start!  Here is a link to our Spring Sports Schedules.  Be sure to click on each event to verify the level and location of each event.

Clubs
After school clubs are a great way for students to explore their interests and connect with peers.  We will provide a list of active clubs in The General Gist, on our website, and on our TVs in our commons.  Please make sure you pick up your student promptly at the club’s end time.

Anime Club meets every Monday from 3-4 pm in Portable 2.  Join the club’s Google Classroom: LTYU556.  Ms. Chalmers is the advisor.  For more info, contact chalmers@skschools.org.

Art Club meets every Wednesday until 4:00 pm in Room A-123.  Ms. Million is the advisor.  For more info, contact million@skschools.org.

Chess Club meets every other Tuesday in Room C-206 from 2:50-4:00 pm.  Ms. Cave is the advisor.  For more info, contact cave@skschools.org.

Dance Club meets every Tuesday from 2:50-4 pm in Room A-246.  Ms. May is the advisor.  For more info, contact may@skschools.org.

Diversity Club meets every Wednesday from 3-4 pm in Portable 4.  Ms. Steen is the advisor.  For more info, contact steen@skschools.org.

Gamers Unplugged meets every Wednesday from 3-4:30 pm in Room A-224.  Mr. Wallach is the advisor.  For more info, contact wallach@skschools.org.

K-Pop Club meets every Wednesday from 3-4 pm in Room A-230.  Ms. Happold is the advisor.  For more info, contact happold@skschools.org.

Magic: The Gathering Club meets every Thursday until 4:30 in Portable 1.  Mr. Musselman is the advisor.  For more info, contact musselman@skschools.org.

Photography Club meets every Friday from 3-4 pm in A-233.  Mr. Durham is the Advisor.  For more info, contact durham@skschools.org.

Pickleball Club meets every Tuesday morning from 7-8 am in the Gym.  Ms. Langhorn is the advisor.  For more info, contact langhorn@skschools.org.

STEAM Club meets the 1^st and 3^rd Wednesday of every month.  Mr. Lantz is the advisor.  For more info, contact lantz@skschools.org.

Yearbook Club meets every Thursday until 4:30 in Room C-206.  Ms. Cave is the advisor.  For more info, contact cave@skschools.org.

AVID
We had an incredible AVID Family Night last week!  A HUGE shout out to our AVID students and their parents who joined us.  Special thanks to Ms. Wilhelm, Ms. Falla, and Ms. Willson for organizing a great gathering.  As usual, our students stole the show, as you can see in these heartwarming videos.

STEAM
Why STEAM?  As the father of modern technology, Steve Jobs, once said, “It’s in Apple’s DNA that technology alone is not enough — it’s technology married with liberal arts, married with the humanities, that yields us the results that make our heart sing.”

Next month, Ms. Colbo’s 8th grade Drama students will be performing an abridged version of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night's Dream.  In addition to acting, they are doing all of the technical and production jobs such as lights, sound cues, filming, costumes, props, programs, advertising and tickets.  They are ON FIRE for this play and are looking forward to sharing it with our staff and their 8th grade classmates during 6th period April 17-21!

National Blue Ribbon Update
In Fall of 2018, our Guiding Coalition established three long-range goals: to become a Washington STEM Lighthouse School, an AVID Schoolwide Site of Distinction, and a National Blue Ribbon School.  We are honored to have accomplished the first two goals, and we are excited to share that we are within a stone’s throw of a National Blue Ribbon!

The National Blue Ribbon program was created in 1982 to recognize outstanding public and private schools in our nation for their overall academic excellence or their progress in closing achievement gaps among student subgroups.  To qualify, schools must be in the top 15% of schools in their state.  A most recent snapshot of John Sedgwick’s academic performance finds us in the top 20% of schools!  Additionally, we have been on a positive trend since setting our “Big 3” Goals in 2018, rising 42 places in the WA Middle School Rankings on SchoolDigger, an independent website which rates schools based solely upon their performance on state standardized tests.

It takes our whole Sedgwick Community to achieve a goal like this, and with your continued support, we have no doubt that we can achieve a National Blue Ribbon this spring!  For more details, take a look at our National Blue Ribbon Status Report which includes links to comparable middle schools as well as SchoolDigger’s data (on last slide).

PTSA
Membership: Our PTSA is healthy because of our strong membership.  You can become a member for only $10.  To learn more about how you can be involved, visit our PTSA website.

Next Meeting: April 18 at 6:30 pm in the JSMS Library

Attendance Matters
Did you know?  By 6th grade, absenteeism is one of three signs that a student may drop out of high school, and by 9th grade, attendance is a better predictor of graduation rates than 8th grade test scores.  Statistically-speaking, students should miss no more than 9 days of school each year to stay engaged, successful and on track to graduate. 

It may come as a surprise, but in Washington State, starting at 8 years of age, students are responsible for getting to school; parents are only required to provide an alarm clock and a bus route or transportation.  Seven unexcused absences within a 30-day period or 15 within a full year requires that schools file a court petition.  All absences should be cleared within 48 hours (via phone, email, or ParentSquare) and cannot be cleared after two weeks.  Keep in mind that excused absences may require a note from a medical professional. 

Inclement Weather
Winter weather can cause potential late starts or school closures.  To ensure you receive timely notification, please review our district’s inclement weather procedures on our website.  In addition to providing helpful information, the newsletter at the bottom of the page includes instructions for updating your contact information.

School Entry
On school days, our doors open to students at 7:30 (8:15 on late start Wednesdays).

Student Drop-Off and Pick-Up
If you plan to drop-off or pick-up your student in a personal vehicle, please follow the directional signs upon entering school property.  Here are the basics:

1. Turn RIGHT upon entering the school.
2. You may drop-off or pick-up your student in the roundabout OR the parking lot.
3. If you are dropping off, picking up, or planning to park in the parking lot, USE THE THRU LANE ON THE RIGHT.
4. If you are dropping off or picking up in the roundabout, USE THE LEFT LANE UPON ENTERING, THEN MOVE OVER TO THE CURB WHEN TURNING INTO THE ROUNDABOUT.
    

Most importantly, DO NOT BLOCK TRAFFIC IN THE RIGHT-HAND THRU LANE.  Instead, continue into the parking lot to drop-off or pick-up.  If you park in the lot at the end of the day, please be aware that you will be blocked in until around 2:50 pm.

Celebrations and Thanks

• Congratulations to last week’s Caught Being a General student winners: Aime C. (6^th), Ella G. (7^th), and Gwyneth W. (8^th)!
• Thank you to our AVID families for coming to our annual AVID Family Night!
• Congratulations to all of our students who qualified for the Washington State National History Day competition!  Thank you to our social studies teachers for preparing our students so well, and thank you to our parents for your never-ending support!

Quote of the Week
"Picking up the pieces of a shattered dream is better than having no pieces to pick up at all.” ― Matshona Dhliwayo

Stay Connected
We love keeping in touch with our families!  Here are some ways to stay up-to-date on important information and events throughout the year:

• Instagram & Facebook: @jsgenerals
• Weekly Newsletter: The General Gist
• School Website: johnsedgwick.skschools.org 
• JSMS Schoolwide Google Classroom (for students)

Links to Important Resources
JSMS Website
General Guide
Skyward Family/Student Access
HelloID
Meals
Transportation

 

 

Dan Novick

Principal

 

 

John Sedgwick Middle School

8995 SE Sedgwick Rd.

Port Orchard, WA  98366

 

Office: 360.874.6090

Fax: 360.874.6430