MESSAGE FROM THE
PRINCIPAL
The students at East Middle School have been busy this winter. They
have worked hard and have great attitudes. This part of the academic year is demanding
and our students at East have done their part.
EAST MIDDLE SCHOOL NEWSLETTER
Currently the students are in the process of preparing for the Smarter Balanced
Assessment. Testing for East will start after Spring Break (April 13 – April 17). Everyone is working to make sure the kids are prepared for the testing. Attendance has been a
school wide goal and it is especially important during this time period. Please make
every effort for your child to be at school, it is very important.
Contact the school if you have concerns about academic issues. We will gladly
schedule the time to meet with you to address any situation that you may have. East
Middle School does have a Summer School Program that meets at the Butte High Career Center (Webster Garfield). The summer session will run from mid-June to the beginning of August. Students who are mandated to attend will be notified in late May.
Parents will be notified by the school if their child would benefit from summer school.
The change in weather allows the students to be more active. Your son/
daughter will be involved with field trips, track meets, and/or interdisciplinary units. Be
on the lookout for permission slips and informational letters coming from the school or
through phone shout outs.
The 8th grade students will be moving to Butte High before we know it. These
students have been excellent citizens at East. We will be celebrating their experiences
here at East by way of the 8th grade barbeque and the Memory Book signing dance towards the end of the year. We always are looking for volunteers to help with the barbeque (June 2nd), if you are available please contact East’s office or Mr. Jory (Team A).
As always if you have any concerns, please contact me. I hope you and your
family have a Great Spring!
Sincerely
Larry Driscoll
East Middle School Principal
In this issue:
Message from the Principal
Cover
Team A
1
Team B
2&3
Team C
4
Team D
5
Team E
6
Athletics
7
Calender
8
Spring
Hot Lunch Info
9
2017
TEAM A
Team A had a great day on the slopes on February 13th! We are currently looking forward to a field
trip to Montana Wild the first part of May. Students are registering for classes at Butte High next
week.
If you wish to schedule a meeting please call or E-mail Mrs. Alley.
Science- Classes completed the Forces and energy book and completed the car construction performance task. We are currently writing a research paper following the steps of the scientific method. We will be starting our bridge building performance task this week. Our final book (Earth’s
Structure) will be passed out prior to spring break.
Math- Since the last school newsletter, math students for Team A have been continuing in their
text books and developing along the new concepts. This will prepare them to register for the math
classes that coincide with high school. The students are also preparing for the annual Smarter Balanced Assessments that they will be taking at the end of April. Also, all Team A math students
have been enrolled and using EdReadyMontana.org to help in assisting with math.
Reading-In Reading on Team A, we are studying the 8th Grade Reading Academic Vocabulary for
the district in preparation for the Common Core Assessment. We have finished the novel Soldier’s
Heart by Gary Paulsen in two of the classes and Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry in the other three
classes. Now we are working on the Junior Great Book story, “The Destructors” by Graham
Greene. We will continue learning several new Greek and Latin word parts which will assist in
reading, learning and understanding many new terms and vocabulary words in the future.
Social Studies- Social Studies students have been working on historical narratives describing Indian Removal and the Trail of Tears, the Industrial Revolution and Immigration. My access writing
program is being used for these narratives so students can work at home as well as in class. Power
Point presentations on the Civil War will soon be presented by the students to their peers. The
topic is the Civil War through maps, graphs, charts and pictures which allows students to use a variety of computer applications while learning about historical events.
-
English Team A English students have been involved in completing a research project, which
entailed completing a research log and documenting information from various sources. In addition, students learned how to type a research paper in APA Style (format) as well as how to use citations within their text. Furthermore, students were taught and completed a reference page, listing their sources according to APA Style.
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TEAM B
Team B
As we finish the fourth term, we are starting to prepare the students for the next step that they will take in
their educational career, which means preparing for high school. We have stressed the importance of reading critically and
responding to written questions in all classrooms throughout the year, so the students are not only prepared for this next
step, but also for the upcoming Smarter Balance Assessment. To help the students transition to the high school, a few
activities are planned this month. On March 24th, Butte High students are putting on their Teens in Partnership (TIP) program to try to ease some of the concerns of our 8th grade students about high school. Butte High School counselors will
also be coming down to all Social Studies classes to get students registered for their classes for next year. Information
about high school registration has been provided this term, so please start talking with your child about what classes they
are interested in taking in high school.
Please continue to monitor your child’s progress and assignments on Infinite Campus and Remind to make sure they
are completing their daily work with effort and accuracy. If you have a specific concern, our team meets from 9:30 to
10:00 AM each day. Please don’t hesitate to contact us if you have a specific concern.
Miss Leiphmeimer’s math class: Miss Leipheimer’s classes have just finished a project having to do with the Yukon Quest
Dogsled race. Students followed a musher throughout the race and used Ratios and Proportions to calculate information on
different parts of the race and feeding the sled dogs. Matt Hall was the winning musher. Lily Brown and Lily Brochu were
the backers of Hall and won a coffee from Hot Shots, courtesy of Miss Leipheimer.
Students in Algebra 1 have started working with challenging exponents. Soon these students will be working with parabolas. During this unit, students will design their own Angry Bird Levels using parabolas.
All students are getting ready for the Smarter Balance Assessment and MAPS testing starting next month. It is a chance
for everyone to show off the growth in the mathematical knowledge since the beginning of the year.
Mr. Wadas’ science class: The science students of Team B just completed the 4th term with a bang! The students were
overjoyed to finish the MontCAS science testing. MAP testing, the third installment of the year, will begin in the not so
distant future. Car racing and model bridge building were the highlights of our units in forces, motion, and simple machines. The next challenges that await are topics in energy and the Earth. Students will be creating marble runs to reinforce their knowledge of potential and kinetic energy as well as mastering the concepts of forces such as friction and gravity. In the earth science topics, students will be investigating plate tectonics and heat transfer to name a few. Overall,
students are working hard toward the end of eighth grade science. It’s a good thing as we have lots of science to explore!
Mrs. Rose’s reading class: Roots, Roots, and More Roots! Team B Reading students have been studying many Greek and
Latin roots the past couple of months….with more to come. These roots are the basis for so many everyday words. Quiz
your kids, or better yet have them quiz you! What does “phil” mean? How many words can you think of with “phil” in them?
How about “orth?” And a favorite: “graph.”
Many students are continuing our dystopic society views with the second novel in our Lois Lowry selection: Gathering Blue.
It is a companion book to our previous book, The Giver. This time we find things aren’t as “perfect” as they are in The Giver, in fact, the situation is quite dire for our protagonist, Kira, as we begin the book. How does it turn out? Ask your kids!
Iqbal is another novel some students are reading. It is based on a true story of the hardships young children working in
carpet-making factories must endure. This story takes place in Pakistan, but there are carpet-making factories scattered
throughout the Middle East. It is a very thought-provoking novel, and it gives the students a different perspective of
“childhood.”
Mrs. Davis’ English class: English students have been very busy this term with writing. They have written comparison/contrast
essays after reading The Giver in reading class, and they have just finished writing character analysis essays after reading Parallel Journeys, a story about a Holocaust survivor and a former Hitler Youth leader. In addition, students have written essays for
the Do The Write Thing essay contest sponsored by the Montana Board of Crime Control. Montana’s Do the Write Thing Challenge
is a violence prevention program that allows middle school students an opportunity to examine the impact of violence on their lives
and to communicate in written form what they think should be done to reduce violence. After writing these essays, students then
wrote sixteen line poems that were entered into the No Greater Love Contest in recognition of the Granite Mountain/ Speculator
Mines tragedy. Clearly, students have been working hard to improve their writing skills.
Future writing emphasis will focus on persuasive, argumentative, and constructive responses. The importance of writing thesis
statements and then including evidence to support them will be emphasized. All of this practice will prepare students to effectively communicate not only in their academics and in their personal lives, but also in the upcoming Smarter Balance Test.
Thank you for your continued support throughout the year. Please check the parent portal and the Remind App for information and
let me know if you have any questions or concerns. I can be reached at [email protected].
Mrs. Queer’s Social Studies class: As we conclude the 4th term, we have just finished studying the Industrial Revolution and how
the use of machines or technology greatly impacted family life, the economy, and the population of the United States. We will
continue to build off this topic as we start to set up the sectional differences between the North and South that led to the Civil
War. The students continue to use a variety of different Web 2.0 tools to complete performance tasks to measure their understanding of the topics taught in class. We are planning on showcasing our most recent performance tasks, our Presidential Research Glogs, at the Education Fair at the mall. If you want to see these multimedia posters, bring your smartphone and you can
scan the QR codes to see what these talented 8th graders created!
Suject
Text messages
To sign up for text messages:
Text the following codes to the
number 81010
Reading
Emails
To receive emails, send a message to
the following links to get email reminders.
@ehkb8 to 81010
[email protected]
@504943 to 81010
[email protected]
@mrsqueer to 81010
[email protected]
@mrwadas to 81010
[email protected]
Math
Periods 1 &3: @sleip to 81010
Periods 1 & 3: [email protected]
(Miss
Leipheimer)
Periods 5 & 7: @msleiphs to 81010
(Mrs. Rose)
English
(Mrs. Davis)
Social Studies
(Mrs. Queer)
Science
(Mr. Wadas)
Algebra I: @sleiph to 81010
Periods 5 &7:
[email protected]
Algebra I: [email protected]
TEAM C
Winter Newsletter
Team C
Spring Newsletter
Hello! The year is flying by and already we are into term 5. Some reminders for parents are that we are
going to be starting the Smarter Balance testing at the end of April. The 8th graders will be registering
for high school on March 27th and March 28th. All purple forms need to be turned into Ms. Ryan when
students have all of their classes signed off. Our team field trips for spring will include Montana Wild
up in Helena at the end of April. We will be doing an interdisciplinary unit on Montana during this time.
In June, we will be going to Virginia City for our last field trip.
Now here’s what is going on in class:
Mr.Gilboy’s Class – The 8th Grade students have been busy working on improving their grammar skills
this past term. We have been focusing on the use of phrases and clauses in order to improve sentence
structure. We have also completed a unit of study concerning effective sentences. The 7th Grade students have also been busy working on their grammar skills this past term. We focused on lessons covering the basic parts of a sentence and the proper use of phrases and clauses. Both classes will be sharpening their writing skills by completing an Argumentative Essay during the next term. Finally, both classes will continue preparing for the Smarter Balanced Assessment which will be administered the first
week of May.
Ms. Walton’s Class- The 8th graders have just finished a short unit on poetry. We will start the third
novel in the companion series, Messenger. The students have enjoyed this series and have many lively
discussions on characteristics of dystopian/utopian societies. We are continuing studying Academic vocabulary and Greek/Latin roots. The 7th grade is starting a novel, Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry. We are
also continuing the study of Academic vocabulary and Greek/Latin roots. Both grades will continue to
prepare for the Smarter Balanced Assessment which will be the first week of May.
Ms. Ryan’s Class- In 7th grade we have been studying Africa. We have been reading The Red Pencil.
This is a story about a young girl and her family that struggle through a refugee camp in Southern Sudan. The story gives a clear understanding of the struggles people endure in refugee camps. When we
are finished with Africa, we will be studying Asia. In the 8th grade classes we have studied Westward
Expansion and the Industrial Revolution. We are beginning the study of the economies of the north and
south. This will lead us into the nation dividing over the issue of slavery. Our year ends with the completion of the Civil War unit.
Mrs. Nardiello’s Class- The 8th graders have been having fun building balsa wood bridges. They are using engineering, teamwork, and problem solving skills to compete against all of the other 8th graders in
the building. Next up for them will be a study of geology and plate tectonics. The 7th graders survived
dissection and thoroughly enjoyed doing them. We are currently studying the cell and its processes. Up
next for them will be a foray into genetics.
Mr. Finstad’s Class: The math classes are progressing nicely. We will be starting Geometry in 7 th and
the 8th grade pre-Algebra classes. The Algebra I class is working on properties of exponents and we will
move into multiplying binomials. We will be taking the Smarter Balanced Assessment the last week of
April and have our final MAPS testing for the year in May.
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TEAM D
Page 5
M E Newsletter
2017 TeamT E AMarch
Congratulations to JANUARY Students of the Month:
Carlie Trefts and Cole Worley
FEBRUARY Students of the M onth:
Anastasia Bartsch and Casey Kautzman
Our Team E end-of-the-year field trip will be on Friday, May 19 th.
Details about the trip will be sent home when they are finalized.
Team E has been honoring students who receive good grades, try hard in class, participate, have great
attendance and are good citizens. We provide a pizza party and invite the students for lunch with the
teachers. We have had two lunches and will continue to reward students for Great Behavior.
English: Mrs. Rossberg We will begin our units on Persuasive and Argumentative Writing. Students are
learning to plan, draft, revise, edit and publish an essay in response to a writing prompt. I am modeling each
of the steps and we will write an Argumentative essay together and then they will compose their own essay. This will prepare them for the Writing portion of the Smarter Balance Language Arts Test on May 1-5.
Reading: Ms. Kambich: The beginning of this school year was laying the foundation of r eading objectives to be covered for the year. Since then application of those objectives are required in our everyday assignments. Key elements are summarizing, knowing the difference between main idea and theme, using
strategies such as close reads, cause and effect and comparing and contrasting. A variety of texts have
been used such as the novel TOUCHING SPIRIT BEAR, Great Books stories and short stories from the literature book. This upcoming term will include test prep for the Smarter Balance Assessment. Students
have and will continue writing responses to texts I am moving more of the responsibility to the students for
getting their work done and on time. I will not accept work that was due a month ago. The portal is available for the parent and student to access grades and review makeup work. I have told the students all year I
am available on Tuesdays and Thursdays after school and mornings for help and make up assignments.
Science: Ms. Evenson The students ar e r eally looking for war d to dissecting fr ogs this month and getting a first-hand look at what’s actually going on inside an organism. We have been exploring the human
body’s skeletal, muscular, digestive, and cardiovascular systems. In the upcoming months, we will continue
to study various body systems, their components, functions, how they interact with one another, and with our
body as a whole. The students are excited to obtain a better understanding of their body and how the choices
they make each day can affect various systems within their body.
Social Studies: Mr. Hoffman We have put away our parkas from the Canadian unit and have headed south
to Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean. Over the past month, we have discovered the rich geography and history of the region. Students completed a map of the area and explored the history of the Olmec,
Mayan, and Aztec civilizations. The students explored the geography, history, and politics of South America.
Students (figuratively) climbed the Andes to discover how the Spanish conquered the Incan Empire. We are
currently exploring the geography of Western Europe and preparing to begin the Eastern European countries
project.
Math: Mr. Carver In general math class we are working with converting fractions and decimals to percent’s, using commission rates to find a commission, and calculating simple interest. In general 3 students
are learning standard form, slope intercept and point slope form of a line. We will also be working on other
systems of equations. In addition, we will be working on the Smarter Balance practice test during the coming weeks. We will be doing the math portion of the Smarter Balance test in late April. Students can do further practice by going on-line. Students need to google Smarter Balance and click on practice test.
Page 6
SCHOOL CALENDAR
SCHOOL CALENDAR
April 12
Early Dismissal 1:00 – Spring Break
April 13-17
Spring Break - School Resumes April 18th
April 25
End of 5th Grading Period
April 26th – 28th
Team C Montana Wild
May 11
MRI
May 12
MRI – Team D
May 16
Spring Concert 7:00 PM
May 17
Anaconda Hatchery
May 18
Team D - Anaconda
May 19
Team E Field Trip
May 23 – 24
Team B Montana Wild
May 29
Memorial Day – No School
May 30
Washoe Theatre Team B
June 2
Awards Ceremony – 8th Grade BBQ – Yearbook Signing
June 5
Finals
June 6
Finals
June 6
Last Day of School
Page 8
HOT LUNCH INFORMATION
HOT LUNCH ACCOUNTS
Ø If you have not submitted a hot lunch application please consider doing so
Ø You may not realize that you qualify for “free” or “reduced” lunches
Household Size
1
Yearly
21,978
Monthly
1832
Weekly
423
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
For Each
Additional Member Add:
29,637
37,296
44,955
52,614
60,273
67,951
75,647
+$7,696
2,470
3,108
3,747
4,385
5,023
5,663
6,304
+$642
570
718
865
1,012
1,160
1,307
1,455
+$148
Page 9
Changes to School Breakfast!
Students who eat breakfast are 20% more likely to graduate, do 17% better in math and show significantly lower absentee rates. With last
month completing national nutrition month, the Butte School District nutrition services department recently took too adding some changes
to the breakfast program at East Middle School! After discussions and feedback from over 150 seventh and eighth grade students at the
middle school including the student counsel, additions were made to the breakfast. Each morning the breakfast options include a variety
of six cereals, yogurt, milk, fresh fruit, juice and a primary entrée. New to the entrée breakfast menu will be pancakes served each week
and Wednesday will feature a breakfast smoothie to pair with another item.
Check out the breakfast this month! Paid breakfast meals are only $1.50 and breakfast is served each day from 7:45-8:15am in the middle
school cafeteria.
Page 10
East gym is involved in a variety of activities from sports programs to physical education classes,
and traveling teams that use the gym during these seasons. Example: Traveling Basketball, baseball, soccer and volleyball teams.
East Middle School offers many sports programs that give students a chance to participate though
out the school year. The school year is divided up into 3 seasons, fall, winter, and spring. The
sports offered during the fall season are, football, Volleyball, and Cross Country.
The winter season is during the months of November, December, January, and February. Boys’
Basketball, Girls’ Basketball, and Wrestling are offered during these months. Other sports offered
during spring season are Intramural Volleyball, and Track.
Girls basketball had 90 participant and Wrestling had 25.
East Middle School gym is the heart and soul of the School. Because middle school gym classes
cover a variety of activities from health education to team sports, this gym offers life skills and
help a middle school student understand the value of collaboration and community, which are values that will benefit each student for life. When it's time to begin choosing extracurricular activities in high school, students who participated in gym class will already have a sense of their interests and talents.
East is excited to have a new athletic trainer this year Kara Wesen who will be at East on game
days to help with sports injuries and follow-ups by appointment.
East is also very proud for providing a concussion assessment tool for all athletics. The computer
based test establishes a baseline for your child that can be referred to if a concussion does take
place. East Middle School is the first Middle School to have a baseline concussion test in Montana middle schools.
East Sport Schedule:
Intramural Volleyball
May 6-May 26
Track
April 3 – May 6
Hubber Track Meet: May 5
Time: 1:30
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