Andalusia Middle School Newsletter – 1st Trimester 2015-16
Welcome to the Andalusia Middle School 2015-2016 1st Trimester Newsletter. We are
happy and privileged to share with you the success of our Middle School students thus far. Our
classrooms are interactive and students are engaged. We spend lots of time in the Islamic
socialization and development of our students. Not only are secular academics essential at
Andalusia but more importantly, we like to emphasize on the Islamic social spirit of our students.
Please enjoy!
Events:
National Junior Honor Society Induction Ceremony is coming soon. Andalusia Middle School
is a chapter in the NJHS for two years now. The National Junior Honor Society (NJHS) are the
nation's premier organizations established to recognize outstanding middle level students. More
than just an honor roll, NJHS serve to honor those students who have demonstrated excellence in
the areas of Scholarship, Leadership, Service, Character and Citizenship. These characteristics
are a must to be nominated. Please look for a letter inviting you to celebrate your child’s success
soon.
NJHS and NHS girls created a club called The Self-development Club. The goal of this club is to
help our girls become the strongest versions of themselves possible; physically, socially,
spiritually, and mentally. The club consists of teaching students about health, fitness, and
nutrition as well as discussing important self-development principles such as public speaking,
time management, building strong relationships with other people, and understanding the
overarching principles of success.
Nutrition Seminar: On November 24th, members of Andalusia School NJHS hosted a Nutrition Seminar
for elementary and middle school students. During the presentation, students learned about proper and
improper nutritional choices. For example, many students
knew about bad cholesterol, but were unaware that good
cholesterol can benefit them. Audience members were
quizzed on nutrition facts, and many were eager to share
their thoughts and ideas on the topics. In addition, students
were given the opportunity to pose questions to the NJHS
panel, and the members offered further insight. Throughout
the presentation, students displayed interest and enthusiasm
towards gaining nutritional knowledge
Trips
Ursuline Trip: On Wednesday, October 28th, Andalusia girls
who are members of NJHS and NHS visited the Ursuline
School: an all-girls Catholic school in New Rochelle New
York. Students spent the day sharing their interests and
presenting the beliefs of their respective religions. Many girls
made new friends, while others reconnected with girls they met
last year when Ursuline paid a visit to Andalusia. Later in the day,
the girls worked together to create place mats for the local Meals
on Wheels program. News 12 Westchester was even on hand to
mark the occasion. Many students agreed that this trip was a
unique cultural experience that they will value for years to come!
Bronx Zoo: Andalusia Middle School went on a field
trip Dec 2, 2015 to The Bronx Zoo. Students explored
the Bronx Zoo with trained guides. Students learned
about the animals and exhibits in the Zoo such as,
habitats, species, predictors, pray, weights, and so on.
Students were assigned a project that connected all
subjects. This is for the purpose of subject integration
and
connection.
The project
made students
understand
that
everything is
related and
the reason
behind why they learn certain things. We were able to
connect what students are already learning in the class
to the animals they saw at the Zoo.
Skills Workshop: On September 16 the Middle School staff had orchestrated a very comprehensive
study skills workshop for the Middle School Students. At Andalusia, we like to ensure that our students
are well informed and comfortable at school from basic movement and logistics to study skills and
successful habits. The topics covered were; goal setting, study skills, how to approach a text, and time
management and organization.
In The Classroom:
In middle school ELA this trimester, students will be studying texts
that demand critical thinking and allow them to analyze current and
historical social issues. In 6th grade, we’re reading Bud, Not Buddy,
the Depression-era tale of a young orphan who struggles to survive
as he travels the Midwest searching for his father. The 7th grade
group is reading Lyddie, which documents 19th century working
conditions and explores the concept of what it means to grow up.
Finally, 8th grade is tackling To Kill a Mockingbird, a classic
American novel that discusses complex issues of race and class. In
addition to these texts, all classes are continuing work in grammar
and vocabulary.
The mathematics curriculum at Andalusia Middle
School develops students’ knowledge, skills, and
proficiency in numerous mathematical areas and
topics. The curriculum stresses problem solving,
applications, and connections across subject areas. The
curriculum embodies the learning goals supported by
the Common Core of Standards. Students investigate
multi-faceted, real world math applications and
problems in order
to develop a deep
understanding of
the underlying math concepts and principles. Assignments
that require students to explain, justify, and communicate
their strategies and solutions reinforce these concepts and
procedures. The following are the topics that were covered
during the first trimester in math.
In math in 6th grade: Number Properties and Decimals, Expressions and Equations, Number
Theory, Fraction Operations. 7th: Integers and Rational Numbers, Equations, Graphing and
Writing Inequalities, Evaluating and Writing Algebraic Expressions, Unit Rates and
Proportional Reasoning 8th: Real Numbers and the Coordinate Plane, Solving Linear Equations,
introduction to Functions, and Graphing Functions
Middle School Arabic have been placed your child into either the Novice or Intermediate Level
based on placement testing. This will better enable us to track Student progress and advance
student learning. Speaking, listening, reading and writing are developed in Andalusia’s Arabic
program by utilizing Islamic texts. Our ultimate goal in teaching the Arabic language is for
students to be viable and fluent in all aspects of reading, writing, comprehension and
conversation.
Science is a subject area where students are able to visualize the world around them using their
five senses. One of the key ways to visualize our world is via the hands on science fair. Science
Fair provided students with the opportunities to investigate a
topic by utilizing the scientific process, including conducting
the required research, conducting an experiment or inquiry
activity that shows an understanding of the fundamental
processes of science, and sharing the gained information and
conclusions with the public. Without a doubt, our students
were able to wear their scientist's hat and explore the
scientific field. As we commend the new marking period, we
are looking forward to seeing the success of our students
moving onto the next levels of scientific critical thinking via
various hands on activities that will be carried out in class
this marking period!
\
In Social Studies our students are exploring the world through an academic,
critical, and introspective lens. The 6th graders kick started this year learning
extremely essential core concepts needed to understand history. Among
these are; tools of geography, economics, population and movement,
political governments, culture, climate etc. In 7th grade, we are learning
about America’s foundation through the first Native Americans who resided
on this continent up until European exploration, the American Revolutionary
War, and America’s political foundation (the U.S Constitution). In 8th
grade, we are learning about America’s struggle to keep it together as a new
country in the world trying to reconcile the diversity of socio-economic
status, citizenship, and ethnicity. Not to mention, America’s involvement on
the world stage as a military and economic hegemony.
Sheik Waleed & Sister Ranea’s
Quran class reciting Surah AlJummah
Alhamdulillah, the first semester of the 2015-2016
school year has been exciting and fun. In Islamic
Studies, students had the opportunity to study many
subjects. Among these subjects are the stories of
Prophet Musa, Prophet Zakariyya, and Prophet
Yahya. 6th grade has study the famous "Hadith of
Jibril." They were able to learn many lessons from
this hadith including how students should study, the
manner of interacting with teachers and the
importance of proper dress. 7th grade studied the steps
of Janazah, the major and minor signs of the Day of
Judgment to name a few. 8th grade has studied the
importance of patience by examining the story of
Prophet Ayyoub. They also learn the three types of
Shukr in Islam. All of these subjects are taught using
the system: Learn Islam, Live Islam, Love Islam. We
look forward to many more exciting and fun days
ahead throughout the remainder of the year.
Tips for Success: As you are all aware New York
along with other States, has taken a large leap in standardizing academics by implementing
the Common Core Standards. There is much more emphasis now on critical thinking and
deep conceptual analysis as opposed to the prior information-based instruction. These
standards prepare our children to compete with the rest of the world with real life
productive skills in areas like critical thinking, mathematics, technology, science, and so
forth. Below are some links to important websites that students can look to for common
core standards and to also help with individual subjects
http://www.corestandards.org
http://www.khanacademy.org
https://learnzillion.com
https://www.brainpop.com
Username for Brainpop: Yonkers26 Password: yonkers
Congratulations to our award winning students!!
Middle School Students of the Trimester!
QURAN
Nouaf Ismail
Sahada Lawani
Nofah Ismail
Lena
Mohammed
Brandon Ramos
Nader Abdullah
ENGLISH
Jannatul Islam
Azizah Rashid
Khadijah Kamal
ISLAMIC STUDIES
Ruwaida Ali
Malek Salhab
Laiba Waris
ARABIC
Ali Hamdi
Ruwaida Ali
Mohammed Yousef
Sahada Lawani
Nofah Ismail
Hafssa Rached
MATHS
Jannatul Islam
Ayoub Rached
Khadijah S Kamal
SCIENCE
Jannatul Islam
Hamza Malik
Zubair Salim
ART
Malyeka Naqvi
Ali Hamdi
Alia Washwell
Hamza Malik
Sana Awad
Aied Khalil
GYM
Muhdee Nawab
Madina Jasavic
Aymin Toor
CITIZENSHIP
Saleh Nagi
Science Fair Winners: Congrats!
6th grade Winners: Rusty Coins: Lena Mohamed,
Ishba Tajriyan, Malayeka Naqvi, Jannatullah Islam
7th grade Winners: Most Effective Antacid:
Azhar Nofal, Anum Azeem, Salman Perez, Azizah Rashid;
8th grade Winners: Qusay Alomari, Abdullah Naqvi,
Lossine Qamara
Spelling Bee is on February 3rd and 4th. Students were
given the list they need to study.
SOCIAL STUDIES
Ishbah Tajriyan
Kareema Ghaswala
Hamid Malik
Middle School Wall Murals
Andalusia Middle School teachers are required to call or email and communicate with parents
on a regular basis. I hope you had the opportunity to do so with your child’s teachers. Please
find the list of your child’s teachers email addresses below.
Subject/Grade
Teacher
E-mail
English/ 6th-8th
James Finnan
[email protected]
Math/ 6th-8th
MS Instructional Leader
Hanade Sarar
Science/ 6th-8th
Luqman Sobola
[email protected],
Social Studies/ 6th-8th
Aladin Huda
[email protected]
Arabic Level A/ 6th-8th
Nagla Abdel Karim
[email protected]
Arabic Level B/ 6th-8th
Ibrahim Murtala
[email protected]
Quran A 6th- 8th
Sheik Waleed
[email protected]
Quran B 6th - 8th
Rania Albashayreh
[email protected]
Islamic Studies/ 6th -8th
Ismail Rashid
[email protected]
Physical Education- Boys
Sam Mitchell
[email protected]
Physical Education- Girls
Staff
[email protected]
Art
Staff
[email protected]
[email protected]
Thank you for being a critical part of our school community and for your continued efforts to
help our students succeed. Your commitment to being part of our team has a profound impact on
our student’s academic achievements and success. Now is the time for students (and to a certain
extent, parents) to make appropriate adjustments in study skills and environment to prepare for
continued success. Parents should make sure their children are studying in a well-lit and spacious
area where they will not “space out” and will be able to focus on and stay interested in their
studies during homework time. Parents should create an environment where children can practice
what they learn at school. Also, you should keep computers in a central location so they can be
monitored, so fast fingered students aren’t clicking away on Face book. Just a few helpful hints
as we begin the new trimester. Remember, by establishing good habits now, we are setting our
students up to be successful at the next level!
We look forward to sharing our excellence with you throughout the year in many different
venues. Please feel free to contact us at any time if you have questions or concerns.