UPCOMING EVENTS:
NOV.5TH–
PARENT/
COMMUNITY
INVOLVEMENT
MEETING
NOV. 6TH– END
OF THE FIRST
NINE WEEKS
NOV– 6TH–
DANCE PERMISSION SLIPS
GO HOME
Essex Intermediate School
N O V E M B E R ,
2 0 1 5
NOV. 9TH– NO
SCHOOL/
TEACHER
WORKDAY
NOV. 10TH–
BOOK FAIR BEGINS
NOV. 10TH–
AFTER SCHOOL
TUTORING BEGINS
NOV. 11TH–
8TH GRADE
PARENT INVOLVEMENT
EVENT
NOV. 11TH–
PTO MEETING
AT 6:00
NOV. 11TH–
DANCE TICKETS ON SALE
AT LUNCH
NOV. 12TH–
DANCE TICKETS ON SALE
AT LUNCH
NOV. 12TH–
DANCE PERMISSION SLIPS
DUE
NOV. 12TH–
8TH GRADE
FIELD TRIP
NOV. 13TH–
REPORT CARDS
GO HOME
NOV. 13TH–
PTO DANCE 710 P.M. IN THE
EIS GYM
NOV. 16TH–
ECPS PARTNERSHIP FOR EXCELLENCE
MEETING AT 7
P.M.
NOV. 18TH–
EARLY RELEASE/PARENT
TEACHER CONFERENCES
NOV. 25TH27TH– SCHOOLS
CLOSED– HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
Dear Families,
The first few months of school have been exciting and
busy as our teachers get to know your child and learn
more about your child’s areas of strengths and areas
of need. Our teachers are using data from the beginning of the year assessments as well as your child’s data
from the SOL tests they took last year to differentiate instruction to ensure
we are meeting the needs of each child. While these assessments help us gain
a better insight into your child’s academic needs, we also need and value your
input into what your child’s strengths and areas of need are as well. Our ultimate goal is to align our instruction with the needs of individual students to
maximize their instructional time here at school.
We greatly value the feedback you provide to teachers about your child. We
hope that you will be able to join us for our first parent-teacher conference
night on Wednesday, November 18th from 2-7 p.m. This will give you an opportunity to have personal conversations with your child’s teachers about
their progress at school and ways we can all work together as a team this
year. Please call the office at 804-443-3040 to schedule an appointment with
your child’s teacher.
As you read through our newsletter this month, we hope you will take advantage of the opportunities we have coming up to become an active part of
our school. The home and school connection is vital to ensure the success of
every student. Thank you for partnering with us to make this a successful
year for your child. Please feel free to contact me at any time at [email protected] or 804-443-3040. Together, we can make each day a
great day for learning.
Best regards,
Heather Gentry
PAGE
2
October’s Parent Involvement Event
The 6th grade at Essex Intermediate School hosted an October Family Fun
Night on October 21st prior to the school's regularly scheduled Parent Teacher Organization meeting.
Students stayed after school with their teachers, had a snack, and worked on
their homework or received targeted instruction to meet their learning needs.
Students then transitioned to the cafeteria to complete a science experiment
in which they predicted how a liquid could also be a solid as they made Dr.
Seuss's infamous "Oobleck." They mixed the secret ingredients into Ziploc
bags and added food coloring to create spooky slime.
6th Grade Parent
Involvement Event—
Content Bingo!
As the students finished their concoctions, parents arrived and the festivities
began. The Parent Teacher Organization generously provided popcorn and
drinks for all the enjoy. The students worked collaboratively with their parents
to answer content related bingo questions..." Are you smarter than a 6th grader at EIS?" Families began winning EIS spirit prizes, glowsticks, and pumpkin
sponges. According to Ms. Longest, a sixth grade English teacher, the evening
was a complete success as students are anxiously awaiting their next Fun
Night.
Box Top Contest!
“An
investment in
knowledge
pays the best
Our PTO is sponsoring box tops contests for the students at EIS this
year. The grade level that collects the most box tops during each contest will win a prize! The first contest ends on Friday, December 11th.
Please send in any box tops you have collected on or before this date. Students can
turn box tops in to their Core 1 teachers.
There are thermometers hanging up in our
cafeteria so that students can track each
grade’s progress. Good luck to each
grade level!
interest.”
~Benjamin
Franklin
An Update From Our Literacy and Curriculum Coaches
Family Connections: Reading Recipes
Reading and talking about favorite recipes provides many opportunities to create memories and celebrate family traditions. Perhaps
students could create a family recipe book by matching pictures of family members with their special recipe and writing a comment or memory.
ESSEX
INTERMEDIATE
SCHOOL
PAGE
An Update From Our Math Coach…………….
Thanksgiving can provide many opportunities for parents to
teach children about fractions and decimals (even young children).
They are everywhere after all. Think about cooking and shopping….
Understanding fractions are essential for cooking.
For example, if a recipe calls for 2/3 cups of flour for a cake
which will serve 6 people and you have 12 coming… Well, then you
need to figure out how to make enough cake for 12, and ask yourself,
What needs to happen to the 2/3 cups of flour? In this case 12 people
is double what the recipe will make (6 people), so doubling 2/3 cups
makes sense. You could add 2/3 + 2/3 to get 4/3 using paper and
pencil, or you could measure out 2/3, pour in a bowl, then repeat. You
could pause and pour the 4/3 back into a measuring cup. This might
lead to a great discovery that 4/3 is one whole cup with another 1/3
cup on top.
*Or you could multiply 2/3 x 2 to get 4/3. In case you forgot how
to do this….To double, we can multiply by 2 (and we can
write 2 as the fraction 2/1). We multiply the numerators and
we multiply the denominators like this:
2
2
4
x
=
3
1
3
Fractions and Decimals in Shopping.
Talking to children before, during and after shopping is a great way to
make real-life math connections; it also increases their knowledge of budgeting and money-sense. Questions such as, “How much does the table cloth
cost if it’s half off?” And “If the turkey costs 69 cents a pound, what size
should I look for if I only want to spend about $9?” and “I see that one apple
pie costs $6.25. How much would two cost?” Asking children to count the
change for accuracy might be part of a good habit to develop.
“Education is
the most
powerful
weapon which
you can use to
change the
world.”
~Nelson
Mandela
3
PAGE
News from the EIS Library……………….
Dear EIS Parents and Families:
It’s that time of the year when the air gets cooler, the leaves start falling, and the annual
Scholastic Book Fair comes to EIS! Reading for pleasure inside and outside of school has
real and long-lasting benefits. It unlocks the power of information and imagination and helps
kids discover who they are. Here’s what you can do to help kids develop stronger reading
skills and a love for reading:
* Set the example. Let your kids see you read.
* Have a collection of books in the home. Update this collection routinely to keep
pace with changing tastes and reading skills.
* Support our school’s Book Fair. Allow your kids to choose their own books to
read.
Our Scholastic Book Fair is a reading event that brings to school the books kids want
to read. It’s a wonderful selection of engaging and affordable books for every reading
level. Please make plans to visit our Book Fair and be involved in shaping your child’s
reading habits. Popular series include: Ally Carter, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Dork Diaries,
and many more. And as always, there will be plenty to choose from on our Reference
& Science table.
Book Fair dates: November 10th-13th
Shopping hours: 8:00-3:45 daily
Special Shopping Night: The book fair will be open before and after the 8th grade
parent involvement event on Wednesday, November 11th. We’d love for you to stop
by.
“A book is a
dream that
you hold in
your hand.”
~Neil Gaiman
Before you visit the Book Fair, be sure to download the Book Fairs app to help you find the
right books for your child. For more information, visit: scholastic.com/apps/bookfairs. And
if you are unable to attend the Fair in person, we invite you to visit our online Book Fair at
scholastic.com/fair. Our online Fair is available from November 1st-14th. Don’t forget, books
make great birthday and holiday gifts.
Also, if you would like to volunteer to assist with the book fair, we’d be happy to have you
join us. Ms. Weeden can be reached by phone at 443-1453, email at
[email protected] or you may send a note by your child.
We look forward to seeing you and your family at our Scholastic Book Fair! Remember, all
purchases benefit our school.
Sincerely,
Ms. Latanya Weeden
EIS Librarian
4
PBIS Update From Mr. Doyle………………….
We are excited to inform you that we are starting a new program under the PBIS umbrella of services: CHICO (CHeck In CHeck Out). In this program, students are paired
with a school staff member to be a mentor/buddy with whom they will “check in” and
“check out” each day. If you feel your child can benefit from this program, please contact Mr. Doyle at [email protected]. The CHICO Program has been met with
great enthusiasm from students and staff and we have seen several students make
tremendous gains from working with our dedicated staff.
We continue to move forward with PBIS, recognizing all the wonderful things going on
at Essex Intermediate School. We are noticing individual students each day by awarding them a dog bone, which will enter them into drawings to win prizes. The individual
dog bones are also being used as a grade level competition to see which grade level
earns the most dog bones. Students and faculty continue to be recognize at ECPS
monthly School Board meetings.
Remember, PBIS is system of interventions, strategies, and supports that positively
impact EIS and individualized behavior planning.
Our motto is “The Essex Way”
Be respectful of self, others, and surroundings.
Be responsible and prepared at all times.
Be ready to follow directions and procedures.
Students of the Month
Each month, students from each grade level are nominated by the EIS staff for
exhibiting our behavioral expectations and going above and beyond at our
school. From these nominations, our staff members choose a “Student of the
Month” for each grade level. For the month of October we recognized the following students as our PBIS Students of the Month:
5th Grade: Jailin Washington- “Jailin is a ray of sunshine in the 5th grade hall. He
works hard, completes assignments, follows directions the first time given and encourages classmates to do the same.”
6th Grade: Michalah Beck- “She always has a smile on her face. She is a model
student who goes above and beyond in the classroom.”
7th Grade: Allie Blevins– “Allie is well behaved, she completed her work in a
timely manner and helps other students.”
8th Grade: John Parker- “John is always willing to help other classmates. He always has a smile on his face and is polite to everyone.”
Congratulations to our Students of the Month for October. We look forward to
recognizing the Students of the Month for November at our next school board
meeting.
Above-Michalah Beck, John
Parker, Jailin Washington, and
Allie Blevins
The Counseling Corner
During the month of October the EIS students and faculty rallied together
to promote a positive, bully free school environment. On October 5th, we
celebrated Blue Shirt Day, World Day of Bullying Prevention. During each
lunch block, students were also invited to sign a blue shirt banner and take
a pledge to help create a bully free school. As the month progressed, I visited each 5th and 6th grade Compass Learning class and held class meetings
discussing bullying. Specific topics included: the four types of bullying,
how to report it and the impact of negative words. On a positive note,
each class ended the meeting by creating a web of compliments (out of
yarn) or playing a ball toss game while giving compliments and kind words
to each other. I wanted the students to not only understand the impact of
name calling and teasing; but also understand how positive words create a
stress free environment that promotes learning and interaction.
For more information on bullying please visit: www.stompoutbullying.org.
I look forward to continuing our class meetings for each grade level in the
month of November. Topics for 5th and 6th grade will focus on gossiping/
rumors; while 7th and 8th will focus on Internet Safety/Social Media.
Our month ended with a fun filled spirit week!! In recognition of Red Ribbon Week (10/26-10/30) EIS and TES collaborated for Red Ribbon Spirit
Week. Below is recap of our spirit days.
Monday: Wear Red Day
Tuesday: Put a Cap on Drugs Day (Hat Day)
Wednesday: Shade Out Drugs (Sunglasses Day)
Thursday: We are a Team Against Drugs (Favorite Team Shirt Day)
Friday: ‘Orange’ You Glad You’re Drug Free (Wear Orange)
Until next time,
Ms. Nash
A Spotlight on Our New Teachers!
Each month in our newsletter we will spend time introducing our families to the new teachers we have at EIS.
To accomplish this goal, some of our student authors will compose
articles for you to read as a way to get better acquainted with
our new faculty members. These student authors will spend time
interviewing our new teachers, then they will compose an article
with information highlighting these faculty members. We hope
you enjoy their compositions!
Mrs. Laura Shoup:
Hello, we are Jaclyn Suggs, Endia Ross, and Haylee Ferrell. We
would like to introduce you to a new teacher here at EIS this year,
and her name is Mrs. Shoup. She is a 6th grade English teacher.
Her birthday is January 11th. She grew up in Indiana. She used to
teach at several schools like Hidenwood Elementary School and
Botourt Elementary School. She decided to teach while she was
working at a daycare center. She went to college at State University in New York and graduated from Christopher Newport University. Her favorite hobby is to sew. She feels that Tappahannock is a
small community that is sweet and caring. She is married to her
husband and has a son that is 8 years old. Thank you for your time.
Mr. Joshua Nicholson:
Mr. Nicholson is a new 7th and 8th grade Math teacher. He has
been wanting to teach since 4th grade. He likes Math and he thinks
it’s the best subject ever. He went to Virginia Tech. He didn’t play
sports when he was younger because he isn’t very coordinated. He
grew up in Virginia and Delaware. He has tutored at all three
schools in Essex County. Mr. Nicholson said, “I helped out in Math
classes last year and really enjoyed helping.” He likes to watch
movies, and his birthday is September
25th. We are excited to have Mr. Nicholson at EIS. By: Ryland Conway,
Cristian Weeden, and Michalah Beck.