Post on 28-Oct-2019
The Viewpoint November 2016
Skyview Middle School 6350 Windom Peak Blvd., Colorado Springs, CO 80923
Telephone: 495-5566 District Web Site: www.d49.org
Attendance Line: 495-5560 FAX: 495-5569
Parents and Community members,
If you are a frequent reader of these newsletter reports, you may have noticed that I make an attempt
to rotate the topics covered in order to give parents a full view of the activities and initiatives
happening here at school. Three of the things that have been most important to me is the
opportunity to fully inform parents about the aspects of their child’s education that are most critical,
to be a good listener when parents have feedback or concerns, and to problem solve with parents
taking action to make constant improvements. This process of continually reflecting on the
decisions and actions we take to impact the education of your children has been both enlightening
and humbling. We celebrate when we seem to get it right and we dig in to correct things when we
do not. I believe in holding staff, students and myself accountable to our primary mission here at
school; to provide the best place for our students to learn and grow as individuals and young people
becoming positive members of our community.
To formalize these efforts, we have been involved in a process of receiving our Level I
certification to become a High Reliability School. This is a process of creating systems that drive
improvement and consistently evaluating those systems for effectiveness. Our yearlong efforts will
come to a peak here on November 14th when the examiner from Marzano HRS Schools will be in
our building to evaluate our processes. We are looking forward to showcasing our school. I am
personally very excited to show him the great students and staff that make up our school! Once we
receive our Level I certification (focusing on safe and collaborative culture), we will move on to the
next level (focusing on effective teachers in every classroom). Please keep an eye out on our
webpage and new Twitter feed (see below) for updates and progress on this process.
Now to some late fall reminders:
As the weather becomes colder, please check that your child is properly dressed for the outside
temperatures. We allow indoor line up when the temperature is 20 degrees or below. We will
also consider wind chill and moisture when making this decision. Additionally, because of the
volume of students that must eat lunch on a daily basis, we rely on a brief (10-15 minute) out-
door time at each lunch. Students are reminded to bring their jackets with them to lunch for
those cold days when a jacket is necessary.
Homework Help is scheduled for Tuesdays and Thursdays for any student wishing to stay after
school for an hour and get support from a teacher. Students need to sign in and remain the entire
hour. Any misbehavior removes the opportunity from the student.
Saturday School – when you get a call offering Saturday School as a missing
work intervention, I highly suggest you take advantage of this offer as much
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as you can, especially if you have a student struggling to complete homework. Saturday school
operates on an invitation only basis and runs from 9am to 11am on selected Saturdays.
Finally, I would like to end by celebrating two of our teachers, Mr. Brian Lewis and Ms. Heather Wall.
Mr. Lewis just recently received his Career and Tech. Ed. License and has been newly brought into
our CTE offerings. Having CTE certified teachers allows us to take advantage of state and district
activities and financed intended to promote 21st century, STEM learning for our students.
Ms. Wall and the BEST Robotics team took first place for their Engineering Notebook in the recent
Rocky Mountain BEST robotics competition. Great job to the students on the BEST team for their
outstanding dedication and efforts to share their knowledge! A special kudos to Ms. Wall who gave
up about a week of her fall break to lead students through this competition.
Thank you to all parents and guardians for supporting your children in their middle school years. It is
important that you maintain a presence and continue to support your student in these formative years.
Stay warm as this fall turns into winter! As always, I ask that if you ever have questions or concerns,
please do not hesitate to come in and speak with an administrator or counselor.
Respectfully,
Cathy Tinucci, Principal
Skyview Middle School
+ Skyview is on Twitter!
Follow us for regular updates and
important information.
@SkyviewEagles
11/1 Spirit Week - Blackout Day
Harvest of Love Food Drive Kickoff
6th Boys Basketball vs. TCA @ Skyview
Student-Teacher Kickball Game—3:45 PM
PTSA Meeting—5:30 PM
11/2 Spirit Week - Crazy Hair
6th Boys Basketball @ Elizabeth—3:45
7/8th Boys Basketball vs. Elizabeth @ Skyview
11/3 Spirit Week - Color War
6th Boys Basketball vs. Falcon @ Skyview
7/8th Boys Basketball @ Falcon
11/4 Spirit Week - Spirit Wear
11/5 Veteran’s Day Parade (8th Grade Honor Choir) - 9:00 AM
11/8 6th Boys Basketball vs. Carson @ Skyview
7/8th Boys Basketball @ Carson—3:45
11/9 6th Boys Basketball @ Banning Lewis—4:00
11/10 7/8th Boys Basketball vs. TCA @ Skyview
11/11 Veteran’s Day Concert (8th Honor Choir) - 8:00 AM
Skate City—6:00 PM
11/14 6th Boys Basketball vs. Fremont @ Skyview
7/8th Boys Basketball @ Fremont—4:00 PM
11/16 7/8th Boys Basketball vs. Horizon @ Skyview
11/17 6th Boys Basketball vs. CMJH @ Skyview
7/8th Boys Basketball @ CMJH
SAC Meeting - 5:30
11/18 Food Drive Ends
11/21-25 Thanksgiving Break
11/28 6th Boys Basketball@ Harrison
7/8th Boys Basketball vs. Harrison @ SMS
11/30 8th Boys Basketball Tournament (TBA)
Attention Parents/Guardians,
The yearbook staff has devoted a page to celebrate students first day of
school. We are in need of your child's first day of school pictures from
any grade level. We prefer that the picture include some sort of message
about the grade level that your child was starting that year. Please see
the sample picture below. This is open to all grade level students at
Skyview. You can email any pictures you would
like to be included in the yearbook to Shanna
O'Meara at someara@d49.org. Please be sure to
include your student's name and grade level in the
email. The cutoff for picture submissions
is December 1st.
Thanks for your support!
-Skyview's Yearbook Staff
Friday, November 11th
6:00—10:00 PM
Discount coupons will be available in the office!
+ Skyview is on Twitter!
Follow us for regular updates and important information.
@SkyviewEagles
December 5th & 6th
Details to be announced!
You must have a current physical on file at Skyview in
order to try out!!
Please see Ms. Anderson or Mr. Moore
with any questions.
Harvest of Love Food Drive November 1st-18th
Please bring money or nonperishable food and turn it into
your first period teacher. ($1 counts as 10 lbs. of food.)
Thank you!!
Students have received these forms and should return them as soon as possible.
Impact Aid FAQs
Most people do not realize that the Impact Aid is the second oldest federal education program in our country. It was originally passed in 1950 under President Truman’s administration. The program was created to assist school districts states where there is federally owned property in making up the lost local tax base not received due to federal property situated nearby or within school district boundaries. Do all parents fill out these forms? Yes! We need all parents to let us know whether they either live or work on federal property. Often, parents may not be in the military but may work on federal property, such as at the federal prison in Florence, Colorado, at a federally supported housing project, at a national park or national forest, at a VA hospital or on Indian Trust or Treaty lands. Why do we fill out the forms that identify my family as a federally connected or military family for the school district? States that have a lot of federal property are unable to generate tax revenue off federal property to help fund education. People who live on federal property do not pay local property taxes. Federal property occupies a lot of acreage in Colorado. Federal government entities occupy that property and do not pay local taxes, therefore there is also a reduction in the tax base because there is a reduction in businesses that pay taxes. School districts also lose potential revenue from specific ownership taxes if a military family licenses its car in their home state rather than Colorado. Impact Aid is a way to recover some of the lost local tax revenue. What is the difference between military impact aid and ‘federally connected’? The term “military impact aid” stems from the original program established in 1950 under President Truman’s administration. Using that term is often misleading, though, as some people misinterpret who can qualify as “federally connected” if they believe that only military families qualify. How much money does the district receive by parents completing the forms? The funding is weighted and the amount depends on whether the parent is active duty or reserves or whether they are civilians (i.e. contract employees, civil service, or civilians) employed on federal property. If you take the total dollars received and divide that by the number of students who were reported as “federally connected‟, you receive an overall average per pupil Impact Aid revenue. What does the money go towards? Once the money is received by the district, the funds are deposited into the general fund. The general fund covers all operating costs such as classroom supplies, salaries and benefits, utilities, curriculum and technology.
8th
Grade Knowledge Bowl
DO YOU
enjoy learning about all kinds of topics?
enjoy talking about and sharing this information with others?
enjoy learning from others on topics you have not yet learned about?
enjoy competing against others on a team?
If you answered yes to any of the questions above then come join the 8th grade
Knowledge Bowl Club.
We will meet every Wednesday from 3 to 4 pm, starting after Fall Break, in
Mrs. Zander’s classroom, room 112.
In February we will go and compete against other schools to represent
Skyview Middle.
Stop by Mrs. Zander’s room and sign up during the week after break.
Archery Intramurals
Date: November 29th - December 15th
Where: Skyview Middle School Little Gym
Time: 7:00am-7:30am (Tuesday, Wednesday
and Thursday)
Please pick up a form outside the gym if you
interested or see Mr. Marino or Mr. Moore if
you have any questions.
(School Accountability Committee)
Thursday, November 17th
5:30—6:30 PM in the library
J A P A N 2017
AUSTRALIA/NEW ZEALAND/HAWAII 2018
Do you like to travel? Do you like to see new places and meet
interesting people? Join us on tour through Japan in June of 2017
and / or Australia, New Zealand, and Hawaii in June of 2018.
We will travel with EF Educational Tours. EF Tours specializes in global student
travel and has been in business for over 50 years. We have traveled with EF Tours
since 2011. Past trips have taken Skyview students, staff, and parents to Ireland,
Wales, Scotland, England, France, Spain, Greece, Italy, and China.
Some of the highlights and destinations of our 2017 Japan trip include the cities of
Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, Kamakura, Hiroshima, travel by bullet train, visiting numer-
ous temples (including the Golden Pavilion in Kyoto), samurai castles, and tours of
the atomic bombing site in Hiroshima and sightseeing around Mt. Fuji.
Our 2018 Australia / NZ / Hawaii tour will include visits to Auckland and Rotorua in
New Zealand, Sydney and Cairns in Australia, and Honolulu in Hawaii. Some
memorable events will include a tour of the Sydney Opera House and Sydney Har-
bor, snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef, and a visit to Pearl Harbor and a pineapple
plantation in Hawaii.
Both tours promise to be packed with a lifetime of memories. Please join us! For
more information, contact Gary Heaston at gheaston@d49.org or 495-5566 ext.
4226.
Our School Accountability Committee (SAC) has made an adjustment
to the meeting times in order to make it more convenient for parents/
guardians to attend. Everyone is welcome!!
Thursday, November 17th—5:30 PM
Thursday, December 15—5:30 PM
Thursday, January 19th—5:30 PM
CHARACTER CORNER
Have you ever heard the old adage, “Kindness is contagious. Pass it on”? If so, you might want to think about it, and
try to understand what it means. How many times have you smiled at a stranger only to have that person smile
back? How many times have you said, “Thank you” to someone, and heard that person say, “You’re wel-
come.” Have you held the door for someone, stopped to pick up books that someone dropped, or offered someone a
pencil in class? These are what we call “common courtesies”. Unfortunately, they aren’t as common as they once
were in society. We are so busy, wrapped up in ourselves, our own thoughts, our own worries, our own “stuff”, that
we have forgotten that there are others around us that have similar thoughts, worries and “stuff”.
Have you ever said something mean to someone in the hall at school? Actually pushed a student to get through a
group of students who were crowded talking in the hall? Giggled when someone gave the wrong answer? Snickered
when “that kid” was in trouble again? What if we stopped and thought about them from a different point of
view? What if we put ourselves in THEIR shoes?
Stop for a second and reconsider the situation. What if YOU were that person of whom someone said something
mean? What if YOU were the student that was pushed, and perhaps you dropped your pencil, homework, or brand
new phone. What if YOU gave the wrong answer and everyone giggled? What if YOU were that kid who got in
trouble again, because you had trouble with the “stop and think” thing that everyone adult tells you to work
on? Take a moment to consider, “How would I feel if I were that person?” Would you like to be treated the way you
treat others?
Kindness is contagious. Truly it is! Remember that stranger who smiled back at you; the person who said, “Thank
you” when you opened the door for them; or that relieved look on the face of a student you stopped to help. These
small acts of kindness are contagious, and it can all begin with one student; it can start with YOU! Not everyone will
return the kind gesture, but it will put a memory in their mind that when they were in a crabby mood, someone was
still kind to them.
The next time you want to say something mean, stop and ask if you would want someone to say that to you. If not,
say something kind instead, or say nothing at all. Stop to hold a door for someone without being asked. Remember
to say, “Please and Thank You”. Smile at someone new and see if they smile back.
These small, random acts of kindness can spread across your classroom, your hallways, your lunchroom, your grade
level, your school, and little by little they can change the world.... Yes, it might be old fashioned, but it CAN become
a new fad! It takes only ONE to get that ball rolling....
Kindness really is contagious!!!! Try it and then pass it on!!!
40 Simple Ways to Practice Gratitude BY CIARA CONLON
Gratitude is such a powerful emotion, one that can make your life better in so many ways. It’s quite difficult to feel
depressed or sorry for yourself when you are feeling gratitude. In a study carried out by Emmons & McCullough in
2003, there were a multitude of benefits from keeping a gratitude journal, a simple notebook where you write down
daily what you are grateful for. The study showed that the people who kept a journal exercised more regularly, re-
ported fewer physical symptoms, felt better about their lives as a whole, and were more optimistic. It also showed
that people who kept the journal were more likely to make progress towards their goals. Overall, there was a greater
sense of feeling connected to others. A more optimistic view towards life and better sleep quality, relative to a con-
trol group. If you would like to experience some of these great benefits why not try some of these simple ways to
make gratitude a part of everyday.
Here are 40 simple ways to make gratitude a part of everyday.
Keep a Gratitude journal and add to it every day.
Tell someone you love them and how much you appreciate them.
Notice the beauty in nature each day.
Nurture the friendships you have, good friends don’t come along every day.
Smile more often.
Watch inspiring videos that will remind you of the good in the world.
Include an act of kindness in your life each day.
Avoid negative media and movies with destructive content.
Call your Mom more often.
Cook meals with love, think of the people you will feed.
Volunteer for organizations that help others.
Don’t gossip or speak badly about anyone.
Spend quality time with your kids.
Remember to compliment your friends and family when they look good.
Write a card to someone you haven’t seen in a while and tell them something nice.
Add to your gratitude list daily, at least one more thing each day.
When you think a negative thought, try to see the positive side in the situation.
Commit to one day a week when you won’t complain about anything.
Try to take note when people do a good job and give recognition when it’s due at work.
Reward effort, if someone does something nice for you, do something nice for them.
Meditate with your gratitude list, giving thanks for all your good fortune.
Live mindfully, not worrying about the past or future.
Thank the people who serve you in the community. The shopkeeper, the bus drivers, etc.
Say thank you for the little things loved ones do for you, things you normally take for granted.
Post quotes and images that remind you to be grateful around your house.
Call into an elderly neighbor and say thank you for their presence in your life.
Call your grandparents and tell them you love them.
Embrace challenges and turn them into opportunities to grow.
Send love to your enemies or people you dislike.
Be thankful when you learn something new.
See the growth opportunity in your mistakes.
Help your friends see the positive side to life.
When times are bad, focus on your friends who are at your side.
When time are good, notice and help others.
Make a gratitude collage, cut out pictures of all the things that you are grateful for.
Make gratitude a part of family life, share it with each other during meal time.
Practice gratitude at the same time every day to make it a habit.
Focus on your strengths.
Share the benefits of gratitude with family and friends.
Share gratitude each day by posting a tweet, Facebook post or Pinterest.
Be the change you want to see in the world by making gratitude a part of each day. If we all practice gratitude more regularly, the world
will be a better place.