Dr. Laurie Emery Mr. Michael Fester Principal Assistant Principal

April 2017

Contents

Upcoming Events 1 School Information 2

8th Grade Promotion Info 2

Attendance Policies 3

Pat on Back Slip 3

Volunteer News 4

Laborin THANK YOU 4

AzMERIT Assembly Info 5

AzMERIT Info 6 & 7

Upcoming Events – SAVE THE DATE

April 5th AzMERIT Awards Assemblies (see enclosed info) Dessert Theatre @ 6 pm in MPR 6th Site Council Meeting @ 4:15 pm 10th 8th Grade AzMERIT Writing 11th 7th Grade AzMERIT Writing 12th 6th Grade AzMERIT Writing 13th 8th Grade Science AIMS 14th NO SCHOOL – Good Friday 17th & 18th 7th Grade AzMERIT Reading & Math 19th & 20th 8th Grade AzMERIT Reading & Math 21st Q4 Progress Notes – Please check PS 24th – 28th DC Trip 24th & 25th 6th Grade AzMERIT Reading & Math

May 2nd 8th Grade Field Trip 4th Q3 Academic Awards 5th End-of-Year Dance from 3 – 4:15 23rd 8th Grade Celebration 24th 8th Grade Promotion Practice 25th Last Day of School

Half Day – Dismissal at 12:15 pm 8th Grade Promotion

Q4 Report Cards Mailed Home

School Resumes at OVMS on July 17th Have a good summer!

Reminders to Parents • Please call the office 1 hour prior to picking up your child early. • Main Number 879-2400 • Attendance phone number is

879-2403 • School Hours 8:00-2:55 • Half Days Dismiss at 12:15 • Website: ovms.vail.k12.az.us

WATER BOTTLES DONATIONS NEEDED

For the 8th grade Celebrations this year, we will need a lot of water bottles. If you are able to help out with some donations, please send or

bring in water bottles to the front office. Thank you!

OVMS Newsletter School Information Page 2 of 8

S.A.T. Corner Workingtogethertopromotestudentachievement!

Since our return from Spring Break, students have been preparing for the AzMERIT test which will occur in April (please see attached for grade level schedules). Please help ensure your child’s success by making sure s/he has

eaten a healthy breakfast and had a good night’s rest. Attendance is very important. Unless there is an emergency or your child is sick, please make sure your child is at school on time.

There are many opportunities in place at O.V.M.S. to help students be successful. Please contact your child’s teacher if you want more information about how to get your child involved in one of these opportunities: • Weekly Reteach – Teachers identitfy students for extra practice and an opportunity

to retest on specific objectives. • Tutoring – Most grade levels offer tutoring before or after school in most subjects. • Saturday School – Saturday school is offered on Saturdays from 8:30 – 11:30.

Class sizes are small and tutoring is provided. Students can use this time to practice and retest or work on missing work.

If you have any questions, please contact: Iris Bass, Student Achievement Teacher, at 879-2409 or bassi@vailschooldistrict.org

Volunteer Info

OVMS Newsletter Attendance Policy Info & Pat on the back Slips Page 3 of 8

Attendance Policies & Procedures

Please review the attendance policies in your student’s agenda. When a student is going to be tardy or absent, a parent must call in their student to our attendance line before 8:30 and state the reason for the absence (per district policy). If a reason is not given, the tardy or absence will be unexcused. Five or more unexcused absences will generate a truancy letter. Note: Students are not automatically excused when called into the attendance office. It will depend on the reason for absence. School policy also states that on the third day of absence, due to student being sick, a doctor’s note is required to excuse further absences. The number to call is 879-2403. You may also email the attendance clerk as well (see email address below). All out of town absences are unexcused unless given prior approval by our principal, Dr. Emery. You may email her at emeryl@vailschooldistrict.org and cc the Attendance Clerk, Mrs. Roten at rotenh@vailschooldistrict.org . Please submit your request at least one week prior, unless it is an emergency. While we understand families have prescheduled vacations and appointments, please try to schedule any future obligations or appointments before/after the school day or during school breaks. At OVMS we feel strongly about the success of our students. Therefore, daily attendance is important, so that all instruction is received by each student every day. As parents, you can help us do that by making sure your son/daughter is ready and on time.

We appreciate your cooperation and look forward to assisting you in any way we can!

“Pat on the Back”

Date: ________________________________________________ Time: _________________________________________ To: _________________________________________________________________________________________________ Reason: _____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ From: _______________________________________________________________________________________________

“Pat on the Back” The P.B.I.S. Team would like to extend the opportunity for parents and students to give a staff member a

“Pat on the Back” in appreciation for something they have done. To give a “Pat on the Back” simply fill out the form below and place in the decorated box located in the front office. This is a quick and easy

way to say thank you to a member of the Old Vail staff that has in some way made your day.

Volunteer News Page 4 of 8 OVMS Newsletter

Mrs. Laborin’s Mini-Golf Course Enrich class would like to thank Karina Merrick and Granite Construction for their generous donation of eight tons of base material for the golf course and Luke

at Arizona Trucking for donating the delivery. We would also like to thank Home Depot for their donation of $100.00, Kaity at CABCO for one hundred fifty cement toppers, and Pete at Tortolita Landscaping for donating the artificial turf.

Thanks to these amazing partners in our community, we are that much closer to completing our outdoor classroom!

Page 5 of 8 AzMERIT Awards Assembly Info OVMS Newsletter

. Page 6 of 8 AzMERIT Info OVMS Newsletter

MORE INFORMATION ON OTHER SIDE

Schedule - Mark Your Calendars Monday, April 10th 8th Grade Writing Tuesday, April 11th 7th Grade Writing Wednesday, April 12th 6th Grade Writing Monday, April 17th 7th Grade Reading & Math/Algebra Part 1 Tuesday, April 18th 7th Grade Reading & Math/Algebra Part 2 Wednesday, April 19th 8th Grade Reading & Math/Algebra/Geometry Part 1 Thursday, April 20th 8th Grade Reading & Math/Algebra/Geometry Part 2 Monday, April 24th 6th Grade Reading & Math Part 1 Tuesday, April 25th 6th Grade Reading & Math Part 2

Testing will occur from 8:15-11:30 daily. Please help ensure your child’s success by making sure s/he has eaten a healthy breakfast and had a good night’s rest. Attendance is very important. Unless there is an emergency or your child is sick,

please make sure your child is at school on time.

AzMERIT Info

COMPUTER-BASED ASSESSMENT OVMS students will take the AzMERIT in April. This will be the

third year that students will take the AzMERIT, and the test will be computer-based. We will continue to value pencil-and-paper

solving while recognizing the value of using the tools and technology available to us.

Please take a few minutes to read through the information on this two-sided flyer.

STUDENTS NEED TO BRING THEIR OWN EARBUDS OR HEADPHONES

Students will need a personal set of earbuds (such as iPod earbuds) or headphones to take the AzMERIT. Some

sections include audio, and students will need to listen to test instructions and can watch tutorial videos. Please help by reminding students to bring their own set from home

during testing. The school will have some headphones for students to borrow who are unable to bring their own.

OVMS Newsletter Page 7 of 8 AzMERIT Info

MORE INFORMATION ON OTHER SIDE

AzMERIT Info

TECHNOLOGY TOOLS AVAILABLE TO STUDENTSON COMPUTER BASED AzMERIT

✴ Writing Guide & Dictionary/Thesaurus Tool: Students have access to the writing guide tool and the dictionary/thesaurus tool during writing test.

✴ Note Pad: Students can type notes in a separate area on the test to help them analyze questions. ✴ Calculator: Students have access to the calculator tool when calculator use is permitted. ✴ Scratch Paper: Schools will provide scratch paper (plain, lined, or graph) to students for the writing and the math tests. ✴ Expand/Collapse Passage: Expand a passage for easier readability. Expanded passages can also be collapsed. ✴ Zoom In/Zoom Out: Enlarge the font and images in the test. Undo zoom in and return the font and images in the test to

original size. ✴ Highlighter: Highlight text in a passage or item. ✴ Line Reader: Allows student to track the line he or she is reading. ✴ Mark (Flag) for Review: Mark an item for review so that it can be easily found later. ✴ Pause/Start: Allows the session to be paused at any time and restarted and taken over a one day period. For test security

purposes, visibility on past items is not allowed when paused longer than 20 minutes. ✴ Review Test: Allows student to review the test before ending it. ✴ Strikethrough: Cross out answer options for multiple-choice and multi-select items. ✴ Text-to-Speech Instructions: Listen to test instructions. ✴ Tutorial: View a short video about each item type and how to respond.

PRACTICE & PREPARATION = SUCCESS

To help prepare for success on the computer-based AzMERIT, students are:

★Receiving Focused Classroom Instruction On Arizona College & Career Ready Standards

★Completing Benchmarks Online★Improving Keyboarding & Technology Skills in Technology Class★Completing Practice AzMERIT test

For questions, please contact our Principal, Dr. Laurie Emery at 879-2404 or

emeryl@vailschooldistrict.org OR

Student Achievement Teacher, Iris Bass at 879-2409 or

bassi@vailschooldistrict.org

NOT ALL MULTIPLE CHOICE AzMERIT is not ALL multiple choice answers. Here are some types of questions students may

MATH Multiple Choice Short Answer Drag-and-drop Coordinate Plane Equation Interactive

ELA - Writing & Reading Writing From Sources Two Part Questions Multiple Choice Multiple Select Hot Text Short Answer

FOR MORE INFORMATIONFor more information, please visit the AzMERIT

Student and Families ADE webpage at:http://azmeritportal.org/students-and-families/

Old Vail Middle School 13299 E. Colossal Cave Road Vail, AZ 85641

Old Vail Middle School 13299 E. Colossal

Cave Road Vail, AZ 85641

Phone: (520) 879-2400

Attendance: (520) 879-2403

We’re on the Web! http://ovms.vail.k12.az.us

Embrace the Past…Envision the

Future.