M i d d l e S c h o o l C o n n e c t i o n s

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May, 2016 Ripon Area School District www.ripon.k12.wi.us

Ripon Area School District Bylaws & Policies

3122 – NONDISCRIMINATION AND EQUAL OPPORTUNITY

The Ripon Area School District does not discriminate on the basis of sex, color, national origin, ancestry, creed, pregnancy, marital status, genetic information, sexual

orientation, or physical, mental, emotional, or learning disability or handicap or any other characteristic protected by law.

Upcoming Events!

Catalyst Project Showcase May 5th

5:00-7:00pm

Spring Band Concert May 10th 7:00pm

Spring Choir Concert May 26th 7:00pm

8th Grade Class Night June 2nd

3:05-4:00pm

Plan Now for an Amazing Summer!

Summer school booklets went home with students on April

22nd. Below are a few of the classes that will be offered.

Most classes run during the morning for the five weeks of

summer school, June 13th – July 15th.

Asia/African Studies Health

Art Band

Band Lessons Yoga

Math Reading

Basketball Volleyball

Speed & Agility Strength & Fitness

So much to do; so little time! Are you trying to balance

taking a summer school course while also trying to squeeze

in a family vacation or enrichment camp?

The Board of Education approved a summer school policy

that offers you more flexibility: "Students may have up to

but not more than two (2) days of excused absence from a

course, except for special situations in which a student has

submitted to his/her principal by June 1 a request for a pre-

planned absence of no more than five (5) days for

activities such as family vacations and/or enrichment

camps." This applies to courses being taken for credit, or if

the course is required to fulfill grade promotion

requirements.

Summer school registration is due

on or before May 6th!

Summer School Hours

8:00am – 12:10pm

No school on July 4th

Summer Office Hours

Monday – Friday

7:30am – 12:30pm*

*subject to change

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Dear Students, Parents and Staff,

This will be the last newsletter of the 2015-2016 school year.

It really does not seem that long ago that parents and

students came for Open House, and now we have about

5 weeks of school left.

There will be homework, tests and quizzes during these last

5 weeks so please keep checking Infinite Campus to see

that your child is turning in their assignments.

Principal’s Page

Now that the weather is getting warmer, please remind your child that they still

need to follow our dress code, which can be found on our website and also in

the student planner.

In Mid-June, we will be sending home 4th Term Report Cards in the mail. As you

start looking at the 2016-2017 school year, mark your calendars for July 26th

from 7:00 AM to 6:00 PM will be the only day of registration and will be held in

the high school commons. We will be contacting parents with registration

information over the summer, but I wanted to include the dates for those who

like to plan ahead. Open House dates and times still have not been

determined, but we will include that information with the registration info.

It has been a great year at RMS/Catalyst and it has been a pleasure working

with your children. Thank you parents for your support throughout the entire

school year. Have a great summer! See you in August as we move into our new

building!

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.

Mr. Rick Bunge

Principal

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Our School News

7th Grade Measure, cut, tape! The 7th graders in Catalyst are busy at work

constructing 3D models of aquariums. Every day, the students

have a science seminar where they are exploring the driving

question, "What is life?" As a part of this project, students needed

to design an aquarium and research organisms that could

survive in their tanks. They created proposals that needed

approval, and now they are building their masterpiece. Come

check out their final products at our next Project Showcase

Night, May 5!

The Ride of a Lifetime Real-world experiences are an important part of a PBL

(project-based learning) experience. Catalyst 6th-graders

are beginning their coaster project - "The Ride of a Lifetime".

The science and planning of wooden coasters explained by

a roller coaster engineer was the perfect connection for our

challenge. Catalyst students Skyped with engineer Adam

House from Great Coasters International. Prior to the Skype,

students prepared questions after researching the

website. The presentation definitely was the perfect

information for students to begin planning and designing

their coasters. It was interesting to find out how data

collection played a key role in the design process. We

appreciate the experts in the field that will take the time to

connect and encourage students in their learning

experiences.

7th Grade What does our community need to

be even better? That's the

question that RMS 7th graders are

researching and developing a

business plan to answer. Sports

complex, updated baseball

diamonds, middle school hangout,

cleaning up South Woods, and

creating a school supply store are

a few of the projects being

created. Students are researching

the effects on the community,

creating budgets, writing articles,

and developing print and TV

commercials. Who knows, maybe

you'll enjoy one of these great

ideas soon in Ripon!

8th Grade Recently, eighth grade Catalyst

students dove into the world of

Project Lead the Way to answer

the question, “What is a medical

detective?” Learning about vital

signs, such as temperature, heart

rate, and blood pressure, has

been the first step in answering this

question. Throughout the

remained of the fourth quarter,

students will continue to work

towards answering this question by

learning about the senses, the

functions and structures of the

brain, diagnosing a mystery illness,

autopsies, and ultimately solving a

murder mystery using all of the

information they will learn during

the duration of the project.

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8th Grade Social

June 2nd

3:05 – 4:00pm All current 8th grade students

Music

Dancing

Snacks

Socializing

Casual attire that follows the dress

code is a must. Watch for more

information coming home soon!

Think College Early

This year's Think College Early took place

the third week in April, with the largest

turnout we have seen in over ten years.

Over fifty students and families attended!

Ripon Middle School and Ripon College

joined forces to offer an interactive and fun

learning experience about preparing for

post-high school education. Eighth graders

and their families participated in Think

College Early evening sessions which

focused on making the most out of high

school classes, extra-curricular activities,

and what various colleges are looking for in

applicants. Participants also listened to first-

hand experiences from high school

students, college students, and even

professionals in the community. The

program culminated with a visit to Ripon

College later in the month where students

were able to sit in on a real college class,

take a tour of the residence halls, and of

course spend time in the cafeteria testing

out the college food.

German Immersion Weekend

From April 7-10, four Catalyst students were

among the ten RASD students to spend a

German Immersion weekend at Concordia

Language Villages in Bemidji, MN. For four

days, the students interacted with German

students from throughout the Midwest and,

in addition to speaking only German,

learned German dances, songs, crafts and

games. Of course, the delicious traditional

German food was highest on the list of

what the students experienced while at

camp. We are already looking forward to

next year's immersion trip, the date of

which will be announced early next fall.

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The cast and crew of the RMS Musical "Footloose"

performed for family and friends on Friday and Saturday,

April 8th & 9th. They did a fantastic job in presenting this

highly popular musical. Not only was their dialogue spot

on, but the music, choreography, sets, lighting and pit

band were first-rate!

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Footloose Fun! Not only was the cast of “Footloose” busy

learning their lines and what to do, the

members of the stage crew worked just as

hard. Thanks to the help of Mr. Lain and

Keith Cluppert from Schmitt Lumber the

students did a fabulous job turning the

stage into scenes from the 80’s!

Spring Choir Concert

Our Spring Choir Concert will be held

on Thursday, May 26 at the High School

Auditorium. We will be presenting music from

Disney Animated Movies. Songs from Aladdin,

The Little Mermaid, Pocahontas, The Lion King,

Tarzan, Lilo and Stitch, and Frozen will be

featured in the hour long performance. Students

can wear the choir dress clothes as they have in

the other concerts or could dress up as a Disney

character. This concert will begin at 7:00 pm and

will last about one hour. Make sure you mark it

on your calendars! This is

a REQUIRED performance for all 6th, 7th and 8th

grade choir students.

Choir Fundraiser

The choir students will be selling discount cards

for $20. The funds raised for this sale will be used

to rent buses for choir field trips and

performances. There are 15 local discounts

available on this card. One only needs to show

the card each time they visit the business to

receive the discount. Discounts can be used

daily for the whole year.

Great America Field Trip

The 7th and 8th grade choir students will be

performing at Six Flags Great America on

Thursday, June 2. Students will leave the RMS

school at 7:40 and return around 10:00 that

night. Students will be performing at the opening

ceremony, they will watch and critique musicals

on the way down to the park and back home

again. Students will also watch live

performances at the park and have the

possibility to participate in the karaoke

performances provided during the day. Parent

chaperones will be needed. The cost of the trip

will be around $50. We will have fundraising

opportunities to pay for this trip. Watch for more

information coming home soon!

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Academic Bowl

The Middle School Academic Bowl team

received 2nd place in the tournament

hosted by Ripon Middle School. It is the

culminating event after a month of

practice. Robyn Badtke is the academic

team coach. Participating teams

included Berlin, Winneconne, Waupaca,

Omro and Ripon. Way to go RMS!

ELL Family Night

The final EL Multicultural Community

Connection night was held on Wednesday,

April 20th at Murray Park. It was an amazing

turnout! There were approximately 40 families

and over 100 people in attendance!

Graduating seniors were honored and ALL

students were celebrated for another

successful school year. Families enjoyed a

light dinner, cake, and fun with basket raffles

and activities like bouncy castles, basketball,

and soccer.

Ripon Math Meet

Ripon Middle School hosted a multi-team

math meet for 5th through 8th graders on

Tuesday, April 26th. They participated in 3

rounds - 30 questions without a

calculator, 12 questions with a calculator,

and 6 questions to answer as a team.

Ripon students earned 11 out of the 24

individual awards for the night!! Ripon

also took 1st place for the 5/6th grade

teams and 1st place for the 7th/8th

grade teams! Way to go Ripon

mathletes!

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Tour of Excellence

As an enrichment activity, all the 8th grade

students took a field trip to three colleges

on Friday, April 15th. They visited three

campuses: Moraine Park Technical

College, Marian University, and the

University of Wisconsin Fond du Lac. Our

hope is to provide the students with an

opportunity to see what three different

types of colleges campuses look like and

what is offered at each one with hands on

activities. In addition, we would like to

send out a big “thank you” to the BRAVE

Community Learning Center for provided

transportation once again for the event.

SSAAVVEE TTHHEE DDAATTEE

Middle School Registration

July 26

7:00am – 6:00pm

RHS Commons

Middle School Open House

(tentatively planned – may change

due to construction)

August 24

4:30pm – 6:00pm

WEB Leader Training

August 26

6th Grade Orientation

August 29

1st Day of School

September 1

Classes begin at 7:50am

Update Your Emergency Contact

Information

Is your information in the Middle School office

and on Infinite Campus current? In the event of

a health issue or emergency, could the Middle

School contact you?

We find that cell phone numbers often change.

Secondary contact numbers and/or the correct

individual to contact may change during the

school year.

This information will also be used for the

registration packets that will be mailed out this

summer. To guarantee you receive the mailing,

please verify your information is correct.

Please be sure to notify the office regarding any

change in contact information affecting your

student.