Dear PVMS Families,
Happy New Year! I hope that 2024 brings you happiness and good health. We have had an amazing start to our school year and are excited to continue this success in 2024. Your children have been so engaged, focused, curious, and hard working. Our International Baccalaureate Middle Years Program is well underway with our units written and aspirations to implement them with our students in 2024.
Our winter band and chorus concerts were extremely successful. Thank you to our music department and all of the preparation it took to get the entire band and chorus groups together to perform. It’s always nice to see our talented young performers on stage playing and singing their hearts out. A fan favorite was our 7th grade band’s performance of “A Christmas Tale, Beware of the Krampus” by Randall D. Standridge that was narrated by our high school senior, Jonah Shields. Thank you to those that attended as it’s always a very busy time of year but a nice way to close out 2023.
Our modified winter sports are in full swing. Please note that should a student spectator want to attend a game or match, they must have adult supervision. Many events start after 4:00PM so students must go home and come back to the event.
Middle school Encore 3 for our 5th and 6th graders will begin on January 2nd. Please check PowerSchool to see where your child will be going for the next 7 weeks.
School will be closed on January 15th in recognition of Martin Luther King Jr. day. This is a nice time to discuss the sacrifice that Martin Luther King Jr. made regarding equality and a vision of hope for all humanity.
No Name Calling Week will take place January 16th – 19th. The middle school years are a time where we work hard to remind students of making good choices and to be thoughtful of the words that they use. This week is a nice reminder as our student support team works very hard in creating activities for students. Ms. Ortiz has been busy visiting classes, going over scenarios and speaking to students about how to appropriately interact with one another. Please expect more communication regarding the events taking place over the course of this week.
The end of our second quarter is quickly approaching and will be Friday, January 26th. Please review PowerSchool and partner with us to contact teachers should your child have difficulty in a subject area. There are opportunities such as our H.W. Booster Lab to help support students in getting them back on track academically, should they fall behind.
Quarter 3 and the second semester of the school year begins Monday, January 29th. This is a great time to clean out binders and keep all items in safe storage until the end of the year.
During the week of January 29th, our students will be taking their winter iReady Benchmark Assessments for math and reading. Our 7th and 8th grade students have been engaged in iReady instruction since the beginning of the school year in order to help give them more support in addressing areas for growth. We are hopeful that this will have a positive impact on their results. Please share with your children the importance of these assessments as we use them as part of a multiple measure in placement and to inform instruction.
Please mark your calendar to check PowerSchool on Friday, February 2nd for Quarter 2 Report Card Grades and Comments. Please be sure to reach out to teachers regarding any academic, behavioral, or social concerns. You will also receive paper copies of the Quarter 2 report cards in the mail so please be on the lookout for these and let us know if you have any questions.
The 2024 school year will be a time where we will continue to foster lifelong learners. Our teachers have been working hard at weaving our 10 IB MYP Learner Profile Attributes into daily instruction and will continue to do so. Student work and lessons have been focused on what it means to be:
- Inquirers
- Knowledgeable
- Thinkers
- Communicators
- Principled
- Open-minded
- Caring
- Risk-takers
- Balanced
- Reflective
These attributes encompass the whole child. It is our goal to continue conversations and learning that will pave the way for our future.
With regard to students’ social and emotional wellbeing, please join us in teaching that words matter and we should all be thoughtful of the impact that they have on others. We all work together to help guide our children and to let them know that they are supported and cared for and that this is a time for growth and reflection. This is our mission as educators!
May this year be one full of good health, happiness, opportunities and good choices!
Sincerely,
Travis W. McCarty
Principal