Weekly Blog Post for 3-15-19

Folks,

Green Breakfast-
Our Interact club will serving a green breakfast this morning.  It will begin at 7:15 AM.  They are a great group of kids!

No Meeting on Monday-
We have no staff meeting after school on Monday, March 18th.

Performing Arts Festival-
More details are in the emails sent out to staff yesterday from the desk of Rachel, Burke, Aaron, and Beth (the emails from me but the info from the teachers), but here is a quick synopsis:

Orchestra on Tuesday, March 19th- 
The 7th orchestra will be performing for Festival at St. Joseph High School. 7th grade performs at 12:40. They leave Upton after lunch and be back by 2:00 pm. They will miss all of 5th hour and the first part of 6th hour.

8th grade orchestra performs at 1:40 pm. They will leave Upton at 12:30 pm and be back at 3:00 pm. They will miss all of 5th and 6th hours.

Band on Wednesday, March 20th- 
The 7th grade band will be leaving Upton for SJHS at 9:00 AM and returning at 11:15 AM.  They will miss 1st, 2nd, and 3rd hour (band class)

The 8th grade band will be leaving Upton for SJHS at 9:30 AM and returning at 11:35 AM.  They will miss 1st hour (band class) as well as 2nd and 3rd hour.

Choir on Thursday, March 21st-
Upton Choir students will be working with a clinician for their performing arts festival concert on Thursday, March 21st during Go Time. 

Next week Thursday and Friday-

I will be in Detroit at the MACUL conference next Thursday and Friday.  I will be leaving Wednesday afternoon after work.  I will be checking emails.

Marigold of the week-

Torrey Toth is the marigold of the week.  She spent a lot of time yesterday afternoon and evening with CPS and detectives and handled the situation really well!

Article of the week-
Here is a link to a short video clip on what what we have been talking about all year here at UMS.  I see this in many classrooms here!😁   Building a Belonging classroom link

Upcoming Dates-
March 23rd- UMS Variety Show at SJHS 
March 25th- School Improvement Meeting
March 28th-  End of the 3rd Marking Period
March 28th-  7th grade to Chicago
March 28th- 5th grade to Upton
March 29th-  We will run six 30-minute classes
March 29th- In-house Variety Show in the Blue Gym (Time not set)
March 29th- Spring Break begins at 11:04 AM

Irish quote for the week-

Have a great weekend,
Chad

Weekly Top for 3-8-19

Folks,


What a week!-
Craig and I have had a very busy office this week at UMS, and  I have to say that reflecting on the positive things most of our kids do is tough some evenings when we go home, but overall we have great kids.  We would like to thank you for your support and patience as we may not have been able to get to a situation when we were dealing with another situation.  I believe it was Matt that said to me this week that "the weeks leading up to Spring break are amongst the toughest" and I wholeheartedly agree.  We will need everyone's help, support, and patience going forward.  Please remember that we want to protect the integrity of our relationships with students, but at the same time use fair, firm, and just consequences as needed.  Phew, Friday is here!!!

Science Olympiad-
Definitely the highlight of the week is 10 years in a row of science dominance in Southwest Michigan!  Kelly and her amazing team of mentors guided these bright students on to yet another great day at LMC!  These kids truly have such a great time preparing, competing, and enjoying each others company.  It really puts a smile on your face!

Robotics today-
The front page of the Herald Palladium features a nice article on the Ed Todd Robotics facility and our Average Joe team.  Here is a link to the Herald Palladium article.  HP ARTICLE LINK

Staff meeting Monday-
An important meeting on Monday will feature our M-Step preparation items.  We will fill out a short form and talk about a few items of importance.  

Board Meeting next Monday-
We will have a board of education meeting next Monday evening at Lincoln School beginning at 6:00 PM.

A great concert-
Our 7th & 8th grade band and orchestra students really put on a wonderful concert Wednesday evening!  Our kids were smiling, enjoying the experience, and sounded really good!  This is in preparation for their upcoming in-house festival in a few weeks.  Our performing arts teachers and artists-in-residence really do a great job!

Spirit Week-
Don't forget on Monday you can wear pajamas!  Jill sent out an email yesterday talking about the themes for the other days as well.

Planetarium Community Night-
Next Wednesday, March 13th will be the next planetarium community night at Upton.  Jenna always does a nice job directing a show!  The show is called, Seeing and begins at 6:30 PM.

UPTO-
Next Thursday will be our March UPTO meeting at noon in the conference room.

5th grade visits and 7th grade in Chicago-
Our 5th graders from SJPS will be visiting here on March 28th while our 7th graders head to the Field Museum in Chicago.  Our 6th graders will be our hosts for the day.

Marigold of the week-
This week I have to give the marigold award to Craig for his work on the major investigation.  It was not a highlight of his week, but he handled the situation with grace! 





Quote of the week-

Have a great weekend,

Chad

Weekly Top for 3-1-19

Folks,


Our Marigold of the week-
Congratulations to our three choirs as they all earned division 1 ratings at festival on Monday!  Our marigold of the week is Mr. Hunter Schuur who did a great job filling in for Beth!  We wish Hunter well as he goes on to the elementary to do a pregnancy leave there.

Mr. Schuur and the Uptones sporting their Division 1 rating

Technology Meeting on Monday-

We will meet as a whole staff for the technology meeting at 2:55 PM on Monday, March 4th.  We will have some information on the Ren Baldwin Technology festival, some teacher useful PD sessions, etc.

GO Time Assembly-

We will go from our 2nd hour classes directly to the Blue Gym for the assembly during the GO time schedule next Thursday, March 7th. For more information on the the assembly please visit hopeassemblies.com 

Dates to Remember-

Please note the dates Renee sent out on PSAT,  and M-Step in her email on Wednesday.  NWEA will also take place on May 13th (Math) and May 14th (Reading).  Renee will create a handy calendar that you can refer to as well.  Many of you like to print this out and put it near your laptop.

6th grade March is Reading Month Assembly-

Our 6th graders will have the opportunity to hear author, Patricia Sutton next Friday, March 8th at 8:00 AM in the auditorium.  This should be a nice way to highlight their encouragement to read this month and into the future.

Article to reflect on-
Please take a few minutes and read this short article.  It is very related to what we believe at Upton!
Great article - 6 traits on life-changing teachers

If you get a chance-
Showtime 2019 is tonight and tomorrow night at the John & Dede Howard Audiotorium at SJHS.  It is always awesome to see the  Upton alumni perform and show off their talents!  Our variety show is almost 3 weeks away!  It is on Saturday, March 23rd!

Quote of the week-

Have a wonderful weekend,

Chad

For Joanie and Dana

Weekly Top for 2-15-19

Folks,



Board of Education Meeting next Monday, Feb.18th-
The board of education meeting will take place at Brown Elementary School at 6:00 PM next Monday, Feb. 18th.

No meeting at UMS next week-
We do not have a staff meeting next week, but the following Monday, February 25th we have an important meeting with a Berrien County nurse on diabetes, seizures, etc.  We will also update some Skyward items.

Good luck to our 2 students at Cloverleaf-
6th grader, Betsy Fiesbeck, and 7th grader, Andrew Ferrell will represent Upton Middle School at the Cloverleaf Spelling Bee at Lake Michigan College next Thursday morning.  We wish them the best of luck!

Award next Thursday, Feb. 21st-
8th grader, Grace LaFayette, was the regional winner in middle school of the Daughters of the American Revolution essay contest.  Grace will receive her award next Thursday afternoon at a ceremony at the Whitcomb.

PD Day next Friday, Feb. 22nd-
We (BLT) have a nice afternoon planned out for next Friday.  The agenda will come to you midweek.

Battle of the Books next Friday, Feb. 22nd-
Our 7th graders will battle next Friday!  Kristin and Deb have worked out the logistics and it should be a great morning!  It always is fun to watch!

Count Day-
Thanks for your attention to your attendance yesterday!  Count is much more simple compared to the days gone by.

Marigold of the week-

Our wonderful UPTO has to be my pick this week.  They decided to move forward on a piece of equipment in our art room and that purchase came at just the right time.  They are so supportive of things needed for our students and staff.  They are also planning a 5K this Spring that they hope some staff will participate in.  (More to come on that!)

Quote of the week-

Have a wonderful weekend,

Chad

Weekly Top for 2-8-19

Folks,

Welcome a legend! -
St. Joseph Public Schools was blessed with a legend, Dave Foster, in their math department for many years at St. Joseph High School and starting Monday he will join UMS for the remainder of this school year teaching 8th grade algebra 5th hour and 7th grade algebra 6th hour.  I had the pleasure of coaching JV baseball with Dave for many years.  Please welcome Dave and give him a great UMS welcome!

Grades and the verification report-

As soon as Renee arrives this morning we will run the verification report.  If a Q2, S1, or E1 was not submitted someone will knock on your door or call your phone.  We need to "historcalize" grades to get the teacher request process on its way.  With the polar vortex we are behind in our scheduling timeline.  We are not panicked and know it will all get done.

Student Count Day on Wednesday-

The next count day is this Wednesday, February 13th.  We will have to take an accurate attendance each hour and not mark tardies on that day.

February 22nd and February 25th (For your calendars)-

No meeting this Monday, February 11th.

February 22nd will be a half-day with our PD day in the afternoon. Our BLT team will help make this afternoon a meaningful use of your time.

February 25th after school is the reschedule of our nurse from the snow day.  It will be on diabetes, seizures, etc.  This will be an important meeting to attend.

Marigolds of the week-

These marigolds actually come from last week and they are our custodial crew.  I do not want to take for granted the tremendous amount of snow removing they did.  They also opened doors, ran water, and were very busy sanitizing desks.  I want to commend all the hard work they put in!  

Screenagers-

Below is the blurb that went home to parents over the course of the last few weeks that was related to the advisory that we did with students yesterday during the GO time session.   The presentation is free because of a foundation grant.

Parents and students K-12, please join us Feb 11th from 6:30 pm -8:30 pm in the St Joseph High School’s John and Dede Howard auditorium for a viewing of Screenagers. Screenagers is an award-winning film that depicts the challenging struggles that families have over social media, video games and academics. The film offers solutions on how we can help our kids navigate the digital world. After viewing the film, we have a county expert, Joe Rommel, who will give additional updates on current social media trends and suggestions for parents on setting boundaries with their students’ social media use.

Refreshments will be available, along with free childcare offered by SJHS National Honor Society student group. Childcare is available for toddler through elementary school age children.  

Planetarium Community Night on Monday, February 11th-

If you don't attend the Screenagers you could always attend Jenna's community night here at UMS at 6:30 PM.  The show is:  Legends of the Night Sky: Orion.  Here is a trailer to the show:  Legends of the Night Sky Orion- trailer

Quote of the week-

Although it should be a kindness life, instead of kindness week, I really appreciate the guidance department sponsoring this week.  I couldn't choose so I am putting a few of my favorite kindness quotes.

Chad