Blog Archives

MMS HSA News - Week 39

5/28/2020

MMS HSA News - Week 39
MAPLEWOOD MIDDLE SCHOOL HOME & SCHOOL ASSOCIATION

MMS Families,

Hoping you had a restful Memorial Day weekend! As you know, Memorial Day provides us a moment to pause and honor the men and women who died while serving in the U.S. military. It also unofficially marks the beginning of our summer and this one will probably be quite memorable.

A few updates to share:

In case you missed it, here is the District'slatest update on distance learning
The 8th Grade Moving up Ceremony is on June 24. As part of the celebration, student contributions are being requested. See here for directions on how to submit your favorite quotes and poems.
Rising 7th Graders: There is still time to select your student's music ensemble and related arts preference. You will see the option in Google classroom.
For students with items in school lockers, the District is awaiting guidance from the State on how to provide access to any belongings. Stay tuned!

Enjoy the short week!
Veronica and Kelly

T-shirts and signs have been ordered for all 8th grade students. We ordered a variety of sizes to accommodate those who did not complete the Google form indicating a specific size. If you did NOT submit a form, please email your child's name and home address for delivery purposes.

If you have not done so already, please consider making a $5 donation to offset some expenses.

Goodbye video: We asked each 8th grade student to submit 2-3 photos from their time at MMS. (Pics should be in and around MMS or at MMS activities.) Deadline was Friday, May 22 but we will take photos through today. Email photos to mfitzp100@gmail.com.

Stay tuned for additional details on other year-end activities.

Achieve's Exciting Virtual Maker Madness!
May is Maker Madness Month! Tuesdays and Thursdays from 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. throughout the month of May, Achieve Makers will be posting project ideas and live experiments for you to try at home. Check our Facebook page Events tab for hands-on learning opportunities and fun with materials you probably have on hand at home.

Welcome to Middle School!
On Tuesday, June 9 at 7:30 p.m., MMS will hold a virtual Welcome to Middle School event for incoming 6th grade families. Click here to connect to the WebEx. Meet our new assistant principals and other school staff as we share with you what to expect for 6th grade!

Cougar Tutors
Cougar Tutors is a math tutoring service started and run by CHS students. We offer affordable remote tutoring sessions over Zoom or FaceTime. We tutor students in all subjects through pre-calc. To learn more or book a session visit www.cougartutors.com or contact Mac Krause.

Free Emergency Childcare at the Y!
The Y is offering free emergency childcare for all essential workers at the East Orange and Livingston branches.For more information or to register, click here.

Distance Learning
For more information on distance learning, please click here.

New Update! Food Support Now Available For All District Students
SOMSD Food Service will now provide meals to any district students and siblings under the age of 18, including the District’s out-of-district placements, and those attending charter schools regardless of eligibility status.

For students who receive free or reduced lunch, packed lunches will be distributed every school day from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. beginning on Wednesday, March 18 at:
• Seth Boyden School
• Columbia High School

No one will be denied a meal.

If your family needs additional food support …
If you feel that you will need food support during our school closure, please let us know and we will arrange for a food delivery for your family. Call Karen Weiland at: 973-762-5600, X1850 or email at kweiland@somsd.k12.nj.us
Please leave your name and phone number and we will contact you with details.

Please speak slowly and clearly & please repeat your phone number twice. If you request food support we will share your contact information with a community volunteer who will make a food delivery to your home.

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MMS HSA News - Week 38

5/20/2020

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MMS HSA News - Week 38
MAPLEWOOD MIDDLE SCHOOL HOME & SCHOOL ASSOCIATION

Families - we are getting close to the "finish" line for this academic year. This past week, many of us began planning for next year. As you know, a lot continues to be up in the air for our district, the country and the world.

We offer a few resources to share as you continue planning:

Here is the Math Night video for incoming 6th, 7th and 8th graders. The Math selection deadline was last Friday, May 15 through PowerSchool so if you did not yet register, please reach out to Kim Beane.
Keep a lookout for information about Cultural Arts selection in your inboxes this week.
The district has hired a Mandarin teacher for MMS. Only 5 classes will be available and the current plan is to start with the incoming 6th and 8th grade. Sorry incoming 7th grade families (your HSA co-presidents included).
The Extended Summer Year (ESY) program will be offered this summer but it is not yet clear how it will be delivered (in person or remote).

Memorial Day Weekend starts this Friday, May 22. There will be no home assignments or school work. Mayor McGehee reminds us to keep our social distancing practices in mind, suggesting a face mask when outdoors.

Veronica and Kelly

We have finalized plans to honor our 8th grade graduates. Sadly, with school closed for the remainder of the year, we will obviously not be holding the traditional dinner dance and moving up ceremony but we came up with a few things to mark this special occasion.

1) Each child will receive a congratulatory lawn sign with a space for you to "Sharpie" in your child's name. These will be delivered to you, date TBD.
2) The 8th grade team leads are designing and ordering class T-shirts for each child.
3) Goodbye Video - we will create a goodbye video. Please have your child submit 2-3 photos of themselves or with friends in and around MMS - or at an MMS activity preferably - to be included in the video.
4) Online yearbook signing - actual yearbooks will also be distributed and we will set up an online signing page on Instragram where each child can put up a photo of themselves with a memory of their time at MMS (or a quote) and other kids can send them their congrats.

As we were not really able to fundraise, we would ask for a voluntary contribution of $5 per child to cover the expenses of the signs/T-shirts. (Note: If you are unable to make the contribution, your child will still receive the T-shirt and sign).

What do you need to do?

1) Please complete this Google form ASAP with your child's T-shirt size.
2) If you can, make a $5 contribution to the MMS Paypal account.
3) Please ask your child to submit pics to mfitzp100@gmail.com for goodbye video. Please submit by May 22.
4) Stay tuned for more info on the online yearbook.

Let's try to please keep the lawn signs/T-shirts a secret in order to surprise the kids!

Stay tuned for updates on delivery dates etc. And please reach out with any questions.

Virtual Community Meeting Hosted By the CCR
The Community Coalition on Race (CCR) is hosting an online discussion on housing insecurity, food insecurity and the digital divide on Thursday, May 21 at 7 p.m. Registration closes Monday, May 18.

Free Emergency Childcare at the Y!
The Y is offering free emergency childcare for all essential workers at the East Orange and Livingston branches.For more information or to register, click here.

Distance Learning
For more information on distance learning, please click here.

Join The MMS HSA

YouthNet

HSA News Submission Form

No Frills Fundraiser

MMS Makerspace

Team Sites

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MMS HSA News - Week 37

5/13/2020

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MMS HSA News - Week 37
MAPLEWOOD MIDDLE SCHOOL HOME & SCHOOL ASSOCIATION

Hope everyone had a great Mother's Day weekend!

Thank you to everyone who helped make it a special time for our MMS team last week. Here is a Kudo Board we sent on-behalf of the MMS HSA in case you missed it.

Last week, we also learned that school buildings would not be opening for the rest of the academic year. We know it's disappointing, especially for our 8th grade families. Know that we are working hard to make sure we make reaching this milestone special.

For our 6th and 7th grade families, Math selection in PowerSchool must be completed by Friday, May 15. The Math Night recording should be available Monday or Tuesday for families who missed the earlier sessions.

On a lighter note, our teachers and staff joined The Next Move Challenge which is a must see if you missed it.

There will be "no school" on Friday, May 22, which is technically a give back day.

Hope you have a great week!
Veronica and Kelly

Student Council Food Donation
Kids in the Student Council Google Classroom were talking about wasted food so we decided to donate whatever was left (which was quite a lot) from the school store to local places! Aren't our kids amazing?!

We were able to donate to local families as well as the Maplewood Police Department, the South Orange Rescue Squad and the Millburn-Short Hills Volunteer First Aid Squad.

Luminaries in Action: Let Us Be the Light!
Beloved Community in Solidarity, Remembrance and Hope Sunday, May 17 from 7:45 p.m. to 8:15 p.m. SOMA neighbors are invited to step outside to wave lights and share messages of solidarity, honoring all we have gone through over the past two months. Click here for details.

Support Service Industry Employees
MAPSO Virtual Tip Jar, a digital platform designed to support service industry employees affected by COVID-19 has launched! The platform provides residents with direct-to-account “tipping” to their personal PayPal, Cash App and Venmo banking apps.

Free Emergency Childcare at the Y!
The Y is offering free emergency childcare for all essential workers at the East Orange and Livingston branches.For more information or to register, click here.

Interested in Expanding Cultural Arts?
Young Audiences Arts for Learning NJ & Eastern PA launched a new weekly artist video series earlier this month - Arts Connection! Every Monday, see a new teaching artist in action and help your student stay CONNECTED to and INSPIRED by the arts while away from school.

Distance Learning
For more information on distance learning, please click here.

Join The MMS HSA

YouthNet

HSA News Submission Form

No Frills Fundraiser

MMS Makerspace

Team Sites

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MMS HSA News - Week 36

5/4/2020

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MMS HSA News - Week 36
MAPLEWOOD MIDDLE SCHOOL HOME & SCHOOL ASSOCIATION

It's time to celebrate our teachers! This week is National Teacher Appreciation Week and we will be celebrating MMS teachers and staff with "at a distance" activities throughout the week. Please contribute in sending positive energy and thoughts to our teachers!

Here's the plan:

Monday - Parent/Student Videograms: This day is about individual appreciation. Student and parents are encouraged to send a short video clip to their teachers. Consider the question: "What makes your teacher special?"
Tuesday - MMS HSA Teacher Appreciation: The HSA will be sharing a special Kudos Board to all teachers and staff.
Wednesday - Team Teacher Cards: HSA team leads are preparing special digital cards for MMS teachers by grade.
Thursday - Teacher Digital Gift Cards: We are supporting local businesses with digital gift cards to teachers in lieu of a physical gift.
Friday - Special Announcement

In other news, we hope to know by Monday whether school will reopen this year. We will update our community as soon as we know the implications for MMS. In addition, several of you have asked about 8th grade end-of-year activities. You should have received an update from HSA 8th Grade Coordinators. Please reach out to Maureen Griffis and Mel Rose with any questions, thoughts and/ or suggestions.

Have a great week!
Veronica and Kelly

Achieve wants to hear from YOU!
How are we doing? What would you like to see more of in the future? Please take five minutes to complete this survey that will help Achieve Foundation with our strategic plan.

Free Emergency Childcare at the Y!
The Y is offering free emergency childcare for all essential workers at the East Orange and Livingston branches.For more information or to register, click here.

SEPAC NEWS
The next SEPAC meeting is Tuesday, May 5 at 8 p.m. via zoom. Topics to be covered include: Regression and Re-Entry; Compensatory Services; and Distance Learning. If there is a topic you want addressed, please email Malia Rulon Herman.

Distance Learning
For more information on distance learning, please click here.

Join The MMS HSA

YouthNet

HSA News Submission Form

No Frills Fundraiser

MMS Makerspace

Team Sites

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