Pershing Tardy Policy

A tardy is any late check in that is not doctor excused.

Middle School:

Students will receive a detention from the teacher for 3 tardies in that specific class and for each tardy in that class thereafter.

When a student's tardies reach 10, a "Tardy Contract" will be sent home with the student for a parent's signature stating that if the tardy trend continues the student will receive an ISS.  The student will then receive an ISS for every 5 tardies after that time.  In other words, the first ISS will be at 15 tardies, the second ISS will be at 20 tardies, the third ISS will be at 25 tardies, and so on.

FROM THE PRINCIPAL

Dear Pershing Families,

Well, despite the brutally cold weather, this has been an exciting and successful month at Pershing Middle School.  At the end of the first semester students' grades are analyzed to determine honor roll status.  A grade point average (GPA) is calculated for each student.  Students with a GPA of 3.700 or higher are on the Principal's Honor Roll and students with a GPA of at least 3.000 are on the regular Honor Roll.  I am happy to report that 176 students qualified for the Principal's Honor Roll and 215 students qualified for the regular Honor Roll.  I am in the process of getting letters sent out to all students being honored. 

In addition to Honor Roll recognition, 86 students are being invited to participate in Pershing's chapter of the National Junior Honor Society.  Students earning a GPA of 3.69 or higher are invited to participate in this academic club.  If your student received an invitation please be aware that the deadline for submission of all forms and fees is February 26.  Send fees and forms in to Mrs. Allen in the Principal's office.  Congratulations to all of our Honor Roll and NJHS students for a job well done.

Attendance for the month of January was 94.43%. While we are still down from last school year we are making a strong comeback.  In an attempt to motivate our students to be here bell-to-bell each day we are kicking off an attendance challenge.  Each week grade levels will be competing to have the best attendance for the week.  The grade level with the highest attendance will get to leave two minutes before the dismissal bell the following week.  The challenge starts over each week.  Our hope is that our attendance will soar with a little motivation.

Looking forward to spring...

Dr. Natalie Cauldwell

GREEN TEAM

Check out what's going on with the Green Team here:

Green Team

Screaming Eagles Team News

          American History- In Mr. Baker's American History classes, the students are currently competing in what is titled the "North versus South" academic showdown.  Each class is divided into two teams and they compete academically using Classzone.com activities and a variety of classroom curriculum activities.  This competition will last into March and will involve material from Chapter 11 through Chapter 14.  Mr. Baker's Screaming Eagles will also be involved in two upcoming projects.  One is a Survival Manual for the Oregon Trail and the other one will involve the production of a film based on at least one topic of study in their class this year.

          Science- Students in Mr. Davis' science classes are finishing the chemistry unit (thank goodness) and having a fun time balancing chemical equations.  We will be moving into another section of the book after this unit and will be completing chapters on the atmosphere and weather before heading into the astronomy section.  As Mark Twain once said, "Everybody talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it."  Some folks have the erroneous idea that Calvin Coolidge said that (Floyd Lawson), however it was Twain.  The Life Skills class is moving into Habit 2-"Begin with the End in Mind."

          Math- Algebra students are finishing Linear Systems (Chapter 7) and will be studying Exponents (Chapter 8). This chapter includes simplifying algebraic expressions with exponents, a review of scientific notation, and applying their knowledge to exponential growth and decay real-life problems. Math 8 students are studying a Geometry unit (Chapter 5), which includes various properties of angles, parallel and perpendicular lines, triangles and polygons. Students will also be working with transformations of geometric figures within a coordinate plane, symmetry and tessellations. All students are creating a math game as their 3^rd quarter project. Projects are due Tuesday and Wednesday, March 16 and 17.

          Communication Arts- During the third quarter we will be working on a poetry unit while learning about figures of speech.  We will also be continuing our study of parts of speech and conventions through various writing projects.  During the last part of third quarter we will begin studying about our famous Missouri author, Mark Twain.  We will also read and interpret one of his famous works, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.   Informational handouts about the poetry and Mark Twain units will be handed out during your child's class.

Strategic Reading- Welcome to my second semester Strategic Reading classes!  Strategic Reading is a semester class that is designed to help all readers become proficient in tackling all kinds of text material. 

We began this semester by analyzing the areas of reading that interest the students most and have made the most impact on their lives.  After identifying interest areas, we went to the library and searched for a book that met one of the interest areas.  Students are expected to have a free reading book for each Strategic Reading class.  We will visit the library during class every other week on either Thursday or Friday. 

Mathcounts News

                The Mathcounts Team of Sarah Sparks, Courtney Reese, Alex Goodman, and Gideon Walker placed 4^th at District competition at Drury University on Saturday, February 13, out of 13 schools participating. Pershing was the only Springfield Public School to place in the event. Sarah Sparks qualified as an individual for state competition by placing 7^th out of 103 students. Students participate in three academic challenges: a Sprint Round, a Target Round, and a Team Round. As a "Top 10" finisher, Sarah Sparks also participated in the Countdown Round.

Congratulations to Pershing's Mathcounts Team!

The Staff Appreciation Committee would like to thank the following people for bringing 4 dozen cookies for our staff/teacher's Christmas boxes:  Rebecca Cannon, Angie Cox, Judy Duerkop, Rhonda McGinnis, Jackie Edwards, Kristy Estrem, Paula Ledgerwood, Lois Nitsch, Michelle Osborn, Rachel Stone, Shari Wotring.  And thank you to all the others that brought in cookies, but did not have names on them.  Also, a huge thank you to everyone that helped assemble and deliver the boxes:  Shelly Sachs, Rhonda McGinnis, Jennifer Chadwell, Holly Scheer, Tracy Lehnert, Shelly Lantz, and Kim Reese.

Lenny's Sub Shop did an excellent job of preparing the Christmas Luncheon for our teachers and staff-it was delicious!

We appreciate all your help!  Thank you!