March 22, 2013

Good afternoon, Titans!

We have had a lovely week, full of celebration. I would like to open this week's Titan Talk with a very special thank you our glorious P.T.A. for all of their hard work this week, as they made this week of Staff Appreciation an extra special one. A special thank you to Mrs. Jenny Hudson for coordinating the efforts of all of the volunteers. We are blessed to have a spectacular staff here at EPMS, and your extra special touch helped them feel appreciated this week. As usual, we have a lot of information this week. Thank you for taking the time to read.

Celebrations:

• Our Science Olympiad Club did quite well at the State Level Competition last week. The students placed 9th in state, and we couldn't be more proud of them!
• We are so very proud of our students who competed in the State Level Math Counts competition. A special congratulations to Roopsha Bandopadhyay, who placed 9th for the entire state of Georgia.
• Next Tuesday, we will have a group of 10 students from Guadeloupe visiting our school for most of the day. A group of our French students will give them a tour of the school. We are so excited about this visit that Mrs. Rozei has pulled together, and pleased to welcome even more international students into EPMS so that our students can learn from one another.
• Our Band performed wonderfully at LGPE earlier this week, with Concert Band bringing home one superior and one excellent, and Symphonic Band bringing home two superiors. We are so proud of their hard work and thankful for Mr. Wilson.
• Congratulations to our 8th grader, Erin Shinners, who won the 3rd place in the National Japanese New Year's Card Contest!!!  Erin's card won the State New Year's Card contest in February, and her work was selected as one of the top three in the nation!  Way to go, Erin!!! You can view Erin's work at: http://www.aatj.org/studentactivities/nengajocontest/2013/index.html. 

• Andrew Schoppenhorst

  Andrew Schoppenhorst received the Greater Atlanta Community Service Award from the Atlanta Hawks Foundation during the  Hawks game (halftime on the court) on Friday, March 15, 2013.  The announcer gave a shout out to the Elkins Pointe Middle School Interact Club!    The Chief Marketing Officer (in the picture) for the Atlanta Hawks said they want to follow Andrew and the projects produced by the Interact Club...they will post it and blog about it. EPMS is so proud of Andrew, the president of our Roswell Rotary Interact Club.
• Last but  not least, our preliminary Georgia Grade 8 Writing Assessment results have arrived. I am proud to report that 93% of our students met or exceeded the standard, a gain over last year. Reports will be mailed home individually next week. We are so very pleased to see these gains in the area of writing, just as we were to see them for ITBS in the Fall. I can't wait to see what our results for CRCT and EOCT are this year! Superintendent Dr. Robert Avossa emailed me last night and said: "You have really made great progress there!  Get the word out in your community.... Brag brag brag." 
• Based on my weekly celebrations, I think we all know that I have no problem with bragging about EPMS and our achievements!

Be in the Know:
 

• We would like to take the opportunity to thank all of our Volunteers who give so much time to EPMS, be it helping with events, music programs, making copies, reading with our Reading with Titans program, or any of the dozens of ways you stay involved. Mark your calendars for April 9th at 10:00am. We will host a special brunch with snacks, beverages, and appreciation. We hope to see you there!
• A note from Principal Raju at Hembree Springs Elementary:
• Excitement is ramping up about Hembree Runs Wild 2013!  We hope you can join us to Run Wild tomorrow Saturday, March 23rd and encourage family time and fitness across our community. Click here for a FAQ document to answer any questions you or your families may have about the race.  We've also attached the registration form and the basket raffle order form.  The basket raffle is open to the community and we have some amazing prizes. We can't wait to see you!
• Our very own Tia Secrest is working with her Girl Scout Troup to help support our local Atlanta Humane Society. Next week, she will be collecting items for the Humane Society. Click here to see what items are needed, and help her give back to our furry friends in the Roswell Area by bringing a contribution to the atrium. The easiest one? Bring in your old towels, to help make soft comfy beds for the puppies and kittens! http://atlantahumane.org/donate/wish-list/
• Remember that Battle of the Titans is next Friday, March 29, and we plan to make a big day out of it, as long as the weather holds up. This is a day-long event of team-building activities and games, where students have the opportunity to blow off some steam right before Spring Break. Students will be allowed to paint their hair, their faces, and dress up for the big day in their team colors. Dress code is still in effect, so remember no short shorts or ripped shirts that expose our skin. If you choose to alter your BOTT t-shirts, just be sure to wear a tank top or something underneath to make sure that we are covered up. We are looking forward to this great day! We still need a few more volunteers to help us with this event.  Please consider joining in the fun and sign up at www.signupgenius.com/go/20F0F4AA9AF29A20-battle.
• "SAVE THE DATE"  Elkins Pointe 8th Grade Dance: Friday, May 3 from 7:00-9:30 pm.  Permission Forms along with more dance details will be distributed to 8th graders the week of April 8th. There is a planning meeting on Wed. March 27th at 10:00 am in the staff lunch room for anyone that is interested in helping with the dance.
• Let's not forget our 8th grade field trips (yes, that's plural). Students going on the DC Trip must have their money turned in by spring break, as this is the deadline for booking all tours and hotels. No money will be accepted after Friday, March 29th. Also, students who are not attending the DC Trip, why not join in the fun of our Stone Mountain field trip instead? This promises to be great fun, with ropes courses, a sky ride, amphibious vehicles, and history tours. Don't let your student miss out on either of these opportunities! Click here for the Stone Mountain form.
• On the note of dress code, after much debate, deliberation, and attempts at flexibility, we have decided to stop allowing leggings/tights/compression pants/yoga pants at Elkins Pointe Middle School, in addition to jeans/pants that have tears and holes. For the last several months, we have tried to be flexible, stating that pants could be worn as long as they are not transparent or as long as the holes/tears did not show skin. This dress code is not possible to enforce partially, and the result is some students receiving consequences while others don't. This is not fair to the students, and since many of these pants are far too form fitting for teenagers to wear in a school setting, many are transparent, and many of the jeans have far too many holes / tears that expose far too much skin, we have to make the right decision. Consequences will not be given until after Spring Break, as we want time to advertise this, talk to parents, and make sure that we are all on the same page. By now I hope you know that I believe in individual expression and do not ever want to go the route of uniforms. I like the variety of expressions I see as I walk the halls every day. However, it is my duty to keep the school place focused on instruction, where teenagers have an opportunity to remain focused on their instruction instead of their bodies. And though your child personally may not be dressing in a way that is intentionally distracting, that is the result in the school setting. I hope that you will all support us in this effort. 

Did You Know?

Battle of the Titans is a tradition that began in Fulton County Schools long before EPMS opened. When the Olympics came to Atlanta in 1996, many middle schools already had a field day or competition day of some sort. The Olympics inspired Fulton County Schools to make these events a true opportunity for team-building and fellowship. When EPMS opened, we decided to name our field day Battle of the Titans, and since then, the event has taken many forms. We are excited, this year, to return to the original intent and make this a day-long event. We hope that our format this year will allow us to continue the tradition going forward, keeping it to one day of instruction being affected, while allowing students time for friends and fellowship.

Have a great weekend, Titans!