Spelling Bee   

 Today's spelling bee was a tough competition! We are proud of all participants in the bee, listed here, and we would like to formally announce our winners: Winner: Cole Newberry and Runner-Up: Maisha Tasnim (pictured here). These students will represent us in the Fulton County Spelling Bee. Way to go!

Basketball News

Congrats to the girls' and boys' Titan basketball teams.  Our season opener was against Ridgeview.  Both teams played really hard with a close loss for the boys and a victory for the girls.

Club News  

From Mr. Jones ... Kudos and more kudos to clubs!  Last Friday I walked the halls and conducted an audit of our clubs to see what kind of excitement is taking place every other Friday. Students were engaged and most importantly having fun.  Some of the cool things that I saw during my walk were:   

• Downloading an app called "remind" to better communicate and organize meeting times.
• Learning how to put together tents for hiking and camping (pictured here)
• Learning how the brain functions as it ages
• Creating and applying Henna tattoos
• Acting out scenes from Macbeth in preparation for the Dessert theatre performance

Honors Breakfast 

The 1st Semester Honors Breakfasts are coming up starting the first week of February. Invitations will come home with students this week. All students who received all As and/or Bs on their first semester report card should receive an invitation, so be on the look out.  

Student Growth Percentiles - Congratulations Teachers

Last week we celebrated a group of teachers for achieving the highest SGPs in the state: (JUST IN: We would like to congratulate the following teachers for being part of the top 25% of student growth percentiles for the entire school district in 2014! Helen Blaine, Jillian Kalick, Katie Ray, Elliot Kinberg, Meredith Tongue, Daylee Tapia, Stacy Stiffler, Kristine Allen, Joanne Martin, Anu Krishna, Lindsay Meekhof, Kathryn Kersey, Ana Hale, and Rossie Kennedy! We are so proud to have these teachers as part of the Titan Team!)

Orchestra

Congratulations to Orchestra students Kayleigh Monahan (bass) and Nathan Gay (viola) who passed a highly competitive two-stage audition process to make it into this year's Georgia All-State Orchestra!  These students will go to Athens at the end of February to work with nationally recognized conductors to put on a concert of the highest quality.

Robotics Club 

Woohoo... goooo Roboteks!   Our Robotics Club won the 2014-2015 L.E.D Winning Alliance Captain award in their competition. They are now qualified to compete at state level. Competition was tough with only two middle school teams and 21 high school teams competing.  

Mentoring Club

Have you heard about EPMS Titan Mentoring Club? They meet with 5th graders from Hembree Springs Elementary to offer assistance/support in the content areas of Reading/ELA and Math.   This is also a great way for our 8th graders to reinforce essential learning skills.  We are so proud of their work!

Special Education Students Learn Tennis 

Our Special Education rocks!  Students were learning from professionals how to play tennis.  Read all about it here:  

Basketball Schedule Change

A game change has been made to the basketball schedule.   Click here for the updated game schedule and practice times.  Come out to support the Titans!

State School Superintendent Richard Woods  

State School Superintendent Richard Woods' goal is to improve outcomes and expand options for Georgia's public K-12 students. He believes in strong communication, meaningful collaboration, and child-focused, classroom-centered policies.  This can only happen if we work together. Partnerships between the Governor's office, State Board of Education, General Assembly, educators, parents, students and other stakeholders are crucial. Click here  to learn more.   

Aids Awareness

Don't forget that this Friday is our Aids Awareness Assembly for 8th grade. Click here for the permission form that went home this week if you would like more detail.

Parent Rights 

Do you have questions about your rights as a parent or guardian, but do not speak, listen, read, or write English proficiently?  Follow this link (http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/ellresources.html) to learn about your rights in your language.   Click here and here for additional info.  

GA News and World Languages

Get hooked on GA News & World Languages!  In this edition, read about our very own Miyuki Johnson being selected as a Final Four Candidate for Teacher of the Year Fulton County.

Your Opinion Matters

The State Board of Education has posted for public comment a series of traditional/discrete math options for Georgia high schools in addition to the current integrated math option.   This window is open for 30 days.  Follow this link for comment.   http://www.gadoe.org/External-Affairs-and-Policy/communications/Pages/PressReleaseDetails.aspx?PressView=default&pid=268  

Let's talk Roswell High School Football!   

There will be an information meeting for rising freshman.  Click here for details and dates.

Milton HS Football

There will be a parent/athlete meeting on January 28th at 6:30 pm in the cafeteria at Milton High School for anyone interested in trying out for cheerleading.  Our tryouts are the week of March 2nd.

Robotics Team Fundraiser

Our robotics team is in need of funds and you can help by either coming to an event or encouraging your students to come to it. You will get to see the demonstration of our Robot in ACTION with other team and also you will get to see a fantastic documentary about how technology has been used to create clean water. Click here for the movie trailer and here for the details for the fundraiser.

Rising 9th Grade Information

Elective Selections and Course Recommendations will take place over the next month, so it is important for the parents to remain involved and in the loop during this time. Please keep these dates on your calendar.

• Roswell High School will host its Rising 9th Grade Parent Night on January 29th at 6:00pm, including an informational session, tour, and a showcase of the elective course offerings. Remember that the AP/Honors Info night will be on February 19th.
• DATE CORRECTION: Milton High School will hold its evening event to learn about electives on February 3rd. Please note that the main event begins at 7pm and that parents of TAG or Special Education students should plan on also attending the earlier meeting at 6pm. Click here for more details.

Rising 6th Grade Information

Please note the DATE CHANGES in this email.  While most of you receiving this newsletter have students at EPMS already, I like to keep you abreast of the meetings for our rising 6th graders as well, so that you can help the community stay informed.   

• February 24, 2015   Pointe Team Visits  9:30-10:15 @ Sweet Apple
• February 24, 2015   Pointe Team Visits  10:30-11:15   @ Mimosa
• February 24, 2015   Pointe Team Visits  1:30-2:15    @ Hembree
• March 5, 2015         Rising 6th Grade Parent Coffee 10:00-11:00 @ EPMS
• March 19, 2015       Parent Orientation (TAG) 5:15 (General) 6:00
• May 6, 2015                        Mimosa           @ EPMS 9:15-10:45
• May 7, 2015                        Hembree         @ EPMS 9:15-10:45
• May 11, 2015                      Sweet Apple    @ EPMS 9:15-10:45

Jan. 30 @ 7 PM & Jan. 31 @ 2 PM & 7 PM - Showstoppers Presents "Disney's The Little Mermaid Jr." at the Roswell Cultural Arts Center.

Tickets are $12.  To purchase tickets:  http://www.roswellgov.com/index.aspx?NID=2011 or contact Susan Rickson (suebrick@yahoo.com) in the EPMS Media Center.

Feb. 21st @ 1pm and 5pm - Platinum School of Performing Arts Presents "Seussical the Musical" at Elkins Pointe Middle School. Tickets are $12 and are on sale now! Email PlatinumSOPA@gmail.com with "Seussical Tickets." Come make history with us with our groundbreaking performance of Seussical The Musical!!!

https://www.facebook.com/PlatinumSOPA/photos/a.337733959720568.1073741828.304708419689789/394695627357734/?type=1 

• 1/29 - Rising 9th Grade Night @ RHS
• 1/31 - Fulton County Annual Technology Competition
• 2/3 - 6th Grade Honors Breakfast @ 7:30am
• 2/3 - Rising 9th Grade @ MHS
• 2/5 - 7th Grade Honors Breakfast @ 7:30am
• 2/10 - 8th Grade Honors Breakfast @ 7:30am
• 2/24 - Pointe Team Elementary school visit
• 3/5 - Rising 6th Grade Parent Coffee @ 10am, Parents only
• 3/19 -Rising 6th Grade  Parent Orientation @ 6pm (TAG @ 5:15), Students welcome