February 5, 2015

Volume 8, Issue 12

Principal's Letter

Recently, I was observing an eighth grade science class where the students were tasked with trying to determine the volume of an object. During the observation, a student asked the teacher if she could place the object in a graduated cylinder to see how much the water would be displaced in order to determine the volume. The teacher enthusiastically responded, "Yes." As soon as the student was walking back to her lab group and was out of earshot the teacher turned to me with a sly smile and said to me, "It won't work though because the object floats and will not displace any water." Was this an example of cruel and unusual punishment? On the contrary, this to me was brilliant for the student would learn from the failure that the group would need to calculate the volume of the object another way. In other words, they would learn, hopefully, from their failure.

As a parent, watching your child fail can be excruciating. I once heard a speaker who had incredibly meaningful insight relative to parenting. The two most important jobs that a parent has, according to the speaker, are to keep their children safe and to teach them to be independent. He then pointed out that those two jobs are in complete opposition to one another. Upon reflecting on this lesson, I came to the conclusion that I have probably learned more from my failures in life than from my successes as my failures caused me to pause, reflect and to make plans to not fail in the same way again. I also came to the realization that learning to fail (hopefully) is the same thing as learning to learn.

One of the most popular educational debates revolves around homework and how much help should a child receive from their parent. One end of the continuum would argue that children should always work with their parent on homework as it allows the parent to be involved with the child. The other end would assert that the homework belongs to the child and that the parent has no obligation. In my opinion, the answer lies somewhere in between and that it depends on the situation. I would also suggest that homework is an area where small failures are not catastrophic (remember, formative assessments at Piney Grove only account for 20% of a student's overall grade and one missed assignment or one low grade will not doom a student's overall average). Just to be clear, I am not saying that students should be allowed to just skip homework without consequences; instead, I am suggesting that a missed homework assignment could really be an opportunity for a student to learn from failing to turn in a missed assignment. For example, a parent might have their child complete the assignment after it is due even though the possibility exists that the teacher will not take the assignment for a grade. Or better yet, the child could do the homework assignment and complete some additional work or perform extra chores. Is your child still safe? Definitely. Is your child learning to be independent and take care of their homework themselves? Hopefully!

The world is full of obstacles and children need resiliency to deal with life away from mom and dad. I am not quite sure how successful kids will be if every obstacle in their life has been mowed down by someone else and they have not learned from their failures. But remember, parents must keep their children safe while at the same time teaching them to be independent. The middle school years might be a good time to begin leaning a little bit more towards teaching your child to be independent. Remember, like many of you, I am a first time middle school parent. Considering this, I welcome any tried and true parenting suggestions from the veterans of the middle school parenting wars.

Respectfully,

Todd McClelland

Middle School Parent and Assistant Principal

PTSA NEWS

Grizzly Classroom Box Top Contest!!!!!---Hello Piney Grove Parents! Once again we will be collecting Box Top coupons to raise money for our school. This semester the GT classroom with the greatest participation will win a donut breakfast for their class. Box Top collections dates will be February 19^th and 20^th from 8:15 to 9:00 in the Atrium. This past Fall these little coupons earned our school a total of $581.00. The money was used to purchase 2 iPad minis for the Media Center. Please send in your Box Tops in a Ziploc baggie with your child's Grizzly Time teacher's name on it. For questions, or volunteering opportunities with Box Tops, please contact Madeline McManus at

678-722-1405 or homesbymadeline@gmail.com

GRIZZLY GREAT DAY

OF GIVING UPDATE

Saturday February 7 - G3 and Applebees have partnered to serve you a flapjack breakfast!---

PGMS students will be serving you pancakes and sausage to benefit G3 Day 2015. Tickets are $7.00 / person with $5 of that coming back to support G3!!! Tickets MUST be purchased in advance - there will be NO ticket sales at the door - and they must be purchased by noon on Friday February 6. Tickets will be sold in the morning in the atrium or you can drop off your money in the front office.

Parent Volunteers--- We NEED you!!! We are looking for G3 Day 2015 parent volunteers. Sign up will begin Monday, February 9. Please go to

PGMSG3.org for all the information.

Thank you To All Our G3 Day 2015 Sponsors!!--- We truly can not have a G3 Day without the help from these businesses! Please thank the following businesses when you are out in our community:

CHOA, Emory Johns Creek Hospital, Rick Garner Farmers Insurance, Castle Car Wash, PGMS PTSA, Subway, Frito Lay, Audaige, John Megal Chevrolet, Christmas Lights, Sunview Mortgage, Publix, United Way, Complete Eye Care and Mathnasuim of South Forsyth.

ACADEMICS

Oratorical Contest Results---Piney Grove Middle School would like to applaud all students who took part in the 8th annual PGMS Oratorical Contest on Wednesday, February 04, 2015 for a job well done! Special congratulations to the two winners: 6^th grader, Riya M., and 7^th grader, Zachary B. Runners-up were 6^th graders, Soham S. and Eric S. Students spoke on the topic: "How my Optimism Will Help Me Press On to Greater Achievements of the Future". Riya and Zachary will compete in the county semi-finals on March 5^th. Wish them luck!

4 � Week Progress Reports For The Second Quarter Coming Your Way--- On this Friday, February 6^th, all students will bring home their 4 � Week Progress Reports for their second semester, which will give both students and parents an idea of how this new semester is starting off. Students will be given one Progress Report sheet for each core class (Math, Language Arts, Science, Social Studies, and Spanish for 8th graders who take it) that tells their average thus far and how they have done with each formative and/or summative assessment. Connections classes and Literacy classes (for 6th and 7th grade students only) Progress Reports will be given only to those students with a present average of 75% or below. We encourage parents to take a few minutes to sit down with his/her young Grizzly to look at Progress Reports, and discuss how he/she is doing thus far. Students, if you like what you see, then keep up the good work and don't slack off! Let me also give you a word of caution as you look at the averages for your child's core classes at the 4 � week juncture. As you know, this second semester grading period is made up of an 18 week period, so this is just the one-quarter mark of the entire 18 week grading period. A student's average at this point may include few or not any summative assessments, which will count 80% of his/her total average for the semester. Thus, your child's average may be a bit skewed, one way or the other, depending on how many formative and summative assessments have been given, and how your child has performed on any of the assessments given thus far. As always, it is very important to us to know that you know how your child is doing in school thus far. Please do not hesitate to contact any of your child's teachers should you have any questions or concerns. We appreciate your support so very much!

Advanced Studies Courses for Rising 7th and 8th Grade Students for the 2015-2016 School Year--- If you and your present 6th or 7th grade student are contemplating whether or not to register for one or several Advanced Studies Courses for next year, then you will want to attend one of the eight (8) informational meetings that are scheduled throughout the month of February. Students should definitely attend a meeting with their parents as we will be talking about our young Grizzlies' education and academic options for the next school year. It is all about them! Click here to see the dates of all the meetings. Attending one of these meetings is a not a "have to" in order to take an Advanced Studies Course next year, but it is highly encouraged as much information about next year's courses will be discussed, as well as pertinent information to consider for your student's educational future.

Please remember that Advanced Studies Courses are for ANY STUDENT who is so motivated to accept the challenges and rigor in these classes. They are not limited to students in the Gifted Program.

In order to register for Advanced Studies Courses for the 2015-2016 school year, students/parents must complete a registration form (available in the PGMS Front office or on our PGMS website, NEWS section, beginning February 4th), and attach the prescribed essay to the registration form, which is to be turned in at the PGMS Front office. The due date for registering for Advanced Studies Courses for next year is Friday, March 6th, by 6:00 PM. No late registration forms will be accepted! This is a firm deadline! Registration forms and essays may not be faxed or emailed to the school because a receipt is given for each form/essay submitted. Students MUST register each year for the Advanced Studies Course(s) they would like to take.

If you have any questions, please contact Terri North, PGMS Principal, at 678-965-5010 ext 381513, or at tnorth@forsyth.k12.ga.us We hope to see all interested parents and students at one of these meetings!

270 New E-Books!---The Piney Grove Media Center has hundreds of new e-books for students to read on ANY device! Click here to access books

Browse our Media Center Catalog!--- Next, log in, choose Electronic Book for the Material Type and all of our e-books will be displayed. Once an interesting e-book is found, all the student must do is click on the

OPEN button and he or she may begin reading instantly!

8th to 9th Grade Transition Activities--- Parents and students please click here for important transition information! There are several activities planned to prepare your son/daughter for high school. If you have any questions please contact Ms. Kris Johnson at 678.965.5010 or email

kljohnson@forsyth.k12.ga.us

Keeping Up With itsLearning!--- January saw the release of some new updates to itsLearning. These updates, a long winter break to maybe forget a few things, as well as many new students and families joining us at the Grove make for an opportune time to revisit the learning platform.

This link will take you to a page that:

Describes what itsLearning is
Lists all the things parents can do and see in itslearning with screenshots
Tells how to get there, including information about the new app.
Reminds you of Parent Portal and what it does, how to get it, and information about the app.
Informs you about itsLearning tutorials on the Forsyth County Dashboard

Grade Level eNewsletters--- Perhaps you have noticed at times that your middle schooler is not as forthcoming with specific information as you would like him/her to be to such questions as "What are you studying in school right now in your classes?" or "What did you do in ______ class today?" or "When is your next summative in ________ class?". That is, at times, the nature of the beast, we say lovingly about our middle school students, and why we send to you via email on a bi-weekly basis a Grade level eNewsletter. These eNewsletters are nothing fancy --- just the facts --- and are designed to give you a brief synopsis of what is going on for the next two weeks in your child's Math, Language Arts, Science, Social Studies, and Spanish I (for 8th graders only) classes. They may contain such information about topics/concepts presently being studied, upcoming quizzes or tests, projects assigned or due, and/or reminders about other upcoming events or activities. The second eNewsletter will be sent your way electronically on next Thursday, January 29th and will continue throughout the year on the following dates.

Sign-Up NOW for Parent Portal--- It Is A MUST In Middle School --- Be sure to sign up for Parent Portal by registering with the school. It's easy . . . and only takes about 5 minutes to do so! You will need to come visit our school receptionist in the front office and show her a photo ID. She will give you an activation code, and then you can access Parent Portal and Itslearning from the link on the Forsyth County Schools or PGMS websites. Once you have registered, you may check your child's grades, attendance, and discipline record anytime you want from any computer that has internet access via Parent Portal. And you can stay "in the know" about your child's daily assignments and assessments via Itslearning. Talk about "being on top of things" when it comes to your child's academic progress this year . . . this is the way to go!

Not Receiving Email Communication From Piney Grove???--- If your answer to this question is "NO", it might be time to update your contact information. You can do this in Parent Portal. Parent Portal is a site where you can find your child's grades and more (see above!). If you already have a Parent Portal username and password, please proceed to Step 2 below. If you do not have a username and password you will need an activation key to set that up. Please continue to Step 1.

Step 1--- Please stop by the front office during school hours. Present your Photo ID and you will be given an activation code.

Step 2--- Log onto Parent Portal. The link is on our PGMS website under Quick Links or on the FCS website home page. Click on Contact Preferences. Here you may have two (2) email addresses for us to send communication out to you. Please update if/as needed.

Learning Support Time (LST) at The Grove!--- Has your child learned everything in their life the first time it was presented to them? Does your child really like to come in for early morning help sessions? Does your child really like to stay after school for help sessions? If the answer to any of these questions is "No" then Learning Support Time (LST) will be great for your child. LST is an approximately 50 minute block of time that happens between 2nd and 3rd periods on Thursdays beginning January 22nd. During this block of time, students have the opportunity to receive re-teaching from their teachers should they need it. If your child is struggling in a class or if they have received a low summative score, please encourage them to take advantage of LST!

2014 - 2015 FCS Middle School Assessment Calendar--- Please click here for the different assessments and the dates of these assessments for middle school students in Forsyth County Schools this year.

Grizzly Academy--- Grizzly Academy is an opportunity we offer for students to take or re-do summative assessments (ie. tests, projects, essays, etc.). Since summative assessments account for 80% of a student's cumulative grade in each class, Grizzly Academy is a fantastic opportunity for students to drastically improve both their learning and their grades. Grizzly Academy will usually be held Friday after school from 4:30-6:30. However, there are a few dates when Grizzly Academy may fall on another day of the week and earlier time due to our early release schedule. Students will be invited by their teachers to attend Grizzly Academy if they are missing work or need to re-do work for a better grade. Although students have two hours to complete their work, if the work is completed before 6:30, the student may call home to be picked up early. There will be snacks and drinks sold for a very reasonable cost so that students can focus on their work, not on their gurgling stomachs! Make sure to look for additional Grizzly Academy updates once second semester begins.

First semester Grizzly Academy Dates 4:30 - 6:30 (unless noted):

January 16, 23, 30

February 6,13,20,27

March 6, 13, 20, 27

April 3, 17, 24

May 1, 8, 15

ACTIVITIES

Parent Expo---Raising children in the 21^st century brings about a series of challenges that past generations have not had to face. Many of these challenges come from a variety of influences in our society. A wonderful opportunity is coming your way for parents to hear more about these challenges and meaningful ways to meet them head-on. Please mark your calendars now to attend the free PARENT EXPO at North Forsyth High School on March 24^th, beginning at 6:00 PM. For more information about this informative evening, please click here

Want To Make A Song Dedication To A Very Special Person Or An All-Around Great Person?? Well, Here's Your Chance!!--- During the month of February, PGMS will be involved in several fundraisers, all of which will be done in honor of Mrs. Jeanne Marie Cowdrey, our school secretary who passed away in the fall of 2012 after a courageous battle with cancer. Mrs. Cowdrey dedicated her life to helping others in the community, and our school would like to continue her legacy. Your family can be a part of this by supporting Piney Grove's 3^rd Annual Song Dedication Newspaper by paying $1.00 to dedicate a song to a friend, sweetheart, teacher, or even a principal. Also, students and parents can dedicate songs to each other. It is a great way to make others feel special while honoring Mrs. Cowdrey's memory at the same time. Song dedications will be on sale February 4-10 in the Atrium, and all students will receive a Song Dedication Newspaper on Friday, February 13^th, along with some song dedications being played during lunch in the cafeteria on Friday, the 13^th. All proceeds from this event go to Jesse's House in Cumming, Georgia, of which Mrs. Cowdrey was a huge supporter. This is your chance get involved in one of the many wonderful altruistic endeavors we do here at Piney Grove!

Math Club News---The Math Club members have been busy. Recently, eight 8^th grade students took the AMC10 National Math Test. Results will be back within the month. Many of the students have signed up for the Math Geniuses competition coming up on March 8^th at the Fulton Science Academy. Twelve of our team members will be traveling to the University of Georgia on February 20^th for the regional Mathcounts tournament. We wish them the best of luck. And finally, the 6^th grade students are looking forward to the Cheetah Math Tournament on April 25^th.

Hat Day February 13th--- Help support the Special Education Department by wearing your favorite hat on February 13^th for $1.00. You can show off your favorite team's logo or sport your best cowboy hat. We look forward to seeing you on Friday, February 13^th Thank you for your support!

Sucker Day---Suckers will be on sale in the atrium on Friday, February 20 for $1.00 each. Please help to support our 8^th grade class activities.

Coins for Cure---The Fellowship of Christian Athletes will be sponsoring a Coins for Cure drive from February 11 - 27. CURE is an organization with a mission to conquer childhood cancer through funding targeted research and through supporting patients and their families. Please consider donating to this wonderful cause by bringing in your change and placing it inside one of our coins for cure jars. Students will be in the atrium and at the car rider line on various days throughout the month collecting coins. You can also go to coins4cure.org, click donate now, and select Piney Grove Middle School before making a tax deductible donation online. 100% of all online and local donations go directly to CURE Childhood Cancer. Thank you for helping us support this life changing organization.

6th Graders Get Ready To Party February 12th!---The Science Olympiad and National Jr Art Honor Society are sponsoring a Valentine's Day social/dance/party for all 6^th grade students Thursday, February 12, 2015 after school in the PGMS Caf�. The cost of admission is $5 per student as well as a parent-signed permission form. Concessions will be available for purchase: pizza ($2 per slice...think DINNER!), as well as your favorite snacks and drinks ($1). The dance/social will start right after school and conclude at 6:00 pm.

Make your plans now to attend so you can spend some much needed socializing time with your friends and classmates. A good time is ALWAYS had by all who attend! You will receive a permission slip at school to take home to have signed and bring back the day of the dance; extra copies are available on the PGMS homepage.

If you are a parent willing to volunteer in the concession stand, take tickets/permission forms, or chaperone during the dance, please email Art teacher, Julie Mitchell: jmitchell@forsyth.k12.ga.us ASAP!. We will see you there!!!

Grizzly Dads--- At Piney Grove, we welcome the opportunities for our families to be part of the middle school experience. One of those ways is through our Grizzly Dads group, and these dads have been very busy here at the Grove over the past few months.

Twice a month on Fridays they have been seen out in the car lines early in the morning or late in the afternoon helping to keep the flow of traffic moving. Not only do the dads help out before and after school, but you can find them throughout the day in various parts of the building. Many of our teachers have welcomed the Grizzly Dads into their classrooms to assist with science labs and computer projects. You can also find the dads lending a hand in the cafeteria during lunch, the media center, and even out on the PE field.

We truly appreciate all of the time that these dads have given our students and staff. We look forward to seeing them throughout the rest of the year in and out of the classrooms. Their presence in our school is a great example of how we can all contribute to our students' overall success here at Piney Grove.

ATHLETICS

Hoops for Heart---The annual Hoops for Heart 3 on 3 Basketball Tournament will be held on February 20th

during Connections classes. There is a charge of $15 to register your team and $1 for students wanting to watch. All money raised will benefit the American Heart Association. See Coach Buzeta or Coach Schmotz for details.

Football---Football speed and agility workouts will begin February 17th. Workouts will be held in the gym before school every Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday beginning promptly at 7:30 a.m. Please wear appropriate shoes. Students should be dropped off in the back parking lot and enter through the locker room doors. Please contact Coach Buzeta with any questions.

Mbuzeta@forsyth.k12.ga.us

THE ARTS

Band Notes--- All bands are starting to have playing and writing tests. Please consult parent portal for assignments. Congratulations to 7^th graders Brennan B. and Vanessa G. and 8^thgraders Amber C., Conan L., David W., and Adam W. for making the GMEA District 9 honor and concert bands. They will be participating in the event this weekend. The performance is Saturday, February 7th at Lambert HS starting at 3:00 PM. Admission is free.

Chorus Notes--- Congratulations are in order to five PGMS Chorus students, 7^th graders Michelle D., Morgan P., and Maya T., and 8^th graders Claire A., and Sammy F. These five students have passed their second GMEA All State Chorus audition and will be representing PGMS at the 2015 GMEA All State Chorus event in Athens, GA March 5 - 7. Well done, girls!!

Theater Notes---The Piney Grove Players will be presenting the musical "Peter Pan Jr." February 26 - 28 at the South Forsyth High School Performing Arts Center. Ticket prices and show times are listed below. Tickets will go on sale Monday February 9^th and can be purchased in the PGMS front office, chorus room, or at the door before each performance. It is recommended that tickets be purchased in advance to avoid long lines and the risk of shows selling out. ALL audience members MUST have a ticket to enter the theater, including small children.

Performances:

Thursday February 26^th, 7:00 pm

Friday February 27^th, 7:00 pm

Saturday February 28^th, 2:00 pm & 7:00 pm

Tickets:

Tickets - $8 each

Seating - General Admission

**ALL audience members MUST have a ticket to enter the theater, including small children.

ALTRUISTIC ENDEAVORS

The Importance of Altruistic Endeavors At The Grove--- At Piney Grove, Altruistic Endeavors is one of the 5 key facets of our overall program. It is one of our core values. We want our young Grizzlies to not only know what it is like to give back to their community and others, but to also experience it firsthand. Through many different PGMS service clubs, school wide charitable activities, and our Grizzly Great Day of Giving (G3 Day 2015) in May, we provide our students with a variety of service opportunities throughout the year in school, throughout the local community, and in different parts of our country and the world.

So why encourage our young Grizzlies to do community service? Well, first of all, it is the right thing to do; to learn to give freely of one's time and talents and heart to helping others, expecting nothing in return. But here are a few other reasons to consider:

To help someone in need
Those who give of themselves and their resources, and help others, say they feel they receive a great feeling in return
Expand your world and understand what is happening in our community
Meet new people and make new friends
To improve our world by caring for the environment
Giving back to one's community and others is a "plus" on your college resume

Please check out opportunities for serving others on a regular basis here in the Grizzly Gazette and for students, on the morning announcements!

OTHER IMPORTANT INFORMATION

February 16th

is a School Holiday for Students

Monday, February 16^this a school holiday for FCS students as it is a Professional Learning Day for all FCS teachers and staff. Students will get to enjoy a long weekend! We look forward to seeing all of our young Grizzlies back safe and sound at The Grove on Tuesday, February 17^th.

Next Piney Grove LSC Meeting--- The Piney Grove Local School Council (LSC) will meet tomorrow morning at 7:45am in the conference room. This will be a joint meeting with the LSC from South Forsyth High School to discuss

8th- to - 9th grade transition activities.

Information from the PGMS Grizzly Caf�--- There will be changes in milk choices at breakfast beginning January 20, 2015. As a part of the Healthy, Hunger-free Kids Act, USDA sets limits on some key nutrients in school meals, one of them being sodium, to promote healthy blood pressure. Starting with the 2014-2015 school year, the amount of sodium allowed in the daily breakfast meal is limited to 540 mg in K-5, 600 mg in 6-8, and 640 mg in 9-12. These limits are based on the average 5-day week menu that includes a breakfast entr�e, two � cup choices of fruit and low fat/nonfat milk.

Due to the way cocoa is processed, a carton of nonfat chocolate milk provides 180 mg of sodium as compared to 125 mg for the other flavored and unflavored milks. To help us meet the sodium targets noted above, nonfat chocolate milk will no longer be offered as a breakfast milk choice. We will continue to offer the other Mayfield milk choices: skim, 1% low-fat, as well as nonfat, low sugar strawberry and vanilla flavored milks based on customer preferences. Students will be able to enjoy their favorite nonfat chocolate milk at lunch because the sodium limits set for lunch are higher.

Additional changes to the breakfast menus and a pilot-testing of healthy yogurt & fruit smoothies will be coming in the spring menus. Remember that eating breakfast at school is a convenient and a healthy way to start the learning day.

Meal Charge policy and Courtesy Snack - updated 1/20/2015

The Board policy for elementary students without adequate funds to purchase school meals allows them to charge up to 5 lunches. Effective January 20, 2015, the Board revised its charge policy to allow middle and high school students to charge up to 1 lunch meal. This charge allowance does not cover the high school upscale grill meal option or any a la carte purchases. Students who have unpaid meal charges need to repay the meal charge before purchasing a la carte food items. Board policy prohibits adults from charging.

Student's who exceed the charge limit without sufficient funds to cover a lunch meal purchase will be offered an alternative snack of a cheese sandwich and milk or juice. To prevent your child from being offered the courtesy snack, please provide money for your student's meals each day or prepay for meals in advance. School cafeterias make every effort to inform students and parents when funds are low with notices sent home via student, verbal reminders to students, and apple stamps.

Parents are responsible to ensure that children have an adequate lunch from home or sufficient funds to purchase school meals. To assist parents, student account balances can be monitored any time via our new online payment program (www.MyPaymentsPlus.com) regardless of whether you use the online funding option, or send cash or checks.

Just create an account for each student, then throughout the year monitor the student meal account balance (or to fund their account). Add your student(s) by entering their student ID# and selecting their school. The account balance displays in the middle of screen. We highly recommend that you set a Low Balance Alert ($10 or higher is suggested) using the links on the page to receive an email reminder when funds are low.

Charging for any meals will be discontinued during the last three weeks of the school year.

Forsyth Co. School Nutrition Program

In This Issue

PTSA News

Grizzly Great Day of Giving

Academics

Activities

Athletics

Arts

Altruistic Endeavors

Other Important Information

Business Partners