Kelly Middle School News
 February 27, 2015
In This Issue
Benito Juarez
Peace Jam Videos
ParentVue
Volunteer Sign In
Mark the Date
Honor Roll
OBOB
Superintendent Search
ACE Awards
Office Reminders
Quick Links
BEST+
Family Fun Night & School Play
On March 10, the BEST+ acting class will be putting on this year's school play, Alice in Wonderland. This is in conjunction with BEST+ Family Fun Night. If your student is or has been in BEST+, come out for free dinner and have a great time doing some of the activities we do in BEST+. Bring your family and get ready for a fun, free evening! BEST+ Family Night is right after BEST+ from 5:30-6:15, and the play starts at 6:30 and runs for approximately one hour. An email with more details and a RSVP form will be sent home soon.

9th Annual
Benito Juárez
Celebration
Please join us Friday, March 13 from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. for an evening of music and dance from around the world. Enjoy our authentic traditional Mexican dinner made by our very own Kelly parents. Food vouchers will be available for purchase at the front door. There will student presentations and performances from the Spanish Dual Immersion Enrichment program and the Ganas program. Along with performances from Won Tan Nara Drum & Dance Ensemble (Africa), a Tango Dance  (Argentina), Marima del Rio and Azucar Casino Rueda (Cuba).

 
Peace Jam Videos
The 7th grade Peace Jam class has created videos as part of our anti-discrimination project. Students created four short videos focusing on the kinds of discrimination and bullying we see the most in our community. We hope watching these will help inspire all of us to step up and be Super Students when we see others in need!
Click here to watch.


ParentVue
Did you know you can view your students grades and missing assignments online? To have access to ParentVue just contact the school office for your activation code. ParentVue is also available in the app store for both iPhones and Androids.


 

Volunteer/Vistor
Sign in System
The HelpCounter program is a very simple, user friendly program designed for the volunteer/visitor to sign in and out themselves. The program is housed on a computer in the front office. Background checks will now be required every two years and that process can now be done online. Just click here to complete that process if you don't have a current background check on file. 
Track Season is Almost Here!

Pick Up Your Track Packet in the Office

Track season will begin March 16! If you track runner think that your child might be interested in participating, please schedule a physical now. In order to be on the team, students must have a physical that is no more than 2 years old (dated no earlier than May 20, 2013). Call Terri Hunt in the front office if need you to check and see if we have a current physical on file for your student. Please get your packets in as soon as possible as this helps us to know how many students we will have on the track team.  We are allocated coaches based on the number of students on the team, so the sooner you get your packets in, the sooner we are able to secure coaching!
Mark the Date  
Band Concert . . . Mar. 4
Kelly Co-Pilots . . . Mar. 9
Food Drive Starts . . . Mar. 9
BEST + Family Fun Night & School Play . . . Mar. 10
Site Council . . . Mar. 11
No School; Trimester Grading . . .  Mar. 12
No School; Professional Development . . . Mar. 13
Benito Juárez Celebration . . . Mar. 13
Track Starts . . . Mar. 16
Food Drive Ends . . . Mar. 20
Early Release . . . Mar. 20
Spring Break . . . Mar. 23-27

 Kelly Calendar
On the front page of our website is the Kelly calendar. Our days off don't always match with the district calendar so please check our calendar for days off and other school activities.  
First Trimester Honor Roll
a+Achieving high marks takes a great deal of hard work, dedication, and a commitment to learning. Parental support and encouragement are also key elements in student success. Congratulations to the students for earning a distinguished place on Kelly Middle School's Honor Roll.  Click here to see who's made the grade so far this year.
Kelly OBOB Members

 

This year's Oregon Battle of the Books (OBOB) competition at Kelly was a tremendous success! Eleven student teams competed in reading comprehension "battles" with questions from an assortment of sixteen selected young adult novels. The student teams began competing during lunch periods on January 26th, and concluded with a culminating final battle between two 8th grade teams, "The Hairless Carrots," and "Burnt Toast" on February 20th. "The Hairless Carrots" won the Kelly final and will proceed to the OBOB middle school regional tournament at Willamette High School on Saturday, March 7th. Please come out and support our Kelly representatives at that regional meet! All of the students who participated in OBOB will also enjoy an ice cream party the week after the regional meet. Thanks again to all the students who participated in OBOB this year, and for the parents who came and volunteered to help run the battles. If you would like to see the details of how each of the Kelly teams faired during the school competition, please click on the link below to the online bracket that tracked the results of the battles. Thanks again and keep reading, students!

 

Smarter Balanced Testing
In April and May we will be administering the Language Arts and Math Smarter Balanced Tests. Most students will be tested in their Language Arts and Math classes. We have allocated the following testing windows for teachers to work within: Language Arts will have a window from April 20-30 with make ups the following week and Math will be from May 11-22 with make ups the following week. Please check out the 4J website which has many links and information about Smarter Balanced testing:   Click here
Superintendent Search
4j logo

Candidate Forum March 5

 

The Eugene School District is searching for a new superintendent. You're invited to meet and weigh in on the finalist candidates at a community forum on March 5. The finalists will be announced a few days before the forum.

 

Superintendent Candidate Community Forum

Thursday, March 5, 6:00-8:30 p.m.

4J Education Center Auditorium

200 N. Monroe St., Eugene 

 

At the forum, the finalist candidates will share information about themselves, then respond to questions. Community members in attendance will be asked to provide their input on the candidates.

 

What has happened so far: The school board is seeking to name a new superintendent this spring. Community input on the strengths and qualities desired in the district's next leader was gathered and used in developing the position description. A citizen screening committee reviewed applications, interviewed top candidates and recommended semifinalists to the school board. The board has selected a slate of semifinalists to interview and will announce the finalists on March 2. 

 

Click here to RSVP & invite friends

Click here for more information

ACE Awards

Nominate "A Champion in Education" Today! 

Who always makes a difference in your child's school day? An inspiring teacher? An encouraging school secretary? A dedicated volunteer? A principal who leads by example? A bus driver who always takes the time to listen? Now is the time to recognize their contributions through the annual ACE (A Champion in Education) Awards!   

 

To nominate a 4J employee or volunteer who demonstrates excellence in education, go to www.theaceawards.org. Every nominee will be honored at an awards ceremony in April, and one person in each category will win a $1,000 cash prize toward a project or program in their school.

 

Nominations must be submitted by March 8.

 

The ACE Awards are a collaborative effort of the Eugene and Springfield chambers of commerce and the Eugene, Bethel and Springfield school districts.  The program is presented by Oregon Community Credit Union and supported by others from the local business community.

Office Reminders
Do you need to pick your student
up early from school?  reminders
Parents, please send a note to school with your student with the reason they are leaving and time they need to be excused. They can show the note to their teacher to be excused from class and drop the note by the office to check out. If you forget to send a note or make an appointment that day please call a head to give us enough time to have your student waiting for.

Contacting Teachers 
Do you have questions about how your student is doing? You can reach teachers through an email or a phone call. Simply go to the CONTACT US page on the Kelly website. There you will find staff email addresses and phone numbers. You might want to bookmark our address and check it regularly. We post updates about school activities, have the calendar for the entire school year and provide other helpful information.