As I sit here at my desk, I am wondering to myself if this is really what I should be seeing outside on the last day of April??? Yet, let’s look on the bright side! It was not snowing all weekend and the temperatures were quite lovely! What can we say, we all chose to live in this great community, so we are just going to have to be thankful for the much needed precip. (and that we are working inside).
April has been a busy month full of activities, field trips, assessments and educational learning. Our students did a wonderful job of taking our newest state assessment seriously, and worked hard on the WY-TOPP this past week. Students came prepared and from what I observed as I passed from one classroom to another, did their best to show what they have learned over the course of the year, and in prior grades/classrooms. With this first assessment, we are unable to tell immediately how our students scored on proficiency, but following this initial exam in the coming years, results will be almost immediate. With these results, teachers will be able to work with the students for the time remaining in the present school year, as well as prepare their curriculum for the following year to include greater emphasis on areas of lower proficiency. We are excited about this new tool and believe it will help us greatly as educators in the near future.
Okay now, let’s talk about what is going on here at Evanston Middle School during the month of May. There are several activities both inside and outside of the classroom going on this month beginning with our Hispanic Dance students showing off their skills and dancing for most of UCSD #1’s schools on Thursday and Friday, May 3 & 4th. The students will then perform for the community during the Cinco de Mayo Fiesta on Saturday, May 5th. Good luck students with your various dances around the community this week. We also have three concerts scheduled for the month of May. Our strings students will perform at the Strings Pops Concert on May 14 at EHS at 7pm. The next concert will be on Thursday, May 17th, where Mr. Blackwell will conduct the Broadway & Movies band concert. Our choirs will finish off the EMS home concert series on Thursday, May 24th at 7pm. We look forward to having you here to support your amazing and talented students!!!
With the end of the school year comes the end of the track season. Friday and Saturday, May 4 and 5th will be the final meets of the season with sixth and 7th grade students going to Jackson, and those that placed during the year to Rock Springs on Saturday. Good luck in all your events! Teacher Appreciation Week this year is the week May 7-11. Please let your student’s teachers know how much you appreciate the time and effort they put into helping your students be successful. Students will only have a half day of school on Friday, May 11, as the teachers will be participating in professional development in the afternoon. Reading Rumble students who won the reading competition at their grade levels, will be treated to a lunch and bowling activity on Friday, May 18th. The following day, the EMS Jazz Band and Choir will load up early in the morning and head to compete with several other schools at Lagoon. We wish the best to our Jazz students and know that they will continue to bring home the hardware :). The final week of school will be May 28-June 1, with June 1st being a half day. Eighth grade students will finish off their middle school years by attending a BBQ and Recognition Program on Wednesday, May 30, then going to Lagoon on May 31st. The parents of the 8th graders have planned a dance for them, which will be held on the night of the 31st.
This has been an excellent year here at Evanston Middle School! We will miss the 8th graders, but look forward to having a new group of sixth graders transition in. This year’s fifth graders will be visiting our school and shadowing our sixth graders on Monday, May 14 and Wednesday, May 16th. We look forward to having them and helping them make the transition from elementary to middle school! Have an excellent summer with your kids!
