Miller News

Notes from Mr. Chapin
School Improvement Efforts:
Our state adopted a law commonly known as P.L.221 that is designed to foster improved student performance by Indiana students. Schools are required to develop and implement a school improvement and achievement plan. This plan must establish objectives for the school to achieve. These objectives must be consistent with the academic standards and include improvement in at least:
1. Attendance rate
2. Percentage of students passing the ISTEP exam

Our school is a long-standing member of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. This organization also requires a school improvement plan. Our involvement with NCA has helped our school meet the requirements of Public Law 221. We want to include parents and business leaders in our process as we work on this very important school improvement plan. We need parents and business- community leaders to review our strategies for improvement and meet with our teachers on the school improvement planning team to guide our efforts on behalf of your children.

Please call me if you can help with this very important process.


T-shirt sales to help the children of victims of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
Ask your child for the t-shirt order form to raise money for the 911 Victims Children's Fund. This is a district-wide campaign.


Yearbook Orders
Yearbook Ordering Day will be Friday, October 5. Students will NOT need to bring money on this day; they only need to know if they are purchasing a yearbook and how or if they want their book personalized. Students have the option of adding their name and a picture icon to the front of their book. The basic cost of the book is $20. Personalization is $5.25 for one line and $10.00 for two lines. The icons are $3.10 each. Parents will receive a bill from Jostens, and payment goes directly to the company publishing the book.


PARENT/TEACHER CONFERENCES
Please mark your calendars for the parent/teacher conferences scheduled for October 16, 2001, 12:30-4:00 p.m. and 5:30-8:00 p.m. This is an excellent opportunity to discuss your student's progress with all of his or her teachers. More detailed information on the format for the conferences will be sent home with your student the week before conferences. We hope you are able to attend.


FYI
MIDDLE SCHOOL HOURS
7:35 a.m. - 2:40 p.m.
*****
SCHOOL TELEPHONE
NUMBERS
24 Hr. Attendance
776-6258
Office 773-0782
*****
IMPORTANT DATES
Oct. 8 - fundraiser distribution
(small items)
Oct. 9 - fundraiser pick-up
(large items)
Oct. 9 - PTO Mtg. 7:00 p.m.
Oct. 12 - end of grading period
Oct. 16 - Parent/Teacher Conf.
12:30-4:00, 5:30-8:00pm
Students dismissed at 10:50.
Oct. 17- Half day.
Students dismissed at 10:50.
Oct. 18-19 - Fall Break
Oct. 24-25 - REALITY STORE
8th grade
Oct. 30 - Staff Development Day
Students dismissed at 12:00.


REALITY STORE
8th Graders will experience the Reality Store on October 24th - 25th as they LEAP Into the Future and learn basic skills in financial planning, goal setting, decision making, and career planning. Students will Learn about their career options, Evaluate their choices, And Plan appropriately for their future while "shopping" at the Reality Store.


The Middle School Tutoring Program 2001-2002
Purpose: To provide a structured tutoring program for middle school students utilizing a valuable resource of Noblesville High School students involved in various academic and community service organizations.

Have your child sign up with their Team Teachers. Students will attend the tutoring sessions beginning on Wednesday, October 3, 2001, in the Media Center at NMS. Tutoring sessions will be held every Wednesday -- attendance is required at a minimum of 4 sessions in order to participate in the tutoring program.

Parents must provide transportation from the tutoring sessions. Pick-up will be at the South Flagpole entrance at 4:00. For more information, contact Stan Rachowicz at 773-0782or stan_rachowicz@mail.nobl.K12.in.us.


TO PRAISE OR NOT TO PRAISE

Praise is powerful. It helps guide children through the small steps it takes to master new skills, motivate them to stay with difficult tasks, and build the self-confidence to take risks.
Not praising good behavior can actually lead to misbehavior and poor self-esteem.

Here are some guidelines for praising effectively.

1. Catch your child being good - don't save praise for "perfect" behavior.
2. Don't worry about spoiling your children with praise.
3. Increase praise for difficult children.
4. Be specific: Specific praise describes the behavior you like. Instead of saying "Good job," you would say "I'm pleased that you are remembering to feed the dog every day."
5. Show enthusiasm: Smile, make eye contact, give a pat on the back. Praise should be stated with energy and sincerity.
6. Praise only appropriate behavior.
7. Praise immediately: While delayed praise is better than none, the most effective praise is given within five seconds of the positive behavior.
8. Don't combine praise with commands or criticisms: Praise should be clear and without reminders of prior failures or requests for future performance.
9. Praise in front of other people.
10. If there are two adults in your family, discuss which behavior you want to improve and how you will reinforce it. With both participating, the learning will occur more quickly.



Readers Are Leaders
Parent Volunteers Needed
NMS is in need of two to four parent volunteers to help with our schoolwide reading program. The time commitment is approximately four to five hours a month. For more information or to volunteer, please contact Mrs. McGrath.


Destination ImagiNation
Destination ImagiNation is a creative problem-solving competition for students in grades K-12. Teams of 5-7 students learn brainstorming techniques, improvisation and teamwork skills while working together to solve one of the DI challenges. They enhance their solution by writing a play and making their costumes and props. Each challenge also contains technical elements which must be incorporated into their final presentation. ALL of the ideas and construction of the team's solution must come from the students. This is a great opportunity for students to develop their creativity and learn time-management skills. Teams meet weekly, adding extra work sessions as needed to complete their solution before competition. All teams go to a regional competition with advancing teams going on to state and (hopefully!) world competitions! Visit the web site at www.destination imagination.org. There will be a sign-up, information meeting held in the cafeteria at Noblesville High School at 7 PM on Monday, October 15. For mor


e information or if you are interested in coaching a team, please contact Carol Rea at 773-7267.


The next meeting of the PTO is scheduled for Tuesday, October 9, 2001 at 7:00 p.m. All parents are invited to attend.


Confidentiality Agreement:
School volunteers will, on occasion, have access to private information about students. Failure to respect and maintain student privacy will result in the loss of volunteer status.


Student Work:
It is the practice of our schools to recognize, reward, and often display exemplary student work. If, for any reason, you do not wish to have your child's work displayed for such purposes, notify the teacher and building principal immediately.


Team News
Ravens: The Raven students wrote goals for this school year during double instruction the week of September 17. The Raven team will be conducting student council elections on Friday, September 28, during double instruction period.

Eagles: The Eagle team just completed their first trip to the Outdoor Education Center very successfully. While half the Eagles were enjoying and learning about the Great-Out-of-Doors, the other half were celebrating the Walls of Respect in language arts class. Many, many expressions of respect were seen for the firefighters, police, and victims in our nation's recent tragedy. The Outsiders, a novel, should be seen at home during the next 2-3 weeks as we start our first required novel of the year.

Gold: The gold team is off to a great start this year. One highlight was the metric olympics during double instruction September 21. Winning students Chase, Kali, Chelsea, and Danielle best estimated their metric values at each station. Gold team students are looking forward to their field trip to the Cinedome October 2. Please call Mrs. Cole or Miss Harbaugh at 773-0782 if you would like to help out the team.


Congratulations to the 7th grade Lady Miller Volleyball Team! They are currently undefeated!


Important Athletic Dates
October 10, 2001 County Cross Country meet at Clay
October 11 & 13, 2001 County Volleyball meet at Fishers
October 22, 2001 Boys Basketball Tryouts Begin
October 24, 2001 Wrestling Call-out Meeting (6th grade @ NIS)
October 25, 2001 Wrestling Call-out Meeting (7-8 grade @ NMS)
October 25, 2001 Girls Basketball Call-out Meeting
Mid-December Swimming & Diving Call-out Meetings

Before students can try out for an athletic team at NMS, they must have on file in the athletic office a current physical examination form, an insurance release form, an athletic contract, and a parent-pupil permission form. A physical examination form is considered current for this school year if it is dated May 1, 2001, or after. Once these forms have been turned in and are on file, they are good for all NMS sports for the 2001-2002 school year. New forms do not need to be turned in for each additional sport in which students participate.