A few announcements

Hi folks,

With just a few days left before the Thanksgiving break, we wanted to share some announcements with you.

• 8th graders must return their Boston permission slips as soon as possible.
• Student Council is leading a Food Drive for the duration of this week. Please send your child it in with non-perishable goods that can be donated to the Milton Food Bank. In order to encourage participation, Student Council is going to reward the House that is able to bring in the most goods. Go House C!
• Orders from the fall fundraiser should be in this week.

Thank you and have a wonderful Thanksgiving break.

Portfolio Conferences This Week!

This is a reminder that our Student-Led Portfolio Conferences are happening this Monday (11/9) and Tuesday (11/10) between 4:00 and 7:00PM. The students have been working hard to prepare! We look forward to seeing you.

Personal Learning Plans

Dear Parents, Guardians and Students,

We are pleased to inform you of an exciting initiative that Milton Middle School is working on this year. Personal learning plans (PLPs) have been mandated by the state of Vermont as a key element of the Act 77: Flexible Pathways legislation. Beginning in the fall of 2015, students in grades 7 and 9 are required to have a personalized learning plan that documents their growth and learning as a student, identifies educational opportunities beyond the traditional classroom setting, supports student achievement of academic and personal goals, and demonstrates student proficiency with the Agency of Education’s Transferable Skills. Milton Middle School is embracing personal learning plans (PLPs) for all students in grades 6-8. This work will lay the foundation for the growth of their PLP as they progress through grade 12.

Using a Personal Learning Framework (see below), students explore their identity as learners, their supportive community relationships, and their academic and extracurricular goals. Additionally, students are given the opportunity to set goals, collect evidence of goal achievement, use technology to document and communicate their growth, and to explore opportunities of interest.

Each Milton Middle School student has initiated the process of developing his/her own PLP blog. This site is secure under the mymtsd-vt.org domain and the student has shared it with their House teachers and their adviser. We encourage you to ask your child about his/her blog. All students have written an About Me section and taken personality/interest/learning surveys. At our November conferences, the personal learning plan will serve as the basis for discussion with your child about his/her identity as a learner, his/her academic, extracurricular, and citizenship goals, and evidence of learning. We would also encourage you to come to the conference with your hopes and dreams for your child. From this meeting, students will continue to work on both long term and short term goals.

As we progress through the year, we will continue using the Personal Learning Framework to help guide your child toward completion of his/her goals, collection of evidence identifying his/her growth and learning, and reflection on the strengths and challenges he/she works on as a member of Milton Middle School. The work students do on their PLPs while in middle school will carryover into the work they do in high school.

In advance, thank you for supporting this important student work. Please feel free to contact us with any questions, concerns, or comments. We look forward to our November conferences and using the personal learning plan as a key instrument in your student’s educational program.

MMS Curriculum Team Leaders
Nathan Caswell
Marcel Choquette
Jana Fabri
Maria Gordon
Amy Johnson
Josh Roof
Joe Smith
Lauren Talbot
Catherine Thibault-Cote

Wear Blue for Colin

Greetings,

Next week marks one year since our learning community lost friend and student, Colin O'Neil. Colin was a member of the MTSD learning community since preschool and made a significant impact on all those who were lucky enough to work with and alongside him. We on House C were particularly fortunate to have him on our team for over two years. Some folks here have organized a "Wear Blue for Colin" day for next Tuesday 11/10. We're asking as many folks as possible wear blue on Tuesday to honor Colin and the warm memories we have of him. Thank you in advance for your participation.

Pie Fundraiser

Dear Families,

Take some of the stress out of Thanksgiving and let Milton Middle School bake an Apple or Pumpkin Pie for you this Thanksgiving. Pies are $15 and when you order from your child, $9.00 of it goes to his/her fundraising account. Your child can even sell more pies to friends and relatives and earn even more money for Boston. Pie order forms can be picked up from one of your child’s house teachers or in the front office.

Please note: All middle school students can sell pies and start earning money for their field trip account. Even though 8th grade may be a couple of years away, it is wise to start fundraising the $350 need for this trip now. Students should aim to raise $100 each year.

If your child is in 8th grade, they can help bake the pies and they will split the total of $4.00 times the number of pies we make. Therefore the more pies we sell, the more money your child can earn towards Boston. We will be baking pies after school on November 17th and 18th. We will need ten students for each day. Students can sign up for one of these days outside of Mr. Smith’s door beginning on Wednesday, November 4th.

If you have any questions, please contact Joe Smith at 893-5529.

Sincerely,

Joe Smith
House A - Consulting Teacher
Boston Coordinator
Milton Town School District Radio  http://miltonsdr.blogspot.com/p/home.html
(802) 893-5529