Monday, September 26, 2016

Mandarino Minutes for September 26, 2016

Dear Parents/Guardians,

Welcome to the start of the 4th week of school!  It is flying already!

itsLearning Parent Help Night-
Mrs. Dirlam will be offering her second parent help night this Wednesday, September 28th in the Upton Auditorium.  Please bring your child’s laptop and login information.  The session will run from 7:00- 7:30 P.M.


Free Tutoring-
Beginning tomorrow, Tuesday, September 27th, St. Joseph High School will offer free tutoring every Tuesday and Thursday from 3:00-4:00 P.M. in the high school media center.  The National Honor Society students led by Ms. Nita Nicholie will provide the tutoring.


6th grade Book Club-
Any 6th grader interested in joining the monthly book discussion can get an application from our media center.  This is done at their lunchtime the first Thursday of each month  The first book is Schooled by Godan Korman and this will be discussed on October 6th.  If you have a daughter/son that loves to read, please encourage them to join.



Builders Club 2016-2017-
Builders Club is back!  Builders Club is a community service group that encourages leadership, responsibility, and quality character traits.  See our bulletin board in the hallway by the conference room for pictures of our past projects and a list of our tentative ones for this year.  Our kick-off meeting is Wednesday, October 5th, 2:50 – 3:45 in the foods room.  We hope to see you there!


itsLearning App for Smartphones-

The itsLearning app for smartphones is currently designed for students.  If parents want to access itsLearning on a mobile device, they need to go through the internet browser and log in that way.  We have been told that itsLearning is working on developing a parent app.  When we hear that the parent app has been developed we will let you know.


Behavior at the Football games-
Please help us out by encouraging your daughter/son to not play the water bottle flipping game at our home football games.  Although it may seem like innocent fun it also can flip and hit someone accidentally.  If you are not sure what the water bottle flip challenge is you can go to youtube and see hundreds of clips on it or just ask you daughter/son. Thanks for your help! :)  


Late-Start Wednesday-
We will have a one hour delay this Wednesday, September 28th.  Buses will come one hour later and breakfast will be available starting at 8:15 A.M. at Upton.


Pictures this Thursday, September 29th-
Upton will have pictures this Thursday, September 29th for those students who were not able to make our start-up day.  Forms are available in the office.  We have announced this to our students as well. 100% of our students should get their pictures taken for their student ID's and the yearbook.


News team applications-
We have been advertising at Upton that we are looking for students interested in joining our news team as either a producer/technicician, camera person, or anchor.  Applications are in the media center and are due by this Wednesday, September 28th.  Mrs. Burnette will be leading this and can be contacted for more information.


Quote of the week:
"Associate yourself with people of good quality, for it is better to be alone than in bad company." - Booker T. Washington

Have a great week,
Mr. Mandarino

Tuesday, September 20, 2016

Mandarino Minutes for September 20, 2016

Dear Parents/Guardians,


itsLearning-

Directions on setting up your parent itsLearning portal can be found at:
https://www.sjschools.org/images/District/Using_the_itsLearning_Parent_Portal.pdf

Students needing passes to leave school-

When a student is leaving school a parent/guardian must come in to the school to sign them out. When the student returns back to school the student may sign themselves in.  We ask that a note be brought to the office in the morning and we will give your child a passport to leave at the time that you designate on the note.  We would prefer the note over a phone call message.

Help in the morning/printing-

If your son/daughter needs help from a teacher before school, please send them in with a note with the teachers name on it.  Our supervisors will then let them through to see their teacher.  Students should still enter the building through the usual student entrance.

Setting up a printer at home from your child's laptop-

Your daughter/son can get directions on setting up your home printer on the Upton Middle School itsLearning main page.  The directions are towards the bottom of the page.  If your child is not successful in setting it up, please have them come in before school and see one of our IT guys in the media center.


Bus Passes-

Bus passes must be submitted to the office by noon each day.  Two of our busses, Bus 1 & 20, can't have bus passes as these two buses are very full.  Bus drivers are not allowed to allow students on the bus that do not regularly ride with them.  Most transportation questions can be answered at 926-3900.


The "Joe Bots"


The 2016 Upton FIRST Robotics FTC team "The Joe Bots" is up and running. The Club has had a great turnout this year!  The club has 25 students and several parents helping this year.  Here is a link that can take you to their Facebook page:


Interact Club Meeting-

The first meeting of the Interact Club is tomorrow (Wednesday, September 21st) after school in the Upton Auditorium from 3:00-3:45 P.M.  This club is open to all interested 6-8th graders.  Any interested student should show up tomorrow and see what it is all about.  If you have any questions, please text Jackie Huie at (269) 930-1325.


Equestrian Club-

Those students interested in the St. Joe Equestrian team may contact advisor, Cindy Philip.  You may contact Cindy at cphilip@vbisd.org.


Spanish Club-

We will once again have an introductory and intermediate Spanish club.  The beginners will meet on Tuesdays beginning Tuesday, October 4th and the Intermediate class will begin on Wednesday, October 5th.  The classes will run from 3:00-4:00 P.M.  The classes will run for 10 weeks.  A handout is in the office for more information or you may contact Cynthia Ellspermann at:  cellspermann@sjschools.org

One-hour delay-

Tomorrow (Wednesday, September 21st) is our first one-hour delay of the school year.  Buses will arrive exactly one hour later, and breakfast will still be served.  We can still allow students to arrive at 7:15 A.M. for parents whose work schedule does not allow the students to stay at home one hour later.  One hour delay dates for September are:  9-21 and 9-28 & October dates are :  10-5, 10-12, 10-19, and 10-26.

UPTO-

We have our first UPTO meeting of the year this Thursday, September 22nd at noon.  Our UPTO does many wonderful things for the students of Upton Middle School.  The UPTO is still accepting your donations to them.  Remember, the Upton PTO does not do a selling fundraiser and depends solely on your donations. 

Car riders in the A.M.- 

Dropping off of students in the morning is a busy and crowded time.  Please have patience and allow extra time.  Please do not drop your students off in the road on Maiden Lane as this is very dangerous.  Observe the entrance and exit driveway signs, and let your student out as soon as you pull up - please do not wait to get to the end of the line for your student to disembark.  The driving line should be single line.  Students are also not to be picked up in the faculty lot on the north end of the building.

Picture Day for those that could not make Start-Up Day-

Next Thursday, September 29th will be picture day for those students who were not able to make it to Start-Up day.  We need every student to get their picture taken as we use this picture for our yearbook and their student ID.

Official Count Day-

The official count day for the State of Michigan this school year is Wednesday, October 5th.  Please try and have your child present all day on the 5th and please try to avoid out-of-school appointments on this day.  At the secondary level, students are counted each and every hour.  Thanks in advance for your help on this!

Deliveries During Class Time-

In order to eliminate interruptions to the educational time in the classroom, students should pick up forgotten items in the office between classes.  Please label the item with your son/daughter's name.

Community Corkboard-

Please visit the SJPS community corkboard at https://www.sjschools.org/sjps-parents/community-cork-board-district  This site has many various activities that are going on in Southwest Michigan.

Quote of the week:
"Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire." - William Butler Yeats

Have a great week,
Mr. Mandarino

Mandarino Minutes for 6-9-23

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