Mandarino Minutes for 1-31-17

Dear Parents/Guardians,

Equestrian Club Fundraiser for Upton & SJHS-
Tonight (1-31-17) at Silver Beach Pizza is a fundraiser for the SJPS Equestrian Club.  The fundraiser will work for both carry out and dine in.  The Equestrian club really appreciates your support!


Please keep her in your thoughts-
Peyton Wells, Upton Middle School 8th grader,  has Aplastic Anemia, and is undertaking a very involved and lengthy treatment. Peyton and her family will be working with Cincinnati Children’s Hospital.  We are going to have a box in the office for any student who would like to write a card of encouragement. Please keep her and her family in your thoughts.  Peyton is a wonderful young lady and we know she will battle!

Good luck MathCounts-
Our Upton MathCounts team under the leadership of Ms. Houseal will compete this Friday, February 3rd in the regional competition in Kalamazoo.  Good luck to Norah Judge, Athan Gregory, Anna Miesse, Adriana Pierangeli, Joe Paine, Ella Ott, Reese Uzelac, Justin Leany, and Harsh Gupta.

8th grade meeting next Wednesday, February 8th-
Please remember to mark your calendars for all 8th graders and parents next Wednesday, February 8th in the high school auditorium beginning at 6:00 P.M.  This meeting is very important.

No N.H.S. Tutoring tomorrow (2-1-17)-

Being the first week of a new semester we will not have after school tutoring tomorrow from our National Honor Society students. Tutoring will begin again next week.

Football Meeting-

Parent/Player meeting for all who are interested in playing football for St. Joseph in the fall of 2017.  Sunday, February 12th 7 P.M. in the St. Joseph High School Student Center.  This meeting is for all incoming 7th to 12th graders.  This meeting will include general information and calendar information.

Honor Roll Calculations-

Some of you have asked about how grade point average (GPA) is determined.  We use all yearlong and semester classes as well as the first two rotations in 6th & 7th grade.  We use the average of all the classes.  3.50-4.00 is the Maize Honor Roll and 3.00-3.49 is the Blue Honor Roll.  

Musical for Upton-

Upton Middle School Presents:  High School Musical JR. 

Rehearsals will start March 13th 

Auditions are March 16th and 17th 

Performances will be on May 12th & 13th, 2017.

Quote of the week:

“No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” 

- Eleanor Roosevelt

Have a great week,

Mr. Mandarino

Mandarino Minutes for 1-27-16

Dear Parents/Guardians,

The 1/2 Way Point-
We have reached the halfway point of the school year.  The students worked hard this week and hopefully they all reached their goals.  It has been a really good first semester for the students and staff.

Equestrian Club Fundraiser-

Tuesday night - January 31st is a fundraiser for our equestrian clubs at Upton and SJHS at Silver Beach Pizza.  Dine-in or Carryout.  Thanks for your support!

Respecting all People-
This Monday 1st hour for our 8th graders, 2nd hour for our 7th graders, and 3rd hour for our 6th graders our guidance department will be hosting an assembly.   The assembly is for inclusion and acceptance of students.  It will be a nice follow-up to our National Kindness Week.   

Honors Breakfasts-
The Honors breakfasts will take place on the following dates:
6th grade- February 28th
7th grade- March 2nd
8th grade- March 3rd
The honors breakfast will be based on the semester grade point average (GPA).  Our Maize Honor roll is for anyone that has a 3.5-4.0 GPA Honor Roll and our Blue Honor Roll is anyone that has a 3.0-3.49 GPA.

Friday quote-

"Wisdom, compassion, and courage are the three universally recognized moral qualities of men." - Confucius

Have a nice weekend,

Mr. Mandarino

Mandarino Minutes for 1-23-17

Dear Parents/Guardians,

Congratulations to our Upton Spelling Bee Winners-

Congratulations to:  

Anna Thompson-8th

Madison Klitchman-7th

Sumedh Anandha-7th

On February 13th they will attend the Cloverleaf Spelling Bee at Lake Michigan College and compete against other spellers in Berrien County.

Exams-
Just a reminder that our 1st semester exams are going on this week.  We have half-days on Wednesday (1st and 2nd hour exams), Thursday (3rd and 4th), and Friday (5th and 6th) with dismissal at 11:04 A.M.  We encourage your child/children to start looking things over now.  (Many have already started their review over the weekend!)

Test taking tips for parents

http://www.testtakingtips.com/parents/index.htm

Test stress: ten terrific test-taking tips

http://pbskids.org/itsmylife/school/teststress/article10.html

8th to 9th meeting for students and parents-
On Wednesday, February 8th we have a mandatory 8th to 9th grade student and parent meeting at St. Joseph High School beginning at 6:00 P.M. Here are a few of things that will be accomplished:

*Receive 2017-18 Scheduling Materials
*Learn about the High School Scheduling Process
*Meet Department Representatives
*Tour the High School 

8th grade Farewell-
If you are interested in helping with our 8th grade farewell on Friday, June 2nd please email Beth Christy at  beth.christy@yahoo.com  As John Heywood said, "Many hands make light work."

Your help please-
Please do not park in the staff parking lot after school.  We have had some issues with staff getting blocked in and some must get to coaching responsibilities or over to other schools.  We would prefer you park in the main lot.  Thanks for your help with this.

Marking your calendars for February-

Every Wednesday in February is a late start. (1st, 8th, 15th, and 22nd)  

Quote of the week-
"Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice and most of all, love of what you are doing or learning to do." - Pele

Have a great week,
Mr. Mandarino

Mandarino Minutes for 1-17-17

Dear Parents/Guardians,


Exams next week-
Just a reminder that we will have exams next Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday (January 25th-27th). Dismissal will be at 11:04 A.M. all three days.  It is never too early to start reviewing for these exams.


Scholastic Art Award Winners-
Upton Middle School had another great year at the Scholastic Art Awards!  Mr. Fralick once again had many student winners!  Congratulations on the 8 Gold Keys, 5 Silver Keys, and 13 Honorable Mention awards.  The winners in A,B,C order are:


Lauryn Arel, Mary Balbo, Alex Duell, Ellinore Edinger, Isabella Fernandez (3 awards), Mason Gedert (3 awards), Kate Gersonde (2 awards), Katalin Harter, Ellie Haunhorst (2 awards), Tiana Keeler (4 awards), Ella Ott (2 awards), Ashley Schlipp, Halee Sharkey, Gabby Shimulunas, Alexandria Smith, Jillian Tunnicliff, Sarah Ventimigila.


National Kindness Week-
Next week nationwide in schools all across the nation schools will participating in kindness week.  SJPS will also be participating.  We have several activities planned.  We would love your help at the end of the day on Friday, January 27th at 11:04 A.M. we are asking parents, grandparents, community members, etc. to line the exit and give the kids high fives as they exit the building.   Here is the website that tells more about this:  http://www.greatkindnesschallenge.org/


Equestrian Club Event-

      What:  A fundraiser for our Equestrian Club.

When: Tuesday, January 31^st, 2017

Where: Silver Beach Pizza, Downtown St. Joseph MI

What for: All funding proceeds will be used to support the Equestrian Team at the High School and Middle School level. Funds will specifically support:

o    show fees

o    travel

o    equipment

Planetarium Community Night-
This Thursday, January 19th beginning at 6:30 P.M. is a planetarium community night at UMS.  The show is called Legends of the Night Sky: "Orion".



NAEP (National Assessment of Educational Progress) for 8th graders-
Upton Middle School was randomly picked to participate in the NAEP test for our 8th graders on February 16th.  Only a random sample of students were chosen by the NAEP to particpate.  A letter will go home later this week with your son/daughter indicating that they were chosen.  Here is a website designed to tell you more about the NAEP :  https://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/parents/


MathCounts Team-
Congratulations to our 2016-2017 MathCounts team at Upton Middle School!  They are:
Norah Judge, Athan Gregory, Anna Miesse, Adriana Pierangeli, Joe Paine, Ella Ott, Reese Uzelac, Justin Leany, Harsh Gupta

They will compete Friday, February 3rd in the Regional Competition.  Good luck to them!

Community Corkboard-

Have you visited the community corkboard in the last month?  It contains information on an baseball sign-ups, upcoming girls softball camp, a program for tweens at the library, a youth film festival, etc.  The link is:  https://www.sjschools.org/sjps-parents/community-cork-board-district


Quote of the week-
"Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it."- Confucius

Have a good week,
Mr. Mandarino

Mandarino Minutes for 1-09-17

Dear Parents/Guardians,

Ski Club-
Ski Club begins today.  We ask that students put their items in the Blue Gym locker room before school on ski club days.  We have a boys and girls locker room for this storage.  We then lock the rooms during the school day.  Please stress to your daughter/son to follow Mr. Brown's time schedules for loading the bus both going to the ski hill and coming back.

Late Start-
We will have a late start this Wednesday, January 11th.  It will be the only late start for January.

From the Desk of the UPTO-

Happy New Year 2017!! The UPTO No-Show Fundraiser is still on-going! If you didn't get a chance or have the means to make a donation in the first part of the school year there is still time.  A suggested $20 donation per student is asked or whatever is affordable.  We would prefer NOT to go back to fundraising next year, but we have come $1000 UNDER budget so far this school year.  With still many committees needing funding please consider a donation!  Cash is fine or check made out to:SJPS turned into the office.  Thanks for all you do! 

Battle of the Books Correction-
The final battle date will be on Friday, February 24th in the media center in front of the whole 7th grade class.


Tutoring-
Beginning tomorrow we will now have free tutoring on Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 2:45-3:45 P.M.  On Tuesdays it will be adults from Peace Lutheran Church and on Wednesdays it will continue to be National Honor Society Students from SJHS.


Variety Show Tryouts-
This Wednesday, January 11th after school will be our variety show tryouts.  Mrs. Schrock is the contact person for more information.  We have told the students in a many ways.  A parent slip is in the office for those that did not grab one at our lunches last week.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day-

We will not have school next Monday, January 16th in honor of Martin Luther King Jr.

Quote of the week-

"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy." - Martin Luther King Jr.

Upcoming dates:

January 19th- 6:30 P.M. Planetarium Community Night- "Orion"

January 23rd- End of the Second Marking Period

January 25th-27th- Exams with dismissal at 11:04 A.M.

Have a great week,
Mr. Mandarino

Mandarino Minutes Post for 1-3-17

Dear Parents/Guardians,


Happy New Year! -
I hope your family has enjoyed this break!  It is always a good time to relax and recharge.  

Tomorrow's Return -
Tomorrow, Wednesday, January 4th we return to school.  It is a regular day tomorrow and not a late-start.

7th & 8th grade dance this Friday -
This Friday, January 6th from 6:00-8:00 P.M. is a 7th & 8th grade dance at Upton Middle School.  We ask that rides are ready at 8:00 P.M.   This dance is for Upton students only.  

Battle of the Books-

Get ready!  It’s time for the seventh-grade Battle of the Books!  This is a major event at Upton Middle School.  All the seventh graders split up into teams in their English classes as soon as we get back from break, and spend the next several weeks reading the battle books and earning points by working together on a variety of battle-related projects and competitions.  The team with the most points from each class goes into the final battle on February 23 in front of the whole school.  This competition has been held annually for over thirty years!

We are looking for donations for prizes (like candy, pencils, trinkets, small gift items, gift certificates in small amounts, etc.—best in matching groups of four, or money to purchase items like that) for the winning teams.  The grand prize winners usually go out to lunch at Schu’s, get a book from Forever Books and ice cream from Kilwin¹s.  Usually all the teams who compete in final battle get a gift bag with a gift certificate to the school book fair and goodies from around the community.  If you know a business that would like to donate a prize, or if you would like to donate prizes or money to purchase prizes, please let Kristen Robinson (kdrsault@yahoo.com) or Tina Morris (tmorris_tx@hotmail.com) know, or contact the media center at the school. 

1st Semester Exams around the corner-

First semester exams are approaching us fast.  We will have half days on our three exams days that take place on the following dates:

Wednesday, January 25th- 1st & 2nd hour exams

Thursday, January 26th- 3rd & 4th hour exams

Friday, January 27th- 5th & 6th hour exams

Dismissal on these days will be 11:04 A.M.  In 7th & 8th grade the exams account for 20% of their first semester grade. (40% 1st marking period, 40% 2nd marking period, and 20% semester exam) In 6th grade the breakdown is (45% 1st marking period, 45% 2nd marking period, and 10% semester exam)

Quote of the week-

“Your success and happiness lies in you. Resolve to keep happy, and your joy and you shall form an invincible host against difficulties.” - Helen Keller

Have a great week and new year,

Mr. Mandarino