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

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:

Joe Bots Face Book 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 6-13-16

Dear Parents/Guardians,


A Great Year-
The staff and I would like to thank you for a great year at Upton Middle School! We had many accomplishments and highlights to celebrate! We are proud of the our students and the hard work they put forth.  Our staff also worked very hard to get your student/s ready for the next level! 

8th grade Laptop pickup-
If your daughter/son purchased their laptop they are available to pickup this week from 8:00 A.M.-12:00 P.M. and 1:00 P.M.-3:00 P.M. daily.  Please come in the main office and Mrs. Bolt, Mrs. Dongvillo, and Ms. Dongvillo are happy to assist you.

Will Henry's School Record-
Will Henry broke a record in track that was an Upton record for over 23 years!  Will broke the 200 Meter run record.  This accomplishment was accidentaly left off the list at 8th grade farewell.  This was a very huge feat!  Congratulations to Will and it will be great to see what he will do at SJHS!

Missing library books, textbooks, etc.-
If your son/daughter has a textbook or library book, please return that to the office by Tuesday, June 21st.  We would really appreciate it!

Report Cards & NWEA scores-
Report cards and NWEA results from this school year will be mailed out late this week or early next week.

Last Quote of the Year-
"Summer afternoon, summer afternoon; to me those have always been the most beautiful words in the English language."- Henry James

Have a great summer,
Mr. Mandarino

Summer afternoon, summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language.
Read more at: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/summer.html

Summer afternoon, summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language.
Read more at: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/h/henryjames389273.html?src=t_summer

Summer afternoon, summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language.
Read more at: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/summer.html

Mandarino Minutes for 5-31-16

Dear Parents/Guardians,
We hope you had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend!  The weather really cooperated for family gatherings, the Senior PGA tour, and all other outdoor activities!

Library Books are due-
All UMS library books are due back to the media center.  Please encourage your daughter/son to return all materials to the media center at their earliest convenience.  Thanks for your help with this!



Blood Drive at UMS-
The Upton Builders Club is hosting a Michigan Blood Drive on June 7th from 1:00 P.M. – 6:00 P.M.  If you donated here in the past, we are hoping you will consider helping us out again. If this is the first time we would love if you could help.   If you can donate at this time, please visit https://donate.miblood.org/donor or contact me at shunnell@sjschools.org to schedule an appointment. 



8th grade Laptop payments-
If you are planning on purchasing your son/daughter's laptop, please try and make this payment by Friday, June 10th (a week from this Friday and the last day of school) so that we can make sure that we can return the laptop to your son/daughter in a timely fashion.


Exam Schedule-
Exams in 7th & 8th grade are 20% of their 2nd semester exam, and in 6th grade they are 10% of their 2nd semester grade.

The semester grade is calculated as follows-
7th & 8th grades:   3rd marking period (40%), 4th marking period (40%), 2nd semester exam (20%)= 100%
6th grade: 3rd marking period (45%), 4th marking period (45%), 2nd semester exam (10%)= 100%

Tuesday, June 7th-  5th hour exam (All students)  6th hour exam (6th grade only)
Wednesday, June 8th-  1st and 2nd hour exams
Thursday, June 9th-  3rd and 4th hour exams
Friday, June 10th- 6th hour exam (7th and 8th grade only) 
6th graders will taking part in their annual track meet
Note:  Our exam schedule is not exactly like St. Joseph High School


Awesome Choir Concert-
Our Upton choirs really performed well last week at their Spring concert!  The salute to Broadway was very entertaining and fun to watch!  Mrs. Gray-Roll really had the students well prepared! :)



Sideline Cheerleader Information-
HS SIDELINE CHEER TRYOUTS ARE UPCOMING
Material Clinics May 31, June 1, and June 2
Meet the coaches, gather materials for evaluations, and learn material in a no pressure environment.

Tryouts are June 14 and June 15

For more information visit the cheer website at www.stjosephcheer.org



Report Cards-
Report cards and NWEA test results will be mailed out sometime later in the week of June 13-17th.


Upton Start-Up Day Early Reminder-
The date for the 2016-2017 school year Upton Start-Up day is Thursday, August 25th 9:30 A.M-3:00 P.M. or 5:30 P.M.-8:00 P.M. This is once again an open house format. 


Sports Physical Reminder for Wed., June 1st-
What:  Athletic Physicals
When:  Wednesday, June 1st. Ladies at 5:00 P.M. and guys at 6:00 P.M.
Where:  St. Joseph High School Fieldhouse
How much:  $30 per student or $45 for 2 or more people in the same family
More info.:  Please bring a parent with you as it does require some parent signatures.  Forms are available at the athletic office.



Quotes of the week:
"Remember, happiness doesn't depend upon who you are or what you have; it depends solely upon what you think." - Dale Carnegie

"There is no such thing as a self-made man.  You will reach your goals only with the help of others."- George Shinn

Have a great week,
Mr. Mandarino

Mandarino Minutes 5-26-16

Dear Parents/Guardians,


Sports Physicals for the 2016-2017 School Year-
What:  Athletic Physicals
When:  Wednesday, June 1st. Ladies at 5:00 P.M. and guys at 6:00 P.M.
Where:  St. Joseph High School Fieldhouse
How much:  $30 per student or $45 for 2 or more people in the same family
More info.:  Please bring a parent with you as it does require some parent signatures.  Forms are available at the athletic office.




Equestrian Club-

Our Equestrian team did an amazing job at this past weekend. These 7 girls participated in the B division which equals 42 different classes. The team spent 14.5 hours on Sunday showing in the wonderfully hot weather. We had a great group of parents and family members supporting them and making sure that everyone had a fun and safe time. Our girls took 2nd place in the division with many of the girls placing first in their individual classes. They had a lot of fun, were exhausted and sunburned, but they represented Upton in a very positive way. Also - a quick shout out to Mr. Catania for coming out to support and cheer our team on!!

Cheer Information-
Please click on this link for Cheer information on a parent & athlete meeting for cheerleading:
Cheer Informational PDF


Battle of the Books vs. Lakeshore-
Congratulations to our 7th grade battle of the books team that took on Lakeshore Middle School's top team today for the battle of the castle.  The castle gets to stay at the winning school's media center.  Thankfully the castle stays at Upton!  Mrs. Gressley's winning team consists of:
Lauryn Arel, Hannah Blazina, Anika Bethem, Paige Dahlen, Ella Ott, and Abby Peterson

Summer Reading-
Below is a link of book suggestions and a website about summer reading tips for parents.  Thanks to Mrs. Humes for putting this together! :)

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Jfwra1AHTFqVQIFE58GeAI_VTDf7Jmr-_YOehMmqRYg/edit?usp=sharing

Quote of the day:

"Your attitude, not your aptitude, will determine your altitude."- Zig Ziglar

Enjoy the Choir concert this evening,

Mr. Mandarino

Mandarino Minutes for 5-23-16

Dear Parents/Guardians,


8th grade reminders-

• Please continue to bring in payments for the laptops to the office if your daughter/son wishes to purchase their laptop.  The IT department is willing to look over the computer to see if everything is in working order and also to test the battery.  Your son/daughter can bring their laptop down to the media center each morning at 7:30 A.M. for the check-up.
• Please bring in a young picture of your son/daughter. Please put their name on the back of the picture and the picture cannot be returned.
• Please no limos at 8th grade farewell on Friday, June 3rd.
• A dvd order form will be coming home tomorrow (Tuesday, May 24th) for those wishing to order an 8th grade farewell memory dvd.

The Lion King Jr.-

If you viewed The Lion King Jr. this past weekend you couldn't help be inspired, entertained, and awed at the talent that was displayed on the Upton stage.  The kids did such a wonderful job!!!!!  The music, acting, and costumes were really outstanding!  Congratulations to the 40+ kids, Director Strayhorn, and Assistant Director Mrs. Gray-Roll.

Lory's Place Walk and Run-

A huge shout out to all of our runners & walkers from Upton Middle School!  Upton won the School Spirit Award for having the most participants in the race.  We are very proud of this as we did this race in memory of Madie Flores.  Here are the results of the race:  https://runsignup.com/race/results/?raceId=15568#resultSetId-37527.  In the boys 11-14 division Upton finished #1-5.  1st place- Ayden Moyer; 2nd place- Andrew Moyer; 3rd place- Drew Nisbet; 4th place- Ethan Murrin; and 5th place- Will Christy.  In the girls 11-14 division Upton finished #2-5.  2nd place-  Claire LeValley; 3rd place- Grace Koch; 4th place- Abby Peterson; and 5th place Jillian Tunnicliff.  In the adult divisions, Mr. Maier, Ms. Houseal, and Ms. Greissinger all took home 1st place finishes as well.

SJPS Golf tournament-

On Saturday SJPS hosted the 4th annual K-8th grade St. Joseph Public Schools Golf Outing.  Thanks to Mr. Walters for once again directing this nice and fun opportunity for our kids!  

Boys winners:

1st place- Ryan Guzzo

2nd place-  Mitchell DeFrancesco

3rd place-  Seth Bergman

4th- Cameron Dirlam

Girls winners:

1st place- Abbey Marohn

2nd place-  Megan Guernsey

3rd place-  Maya Hunter

4th- Lisa Lehner

One-hour delay-

This Wednesday, May 25th is a district one-hour delay.  Buses will come one hour later and breakfast will still be served at Upton.

Upton Spring Choir Concert-

This Thursday, May 26th at 7:00 P.M. will be the Upton Spring Choir Concert at the SJHS auditorium.  It will be a great concert!

Quotes of the week:

“Starting strong is good.  Finishing strong is epic.” -  Robin Sharma

“Hold faithfulness and sincerity as first principles.” - Confucius

Have a great week,
Mr. Mandarino

Mandarino Minutes for 5-16-16

Dear Parents/Guardians,


Great Technology Festival-

The Ren Baldwin Technology Festival was another success!  Mrs. Dirlam really directed a first-class operation. :)  We would also like to thank Mr. Parsons, Mrs. Humes, Mrs. Bacolor, and our entire IT team.  I would also like to thank the teachers who encouraged and assisted the many awesome entries.  The grand prize winner for Upton Middle School was Anna Gaishin for her project "Curious Sparks".  First place winners included:  Rachel Hopkins, Lucas Adent, Chloe Russell, Lily Cui, Cherese Jordan, Anthony Orozco, Laura Wolf, Anna Gaishin, Sean Thursby, and Cailynn Junk.

Link to the 2016 Festival Website:  https://sites.google.com/site/2016renbaldwintechfest/

Warning:  You may be watching for hours!!! :)

Book Fair-

Just a reminder that we have the Scholastic Book Fair happening all this week. Kids can shop and parents are welcome to stop by as well. The book fair is open from 7:15 A.M. –3:45 P.M. daily. 

The Lion King Jr.-

This Friday, May 20th at 7:00 P.M., Saturday, May 21st at 7:00 P.M., and this Sunday, May 22nd at 3:00 P.M. is the Upton musical, The Lion King Jr.  We have many excited students ready to put on a great show! Tickets are:  Adults $7, Seniors $5, and students $3.  More information is available at:  www.sjmusicalboosters.com


Spring Concerts this week and Next-

Wednesday, May 18th Upton Band Concert 7:00 P.M. at the SJHS Auditorium
Thursday, May 19th Upton Orchestra Concert 7:00 P.M. at the SJHS Auditorium
Thursday, May 26th  Upton Choir Concert 7:00 P.M. at the SJHS Auditorium

8th grade Farewell-

We would love your help!  Any parent/guardian that would like to help with 8th grade Farewell please contact Beth Christy at beth.christy@yahoo.com  or 

Beth Mosher at beth.mosher@comcast.net  

8th graders going into 9th grade Volleyball-

All rising freshman interested in volleyball a meeting will take place on Thursday, May 26th from 6-7pm in the high school field house.  

Swimming for 8th grade girls entering 9th grade-

Attention all 8^th grade girls:

Ever been on a swim team before? Or maybe you want to try a new sport in high school? Either way,  girls’ swimming is the sport for you. If you’re interested in swimming in the fall of 2016, please come to a recruiting meeting on May 25 at 3:00 PM in the high school student center. You’ll have the opportunity to meet girls on the team and ask questions, as well as tour the pool and locker rooms. If you have any questions, please contact Lindsay Marohn at (269) 208-7755. We hope to see you there!

Quote of the week-

The Elimination Diet-  "Remove anger, regret, resentment, guilt, blame, and worry. Then, watch your health, and life improve. "  -  Charles F. Glassman

Have a great week, 

Mr. Mandarino