KESLING PTSA NEEDS YOU!

Looking for 6th and 7th Grade Parents to Join PTSA

Officers Needed

Kesling PTSA is looking for parents or teachers who would like to take a leadership role for the 2014-2015 school year.  Officer's positions are available and elections will be held in May.

If Interested, please advise Bill Wilmsen, Principal or Randa Magill, PTSA President prior to the May 7, 2014 meeting.

Thank you

The family of two of our Kesling students recently lost everything in a house fire. What happened next was a perfect example of how a community can come together in a time of need. Through hard work and donations from many staff and community members, the family is now settled in a new home with all of their immediate needs met. We would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their kindness. The family is very appreciative of the support they have received. Thank you all!  

8^th Grade Dance

When:  Friday, May 16^th, 2014 from 6:30 – 8:30

Where:  KMS Cafeteria

 The 8^th Grade Dance is fast approaching and we would like you to know what is expected in terms of attendance, attire, and behavior. A letter with all the details of the dance was given to students to take home on March 14^th.

 Students must be in attendance the entire school day in order to attend the dance that evening.

• Attire for the dance:

               Boys: Dress Pants, Shirt and Tie or Casual Pants and a Nice Shirt. No Tuxes please.

               Girls: A Dress, Skirt, or Pants Outfit, NO STRAPLESS DRESSES

Dress straps must be a minimum of 1 ½ inches wide. The length of the dress must be longer than the finger tip of the hand as the student places her arm and hand at her side.

• The school dress code is still in effect (page 11 in the student planner).
• No limos, horse drawn carriages, etc. This is not prom – please save that for the high school years.
• The dance is for 8^th grade Kesling students only. There is no charge to attend.
• There will be a photographer at the dance to take pictures. Picture envelopes will be handed out about a week prior to the dance.

 Proper school behavior is expected from students to be eligible to attend the dance. We will closely monitor student behavior in the weeks prior to the dance.

The following misbehaviors will exclude a student from the dance:

• A placement on the ICU list
• Any out-of-school suspensions (OSS)
• Two or more ISS placements and/or teacher detentions**

**This means any combination of 2 = Two ISS; Two Teacher Detentions; or 1 ISS + 1 Teacher Detention

• A new or secondary placement into Project ED

 This behavior policy includes the time period beginning on Monday March 17^th, 2014, until the day of the dance. Students will be monitored and notified if they are not allowed to participate. A letter will be distributed early in May to students that cannot attend the dance because of discipline issues or their placement on the ICU. Students will have the opportunity to remove themselves from the ICU list until the end of the day on Wednesday, May 14, 2014. Otherwise, students on the list will not be able to attend.

If you have any questions, please contact the Kesling Student Council sponsors – Margie Hawkins or Cindy Ault.

Considering the number of days we have missed school this year, to date, it is necessary to adjust our calendar and, in some cases, the length of our school day, in order to meet the 180 day instructional requirement set forth by the state of Indiana. Because of the number of schools, statewide, that have had to cancel classes, the state has granted options for “make-up” time that have not been granted previously. The following plan reflects the make-up schedule for LPCSC. In the event that additional snow days are necessary, a revised plan will be added.

The plan addresses the need to make up 5 school days that, as of March 10, 2014, are necessary to be made up. It is important to realize that some urgency exists to begin make-up hours, considering that it is possible that additional snow days may accumulate. In designing the plan, an effort was made to avoid students having to attend classes after our June 8, 2014 graduation date. Another interest was to schedule some of the extended days, so we could use the time for ISTEP review. In cases where the daily schedule is altered, it is done so by adding one hour to the existing day, considering that 6 extra hours equates to one make-up day.

Thank you for your support, commitment, and sacrifice that will benefit students at Kesling Middle School Attached is the Make-up plan for Kesling Middle School.

Kesling Snow Make-up Plan - Updated 4-14-14

Kesling Academic ICU Program

During the 2013-2014 school year we have worked very hard as a staff to hold students accountable for their own learning. We are very excited about the implementation of the next step in the process of having students take ownership for what they need to complete to be successful in school. We have named this program the Kesling Academic ICU program. ICU stands for "Intensive Care Unit." In this case, the student’s academic grade is in need of intensive care to become academically healthy. In the next few weeks, we will start a data base tracking system where all staff will input student missing assignments into the ICU data base. Once the assignment is entered into the system, parents will get an automated e-mail or text message from the teacher letting them know what assignment is missing. Parents will get a second e-mail or text message once the assignment has been completed. In addition, we will be implementing various opportunities before school, during school, and after school, to place the supports needed to give students additional help to become academically healthy. Students who have multiple assignments missing may be excluded from attending after school functions, Fun Nights, or participating in extra-curricular activities until the student is taken off the ICU list by completing the missing work that is considered quality work by the teacher. We believe the implementation of the Kesling Academic ICU program will help all students become proficient in the Indiana Academic Standards in all subject areas. Please do not hesitate to contact your child’s teacher, a counselor, or administrator, regarding the ICU program.

WORK ETHIC

The Work Ethic program was developed to inform students of the characteristics that are valued by potential employers.
This program is voluntary, and encourages the traits and habits that are often looked at by employers when they are considering hiring a person. Participants are expected to do community service, have good attendance and good behavior, and show responsibility, cooperation, punctuality and respect for others. 

The hope is that the program will help students develop the habits needed to be a good employee, and, at the same time, help them set and reach goals for achievement in school.  Students who fulfill all of the requirements of the program will receive a certificate at the awards ceremony in May.

IMPORTANT DATES:

September 26:   Meeting to inform students about the program

October 3:   Deadline for turning in Intent-to-Participate forms (signed by parent and student)

January 17:   Deadline for submitting minimum of 3 hours of verified Community Service

March 21:   Deadline for submitting any additional hours of Community Service

After the January deadline, we will begin to review records to determine if students are still eligible in the areas of grades, attendance and discipline. In late March or early April we will begin the process of evaluation of students by teachers in the areas of punctuality, respectfulness, teamwork, and organization. The students will have a deadline to meet at this time. (This deadline will be announced later.)

Students who expressed an interest were given a parent information flyer in which the program was explained more specifically.

New School Colors!

The school board has approved for both middle schools to change their school colors to match the high school. The reasons for the change are for parents and students to save money purchasing items that will be black and orange, community cohesiveness from both middle schools using the same color, and for our school corporation to align with other DAC schools that have colors the same from middle to high school. The process for change will take approximately five years to complete. So, there will be a transition time that will include some things being blue and gold for a few years and new items, clothing, or uniforms purchased from now on being changed to the black and orange. We appreciate your patience in this transition time period and if you have any other questions contact an administrator at Kesling Middle School.

GenerationOn

Congratulations to Cindy Ault, Margie Hawkins and the KMS Student Council with the assistance of Carolyn Redlarczyk and all Kesling Staff for being recognized as a GenerationOn School for the 2012-2013 school year. Thank you for all of your hard work and dedication in helping students understand compassion towards others through the various service learning projects during the school year.

Homework Help

Where:  Room 31 (Read 180)

When:  Tuesday & Thursday

Time:  2:45 to 3:30

Who:  All Kesling Students!

Needed: Homework or Class Project, Textbook, Paper & Pen/Pencil

Rides should be prearranged and at Kesling promply at 3:30!

As families go shopping for school clothes, we want to make sure that all parents and students are aware of some changes to the Kesling student dress code.  The two biggest problems we have had regarding student dress is shorts and skirts that are too short and the wearing of pants and shorts that sag and not secure around the waist.  Therefore, the following changes have been made to the Kesling handbook.

Students wearing skirts or dresses (if shorter than the knees) to school must have on leggings (not shorts) under the garment.  The length of any shorts worn to school must be at the mid thigh of the student.  Any shirts worn to school must have sleeves.  Pants must be of appropriate size that match the stature of the individual and must be worn at the waist. NO holes in pants between the waist and knees.

We appreciate everyone following the student dress code, as it will be strictly enforced.  Students will be asked to change clothes to meet the dress code guidelines.  Working together as a team, we are confident that the dress code will be followed and that this will be another great year at Kesling.

From the IDOE for the 2013-14 School Year: 2 Varicella Vaccines for students in grades K-12

This is a change for students in grades 3, 4, and 5. Physician documented history of disease will be required for students in grades K-5. Parent documentation of chickenpox history is acceptable for students in grades 6-12.
 

Attached is a newsletter that "provides busy parents with practical ideas that promote school success, parent involvement, and more effective parenting".

 

Middle Years - April Issue

Rose-Hulman's Homework Hotline provides FREE math and science homework help to Indiana students in grades 6-12. Students may contact the Homework Hotline from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. (Eastern Daylight Time), September through May toll-free at 1-877-ASK-ROSE or online at www.AskRose.org.

ask rose hotline

Please click on the icon below to access information about reporting problems at Kesling Middle School.

Hotline Information

Dear Kesling Parents,

The Kesling online event calendar provided by DynaCal is used to communicate school, athletic events, announcements, updates and more. There is a feature in the DynaCal system called My DynaCal. This feature offers instant communication by sending you emails and/or mobile phone text messages* in case of cancellation, postponement, or rescheduling of an event.
 

My DynaCal is easy and simple to set up. As an attachment at the bottom of this letter you can find more details about DynaCal and how to setup the My DynaCal feature.
 

By setting up a My DynaCal profile you will be able to:
• Enter your contact information
• Select which types/categories of events you would like to receive notifications about
• Create customized views of school events, based on what your children are involved
• Create multiple calendar views based on each child’s involvement
• Share those calendar views via email with anyone that would like your child’s schedule
 

You can access My DynaCal at www.dynacal.com/lpcsc .  We hope you find this information helpful and the service beneficial to keep you informed. 
 

Sincerely,
Bill Wilmsen
Principal, Kesling Middle School

*Mobile carrier charges may apply for text message alerts. Be sure to verify your text message options and rates on your mobile plan.
 

Instructions for My DynaCal