I hope you all are enjoying the first few days of summer vacation! The honk-out was wonderful for the 6th graders last week, and I wish them all the best as they move on to Lurgio in the fall.
New Updates:
Excel Math:
McKelvie Intermediate School offers a program for 6th grade students with exceptionally strong math skills known as Excel Math. This course is a compacted program of sixth and seventh grade mathematics offered within one year. Students who qualify for Excel demonstrate that they are ready for a significantly increased level of instructional rigor and pacing by showing mastery in basic math skills and mathematical thinking tasks. Historically, these students can be categorized as possessing:
· High motivation and willingness to accept new challenges
· Excellent study and organizational skills that allow them to work independently
· Abstract reasoning
· A love of mathematics
Regardless of whether or not a student qualifies for Excel in sixth grade, families will be able to decide the level of acceleration in grade 7.
The screening process will take place within the school day, here at McKelvie Intermediate School. Decisions will be made after the entire process is complete and you will receive notification of the results. Screening for Excel placement includes quantitative reasoning, basic number sense, spatial reasoning, and problem solving skills.
Students who do not enroll in the 6th grade Excel program are still eligible for the Math Apps program. This program offers extra support and enrichment to excellent math students. Furthermore, all students in grade 6 will start to use a different math program from previous years, called BIG IDEAS. This program is continued through our complete Pre-Algebra and Algebra progressions at Lurgio Middle School. Most students find this program challenging!
If you feel your child may be a potential candidate for the Excel screening and you would like him/her to participate in these assessments, complete the form below. If you have questions, please discuss them with your child’s math teacher.
Please refer to this website for an FAQ for the placement process.
Please only submit this form once for your child. The form will be active for the remainder of this week. You will receive an email next week with specific details of your assigned testing day.
A Message for Incoming 7th Graders:
Click HERE for a message regarding athletics at RAL.
Library News:
Your child should have received a second email, sent to their school email address, from the "McKelvie Intermediate School Library." This email lists the books and textbooks that they currently have checked out from the school library. The email is a friendly reminder of what needs to be returned to our school library on June 8th-11th. Please do not worry that the books are overdue at this point. I am looking forward to seeing your smiles next week. Please see Mrs. Asdot's memo for additional information about this scheduled process. Thank you for encouraging your child(ren) to be on the lookout for this email communication.
Congratulations to the 2020 Great Stone Face Award Winner! New Kid by Jerry Craft received the greatest number of votes out of the 20 nominees. New Kid also received the John Newbery Award in January! This is the first graphic novel to win this prestigious award since the origination of the award in 1922! Congratulations, Jerry Craft. Stay tuned for the sequel to New Kid being released soon! It is titled Class Act and is due out in October. Thank you, McKelvie for participating in this statewide vote!
Be sure to visit the McKelvie Library Summer Reading web page. The purpose of this web page is to promote reading for pleasure and will provide some resources which can be accessed! Click HERE to view this web page. This page will be under construction throughout the summer.
I wish you all a safe and happy summer filled with great reads! ~Mrs. Cote
Reminders:
Report Cards:
Report cards are now available online.
Chromebooks/Student Belongings:
Chromebook Drop Offs continue this week. Click HERE for details on which day to drop off your child's Chromebook and pick up his/her belongings.
Chorus Signups:
Chorus Sign Ups for the 20/21 school year are open. Click HERE for details.
Remote Recital for Band:
I hope you all have a wonderful summer!
Jen Asdot
