NORTH MIDDLE SCHOOL Patriot News ~ December 2013

Phone 712-279-6804 FAX 712-277-5941 Jeanene Sampson, Principal Joni Swenson, Asst. Principal James Cline, Asst. Principal

From the desk of Jeanene Sampson, Principal: Just a few reminders from the principals office This time of year can get so busy for families with concerts, games, work schedules, holidays, etc. that keeping a schedule can be challenging at best. I know for my own kids, I am constantly checking the district website for the calendar of events and writing stuff down all the time. December is off the ground and running. Just a few reminders that will help keep our focus for the remainder of 1st semester. First semester ends on December 19th. Teachers will be finishing up grading and must have grades posted by 5:30 on December 19th. We will send report cards home the first week the students are back to school AFTER break. Common district assessments are given the last school week in December so remind your student to work hard to prepare all the way to the end!

Tuesday, Dec 3 Thursday, Dec 5 Saturday, Dec 7 Tuesday, Dec 10

6/7/8 Band Concert at 7:00 pm NMS/NHS/North Elementary Orchestra at NHS, 7:00 pm Barnes & Noble Book Fair at the Southern Hills Mall Choir Concert: 6th grade at 6:00 pm

7th grade at 7:00 pm

8th grade at 8:00 pm Tues-Thurs, Dec 17-19 Thursday, Dec 19

2nd Quarter Common Assessments

End of 2nd Qtr and 1st Semester

1 hour early out

Friday, Dec 20 Dec 23 - Jan 1 Thursday, Jan 2

for Winter Break

NO SCHOOL - Teacher Workday NO SCHOOL - Winter Holiday Break Classes Resumes, 3rd Quarter Begins

December 11 ~ 12 ~ 17 Wednesday ~ Thursday ~ Tuesday During lunch time

$15.00
Yearbooks MUST be purchased now so that they can be ordered. Students will receive their yearbook on the last day of school.

Wellness Tip:
Strive for a diet that emphasizes fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and fat-free or low-fat milk and milk products. Include lean meats, poultry, fish, beans, and nuts. Choose foods that are low in saturated fats, trans fats, cholesterol, salt, and added sugar. Regular physical activity is important for your overall health and fitness. It also helps you control body weight by balancing the calories you take in from food with the calories you expend each day. For more information, visit www.healthierus.gov/dietaryguidelines.

NMS Communication Tools for Parents

Do you have questions about your child's progress in school? Feel free to contact your childs team at the following times, Tuesday - Friday (due to shortened schedule on Mondays): 6th Grade: 2nd period, 9:06-9:51 7th Grade: 1st period, 8:17-9:02 8th Grade: 3rd period, 9:55-10:40 Visit us on Facebook:

Phone: 712-279-6804

Counselors are also available for your questions: Ms. Mendenhall Mrs. Pottebaum Ms. Greer 6th Grade 7th Grade 8th Grade

Fax: 712-277-5941

Sioux City Community Schools: www.siouxcityschools.org

From the Library:

Remember the Barnes & Noble Book Fair is December 7! It is also Educator Discount Day for those of you working in schools! Book Bash members will be there to wrap your BN presents for a free will donation. NMS artwork will be on display and there will be performances by our music students! Just say you are supporting North Middle when you check out. For online shopping, please use our ID number 10984680. The profit will be used to buy more books and Nook books in the library! Seventh graders are researching their favorite authors in the library. They are typing an essay and starting a visual project of their choice. The final step will be to create a bibliography using our database called NoodleTools. Some students have permission slips signed to check out a Nook to read books. Please encourage your children to return items on time and to pay or work off their late or lost book fees. The user name and password for our online databases (see www.siouxcity schools.org, find Our Schools and select North Middle ) are posted at school. These cannot be posted online but blue bookmarks are available with this info. Please encourage your children to visit the library website for great references sources; some are provided by our Northwest Area Education Agency. Examples include Culturegrams, Rosens CyberSmarts, World Book Online, Atomic Learning, EBSCO, SIRS, Soundzabound, Gale, Marshall Cavendish, Visual Thesaurus, FreedomFLIX and TrueFLIX. Again this year there are eBooks through MackinVIA! Over 700 are available at www.mackin.com/via or on the library web site. Contact Ms. Sweeney or Mrs. Jarman if you have questions.

Save these for North Middle!

HY-VEE RECEIPTS BOX TOPS FOR EDUCATION PULL TABS TYSON A+

Please save your Hy-Vee receipts for the North Middle Library. For this school year, they must be dated August 15, 2013 May 1, 2014. Do NOT send fuel, gas, stamp, money order, Western Union, lottery, Quest, MidAmerican, bottle refunds, or gift card receipts. For every $100 worth of receipts we collect, we receive one dollar from Hy -Vee. Dont wait until May, because if they reach the limit of giving, no more receipts will be taken next spring. We have collection boxes in the library for Hy-Vee, BoxTops for Education (for Mrs. Pedersens classes) and pull tabs for the Ronald McDonald house.

We are now saving Tyson A+ Support Your School labels in the library! These may be found on many Tyson products just cut the label out and drop them off in the library! Tyson products help give kids and families the protein they need for the busy back -to-school season. And Tyson Project A+ product labels can turn every purchase into cash for your school. Every label = 24!

North Middle Library

Barnes & Noble Bookfair

Supporting the

Barnes & Noble Bookfair

Saturday December 7 Barnes & Noble - Southern Hills Mall 4400 Sergeant Rd Sioux City, IA 51106
Check out our NMS artwork, have Barnes & Noble gifts wrapped and listen to some music! The more you buy, the more profit we get for books and Nook books in our library!

North Middle Library Saturday December 7 Barnes & Noble Southern Hills Mall

Bookfair ID Number 10984680

Please present this voucher prior to making your purchase. A percentage of the net sale will be contributed to your school/ organization.*

Cant attend our book fair at Barnes & Noble?

Visit BN.COM/bookfairs to support us online from 12/7/13 to 12/12/13 By entering Bookfair ID 10984680 at checkout.
Purchase Online until December 12
*The purchase of gift cards, Barnes & Noble memberships, textbooks, magazine subscriptions, video games, digital content, purchases made at Cafs owned and operated by Starbucks, and other items Barnes & Noble may exclude from time to time in its sole discretion are not eligible for bookfair sales. Institutional discounts may not be applied. See BN.COM/bookfairs for more details and to shop online.

A percentage of your Barnes & Noble purchases will benefit our school/organization.

Nondiscrimination Statement The Sioux City Community School District is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer. It is an unfair or discriminatory practice for any educational institution to discriminate on the basis of race, creed, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, religion, age, disability, socioeconomic status, or veteran status in any program or activity. Inquiries or grievances regarding compliance of Title VI, Title VII and Title IX of the Civil Rights Act, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Iowa Code sections 216.9 and 19B.11 may be directed to Marilyn Charging, Director of Educational Equity and Student Activities at 627 4th Street, Sioux City, IA 51101, (712) 279 6075.