FEBRUARY DATES

Please take a moment to mark your calendars. The following are important dates that you don’t want to miss for  February.

Feb 23             MS Chapel- 9:30am Henry Chapel- Chris Bacon
Feb 24             8th Grade Portraits- rescheduled
Feb 28             8th Grade Portrait Retakes- if needed
Mar 2-3           WRaP Testing
Mar 7               3rd Quarter AR Deadline
Mar 7               Parent Association Meeting 8:15am FH 301
Mar 10             Early Dismissal 12:15pm- End of 3rd Quarter
Mar 13             4th Quarter Begins
Mar 16             Rising 8th Grade PAL DC Interest Mtg. Black Box 3:30-4:00pm
Mar 20-24      Spring Break

RECOGNITION

Jr. Thespian State Competition

Middle School Students at Jr. Thespian State Competition

District 8 Solo & Ensemble

A huge CONGRATULATIONS to all the band students who chose to participate in the District 8 Solo & Ensemble event!  Each one represented TFA extremely well and we all can be extremely proud of the tremendous results achieved:

Middle School – Lauren Philbin- Horn Solo

NEW ITEMS

IMPORTANT WrAP INFORMATION

How Well Do We Write?

The Standardized Writing Assessment Program (WrAP)

(Spring 2017)

On Thursday March 2^nd and Friday, March 3^rd  TFA students in grades 3-12 will participate in the Standardized Writing Assessment Program (WrAP).  Students ARE permitted to utilize dictionaries and thesauruses during the 2-day writing assessment.

Materials needed for the WrAP:

1. a) 2 sharpened #2 pencils & 2 ink pens (blue/black)
2. b) Thesaurus (can be electronic)
3. c) Dictionary (can be electronic)
4. d) 4-5 pages of loose leaf notebook paper

*electronic spellers (ie: Franklin) are not permitted

Students in Grades 3-11 will be provided with 90 minutes for the standardized assessment.

• Day 1: Thinking Map and Rough Draft
• Day 2: Final Draft

Library Closing

The library will be closed for WrAP testing from 7:30 AM – 11:00 AM on Thursday, March 2nd and Friday, March 3rd. Lower School students should report the gym for morning care on those two days.  Thank you for your understanding.

8th Grade Portraits

All 8th Grade students will be having their portraits done for our 8th Grade Celebration Chapel in May.   Michele Moreman who is a TFA Alum will be shooting the pictures.   Students are allowed to wear dress code appropriate jeans and a nice shirt/blouse for pictures.    Portrait day will be February 23rd with a retake day being offered on February 28th.   We will ONLY take the class picture on February 23rd.   If you have questions please feel free to contact Shannon Rymer at shannonrymer@thefirstacademy.org.

Please make sure to mark your calendars for this very important date.

REMINDERS

Box Tops for Education

We are actively collecting Box Tops at the Middle School front desk.    This program will help our school earn money, but more importantly help teach our students how joining forces with each other can accomplish great things.  This project allows our children to choose service before self and participation as a way of life.  No need to trim anything neatly, just tear them off and turn them into the collection bucket located at the middle school front desk.

Attendance

All attendance notifications and questions should be communicated directly to Ms. Lyn Maxime, the  attendance clerk for both the Upper and Middle School divisions. All Middle School students who are tardy to campus must check in with Ms. Maxime when they arrive at school.  You may contact Ms. Maxime concerning your student being tardy or absent at (407)206-8630 or email her at msattendance@thefirstacademy.org.

E.C.H.O.…..E.C.H.O.!

E.C.H.O. stands for Every Child Has an Opportunity! It’s your student’s opportunity to grow and provides a home base for communicating here in the Magnificent Middle School! E.C.H.O. is your key (Did you hear that E.C.H.O.?) to communicating with your Magnificent Middle School Scholar. Let me E.C.H.O. that! It is your key (E.C.H.O) to communicating with your Middle School Scholar!

Here are the ABC’s of how E.C.H.O. can serve you and your student:

1. Ask your student WHO their E.C.H.O. teacher is. That is vital information; let me encourage you to let that name E.C.H.O. in your mind. It will serve you well all year!
2. Make-up work or testing can easily be arranged and completed during your student’s E.C.H.O. class.
3. Inclement weather dismissal is always done through E.C.H.O. class.

7^th Grade E.C.H.O. teachers:

• Dana Menz Room 156
• Jeff Rossemiessl Room 160
• Bette Gordon Room 153
• Becky Render Room 158
• Joe Donaldson- Room 162

8^th Grade E.C.H.O. teachers:

• Lindsey Hurlebaus Room 246
• James Grosshans Room 248
• Christy Requejo Room 259
• Yvonne England Room 250
• Shannon Rymer Room 252

Severe Weather Inside Dismissal

-Students are dismissed from 7th period to ECHO classrooms
-Students without signed parent permission slips are dismissed when a parent visits the lobby to pick them up. MS Office will contact ECHO classroom teacher.
–Students with signed parent permission slips are dismissed
–Student shows text from parent stating location of parent on TFA campus
–Parent emails ECHO teacher stating their arrival and location on TFA campus

Start and Dismissal Times

 New Uniform Item Available

Want to stand out from the crowd? Dress blazers are now available for all 6th-12th-grade students (male & female). Step up your wardrobe game and come to school dressed to impress! Blazers can be purchased in person at the Dennis Uniform Store (1101 N. Keller Road, Suite G-3 , Orlando, FL 32810) or online here: http://www.dennisuniform.com/ONLStore/d-store-home.asp?pageitem=12&pagenumber=1&gn=2&sc=ETF&dis=20851816