August 31, 2014

Hello, 

Coming Events for you and/or your student!  

SEPT 3RD:  On this day your student will receive their ID and Lanyard and he/she will be required to wear them every day at school thereafter.  A great TIP to have your Lanyard ready each morning is to PUT THE LANYARD IN YOUR BACKPACK AT THE END OF THE DAY!  

I am asked about the lanyards by parents every year as to its purpose.  There are two main aims  which we strive to meet. One speaks to safety and the other is to keep track (earned stickers) of responsible behavior.

The recent Napa earthquake was literally and figuratively a wake up call to be prepared for a crisis.  If there were to be a crisis of any kind that would require us to identify any of our students for medical reasons, the ID enables us to not only identify the student but if that student requires a specific medical response, we would be able to act quickly.  

Also, since we know that our students have ID’s, any student we find on our campus who is not wearing an ID will stand out.  There are times that students from other schools try to come on campus and not always for good purposes, but we are able to locate and stop them.  And yes, our students sometimes end up at other schools too!  Believe it or not, there have been times when they have accommodated the other school by having their lanyard on!

The other reason for the lanyard ID is to have a constant reminder of Passport to Success stickers rewarded and possible stickers to earn in the future.  

Our first Passport event is scheduled in October.  Like last year, the 49er Gatorade Jr. Training Camp will be brought to  our school! 

The 49er's hold free football  camps throughout the season and off-season. The 49ers Gatorade Jr. Training Camps offer children the opportunity to learn football skills like passing, ball carrying and tackling while also learning about proper hydration.  The number of stickers required will be set in a few weeks.  

SEPT. 3RD:   Parent Club Meeting in the Learning Center.  Come and be a part of a dynamic Club for Parents so that you too can help your student's school.   

SEPT 10TH: BACK TO SCHOOL NIGHT and 6^th Grade GATE MEETING:

Wednesday Sept. 10^th will be our Back to School Night and 6^th Grade GATE Meeting.  The 6^th Grade GATE Meeting starts at 5:00 pm in the MPR.   At 6:00 pm we will begin with a couple of songs by the school band in the MPR, directed by Mr. Brozene followed by a shortened bell schedule from zero to 9^th Period.  Your student will come home with their daily schedule for you to follow.  Each period is 10 min. long followed by a 4 min. passing period.   ELA/Core and Math/Science Core could be up to 38 min. long so there will be plenty of time to get the information you need and get around the campus as well.  The bell will be rung at the different intervals along with some announcements.   We hope to see someone from the student’s family at our Back to School Event!  And stop by the Parent Club table in front of Learning Center for Parent Club information!

SEPT 12TH:  ASSEMBLY WITH FABIAN RAMIEREZ  http://www.fabianramirez.com/

Fabian Ramierez is a motivational speaker and Bullying expert.  We will be having a separate assembly for each grade level.   For more on Mr. Ramierez, click on the website address above.   We will have more speakers throughout the school year. 

SEPT 17TH: STAFF DEVELOPMENT DAY:  NO SCHOOL!  

Teachers will be participating in staff development together to further enrich their understanding and practice with Common Core.  There will not be any school for students, but the teachers will be working hard.   Other full day staff development dates are:  Fridays, October 31^st and January 23^rd. 

EARLY RELEASE DAYS!

As we have over the last couple of years, middle schools will have early release days so that the teachers can collaborate together on curriculum and lesson planning.  This year’s dates are as follows: 

October 6th, December 1st , February 23rd, March 16th and May 4th.  

School is let out at 12:00 pm on these days.   All classes are attended with some minutes taken off each class period.  

CROSS COUNTRY IS OFF AND "RUNNING"!   Wrestling and Girls Basketball begins in October!

That is it for now,

Have a great week!

Greg CL 

August 23, 2014

One week down and a few more to go!

This and That!

The first week of school is always quite hectic but this year’s first week went pretty smooth (considering).  Traffic was snarled at first but by the end of the week nearly everyone found their spot to come and go.  The front office is abuzz every morning, but there too we are seeing things slow down as schedules, 7^th grade pertussis vaccination requirement and a zillion other items are attended to… So, 

WELCOME TO AND BACK TO BROWNELL MIDDLE SCHOOL! 

TARDIES!

We have begun noting tardiness and we have some stragglers.  Please let your student know that there are consequences!

From the Parent/Student Handbook (page 7)

• ·        Students arriving tardy to school should report directly to  the office. (Note: If the student is late 30 or more minutes it is considered an absence.)
• ·        For each quarter, the first three unexcused tardies to any class could result in a warning and conference with the attendance liaison. 
• ·        The sixth unexcused tardy will result in a Saturday School. Students will be assigned another Saturday school for each additional tardy in that same quarter.

·        Students will start with a clean tardy record at the beginning of each Quarter.

Parent Club Meeting on Wednesday August 27^th, in the Library at 7:00pm: 

Ms Janine Kaloczy, last year’s Parent Club President will be opening the meeting and hopefully we will have a new President by the close of the meeting.  Not that we want her to leave us, but Ms Kaloczy’s daughter moved on to High School and Ms Kaloczy, wanting to keep some consistency, volunteered to come back and get the year started.  But it is up to our current parents to take the reins!  We hope to see you there!

Picture Day, Wednesday September 3^rd,

Make sure you’re all snazzied up for Picture Day!  This is the day the students receive their lanyards as well, so all students must wear their lanyards thereafter.  Make up picture day is September 16^th.

Back to School Night Wednesday September 10^th,

--6^th Grade GATE meeting: 5:00 pm to 6:00 pm, MPR

--Bell to bell, class to class schedule for everyone:   6:00 pm to 8:00 pm

6^th Grade GATE parents will have a meeting in the Multipurpose Room at 5:00 pm and then at 6:00 pm we will start the evening classroom visitations.  We will have 10 min. periods with 4 min pass periods.  A copy of your student’s schedule will go home with them that day.  These nights aren't for parent teacher conferences, but for the teacher to present their syllabus and the classroom explaining/reinforcing the classroom rules and procedures and what to expect throughout the year.  

Class change requests:  

Except with most requests at the beginning of the school year (e.g. wrong class level, schedule missing classes, etc…) throughout the year class changes require a meeting with the teacher.   This must be strictly followed in order to have all information available for the principal if a meeting with him is necessary afterword.   This way we are following District Policy.  Most of the time the parents do not have all the information they need to make a sound decision. So please, if you have any concerns with a teacher or about your student in class—contact the teacher first and the teacher and/or office will arrange a meeting with them.  

ACCELERATED and GATE CLASSES:

I mentioned this in my last Blog but it bears repeating.  GATE students are placed into GATE classes and do not change classes unless they so desire.  GATE is an opt out program.   When there are less than 34 GATE students (as in 6^th and 7^th grade this year) we place all GATE students into the GATE class.  If there are still open seats (as in 6^th but not in 7^th) we will place the highest scoring non-gate students into the GATE class with the GATE students.   

The other non-gate students who are the highest 34 students are put into Accelerated.  If there were at least 34 more accelerated students, we would have another accelerated class.   If there are not 34 or close to 34 accelerated students, then I cannot create another class.   

In 8^th grade (our largest class) we have two GATE/Accelerated combo classes.  This is because we have more than 34 GATE students and we balance the best we can so GATE students are at least the majority of the students in both classes.  Once again since we have more open seats in the GATE classes we open them up for the highest scoring non-gate students. 

We look at last year’s Benchmarks, last two years CST’s, Grades, Reading and writing scores if available and other Math scores.   If a student has two 5’s on the last CST’s, in the 90’s for Benchmarks and A’s in class the year before, there is a good chance they are in the Accelerated classes.   If not, it is unlikely depending on the 34 cutoff of students per class… 

I know this is complicated but we try to be as fair as we can in our decisions.  

SPANISH UPDATE:   WE ARE STILL LOOKING FOR A TEACHER.  WE ARE SORRY FOR THE DELAY. WE WILL DECIDE IN THE NEXT TWO WEEKS FOR EITHER AN ALTERNATIVE OR DISCONTINUE OFFERING SPANISH.  I WILL KEEP YOU UPDATED--MR. CL

Well, that is all for now,

 Remember, if you have a question about the blog or information on the blog please email me:  

gregory.camacholight@gilroyunified.org  

Thanks, Greg Camacho-Light 

August 17, 2014

Ready or not… School Begins!

August 19^th

First Day of School!   If you have your schedule already, you are good to go!  If you weren't able to go to Brownell on the assigned days of your grade level and name or you can’t remember where you placed it… we’ll have a table for you to go to on the first day of school to pick up a new schedule. Tables will be placed:  6th grade go to the 6th grade Village, 7th grade in 7th Quad area, 8th grade next to Rm 25.

Schedule and book handouts went pretty smooth and most students did receive them.  There were some glitches and we need to meet with parents to work them out.  If you have a concern and believe your student does not have the right classes, please make an appointment to see either Kara Armijo or Julissa Mendoza.  For the time being Ms Armijo will be handling questions from students in the 7^th grade and 8^th and Ms Mendoza will be working with the 6^th and 8^th.  Ms Mendoza also works with Spanish speaking families in all grades.  Just let the front office know you need a counselor and they will direct you.  It is important that you start with the counselors as they are working close with me and are the ones who do the actual changes if necessary. 

GATE Classes:

Because of the number of GATE students in the 6^th and the 7^th grade there is only one GATE class at each level and nearly all of the students in the classes are GATE.   Then we have one Accelerated class of 34.  To generate another ACC class, I would need another 34 ACC students and there aren’t that many left to fill up a class.   The ACC class has the highest scoring students using the last two CST scores and last year’s Benchmark scores.  In the 8th grade (the largest grade level) we have two GATE/ACC classes and one ACC class as well.   

SPORTS:

We’ll have the after school sports schedule up on Schoolloop within the next week and look forward to a great year of competition.   More later…

PE clothes:

We take donations of $15 for shirt and $15 for shorts.  We cannot accept checks so it will need to be in cash.   If for any reason you cannot afford a donation, do not worry.   Let the front office know so we can have clothes for your student.  Some parents like to purchase 2 outfits.  If the shirt and/or short do not fit, the students can exchange them the following day(s) in their PE class, as long as they have not written their name on them.  Sizes are ADULT XS, S, M, L, XL, XXL and XXXL.  They do not shrink.  

SPANISH:

Unfortunately, we will not be able to start the year off with a Spanish class.  We have been searching for a new Spanish teacher and we know how popular and important this class is.   We will inform you as soon as this occurs.  Our former teacher is now working in San Jose and we certainly want to wish Ms Carpio-Aguilar the best.  She now is able to work close to home and close to the University of Santa Clara where she can now complete her Master Degree.   

CHOIR: 

Ms Avey will be contacting you, but in the case that you do not get the message, there will be class on the 19th and the class will be held in Rm 32 this year at 2:45 pm!

Teachers who have left:

Besides sorely missing Ms Carpio-Aguilar, Ms Garner is on a one year leave of absences.  Ms Griggs is now working at South Valley Middle School.  Mr. Gonzalez has retired and Ms Mullen is working directly with teachers on all three middle school campuses on Common Core implementation.  We miss them all and the good news is that some of them will eventually return!

Our New Staff Members!

Breanna Cull joins us in special education as a resource specialist. Celia McCormack returns to Brownell after working in San Jose for the last 7 years.  Ms McCormack was a Bruin for many years prior to leaving and she is glad to be back home, and will be teaching 8^th grade Science.   Brian Collum will join us on the PE staff.  Raised in Gilroy and known by many, Mr. Collum brings a real zest for his profession and will fit right into our Conditioning and Fitness team!  Also, we warmly welcome Muriel Fernandez to the Secretarial staff and front office.   We are still looking for three other slots to fill in English Language Arts and English Development.  We are lucky to have some strong guest teachers in the positions to be filled and they will be working as long term substitutes.  

That is all for now,

Thank you for your time and consideration and we will do our part to make your student have a great year! And Go Bruins!

Greg Camacho-Light