The Viewpoint November 2016

Skyview Middle School 6350 Windom Peak Blvd., Colorado Springs, CO 80923

Telephone: 495-5566 District Web Site: www.d49.org

Attendance Line: 495-5560 FAX: 495-5569

Parents and Community members,

If you are a frequent reader of these newsletter reports, you may have noticed that I make an attempt

to rotate the topics covered in order to give parents a full view of the activities and initiatives

happening here at school. Three of the things that have been most important to me is the

opportunity to fully inform parents about the aspects of their child’s education that are most critical,

to be a good listener when parents have feedback or concerns, and to problem solve with parents

taking action to make constant improvements. This process of continually reflecting on the

decisions and actions we take to impact the education of your children has been both enlightening

and humbling. We celebrate when we seem to get it right and we dig in to correct things when we

do not. I believe in holding staff, students and myself accountable to our primary mission here at

school; to provide the best place for our students to learn and grow as individuals and young people

becoming positive members of our community.

To formalize these efforts, we have been involved in a process of receiving our Level I

certification to become a High Reliability School. This is a process of creating systems that drive

improvement and consistently evaluating those systems for effectiveness. Our yearlong efforts will

come to a peak here on November 14th when the examiner from Marzano HRS Schools will be in

our building to evaluate our processes. We are looking forward to showcasing our school. I am

personally very excited to show him the great students and staff that make up our school! Once we

receive our Level I certification (focusing on safe and collaborative culture), we will move on to the

next level (focusing on effective teachers in every classroom). Please keep an eye out on our

webpage and new Twitter feed (see below) for updates and progress on this process.

Now to some late fall reminders:

As the weather becomes colder, please check that your child is properly dressed for the outside

temperatures. We allow indoor line up when the temperature is 20 degrees or below. We will

also consider wind chill and moisture when making this decision. Additionally, because of the

volume of students that must eat lunch on a daily basis, we rely on a brief (10-15 minute) out-

door time at each lunch. Students are reminded to bring their jackets with them to lunch for

those cold days when a jacket is necessary.

Homework Help is scheduled for Tuesdays and Thursdays for any student wishing to stay after

school for an hour and get support from a teacher. Students need to sign in and remain the entire

hour. Any misbehavior removes the opportunity from the student.

Saturday School – when you get a call offering Saturday School as a missing

work intervention, I highly suggest you take advantage of this offer as much

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as you can, especially if you have a student struggling to complete homework. Saturday school

operates on an invitation only basis and runs from 9am to 11am on selected Saturdays.

Finally, I would like to end by celebrating two of our teachers, Mr. Brian Lewis and Ms. Heather Wall.

Mr. Lewis just recently received his Career and Tech. Ed. License and has been newly brought into

our CTE offerings. Having CTE certified teachers allows us to take advantage of state and district

activities and financed intended to promote 21st century, STEM learning for our students.

Ms. Wall and the BEST Robotics team took first place for their Engineering Notebook in the recent

Rocky Mountain BEST robotics competition. Great job to the students on the BEST team for their

outstanding dedication and efforts to share their knowledge! A special kudos to Ms. Wall who gave

up about a week of her fall break to lead students through this competition.

Thank you to all parents and guardians for supporting your children in their middle school years. It is

important that you maintain a presence and continue to support your student in these formative years.

Stay warm as this fall turns into winter! As always, I ask that if you ever have questions or concerns,

please do not hesitate to come in and speak with an administrator or counselor.

Respectfully,

Cathy Tinucci, Principal

Skyview Middle School

+ Skyview is on Twitter!

Follow us for regular updates and

important information.

@SkyviewEagles

11/1 Spirit Week - Blackout Day

Harvest of Love Food Drive Kickoff

6th Boys Basketball vs. TCA @ Skyview

Student-Teacher Kickball Game—3:45 PM

PTSA Meeting—5:30 PM

11/2 Spirit Week - Crazy Hair

6th Boys Basketball @ Elizabeth—3:45

7/8th Boys Basketball vs. Elizabeth @ Skyview

11/3 Spirit Week - Color War

6th Boys Basketball vs. Falcon @ Skyview

7/8th Boys Basketball @ Falcon

11/4 Spirit Week - Spirit Wear

11/5 Veteran’s Day Parade (8th Grade Honor Choir) - 9:00 AM

11/8 6th Boys Basketball vs. Carson @ Skyview

7/8th Boys Basketball @ Carson—3:45

11/9 6th Boys Basketball @ Banning Lewis—4:00

11/10 7/8th Boys Basketball vs. TCA @ Skyview

11/11 Veteran’s Day Concert (8th Honor Choir) - 8:00 AM

Skate City—6:00 PM

11/14 6th Boys Basketball vs. Fremont @ Skyview

7/8th Boys Basketball @ Fremont—4:00 PM

11/16 7/8th Boys Basketball vs. Horizon @ Skyview

11/17 6th Boys Basketball vs. CMJH @ Skyview

7/8th Boys Basketball @ CMJH

SAC Meeting - 5:30

11/18 Food Drive Ends

11/21-25 Thanksgiving Break

11/28 6th Boys Basketball@ Harrison

7/8th Boys Basketball vs. Harrison @ SMS

11/30 8th Boys Basketball Tournament (TBA)

Attention Parents/Guardians,

The yearbook staff has devoted a page to celebrate students first day of

school. We are in need of your child's first day of school pictures from

any grade level. We prefer that the picture include some sort of message

about the grade level that your child was starting that year. Please see

the sample picture below. This is open to all grade level students at

Skyview. You can email any pictures you would

like to be included in the yearbook to Shanna

O'Meara at someara@d49.org. Please be sure to

include your student's name and grade level in the

email. The cutoff for picture submissions

is December 1st.

Thanks for your support!

-Skyview's Yearbook Staff

Friday, November 11th

6:00—10:00 PM

Discount coupons will be available in the office!

+ Skyview is on Twitter!

Follow us for regular updates and important information.

@SkyviewEagles

December 5th & 6th

Details to be announced!

You must have a current physical on file at Skyview in

order to try out!!

Please see Ms. Anderson or Mr. Moore

with any questions.

Harvest of Love Food Drive November 1st-18th

Please bring money or nonperishable food and turn it into

your first period teacher. ($1 counts as 10 lbs. of food.)

Thank you!!

Students have received these forms and should return them as soon as possible.

Impact Aid FAQs

Most people do not realize that the Impact Aid is the second oldest federal education program in our country. It was originally passed in 1950 under President Truman’s administration. The program was created to assist school districts states where there is federally owned property in making up the lost local tax base not received due to federal property situated nearby or within school district boundaries. Do all parents fill out these forms? Yes! We need all parents to let us know whether they either live or work on federal property. Often, parents may not be in the military but may work on federal property, such as at the federal prison in Florence, Colorado, at a federally supported housing project, at a national park or national forest, at a VA hospital or on Indian Trust or Treaty lands. Why do we fill out the forms that identify my family as a federally connected or military family for the school district? States that have a lot of federal property are unable to generate tax revenue off federal property to help fund education. People who live on federal property do not pay local property taxes. Federal property occupies a lot of acreage in Colorado. Federal government entities occupy that property and do not pay local taxes, therefore there is also a reduction in the tax base because there is a reduction in businesses that pay taxes. School districts also lose potential revenue from specific ownership taxes if a military family licenses its car in their home state rather than Colorado. Impact Aid is a way to recover some of the lost local tax revenue. What is the difference between military impact aid and ‘federally connected’? The term “military impact aid” stems from the original program established in 1950 under President Truman’s administration. Using that term is often misleading, though, as some people misinterpret who can qualify as “federally connected” if they believe that only military families qualify. How much money does the district receive by parents completing the forms? The funding is weighted and the amount depends on whether the parent is active duty or reserves or whether they are civilians (i.e. contract employees, civil service, or civilians) employed on federal property. If you take the total dollars received and divide that by the number of students who were reported as “federally connected‟, you receive an overall average per pupil Impact Aid revenue. What does the money go towards? Once the money is received by the district, the funds are deposited into the general fund. The general fund covers all operating costs such as classroom supplies, salaries and benefits, utilities, curriculum and technology.

8th

Grade Knowledge Bowl

DO YOU

enjoy learning about all kinds of topics?

enjoy talking about and sharing this information with others?

enjoy learning from others on topics you have not yet learned about?

enjoy competing against others on a team?

If you answered yes to any of the questions above then come join the 8th grade

Knowledge Bowl Club.

We will meet every Wednesday from 3 to 4 pm, starting after Fall Break, in

Mrs. Zander’s classroom, room 112.

In February we will go and compete against other schools to represent

Skyview Middle.

Stop by Mrs. Zander’s room and sign up during the week after break.

Archery Intramurals

Date: November 29th - December 15th

Where: Skyview Middle School Little Gym

Time: 7:00am-7:30am (Tuesday, Wednesday

and Thursday)

Please pick up a form outside the gym if you

interested or see Mr. Marino or Mr. Moore if

you have any questions.

(School Accountability Committee)

Thursday, November 17th

5:30—6:30 PM in the library

J A P A N 2017

AUSTRALIA/NEW ZEALAND/HAWAII 2018

Do you like to travel? Do you like to see new places and meet

interesting people? Join us on tour through Japan in June of 2017

and / or Australia, New Zealand, and Hawaii in June of 2018.

We will travel with EF Educational Tours. EF Tours specializes in global student

travel and has been in business for over 50 years. We have traveled with EF Tours

since 2011. Past trips have taken Skyview students, staff, and parents to Ireland,

Wales, Scotland, England, France, Spain, Greece, Italy, and China.

Some of the highlights and destinations of our 2017 Japan trip include the cities of

Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, Kamakura, Hiroshima, travel by bullet train, visiting numer-

ous temples (including the Golden Pavilion in Kyoto), samurai castles, and tours of

the atomic bombing site in Hiroshima and sightseeing around Mt. Fuji.

Our 2018 Australia / NZ / Hawaii tour will include visits to Auckland and Rotorua in

New Zealand, Sydney and Cairns in Australia, and Honolulu in Hawaii. Some

memorable events will include a tour of the Sydney Opera House and Sydney Har-

bor, snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef, and a visit to Pearl Harbor and a pineapple

plantation in Hawaii.

Both tours promise to be packed with a lifetime of memories. Please join us! For

more information, contact Gary Heaston at gheaston@d49.org or 495-5566 ext.

4226.

Our School Accountability Committee (SAC) has made an adjustment

to the meeting times in order to make it more convenient for parents/

guardians to attend. Everyone is welcome!!

Thursday, November 17th—5:30 PM

Thursday, December 15—5:30 PM

Thursday, January 19th—5:30 PM

CHARACTER CORNER

Have you ever heard the old adage, “Kindness is contagious. Pass it on”? If so, you might want to think about it, and

try to understand what it means. How many times have you smiled at a stranger only to have that person smile

back? How many times have you said, “Thank you” to someone, and heard that person say, “You’re wel-

come.” Have you held the door for someone, stopped to pick up books that someone dropped, or offered someone a

pencil in class? These are what we call “common courtesies”. Unfortunately, they aren’t as common as they once

were in society. We are so busy, wrapped up in ourselves, our own thoughts, our own worries, our own “stuff”, that

we have forgotten that there are others around us that have similar thoughts, worries and “stuff”.

Have you ever said something mean to someone in the hall at school? Actually pushed a student to get through a

group of students who were crowded talking in the hall? Giggled when someone gave the wrong answer? Snickered

when “that kid” was in trouble again? What if we stopped and thought about them from a different point of

view? What if we put ourselves in THEIR shoes?

Stop for a second and reconsider the situation. What if YOU were that person of whom someone said something

mean? What if YOU were the student that was pushed, and perhaps you dropped your pencil, homework, or brand

new phone. What if YOU gave the wrong answer and everyone giggled? What if YOU were that kid who got in

trouble again, because you had trouble with the “stop and think” thing that everyone adult tells you to work

on? Take a moment to consider, “How would I feel if I were that person?” Would you like to be treated the way you

treat others?

Kindness is contagious. Truly it is! Remember that stranger who smiled back at you; the person who said, “Thank

you” when you opened the door for them; or that relieved look on the face of a student you stopped to help. These

small acts of kindness are contagious, and it can all begin with one student; it can start with YOU! Not everyone will

return the kind gesture, but it will put a memory in their mind that when they were in a crabby mood, someone was

still kind to them.

The next time you want to say something mean, stop and ask if you would want someone to say that to you. If not,

say something kind instead, or say nothing at all. Stop to hold a door for someone without being asked. Remember

to say, “Please and Thank You”. Smile at someone new and see if they smile back.

These small, random acts of kindness can spread across your classroom, your hallways, your lunchroom, your grade

level, your school, and little by little they can change the world.... Yes, it might be old fashioned, but it CAN become

a new fad! It takes only ONE to get that ball rolling....

Kindness really is contagious!!!! Try it and then pass it on!!!

40 Simple Ways to Practice Gratitude BY CIARA CONLON

Gratitude is such a powerful emotion, one that can make your life better in so many ways. It’s quite difficult to feel

depressed or sorry for yourself when you are feeling gratitude. In a study carried out by Emmons & McCullough in

2003, there were a multitude of benefits from keeping a gratitude journal, a simple notebook where you write down

daily what you are grateful for. The study showed that the people who kept a journal exercised more regularly, re-

ported fewer physical symptoms, felt better about their lives as a whole, and were more optimistic. It also showed

that people who kept the journal were more likely to make progress towards their goals. Overall, there was a greater

sense of feeling connected to others. A more optimistic view towards life and better sleep quality, relative to a con-

trol group. If you would like to experience some of these great benefits why not try some of these simple ways to

make gratitude a part of everyday.

Here are 40 simple ways to make gratitude a part of everyday.

Keep a Gratitude journal and add to it every day.

Tell someone you love them and how much you appreciate them.

Notice the beauty in nature each day.

Nurture the friendships you have, good friends don’t come along every day.

Smile more often.

Watch inspiring videos that will remind you of the good in the world.

Include an act of kindness in your life each day.

Avoid negative media and movies with destructive content.

Call your Mom more often.

Cook meals with love, think of the people you will feed.

Volunteer for organizations that help others.

Don’t gossip or speak badly about anyone.

Spend quality time with your kids.

Remember to compliment your friends and family when they look good.

Write a card to someone you haven’t seen in a while and tell them something nice.

Add to your gratitude list daily, at least one more thing each day.

When you think a negative thought, try to see the positive side in the situation.

Commit to one day a week when you won’t complain about anything.

Try to take note when people do a good job and give recognition when it’s due at work.

Reward effort, if someone does something nice for you, do something nice for them.

Meditate with your gratitude list, giving thanks for all your good fortune.

Live mindfully, not worrying about the past or future.

Thank the people who serve you in the community. The shopkeeper, the bus drivers, etc.

Say thank you for the little things loved ones do for you, things you normally take for granted.

Post quotes and images that remind you to be grateful around your house.

Call into an elderly neighbor and say thank you for their presence in your life.

Call your grandparents and tell them you love them.

Embrace challenges and turn them into opportunities to grow.

Send love to your enemies or people you dislike.

Be thankful when you learn something new.

See the growth opportunity in your mistakes.

Help your friends see the positive side to life.

When times are bad, focus on your friends who are at your side.

When time are good, notice and help others.

Make a gratitude collage, cut out pictures of all the things that you are grateful for.

Make gratitude a part of family life, share it with each other during meal time.

Practice gratitude at the same time every day to make it a habit.

Focus on your strengths.

Share the benefits of gratitude with family and friends.

Share gratitude each day by posting a tweet, Facebook post or Pinterest.

Be the change you want to see in the world by making gratitude a part of each day. If we all practice gratitude more regularly, the world

will be a better place.