Letter from Mr. Brady

Dear Parents,
The 2009-2010 school year is flying by, and we can hardly believe the time has come once again to administer the New Mexico Standards Based Assessment (NMSBA) to our students. We have seen many successes this year and look forward to many more, particularly on the NMSBA. Marshall NMSBA testing will begin on Tuesday, March 30th and will conclude on Wednesday, April 7th, and we will only be testing in the mornings.

Our school, along with our district and the New Mexico Public Education Department (NMPED), places a high priority on these tests; therefore, security of each test is essential. This year the NMPED has decided that no cell phones will be allowed in rooms designated for testing. Therefore, Clovis Municipal Schools must enact a cell phone policy. Students are strongly encouraged to leave their cell phones at home during testing. However, if the student elects to bring their cell phone to school one of the following will occur each testing day:

1. The student will turn the cell phone off; place it in his/her backpack, and place the backpack in a central location designated by the teacher.
2. At the teacher’s discretion, the phone will be turned off, placed in a Ziploc bag, and securely stored by the teacher.

All cell phones will be returned to students at the end of the testing session for that day. Please discuss this requirement with your student to ensure all cell phones are either left at home or turned in prior to testing. Any student who still has a cell phone in his/her possession after a testing session has started will immediately have the phone confiscated for the duration of testing and will be required to finish all additional testing in a one on one administration by another teacher. We sincerely hope that this does not happen.

We are very confident that our students will perform well and do their best on the state assessment. Towards that end we respectfully request that all appointments for your children be scheduled outside of the testing dates. This helps your student as much as it helps us. Thank you very much for your continuing support of Marshall Middle School and our state mandated testing.

Sincerely, Jay Brady-Principal

Around Town
The Parent Center at Cameo Elementary
The Parent Center is a space that has been designated for parents to come and spend time with their children. We recognize that it is vital to have the presence of parents in our schools. This is a fantastic way to link parent, children, and the school. The Parent Center is also a place that is filled with resources in parenting skills, community resources, and other helpful information. We invite all parents to come and take some time to come and visit us and see where you as a parent can be apart of making a difference in the lives of the children at Cameo.

ENLACE Recreation Program
The Rec. Program located at Lincoln Jackson Family Center is open to students grade 7-12 and is on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 6:00 pm-8:00 pm. The Rec. Program offers students the opportunity to spend time with friends in a safe environment. The students are engaged in wellness activities and enrichment activities. Students have the opportunity this school year to learn about photography, art, dance, public speaking, finance, cooking, careers, leadership, traveling, civic engagement, etc. We invite you to not only stay active and healthy but to also exercise your brain and learn something new!

Drill Team goes to Competition!
The MMS Drill Team will be participating in the Sante Fe Competition on March 19th and 20th. We are positive that they will represent us well. A BIG thanks to Mrs. Chavez for being such a great coach!

The Arts at Marshall
The Jaguar 8th Grade Team
The roles for 8th Grade Arts Academy performance of “Huck Finn” in the spring have been cast, and practices are continuing. If you would like to volunteer to help with the opera, please contact Dustie Gonzales, Jaguar team leader.

Counselor's Corner
SBA test dates are (a.m. only):
Tue, March 30th
Wed, March 31st
Thu, April 1st
Mon, April 5th
Tue, April 6th
Wed, April 7th
Parents, PLEASE do no schedule ppointments
for your kids on these dates. It helps them as
much as it helps us. Thanks, so much.

Sincerely, Deacon Bob Pullings

Panther Talking Points
The Panther team is looking forward to Spring Break and being rested when we come back!

We would like to say that the focus for the Panther team is working on test taking strategies for the upcoming 9 weeks SCA and then continuing for the SBA. We will be working hard to prepare students to do their very best by arranging them into classrooms for optimal performance and working on readiness skills needed to be successful.

We ask that the parents take the test taking time seriously by helping their child get plenty of rest each night prior to test taking. We would like to ask Panther parents to please speak positively to their child about the test and their performance. Please give them encouragement as we Panther leaders are trying to do as we are confident that if they just do their very best they will be fine. We want to take all tests seriously but we do not want anyone to stress out about it. We will do our best and if you do your best success will happen. Donna Tivis, Panther Team

MMS Science Success !
Marshall Middle School had 10 students representing them at the Regional Science and Engineering Fair in Portales on February 27, 2010. The following students received awards:

• Alexus Lucero, U.S. Army junior division honorable mention and first place, engineering: Materials and bio-engineering.
  
• Savannah Dosher- first place, physical science & astronomy.
  
• Cory Taylor, U.S. Army junior division honorable mention, Junior division U.S. Navy-Naval Science Award.
  
• Mrs. Shaw received an award from Macatak, Inc. for her hard work and diligence in helping prepare students for the science fair.

Alexus Lucero and Savannah Dosher will be representing us in Socorro, NM on April 9 & 10 at the State Science and Engineering Fair. Way to go, Alexus & Savannah! A big pat on the back goes out to all the students who participated in the science fair, and a big thank you goes out to all of the teachers and parents who helped make this success
possible. A special thank you to Mrs. Russell for escorting the students to Portales.