September 19, 2016

Irmo Middle School

6051 Wescott Road
Columbia, SC 29212
(803) 476-3600

The Buzz at Irmo Middle School

www.lexrich5.org/ims

Creating successful students for the challenges of tomorrow

School Hours:
8:20 a.m.3:35 p.m.

Inside this issue:

Principals Page
2
Administrative News
3
PTSO News
3
Community News
3
Athletic Schedules
4
Growing Global
5
Who Am I Dance
6
8th Grade New York Trip 7
Yellow Jacket Club
8-10
D5 Celebration
11
8th Grade NY Trip
12
Health Card
13

Robert S. Jackson, Ed.S., Principal

rsjackso@lexrich5.org

https://twitter.com/IMS_Principal

This will be the last IMS Newsletter you will receive

through this distribution list. ALL future Newsletters
will be distributed to the primary email address on
file for our current students. The Newsletter will also
be posted on the IMS website. Each time a new edition is published, a link
to it will be posted to IMS social media.
For more IMS news and updates visit the IMS Website like us on
IMS Facebook or follow us on IMS Twitter
.

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Irmo Middle School principal Robert Jackson
named to prestigious education policy program

Dates to Remember:
Mon 9/19

Fall Pictures

Tue 9/20 Volleyball vs

Lexington
Wed 9/21 Football vs
Pleasant Hill
Thu 9/22 Volleyball @
Dutch Fork
Sun 9/25

SOES 50th Anniversary

Fri 10/7

Who am I, dance

Thu 10/13

Community Celebration

If you have news for the

Buzz, email Allison Redick
at aredick@lexrich5.org.

IRMO- Irmo Middle School principal Robert Jackson has been

selected as one of 15 professional and civic leaders from
across South Carolina to participate in the South Carolina Education Policy Fellowship Program (SC-EPFP) for 2016-17. Jackson is in his fourth year as
principal at IMS and has more than 22 years of experience in public education.
It is an honor to be selected as a 2016-17 Educational Policy Fellow and represent
School District Five on the state and national levels, Jackson said. As a fellow, I will
utilize this experience to learn more about issues and perspectives in education so I
can be more informed and make tangible contributions to the critical education debates that shape the quality and focus of all schools.
SC-EPFP is a 10-month intensive professional development program for established
and emerging leaders in education and related fields to help equip them in working
toward sound education policy and practice in South Carolina. SC-EPFP Fellows participate in a variety of activities that promote leadership, develop professional networks,
demystify education policy, and foster a greater understanding of the roles of government and the community.
In this years SC-EPFP class we have some of our states most talented and dedicated
leaders, said Robert E. Barnett, Associate Vice President for Workforce, Education and
Manufacturing Policy with the SC Chamber of Commerce and SC-EPFP Advisory Board
Chair. Together they will learn new skills, develop added insight, and work collaboratively to make proactive steps to improve South Carolinas future through meaningful
education improvement and reform.

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Principal's Page
Can you believe it? We are already on the 23rd day of school. I am confident that your student is already excelling and working towards attaining their academic and behavior goals. As you review this week's newsletter, I
have a few items that need your special attention. They are as follows:

Interim Progress Reports

Progress reports for students will be sent home Friday Sepember 23rd. Please
make plans to review these (either hard copies sent home) or via the parent portal.
Setting academic and behavior goals with students leads to better outcomes.

Health Cards
To ensure that we have the current contact information for each student, we sent home
health cards to be filled out by parents. To date, we have a significant number of those
cards that haven't been returned. If you have returned your student's health card, we
sincerely appreciate the timely return. If you have not returned the card, we really need
to get this information filled out and returned so we can respond in a timely manner in a
health related situation. A copy of this card is included as the last page of this newsletter.
All requests for lost or missing cards should be directed to Kathy Jackson, School

Nurse at kmjackso@lexrich5.org.

Arrival and Dismissal Procedures

Student and Staff safety continues to be one of our top priorities. In that regard, we continue to observe parents dropping off children in the bus loading
zone and staff parking lot in the morning. To ensure that our students are safe
at all times, we have designated separate drop-off and pick up locations for
buses and vehicular traffic. Parents and guardians who bring and pick up students from school are asked to use the designed car rider lines (adjacent to
subway for 6th and 7th graders and adjacent to Wescott Acres Pet Resort for
8th graders). Utilizing these car rider locations will enable us to keep students
from running in front of buses to get into the buildings.
Additionally, we are noticing that some parents are using the staff parking lot and bus lane to turn left, to avoid
circling the car rider line at arrival and dismissal. Vehicles are being observed speeding through our lot and endangering staff members who are arriving to or departing from campus. Again, we are asking that this practice
be discontinued immediately.
We are confident that everyone will support these expectations and directives as we strive to keep all students,
parents, and staff members safe at Irmo Middle. By utilizing the designated drop off and pick up locations along
with established vehicular traffic patterns, you will do your part to help us keep everyone safe.
Your cooperation is greatly appreciated.
Many thanks,
Robert. S. Jackson, Ed.S., Principal
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Administrative News
** Reminders **

Early Dismissal Cut-off is 3:00:

Students WILL NOT be signed out from 3:00-3:30 p.m. Parents arriving during this time will be required to pick up their students in the car rider line.

Change of Transportation:

For the safety reasons, please DO NOT call the front office to
change mode of transportation home. Arrangements should be made in advance. If an event is canceled it will be announced and the students will have time to call the parent for other arrangements.

Drop-offs for Students:

Please limit bringing items to the main office. We are trying to instill
"Ownership" and Responsibility in our students.

PTSO News
Donations:

Food donations for the WHO AM I? dance. We need: single serving packs of potato chips, canned soda (ex: grape, orange, cola), and candy (any size, any kind). You may drop these
items off at the front desk of IMS.

** Reminders **
VOLUNTEERING
IMS Greenhouse needs extra hands and garden savvy people to help with the IMS garden. If interested, please email Ms. Wierzbinski at cwierzbinski@lexrich5.org

FUNDRAISING
Grocery Shopping:

Shop at Krogers or Publix? If so, go onto

www.krogercommunityrewards.com & select IMS or stop b Publix Customer Service
&sign up for a grocery tag.

Eating Out:

1st Tues of each Month Grouchos gives 10% of sales to IMS.

4th Tues of each Month Zaxbys gives 10% of sales to IMS.

Events: Who Am I? dance Oct 7th.

IMS Cafeteria from 3:45 - 5:45.

Community News
Seven Oaks Elementary

You are cordially invited to

50th Anniversary Celebration
3:00pm, Sunday Sep 25th
Followed by an Open House & Reception
2800 Ashland Rd, Columbia SC
All former students, parents, teachers & community members are welcome.

RSVP: mhlyerly@lexrich5.org

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Athletic Schedules

Volleyball
Date

Opponent

Time

Sep 6

Chapin

5:30

Sep 8
Sep 13
Sep 15

Dutch Fork
Carolina Springs
Meadow Glen

5:30
5:30
5:30

Sep 20

Lexington (DoubleHeader-2/3)

5:30

Sep 22

@ Dutch Fork

5:30

Sep 27

@Chapin

5:30

Sep 29

@ Pleasant Hill (DoubleHeader-2/3)

5:30

Oct 4

@ Carolina Springs

5:30

Oct 6

@ Meadow Glen

5:30

Oct 11

White Knoll (DoubleHeader-2/3)

5:30

st

Oct 13

1 Round Play-Offs

5:30

Oct 15

PAC Tournament

5:30

Football
Date

Opponent

Time

Aug 27

@ Chapin (Scrimmage)

9:00

Aug 31
Sep 7
Sep 14

@ River Bluff (Jamboree vs Gilbert)

@ Brookland Cayce
Meadow Glenn

5:30
5:30
6:00

Sep 21

Pleasant Hill

6:00

Sep 28

@ White Knoll

5:30

Oct 5

@ Chapin

6:30

Oct 12

@ Lexington

5:30

Oct 19

Dutch Fork

6:00

Oct 26

Tournament (TBA)

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Last week, Seven Oaks Elementary MEDIA Magnet was

featured as one of School District Five of Lexington and
Richland Counties CHOICE schools. This week, another
CHOICE school, Irmo Middle School International Academic Magnet is being highlighted. The CHOICE program allows families to select any school in District Five
that has space available to accommodate additional
students or to select a magnet school or program.
Irmo Middle School International Academic Magnet
presents learning from a global perspective. Students
are part of the international community and study the
world around them. Global topics are tied to the curriculum in relevant ways and students are exposed to real
world issues through global themes, projects, and case
studies.
Principal Robert Jackson explained, We want our students to be able to engage in work that really matters.
To study the world, to make specific connections to
those global themes that we laid out, to learn in a way that they are connected with themselves but also to their
peers around them.
A variety of curriculum opportunities are offered for students. World language choices include French, German,
Mandarin Chinese, and Spanish. For students interested in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math
(STEM), topics such as rocketry and space, plastics and polymers, and eco-architecture are all linked back to
global themes. Eighth grader Camilo Benitez is in a STEM class for a second year. He emphasized, The class is
wonderful. You have fun but at the same time youre learning how the world works from a perspective you
wouldnt have gotten before by just sitting in the classroom.
Teaching and learning look different at Irmo Middle School because of their partnership with EL Education. EL
Education has three core practices: high-quality work, character, and mastery of skills and knowledge. Students
are engaged on different levels and not just academically. Magnet Lead Teacher Jennifer Cook summarized,
Everything that they are learning, they are learning it in a more relevant and a more meaningful way.
Students participate in Expeditions to solve real world problems and make a difference. The Expeditions include: iGrow, addressing world hunger; Migration Nation, studying the dwindling monarch butterfly population; and Lets Talk Trash, solving garbage and recycling concerns. The Expeditions are integrated into all subject areas.
Students go beyond studying problems and enact solutions. With Migration Nation students planted a garden of
milkweed, a plant needed for monarchs to lay eggs. They also inspired the community to take action. Eighth
grader Lexi Miller explained, We got the opportunity to talk to the Irmo Town Council. We got to go through a
presentation and tell them our issue and what we needed their help with. They offered to let us put signs in some
different town local parks and plant some milkweed in those parks as well. It was just a really cool experience.
Crew meetings offer students a family within the school. Crew is a group of fourteen to eighteen students who
meet with an adult leader. It is a time for students to be well known, supported, advocated for, and challenged
by their peers and adult leader. It personalizes the learning experience for every student and makes sure no one
gets lost in the crowd. Our students must meet the same standards as their peers across the state, said Jackson, But, we take a different approach to teaching and learning.
Seventh grade student Kendall Smith said, I have Dr. Ware for Crew. She checks our grades, she checks our tardies, and she makes goals for us. Its almost like a parent is there making sure your grades are good, making sure
you are doing what you need to be doing.
The CHOICE program provides many options for students to find their best fit, and Irmo Middle School International Academic Magnet fosters an environment infused with global awareness. The school theme for this year is
Next LevelGrowing Global as students continue connecting globally.

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8th grade expedition to New York City

April 4-7 2017 (the week before Spring Break) Absences will be excused.

You can find information at www.explorica.com/irmocioffi-2017.

Open to 8th graders of the 2016-2017 school year only.

Fund raising will be discussed!

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WHAT AN EXCITING TIME TO BE

TH
AN 8 GRADER!

Your New York Expedition Awaits YOU!

When: Thursday, September 22 at 7:00pm
Where: IMS Caf
Who: Open to all students in the 8thgrade for the
2016-2017 school year at IMS.
Join Mr. Cioffi for the introduction to the 4th annual IMS Expedition
to New York City. Find out how you can get the early bird discount!
An overview of the trip will be given, an introduction to the schools
trip page and sign up procedures review, and best of all your questions will be answered.
This expedition is the culminating experience for our International
Academic Magnet here at IMS. Come and join us for an
adventure!
Contact information for the expedition is jcioffi@lexrich5.org.

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IMPORTANT HEALTH INFORMATION

This year, District Five transitioned to an online registration system called Registration
Gateway. The student Health Card was included as par of the online registration. However, a review of the student Health Cards in the Registration Gateway has revealed that
many parents did not provide complete information for their child(ren). We know that some parents completed
the online information accurately. However, we cannot determine the Health Cards that are deficient. At this
point, the most reliable solution is to ask all parents to complete the copy of the health card below, so that we
have confidence that all Health Cards are accurate.
Please remember that we will use the online Registration Gateway system for Health Card information next
school year. We apologize for any inconvenience. But, our goal is to have the most accurate health information for our nurses. Thanks for your support.

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