TODAY (Monday, March 20): Pet Art Show and Adoption Event
We will be on the south (the practice fields/ cafeteria area). We will have:
- Food Trucks (Pueblo Viejo, Garbos, Three Chick's Soul Food, Emoji's Grilled Cheese, & Hand's Off my Funnel Cake).
- Student create portraits of the animals at local shelters (can be purchased for $30).
- Guest Animals & Speakers (including PfISD PD K9 Cora)
- Animal Shelter presentations.
Please enter parking lot on the north end (typically closed with gate) for parking. We will "cone off" the typical entrance for safety of the guests).
ALL PROCEEDS will benefit the local animal shelters (Williamson County Animal Shelter, Pflugerville Animal Shelter, and Austin Animal Center).
Events for 8th Grade Students
We are excited about the upcoming 8th grade events to celebrate their time at KLMS. We are sad to see them leave but excited for their future!
April 5th - Panoramic Picture (taken by Goldbeck). All students will be in the picture; Goldbeck will return the following day if students want to purchase the picture. There is no obligation to buy for just being in the picture.
April 28th - 8th grade semi-formal dance, "A Masquerade Ball" from 6:00-9:00pm. Students do not need to be in a costume to attend; we typically have a range of outfits from semi-formal to sundresses or jeans. Tickets will be $10 and go on sale about a week before the dance; the ticket price includes a catered dinner. If you want to help, please sign up here. Serving dinner is a fun way to see everyone without spending the night at a middle school dance.
May 26th - 8th grade field trip to Schlitterbahn. There is information hung in the 8th grade hallway regarding requirements and ticket prices; tickets will not go on sale until closer to the event.
STAAR Testing Begins
Tuesday, March 28th - 7th grade writing and 8th grade reading
Wednesday, March 29th - 8th grade math (including 7th grade PAP math)
Please note that we are a closed campus on those two days; visitors will not be allowed to have lunch with students or visit for any other reason. Additionally, we will not have Knight Lab on those mornings.
Preparing at home for STAAR. Many parents wonder how they can help their student prepare for the STAAR tests. Overwhelmingly, students struggle with measurement, geometry and probability in math, and inferences or predictions in reading and social studies. Some of the ways you can help your student are:
- Ask students to justify their conclusions: how do they know something is true, or why did they draw that conclusion?
- Help students practice measuring items: can they help bake a cake, make a wood working project, or help measure scrapbooking pages? Perhaps you need to paint a room or decide how furniture can be rearranged.
- Many students do well with two dimensional shapes (square, rectangle, circle) but struggle when the object is represented in three dimensions (cube, prism, or sphere). Help students identify the sides of a 3D object- can they still find the area of one side (or face) of an object?
- Ask students to make predictions. Can they guess what is about to happen on the TV show? What helped them make that prediction- the music, something a character said or did, or maybe the setting (doesn't everyone know what happens when a character runs into a cemetery on a horror show)
Recommendations for a successful testing day. STAAR testing days can be stressful for students; here are some tips for having a successful testing experience:
- Get plenty of rest the night before the test.
- Eat a good breakfast in the morning.
- If there is time to exercise in the morning, it can help stimulate the brain.
- Take your time; most students do not use the entire four hours. If you tend to rush through tests, try reading the answer choices from the bottom to the top (D, C, B, A instead of A, B, C, D).
- Use the resources available. Students have access to a variety of resources during the test, depending on the subject, such as: formula charts, rulers (the side of the formula chart), dictionaries, highlighters, color pencils, scratch paper, or calculators (but not all math or science tests allow calculators).