December 19, 2016

Dear Parents

What an incredible cold weekend!

Short week:

Monday:  We are practicing for the program in the afternoon.

Tuesday:  We eat lunch at 11:00 and the program begins at 12:00.  Please join us for an awesome Christmas program in the church.  Your child is able to leave following the program.  There are busses running that day.

Merry Christmas and many blessings during the holiday season!
Kim

December 12, 2016

Dear Parents,

Here is a layout of the coming week:

Monday:  Advent prayer service at 8:30

Tuesday:  Science "open book test" due Thursday at the beginning of class; reconciliation @12:45

Wednesday: mass @8:45; Santa's workshop shopping opportunity @2:00

Thursday:  early Science articles due

Friday: Families

I hope I remembered everything.  There are practices with some of the electives classes on Wednesday and Thursday, but that doesn't pertain to everyone.

Merry Christmas!!!  Many blessings,
Kim

December 5, 2016

Dear Parents,

YEA!!!  Finally some white stuff on the ground!  I think it made me realize that Christmas isn't too far away!!!  I hope you've had a chance to get some decorations up and enjoyed a good weekend.  Watching both Oklahoma State and Wisconsin loose on Saturday, made the Packer win even better today!

This week is really crazy so please take note:

Monday: Handing out science fair project packet; please view and sign and return the very bottom portion by Friday

Tuesday:  normal day

Wednesday: NO UNIFORM OR CHURCH

Thursday: Holy Day...  UNIFORM and CHURCH (8:45) today

Friday: Craft Day in the afternoon (please send in your $ if you haven't yet)

Many blessings,
Kim

November 28, 2016

Dear Parents,

I am back!  :)  I am glad to get back on my feet and into a routine.  It has been a very rough 6 months (2 major surgeries in 6 months) but thankfully your kiddos have made the months so much easier for me.  I can't say enough about their support and kindness the past few months.

This week we hit the crazy 3 weeks before Christmas vacation.  There is a light at the end of the tunnel, but we still have 3 weeks of class time.  There are notes to be taken, chapters to be read and projects to complete.  Please help me keep the kids' heads in the game.  It will be difficult, but each are completely capable!

We have our first Advent prayer service at 8:30 tomorrow morning in the church.  It is a very short service to help the kids prepared for the upcoming Christmas celebration!  Please feel free to join us if you are interested!

I hope you have a great week!  Thank you for all the kind words, thoughts and prayers you have blessed me with the past few weeks!  I have felt everyone of them!

Many blessings,
Kim

November 7, 2016

Dear Parents

I hope you all were able to get out and enjoy some of this very unusual fall weather!  AMAZING!

Coming up....

Please help with the food drive.  I challenged the 7th graders to bring in supplies for the bags we are creating for the homeless.  In addition to the food drive this year, the school families will be making bags to hand out to the homeless in our community.  There will be toiletries in the bag, in addition to wash rags and mittens, etc....  Please send in these items asap!  Thank you so much!

Tuesday the 7th graders will be given their next science project.  We have been learning about genetics and why/how we look the way we do.  The kids will be doing this project independently.  It will be due the Monday we return from Thanksgiving break.  They will have PLENTY of time to complete the project in class, if time is used well.

REBOOT is on Wednesday night.  I have heard great things about the speaker and hope that you are able to come to this event!

Friday is our magazine sale prize fest in the afternoon.  The kids love this event!  Who knows our pig might even win the race this year!

I am having my shoulder re-done on Wednesday.  It has been a very long and trying time since June 21st when I had the original surgery.  I am sooooooo thankful and grateful for the support from the kids and parents.  Mrs. Turk is my sub, but I am available via email if you should have any questions or concerns while I am gone.  I hope to be back the Monday after Thanksgiving.  Know how thankful I am for each of you!!!

Many blessings,
Kim

October 31, 2016

Dear Parents

Happy Halloween!!!!  Thank you to all those who stopped through and checked in with me during conferences.  If you didn't please know that I do have your child's STAR test results if you are interested in receiving them, let me know, please.

This week...

Monday:  Halloween... normal morning with costumes able to be worn; parade around the school around 1:30 with teacher costume competition at the end of the day
Tuesday: ALL SAINTS DAY...  Uniforms MUST be worn; mass at 8:45; regular schedule the rest of the day
Wednesday: NO uniforms today; Mr. Wenborne visits the classroom for a presentation from 8:30-9:30; regular schedule the rest of the day
Thursday: regular day
Friday: families in the morning; 8th graders make pizzas; food drive begins on Monday

I will be having surgery to RE-DO my rotator cuff surgery (had original on June 21st) on November 9th.  Jenny Turk will be my sub.  She is outstanding and we benefit greatly in the fact that she has had 2 kids go through my classes and that she loves St. Dennis!  Although I will be out of commission at school, I will still be available via email, so DO NOT hesitate to contact me.  I am more than happy to answer any questions or concerns while I am gone.  I hope to be back the Monday after Thanksgiving....

Many blessings,
Kim

October 24, 2016

Dear Parents

The retreat at Camp Gray was a complete success!  I was so proud of the positive attitudes and problem-solving ideas over the 2 days of activities!

This week at a glance:

Monday:  the EPIC cell reproduction projects due at the end of class
Tuesday: we will be entertained by the performances
Wednesday: mass at 8:45; early release at 11:30; *conferences 1-8
Thursday: *conferences 9-5
Friday: NO SCHOOL

*Conferences:  ALL middle school students are to attend conferences with a parent.  Middle school teachers and all specials will be at tables throughout the gym.  It is a first come first "visit" type of situations.  You can pick and choose who to visit and when.  Please be sure to at least visit with your child's homeroom teacher.  I look forward to seeing all of you!

Many blessings and make it a great week!
Kim

October 17, 2016

Dear Parents,

Just a quick note this week...

7th and 8th graders are heading out to Camp Gray on Thursday and Friday.  PLEASE help me to pack the important things and keep the not so important at home.  They need a sleeping bag and pillow.  I would recommend and extra pair of socks and a jacket.  ALL electronics need to stay home, PLEASE.  You can contact my number if you need so get a hold of your child.

Don't forget about conferences next week.  I look forward to seeing all of you!  :)

Many blessings,
Kim

October 10, 2016

Dear Parents

Just a short update this week:

Science articles are due on Wednesday for the 7th graders.  About 1/2 of the 7th graders have not turned in the completed 7 reviews.  I will not accept them late.

Picture retake is on Thursday.  NO HOMEWORK club after school on Thursday.

No school on Friday!  I hope you all enjoy the extra day!  :)

I will be gone next Monday and Tuesday.  My grandma turns 90 next weekend and the family is gathering in Oklahoma.  I will post an update, as usual, but just know that I will not be as easily accessible and will do my best to still be available, if necessary.

Many blessings,
Kim

October 3, 2016

Dear Parents

OCTOBER?!?!  How is that possible?  Yes, we are on the tail end of the 1st quarter already!!!

We start our next science study... mitosis.  This is a favorite of many former students and I can't wait to see what these kids put together.  It is a group project and we talked about making a group and what to look for and how to handle tricky situations.  Please let me know if you hear or see any issues.  I can't help with situations of which I am unaware.  It is a performance and I truly believe this could be an epic year of projects!

I had several 7th grade students take advantage of turning in their science articles early.  I had hoped to receive more, but I know that things get busy.  Please help the students remember that these articles are ALL due next Wednesday for the 7th graders.  I will NOT be accepting any late articles and they are a major part of the 1st quarter grade.

I hope that the year is going well for everyone.  I am in awe of how quickly time seems to be flying by.  If you have not turned in your Camp Gray paperwork, please do so asap.  We would love for you to join us, as well, as parent chaperones.  Please let Mr. Beisser know if you are interested.  It is a two day experience you will never forget, guaranteed!

Have a great week!
Many blessings,
Kim

September 26, 2016

Dear Parents,

The grades have been posted for the cell projects.  I hope you took a chance to check out all the pics that I posted in the blog update.  There were 4 grades earned: connections between the cell organelle and the theme-20points; Self assessment... content-30points; journal-10 points; Project itself-20points.  Please take a look at teacher ease to view the overall grade.

If the student would like to earn one less article for 2nd quarter....  all 7 science articles are due on Wednesday this week.  If they are done well, he/she will be given a free article pass to reduce their assignment to 6 articles.  The due date for the articles is October 12th.

Sounds like the magazine sale was a great success!  Thank you all for your support!!!  Orders may still be turned in tomorrow, Monday.

Edgewood High School will be visiting St. Dennis on Wednesday.  The middle school students will meet with the high school kids after church on Wednesday.  Hopefully we will see some former students in their crowd.  It is also Edgewood in the Community day.  They will be redoing our cross that hung at the north end of the building.

Have a great week!
Many blessings, Kim

9.21 Cell Projects

(minus Zach who has been sick)

Alexus' house cell

Zoe's farm cell

Kailey's body cell

                                                    Emma's school cell

                                               

                                                 Daniel's city cell

Evan's basketball court cell

Nikki's ball diamond cell

Maryn's pond cell

Daniel's Aztec cell

Nicholas' outdoors cell

Gabby's football stadium

Anthony's Egypt cell

Lucy refrigerator cell

Anthony's lake cell

Claire's restaurant cell

Will's SpongeBob cell

Celeste's farm cell

Lydia's school cell

Joe's Fire house cell

Liam's outdoor cell

Cole's ball diamond cell

Andrew's ball stadium cell

Jordan's hockey rink cell

Sam's store cell

Ella's zoo cell

Bella's iPhone cell

Liberty's city cell

Jonah's church cell

Grace's city cell

 

Lindsey's school cell

September 19, 2016

Dear Parents,

Beautiful weekend, huh?!  It was nice to go and sit out near Cherokee Marsh, grade papers and listen to Oklahoma State and UW win their games!

The cell projects are coming along very well!  This is what I will look for by the end of the class on TUESDAY: 1. the project; 2. the key; 3. the connections; 4.  the self assessment.  #3 and #4 MUST BE in complete sentences and either in cursive or typed, to earn full credit.  I look forward to seeing the projects.

Everything seems to be going well.  I've had a few contacts from parents, if you have questions or concerns, please let me know.

Short and sweet this week!  :)
Many blessings,
Kim

September 12, 2016

Dear Parents,

What an absolutely beautiful Sunday it turned out to be!  I hope that you enjoyed some football (so sad about "my boys" loss on Saturday but should have never been that close anyway...) and family time!  I continue to think about and pray for the families who lost love ones on 9-11 only 15 years ago.

Magazine order stuff came out last week.  I hope that it was explained to your family that this is a BIG fundraiser for our school.  I look forward to seeing how well it goes this year.  Sounds like there are some great options out there!  All orders need to be in next week.

Another EASY fundraiser (and helpful in defraying tuition) is SCRIP.  If you've never tried SCRIP I highly recommend contacting Beth Jennissen about joining up or if you haven't ordered in a while, try it out again.  You are spending the money anyway, so it is an excellent opportunity to help you and our school with some extra funds.

I assigned the cell project to the students last week.  Hopefully it has come up in discussion at home and you are well aware of the requirements.  I am thinking the due date will be sometime mid-week next week.  There are 4 parts to the project.

I hope that everyone has a blessed week!!!

Many blessings,
Kim

September 5, 2016

Dear Parents,

Great weekend for football, rest, and weather!  :)  Hope everyone was able to get recharged because we are going to hit the ground running on Tuesday!

The 7th graders will be assigned their first science project of the year on Wednesday.  Students will create a cell, based upon a theme he/she develops.  I can not wait to see what this creative class creates!  This is an individual project and will be due sometime next week.

I hope everyone has jumped into teacher ease.  The students now have their own accounts... same as the one the parent is connected to, but can be signed in through his/her own st-dennisschool.org personal email.  I hope to show the students how to get into the program this week.

Tuesday morning we will meet our families and then have a blessing for the year at 9am.  I hope to see the 7th graders step into a leadership role with the family leaders.  Many in this class have been a bit of a challenge (to participate in the activities) in the past, but I am hoping some maturity has kicked in and with added responsibilities of being the 8th graders' right hand man/woman it will help.

Great beginning to the year!  Can't wait to see what God has in store for us!  If you ever need to contact me, please do not hesitate.  EMAIL: ms.maxson@st-dennisschool.org or PHONE: 608-334-0198.

Many blessings,
Kim

Thursday, September 1, 2016

GOOD MORNING!

I am sorry I didn't get a Wednesday envelope update submitted, but guarantee you'll see one next week!

This week went soooooo well!  I hope it is a foresight into what is to come.  We keep talking about how many of us there are, but how amazing we function together!  Love that!  I hope to keep that up.

Couple things:
*Mass schedule starts next Wednesday.  Hopefully you can join us sometimes throughout the year as the kids love to have the adults join us in celebration of the Eucharist!
*Birthday treats must be able to sent home at the end of the day.  Please abide by this as we don't eat in the science lab and it has seemed to work really well in the past.  Another option is to have the treat at lunch, but those arrangements need to be made with Mrs. Taylor prior to the day.
*We are really working to start at 8:20 this year.  Please try not to be pulling into drop off at 8:15 and expect your child to be on time.  So far things have gone very smooth, GREAT JOB!
*Teacherease now has the all the students' email addresses so each child is able to logon through their own password.  When the iPads get going I will take a minute to show the 7th graders how to get to their account.  Hopefully this will help keep them "in the know" about each of his/her grades.
*Never hesitate to reach out to me.  I am very available 99.9% of the time, so PLEASE give me a call or text (608)334-0198 or email me at ms.maxson@st-dennisschool. org or kmaxson1@gmail.com.  Texting is probably the fastest way to reach me, but please be sure to identify yourself.  I will update this blog every Sunday evening so try and remember to log on or sign up to receive an email through this website. (to the right hand side of the page there is a place to enter email addresses so you will be alerted when I update)

Have a fantastically awesome long weekend!  Sounds like the weather is going to be perfect!  Go Badgers and Go Pokes (Oklahoma State)!

Many blessings, Kim