August 18, 2005  5:32 AM

Good morning!

Our first three days of school have been great! Our students came back
ready to face the positive learning experiences of this school year. Our
teachers came back ready to provide meaningful learning experiences for
our students. We are destined to have a successful school year at Griffin
Middle School! I appreciate and value your support of our school!

Thanks for your patience as we work through some scheduling challenges.
Mrs. Peterson, our APC, has continued to work hard to ensure that student
schedule needs are met. Schedule change requests must be in writing and
the reason must be more than a simple change of mind.  If we have made an
error of course we will take care of it but if the student got the courses
requested, a change is not likely. Courses in math , reading, Spanish are
assigned by test scores in addition to requests so some students who
requested a particular course may not have been scheduled to it due to
test scores. Know that we are still working out some fine details but for
the most part, things are looking great in regards to our scheduling
process.

Please continue to sign your child's agenda book page each day. This lets
your child know that you support his/her learning activities and efforts.
Our teachers check the agenda book page each day and we appreciate your
continued support of our programs here at Griffin Middle School.

Again, thanks for making our first three days of school wonderful. Here's
to our best year ever at Griffin Middle School! Have a positive day!

Michelle Gayle,
Proud Principal of Griffin Middle School

Important Reminders:

August 19, 2005   Back to Excellence Assembly during Homeroom
                  First Newsletter goes home with each Tiger!

August 22, 2005   Tiger Team Tackle Football begins!
                  Cheerleader Clinic begins!
                  Beginner Band Student/Parent Meeting   6:00 PM/Band Room

August 25, 2005   Cheerleader Parent Meeting  5:15 PM/ Media Center
                  Tackle Football Parent Meeting  5:15 PM/ Cafeteria
                  Mandatory Parent Meeting  6:00 PM

August 26, 2005   All Back to School Forms due to Homeroom Teachers
                 (Clinic Cards, Activity forms, lunch foms, insurance
forms, etc.


2005-2006 School Improvement Plan Updates

During the past few weeks our dedicated teachers and administrators have
been working on our Florida Reading Initiative plan, our school
improvement plan, and teacher preparation to increase student performance.
Our main school improvement goals for the 2005-2006 school year include:

 * increase students’ reading, writing, science, and math skills
 * increase students’ learning in a clean and safe environment
 * increase student’s awareness of health and physical activity
*continue professional development for faculty in researched based reading,
math, science, technology and critical thinking strategies
*continue to increase the involvement of parents, guardians, and community
resources as active partners in achieving successful student performance
 * implement the Pre-Advanced Placement Program for 6th grade students
 * continue as a model school for the Florida Reading Initiative.

Please reveiw these goals and feel free to share your comments,
suggestions and ideas with our School Advisory Council Co-Chairs (Mrs.
Thomas and Mrs. Register) or me via phone (850.488.8436) or email.