Tennessee Middle School

Leaves are falling, and fall break is calling—turn in your library books to Mrs. Ball before Friday!

Today is the last day to register for fall intersession!
Link for parents to register online: https://forms.microsoft.com/r/LkckRmhgRZ

🎃🚗 Trunk or Treat at Tennessee Middle School! 🚗🎃

Join us for a night of games, food, and prizes on Thursday, October 23, from 5:30–7:30 p.m. at TMS!

✨ Trunk decorating contest
✨ Food trucks (2 to Taco & Sunset Slush)
✨ Candy, giveaways, and lots of FUN!

👻 Costumes encouraged! Bring the whole family for this exciting fall event hosted by Communities In Schools Appalachian Highlands in partnership with BTCS.

We can’t wait to see you there! 🎉

Upcoming Events at TMS:
Parent Teacher Conferences- 9/30 3-6PM
Picture Day-October 1

TMS picture day is one week away! Ask your student for their form today!

Want to better understand your child’s learning progress? The TCAP Family Portal gives parents access to personalized information, test results, and resources to support learning at home. Schools are in the process of sending home each student's printed state TCAP score reports from last school year. Once you receive your child's report, we encourage you to visit the TCAP Family Portal for more information about your child's TCAP results. For instructions on accessing the portal, go to https://www.btcs.org/page/tcap-family-portal.

Tennessee Middle School's annual Title 1 Meeting will be held on August 4, 2025, at 4:30 PM on the learning stairs!

Save the Date for the first annual TMS Back to School Bash- August 4, 5 to 7 in front of TMS and the Fieldhouse area! You will meet your student's teachers on this night! Food and games provided by PTA and Communities in Schools!

🎶 Calling all rising 6th graders! 🎺🥁Beginning Band Camp is coming to Tennessee Middle School on July 14–18, from 2–4 p.m. daily! Whether you're picking up an instrument for the first time or just ready to make some noise, this is your time to shine! Enter through Door #25. Questions? Email finchs@btcs.org.

Tennessee Middle School Supply Lists are available here: https://acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:sc:US:73f3114b-83c9-4be6-bc73-c7a40cce2a44

TMS Athletics - 2025 Tryout Dates & Information: *Girls' Soccer - Tryouts: May 28–30, 5:00–7:00 PM @ Central Fields (HutchinsonJ@btcs.org) *Girls' Volleyball - Tryouts: May 23, 1:30–4:30 PM @ TMS Gym (SlaughterA@btcs.org) *Football - Workouts Begin: June 2, 5:00 PM @ TMS (ArnoldJ@btcs.org) *Boys' Basketball - Tryouts: May 23, 5:00–7:00 PM @ TMS Gym (RobinsonT@btcs.org) *Cross Country - Workouts Begin: June 3, 8:30 AM @ TMS Track (Murrell_T@mac.com) *Tennis - Tryouts: July 30, 3:30 PM @ Ida Stone Courts (BuckmasterA@btcs.org) *Dance - Tryouts: May 31, 9:00 AM–12:00 PM & June 2, 6:00–7:30 PM @ TMS Gym (HackerH@btcs.org) *Cheer - Clinic Day 1: May 20, 4:30–6:00 PM; Clinic Day 2: May 21, 4:30–6:00 PM; Tryouts: May 29, 9:00–11:00 AM @ TMS Gym (WrightA@btcs.org) For information on TMS and THS 2025 athletic tryouts, visit https://www.btcs.org/o/athletics/page/tryouts .

Upcoming 8th Grade Summer Reading Guide Students in the BTCS school system are required to participate in a graded summer reading assignment. In place of a summer reading novel, 8th grade ELA has opted to read a few short texts and complete activities highlighting some of our focus skills in 8th grade. “Uncle Marcos” by Isabel Allende “Nikola Tesla: The Greatest Inventor of All? By Vicky Baez Excerpt from The Invention of Everything Else by Samantha Hunt As you read this summer, use the following checklist to keep track of each activity you need to complete before the first day of school. Please read the checklist carefully as you will not be completing every item in the textbook. Text 1: Uncle Marcos Skill Focus: Characterization Read “Uncle Marcos” by Isabel Allende (p.449) Answer the close reading questions on p. 449, 451, 453, 454, & 456. Complete the Analyze Craft & Structure activity on p. 459. For this activity, read the information about characters and answer the four questions that follow. Text 2: Nikola Tesla: The Greatest Inventor of All? Skill Focus: Text Structure Read “Nikola Tesla: The Greatest Inventor of All? By Vicky Baez (p.489) Complete the Analyze Craft & Structure activity on p. 492. For this activity, read the information about biographical writing. Then complete the chart and answer the two questions that follow. Text 3: from The Invention of Everything Else Skill Focus: Word Choice Read from The Invention of Everything Else by Samantha Hunt (p.495) Complete the Analyze Craft & Structure activity on p. 506. For this activity, read the information about figurative language and complete the practice choice at the bottom of the page. Dear Future 8th Grader, We are so excited to share these texts with you! Each text focuses on a skill you will grow and reinforce in 8th grade. By reading and participating in the summer reading assignment, you will be well prepared for our work during our year together. You were given a paper copy of these texts and assignments; however, there is a link to the digital copy of these assignments at the bottom of this letter if needed. You will take a quiz over this assignment and the paperwork will be graded. Please bring your work in during our first week of school together in August. We look forward to rewarding you for your reading time over the summer. Whether you take the time to read on vacation, at night before bed, or when you first wake up, reading enriches us and we hope to share our love of reading with you as we get to know one another. We hope that as you read these texts, you reflect on your middle school experiences so far and feel excitement for the next chapter in your childhood as an eighth grader at Tennessee Middle School. Looking forward to our days together, Deanna Baptist, Andrew Cleland, Taylor Booker *In case you need a digital copy of the texts and work, please scan the QR code below!

Upcoming 7th Grade Summer Reading Guide You will be reading two texts from the 7th grade curriculum to help you prepare for the upcoming school year. Summer Reading Text #1: “Four Skinny Trees” from The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros Summer Reading Text #2: from Facing the Lion: Growing Up Massai on the African Savannah by Joseph Lemasolai Lekuton Below are some questions to guide your reading. When you return to school, have the answers to the following questions. Analyze a character from one of your summer reading texts. How is the character introduced? How does this character change over the course of the text? Does this character remind you of someone you know? Do you personally relate to this character? Analyze the tone of an excerpt from one of your summer reading texts. What excerpt are you analyzing? What is the tone of this passage? What words from the text help create this tone? How does this tone impact the meaning of the text? What song would represent this excerpt? Identify examples of figurative language in one of your summer reading texts. How do these examples create meaning in the text? Why would the author include this figurative language? Identify three challenging vocabulary words. Look up the denotation (dictionary meaning) of these words. What is the connotation (the feeling a word creates) of each word? Use these words in a sentence. List synonyms and antonyms for these words. What themes, or life lessons, are developed throughout one of the text? What does a character learn throughout the story? What was the author’s purpose in writing this story? How can you apply this lesson to your own life? Create a plot diagram of the MAIN conflict in one of the texts. Exposition: How are your characters introduced? What is your story’s setting? Conflict: What was the main issue in your story? What type of conflict is it (external/internal)? Rising Action: What problems or events took place as your character faced the conflict? Climax: What is the turning point or most exciting part of the story? Falling Action: What happens after the climax? Resolution: How does the story end? What does the protagonist learn from the main conflict? Write an objective summary of one of the texts when you have finished reading. (An objective summary is a summary that does not include any opinions or judgments about what is written in the text.) Dear Future 7th Grader, We are so excited to share these texts with you! Each text focuses on a skill you will grow and reinforce in 7th grade. By reading and participating in the summer reading assignment, you will be well prepared for our work during our year together. You were given a paper copy of these texts and assignments; however, there is a link to the digital copy of these assignments at the bottom of this letter if needed. Please bring your work in during our first week of school together in August. We look forward to rewarding you for your reading time over the summer. Please complete these questions on clean notebook paper to submit to your ELA teacher for a grade. Whether you take the time to read on vacation, at night before bed, or when you first wake up, reading enriches us and we hope to share our love of reading with you as we get to know one another. We hope that as you read these texts this summer, you reflect on your own childhood experiences so far and feel excitement for the next chapter in your childhood as a seventh grader at Tennessee Middle School. Looking forward to our days together, Kevin Jones, Amara Bunten, Kendra Hale

TMS Math Fair and Art show will be Wednesday, May 14, 5:30-7:00 in the TMS Gym.

Save the date! All Tennessee Middle School students will have laptop collection on May 16, 2025.

Get ready for an action-packed summer with Viking Youth Sports Camps! Open to students in grades K–8, these camps are a great way to stay active, build skills, and make new friends. Each camp is just $50! View the full schedule and register now at btcs.org/youthsportscamp — or sign up the day of the event! Let’s go Vikings!

Dear Parents and Guardians, Your child is invited to Bristol Tennessee City Schools’ 2025 Summer STREAM Camp. The camp is offered at no cost and includes transportation to and from camp, breakfast, and lunch. STREAM stands for science, technology, reading, engineering, art, and math. During camp your child will receive focused instruction in reading and math to help close learning gaps to ensure your child will have the necessary skills to perform on grade level academically. STREAM Camp will also help accelerate their learning by building background knowledge for skills that will be taught during the upcoming school year. Learning experiences will be fun and engaging through the daily STREAM activities as well as physical education classes. Consistent daily attendance at STREAM Camp is critical and expected to help your child close learning gaps and be prepared for next school year. It will also help your child avoid the Summer Slide, which shows that children lose significant knowledge in reading and math over summer break resulting in skill loss each year. The learning loss is even more significant for students who are already struggling. STREAM Camp Details: June 2-26, 2025 (Mondays-Thursdays) 7:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Rising 6th–9th Graders Tennessee Middle School, 840 Alabama Street In addition, your child may register to participate in the optional extended day STREAM Mini-Camp from 2:30 to 5:30 p.m. daily. If your child will be participating in this optional extended day camp, please indicate this on your registration form. Transportation is not provided for STREAM Mini-Camp. We have a limited number of slots available for camp. Please reserve your child’s spot today by completing the online registration using the QR Code, web address below, or return the attached registration form to your child’s teacher by Wednesday, May 21. In order to receive transportation services, students must be registered by May 21. Any students not registered by May 21 must enroll on-site the first week of camp in the main office. If you have questions about STREAM Camp, please contact your child’s school or email summerstream@btcs.org. We look forward to growing and learning with your child this summer! Respectfully, Kelli Campbell Director of Accelerated Learning and Data Analysis