Midwest Central Middle School - Home of the Raiders

Happy Administrative Professional's Day! MC is lucky to have an amazing group ladies in this category! Thank you all for your hard work, allowing the students to have a better educational experience and making the day to day operations of the the District run as smoothly as possible. You are truly the best! Raider Nation - If you get a chance, make sure to thank an Administrative Professional today.

Dear Raider Parents and Community Members: I hope this message finds you and your families safe and well. Friday, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker announced that remote learning in Illinois will be extended through the end of the 2019-20 school year. Although in-person learning has been suspended for the remainder of the year, at Midwest Central, I assure you our entire staff remains committed to learning and engaging with all students through remote learning, as well as continuing with our food distribution program. Like you, we are saddened by the reality that our school community will not be able to reconvene in person this school year due to this public health crisis. So many of you have worked so hard to learn and grow in both the classroom and in extracurricular activities that today’s announcement may feel like a step back. I wanted to update you with the current plans for the remainder of the year: 1. We will provide a 3rd learning packet to students next week. We will have a pick up on Wednesday, April 29th from 6am - noon and Thursday from noon - 6pm. These will be due May 13th. We’d ask you to drop off your 2nd learning packet April 29th. 2. We will be using a pass/incomplete grade for the 2nd semester grades. We again ask that you work with your student to do the best they can in completing these packets. I have asked our building principals and teachers to work with those students that were failing 3rd quarter as this is an opportunity for them to bring up their grades. 3. Lockers will be cleaned out by the custodial staff and student items will be bagged for a pick up on the 13th of May. Student items in classrooms will also be bagged up for a pick up on the 13th of May. 4. We ask that you bring both class texts and library books to return when you pick up your packet on the 29th or 30th or when you drop off your packets on May 13th. These are expensive items so we ask that you work hard to get them returned to us. 5. High School Graduation and Middle School Transition are currently on hold. As we get further guidance on social distancing our hope is we can perhaps hold some sort of recognition for these in May. (thinking positive). Unfortunately, we’re at the mercy of our Governor on this. We are committed to trying to do something to recognize the hard work of both our 8th grade students and our seniors who have been robbed of these special moments. 6. We will continue to serve meals through the 22nd of May. Don’t forget to pick up meals M, W, and F if you’re not on a delivery route. 7. Last official day for seniors is May 8th and for all other students it will be May 15th. Sincerely, Dr. Todd Hellrigel

Hello Raiders, I hope you're all staying home and staying safe. These are certainly strange times, and I'm sure cabin fever is getting old at this point. We appreciate all you're doing to help your students. We had a great packet pick up turn out and I wanted to thank you all for your efforts. We've also been asked to share with you food bank locations. Here is a link to area food bank locations. https://tazewellcounty.maps.arcgis.com/apps/Nearby/index.html?appid=bcaaa73edb8043febd79c83b70c94c26 Thank you for your support in these troubling times. Keep smiling! Dr. Todd Hellrigel

Choir parents, if you can and have yet to do so, please join the music Facebook page “Music with Mr. Forbes”. I will be posting resources and you can post your students’ work and/or musical experiences they are having while at home! https://www.facebook.com/groups/2577650239221353/?ref=share

To improve access to technology at home and assist remote learning, Midwest Central will be selling our older Chromebooks (with soft case) to district families for $15 each. These Chromebooks were purchased by the district approximately 5-6 years ago and are no longer supported by Google; however, they all have been reset to factory settings and work very well. Students will need to use their gmail account to log into them. We will be organizing the sale based on demand and need. Midwest Central will not providing service or support for devices after sale. INTERESTED? Please fill out this form OR call your school between 8-2 on Wednesday. https://forms.gle/d8ToRbtasTxzMadW8

Ms. Ranallo would like to share the following information from IDHS: The Illinois Department of Human Services’ Mental Health Division has launched a free-of-charge emotional support text line, Call4Calm, for Illinois residents experiencing stress and mental health issues related to COVID-19. Individuals who would like to speak with a mental health professional can text “TALK” to 5-5-2-0-2-0, or for Spanish, “HABLAR” to the same number: 5-5-2-0-2-0. Call4Calm is free to use, and individuals will remain anonymous. Once a resident sends a text to the hotline, within 24 hours they will receive a call from a counselor employed by a local community mental health center to provide support. Individuals can also text 5-5-2-0-2-0, with key words such as “unemployment” or “food” or “shelter” and will receive information on how navigate and access supports and services. https://files.constantcontact.com/f1e178eb701/52334ca1-10cc-4c16-99c3-3ed1099d9f5a.pdf

Calling all nerds!!!

April 3, 2020 Parents and Students, On March 27th, the Illinois State Board of Education communicated information to all school districts pertaining to the development of Remote Learning plans. Midwest Central values all students as learners. After reviewing the details of this document, please contact your child’s principal if you have any questions. Remote Learning Rationale Remote Learning is designed to: • Maximize student learning in a challenging situation. • Promote instruction focused on Core Content • Communicate a commitment to our high educational standards through regular and meaningful contact with each student and/or family. • Promote independence and responsibility for our students as learners. • Promote flexible learning in a family-friendly manner. • Model technology use in the digital age. Core Content For the purposes of this document, Core Content refers to the standards that are most significant for student success in subsequent years. Core Content must be aligned to state standards. Teachers will work in collaboration to determine Core Content. Family-Friendly Instruction For the purposes of this document, Family-Friendly Instruction means: • Flexible due dates. • Flexible ways for students to work on mastering and demonstrating mastery of Core Content . • Clear, consistent and reliable ways for students and parents to receive support from teachers. Process Starting April 13 and continuing through the end of the remote learning period, Midwest Central weekly schedule will be: • Every two weeks students will be provided learning packets to complete. The first packet pick up will be Monday, April 13th. • Packets will need to be picked up at your student’s respective school. • Packets will be available for pick up from 6am – Noon Monday, April 13th and Noon – 6pm on Tuesday, April 14th. • Please return the 1st packet with completed work when you pick up the 2nd packet. • Monday, Wednesday, and Friday meals will continue to be provided either by pick up or delivery by bus. Student Attendance No formal reporting of attendance is required during this time, but teachers will keep track of which students are engaged in the process and how often each student is involved, based on student responses. Grading Teachers will continue to grade student work that is turned in and will assign grades to work as normal. Regards, Dr. Todd Hellrigel

Midwest Central has transitioned to a NEW website and app! It provides better access to content and enables us to keep you more informed. Download the app on Android: http://bit.ly/3005X4y or iPhone: https://apple.co/35BmKfD.

UPDATED BUS ROUTES for next week! The new schedules reflect additions and subtractions from this week's routes so that we can make deliveries and times more accurate! Phone calls are being made to inform every student/family requesting meals.

Thanks to everyone for being patient as we completed distribution of food and learning packets Wednesday! We will continue meal deliveries/pickup using bus routes and buildings on Friday -20th, Monday - 23rd, Wednesday -25th, Friday-27th, and Monday -30th. ROUTES: Buses were running 30-40 minutes faster than the time we distributed. Please be on the lookout for an early arrival, as we expect this trend to continue, and note the arrival time the next drop off. PICKUP: Buildings will operate pickup from 10 AM to 12 PM (with exceptions as necessary).

Staff volunteers getting ready for deliveries today!

On specified days, students can receive MEALS and LEARNING PACKETS either by pick up at each of the buildings or by bus route. The amended bus routes (attached) reflect an adjustment for all bus routes to start at 9 AM and conclude by 1:15 PM. For MEALS, routes will run on March 18th, 20th, 23rd, 25th, 27th, & 30th, and for LEARNING PACKETS, routes will run on March 18th and 23rd (includes a pickup of completed learning). The Transportation department will be calling home to confirm times with families on March 17th. If you are unsure about your arrangement for meals and learning packets, contact the appropriate school before NOON on Tuesday, March 17th.

Midwest Central is planning to provide meals to students during the closure. We need YOU to let us know if we should prepare meals for your student! Please complete the survey link below by NOON on MONDAY. Please share with others. https://forms.gle/ENMZg6gXfoAEYmfS6

The dance scheduled from 6 to 8 PM will continue as scheduled this evening. There will be more information to follow regarding school closure.

Tuesday is St. Patrick’s Day. Students - wear green!! In order to be counted, green must be a piece of clothing, not a small circle on a shirt. The family with the best percentage of participation wins snack cakes for their prize!

Join our team! Opening for Primary School Principal.

The Scholastic Bowl team will travel to Edison tonight. The meet starts at 4:00 PM. Good luck Raiders!

Notice regarding an upcoming asbestos abatement project at the High School.

Tomorrow is Colon/Colorectal Awareness Day. There have been employees of our district directly affected by this! Raider Nation - Please consider showing your support by wearing BLUE tomorrow. This would be encouraging AND help raise awareness! Thank you!