5th-Grade All-Pro Parent Breakfast

All fifth-grade parents and students are invited Friday, January 22 to an All-Pro Parent breakfast in the IMS cafeteria from 7:15-7:40 a.m. All-Pro breakfast comes with a message for both parent and child to take away. This is a FREE event for all.

8th-Grade Slideshow

The 8th-Grade Slideshow Committee needs your help. Please email Mrs. Satola one infant/toddler picture and one candid picture from when your son/daughter was in 5th grade. These pictures are for the 8th grade slideshow, which will be played at the promotion ceremony at the end of the year. Both pictures should be of the student without any additional people. 

Please send one email with both pictures to jsatola@independence.k12.oh.us by the end of January and include your student's name in the email subject line. 

Thank you!

Attendance Reminders

TrueCare: We have a new number to text for attendance-related events. Please remove the old number and add this one to your contacts: (484) 255-8384. New families or existing families with new students can register for the program here: https://www.truecare24.com/aap/sign-up

As always, please report absences, late arrivals, or early pick-ups to the office by text (484-255-8384), email (skennedy@independence.k12.oh.us), or phone call (216-642-5865).

Medical Appointments: For ALL appointments, bring in a "School Excuse Note" from your provider to have the absence "Medically Excused."

Planned Absences: For upcoming non-medical absences of 2+ days, please complete and return the "Planned Absence Form." This form allows the school advance notice of your absence and teachers to collect make-up work for students and can be found here on the ILS website: ILS (LINK). Please note that the second page of this document needs to be completed -- this shows that the student has discussed this absence and assigned make-up work with their teachers.

Class Fees

Please be sure to check your student’s online account for fees that need to be paid. These fees include intramural sports, 7th and 8th grade sports, and all activities/clubs. The $80.00 class fee is also in your student’s EZ pay account and can be paid online or by check. 



Please email Vickie Cappas with any questions at vcappas@independence.k12.oh.us.

Builders Club

Builders Club will be selling hot chocolate every Friday (January 12, 19, 26) during lunch periods in January in order to raise money for St. Judes Children's Hospital. Hot chocolate will be $2 for plain or $3 for deluxe with marshmallows, whipped cream and sprinkles. 

8th-Grade Cleveland Clinic Career Passport Program

Dear 8th-Grade Families,

This January, we are very excited to introduce a pilot program at Independence Middle School which we have been working to develop for the past eight months, in partnership with the Cleveland Clinic and Cuyahoga Valley Career Center.  

The Cleveland Clinic Career Passport Program is a series of career exploration events designed to introduce students to the vast array of careers within a large healthcare system - far beyond simply "doctor" and "nurse." 

Clinic employees from multiple career pathways will be coming to the middle school and individually speaking with your child about their field of work, and leading them through a series of hands-on activities designed to enhance their concept of what it is to work in "healthcare." 

Representatives from many departments including engineering, architecture, graphic design, finance, and more traditional healthcare pathways such as therapy, cardiology, radiography, surgery, and more, will be visiting our school on three separate occasions to meet with students. 

This program will culminate with a personalized tour of the Cleveland Clinic downtown main campus, including a visit to their simulation lab, where our students will be allowed to use the actual equipment that simulates complex medical scenarios for the Clinic's caregivers, doctors and surgeons. 

In order to be allowed to enter this secure facility, every student must go through the Cleveland Clinic's onboarding process. If the student is not onboarded, they will not be given an access badge from the Clinic, and will be unable to attend the field trip in April. 

In the next few weeks, you will be receiving an email (to your parent email account registered with our district) directly from the Cleveland Clinic with instructions to complete their onboarding process - it will take about 10 minutes, and involves mostly granting permission and signing waivers on behalf of your child.  

If you have any questions, please reach out to either Amanda Jaronowski or Jamie Vanek. We are extremely excited to begin this program with our students!

IMS Mock Trial

The 2024 Independence Middle School Mock Trial Season is again upon us. Signup is currently available at the office. We will be meeting this year on Tuesdays after school in the Media Center, possibly some meetings at other times at the Civic Center, and possibly a field trip to one of the law schools or Courts. I am also hoping for at least one scrimmage with another school and the "Showcase" in which we will compete against other schools' teams is currently scheduled for May 17, 2024, at the Ohio Supreme Court in Columbus, Ohio.  This program is organized by the Ohio Center for Law Related Education (OCLRE).

 In OCLRE's website, you will find the following description of the program:  

"Combine middle school students' love of argument with a love of good literature. Middle School Mock Trial cases are literature-based, with cases constructed from books most commonly read in the middle grades. Students learn first-hand about the law, court procedures, and the judicial system while also building critical 21st-century skills.  

Middle School Mock Trial cases are based on pop­u­lar lit­er­a­ture, writ­ten by teams of teach­ers and lawyers.  Mid­dle school stu­dents act as wit­nesses and at­tor­neys to argue cases in­volv­ing their fa­vorite char­ac­ters. The pro­gram was de­signed with Ohio’s Learn­ing Stan­dards for so­cial stud­ies and Eng­lish/lan­guage arts in mind and is ideal for in­ter­dis­ci­pli­nary teach­ing. Stu­dents read and an­a­lyze wit­ness state­ments drawn from the char­ac­ters in the books. Stu­dents then work col­lab­o­ra­tively to de­velop ar­gu­ments for both sides and de­velop strate­gies to ques­tion the wit­nesses. 

OCLRE Mock Trial provides the opportunity for students to put together a coherent argument for their side of the case using furnished testimonial and physical evidence. The comprehensive approach includes reading a case summary, trial briefs, and witness statements. 

Middle School Mock Trial has cases based on books commonly read at the middle school level."   This year's case is based upon the book "The Giver" by Lois Lowry. I am looking forward to a great season again this year. 

Interested students should sign up in the main office of IMS.



Wayne Benos, Esq. IMS Mock Trial Coach/Advisor