SPARTAN News Stafford Middle School @WeAreSMSpartans October 2016
Book Fair in October the Library! 3—7
Shop ONLINE 9/28—10/11 Scholastic.com
Tuesday, November 1
Thursday, Mark your calendar…
FALL DRAMA SHOW—Nov 3-4 October 6 REPORT CARDS—Nov 14 FALL PARENT CONFERENCE NIGHT—Dec 1 5:00—7:00 PM WINTER CHORUS CONCERT—Dec 14 SCIENCE FAIR—Jan 24
RESPECTFUL • RESPONSIBLE • PRODUCTIVE - “The Spartan Way”
Mark J. Smith Jeff Howard Lindsey Conn Principal Assistant Principal Assistant Principal [email protected] [email protected] [email protected]
STAFFORD MIDDLE SCHOOL 101 Spartan Drive, Stafford, VA 22554 ● Phone: 540-658-6210 ● Fax: 540-658-6204 6th Grade English... ow! It’s hard to believe it is the end of September. Time is flying by! Our sixth grade students have been doing a wonderful job adjusting to middle school. From lockers to block scheduling, W students are falling into a routine and are truly Spectacular Spar- tans!
In English, students have been busy. We have finished our unit on genres and are moving on to learning about plot elements. We have been studying the parts of the plot diagram and applying this information to new pieces of literature. Writing continues to be a focus as we perfect our knowledge of sentence and paragraph development. Greek and Latin af- fixes have also been threaded into the curriculum. Finally, students have had the opportunity to visit the book fair in the library and have checked out books for pleasure reading.
Mrs. Castilleja Mrs. Geslock Mrs. Johnson Ms. Jones Ms. Rodebaugh
elcome to the start of a new school year and a year of A+ School Rewards. Beginning October 7, 2016 through March 16, 2017, Stafford Middle School W ID#02344, will have the opportunity to earn cash through the Giant A+ School Rewards Program. All you have to do is: • Log on to www.Giant.com/aplus to designate our school online using your Giant Card OR • Call the A+ Hotline at 1-877-275-2758 for assistance REMEMBER: If you registered your card last year, you DO NOT need to re- register this year. You can visit the website to verify correct school assign- ment. Also, don’t forget to encourage your friends and relatives to do the same. It could mean more CASH for our school. After you register your card, each shopping trip at Giant using your Card earns CASH for our school. Each month, the amount of CASH awarded will be updated on the Giant A+ website. You can track the amount of points you earn for our school by checking your grocery receipt and online when you create an account at www.Giant.com. Our school will receive a check at the end of the program and the money can be used for any of our school’s educational needs. Thanks for supporting our school! have exciting news! Our school is participating in the bels and send them to Tyson Foods, and Tyson Foods will Tyson Project A+™ program, a fund-raising program send our school a check. Each label is worth 24¢! sponsored by Tyson Foods, Inc. Through this pro- gram, we can raise up to $12,000 for our I’d be happy to answer any questions you have Ischool this year! The money can go towards sup- about the program. You can also find plies, building improvements, school programs, details online at ProjectAPlus.tyson.com or anything else we choose. It’s an easy way to raise much needed funds by sending Tyson Pro- I hope you’ll join the SMS National Junior Honor ject A+ labels from products you probably al- Society in collecting Tyson Project A+ labels this ready buy. year and spread the word to your friends and relatives. It’s such an easy way to raise much Here’s how it works: Just clip and collect Tyson Project A+ needed funds for our school! If you have any questions, labels from participating Tyson® product packages and please contact Ms. Mangione, NJHS Advisor at man- send them to school with your child. We’ll collect the la- [email protected].
Instructional Technology at SMS...
f you have a sixth grader and have not received your Have you checked out the new SMS ParentVUE activation code to create a login to moni- webpage? We are proud of our work so tor grades, attendance, and view class websites, far. We will be continuing to add and up- please contact our counseling Office to speak to Mrs. date content and train our staff in how to IBuchanan at 65-6210. use it. If you have feedback, please let us know. If you are looking for teacher classroom pages, they are now found ParentVUE and StudentVUE links and links to the mobile in ParentVUE on the left side of the main screen. apps. are available at our new school webpage under the Parent Tab on the right side of the main screen. Todd Kramer
PTO UPDATE
Spirit Night Carols O’Kelly’s: October 12 Thank you Thanks to all who helped with teacher breakfast. We could use your help with Back to School Night on October 6 and providing dinner for teachers. Email ttaff- [email protected] for more info. General Membership meeting Thursday, October 13-7 PM. SMS cafeteria. We will be voting on revising our by-laws. Remainder of PTO Meetings for 2016-2017 Thurs., Nov. 17 Wed., Dec. 15 Wed., Jan. 18 Wed., Feb. 15 Wed., March 15 Wed., April 12 Wed. May 17—This is a general membership meeting where we will hold elections for 2017-2018 PTO board. ALL MEETINGS WILL BE HELD AT SMS AT 7 PM
Check the website (SMS website and PTO page) before attending a meeting to make sure no changes have occurred.
Color-A-Thon Walk/Run This is our big fundraiser of the year. Our kids had a blast last year. Save the date for Nov. 19 and look for info to come home with your child soon.
3:10 pm A Games A pm 3:10 — Games B 10/25 Championship: pm 3:30 —
Tournaments: 10/19 & 10/21 10/21 & 10/19 Tournaments:
#2 VS #1
11/14 Fri
Championship
RTMS VS 10/17 Mon
DSMS @ 11/9 Wed
SHMS @ 10/14 Fri
HHP @ 11/2 Wed
Wed DMS VS 10/12 SHMS VS 10/26 Wed
RTMS @ 10/19 Wed DSMS @ 10/7 Fri
AGW VS 10/12 Wed
GMS VS 10/5 Wed
DMS VS 10/5 Wed
HHP @ 10/3 Mon
OPPONENT DATE DAY
OPPONENT DATE DAY
2016 Field Hockey Schedule Hockey Field 2016 SCHEDULE FOOTBALL 2016
10/25 Championship
10/21 & 10/19 Tournaments:
Mon RTMS @ 10/17
Fri SHMS VS 10/14
Wed DMS VS 10/12
Fri DSMS VS 10/7
2016 Wed GMS @ 10/5
Mon HHP VS 10/3
Schedule
DAY OPPONENT DATE
Volleyball Volleyball
pm. 4 by up pick must Rides
PE & Health SMS -
Consent Form must be on file. file. on be must Form Consent
provided, if needed. Informed Informed needed. if provided,
[email protected] at Khodjibaev Noelle Mrs. is ral .
courts each day. A tennis racket is is racket tennis A day. each courts
Point of contact for the intramu- the for contact of Point 4:00. at promptly building the of front the at
Mrs. Kehler to the BPHS tennis tennis BPHS the to Kehler Mrs.
in comfortable active wear clothing with tennis shoes. Parents should pick up up pick should Parents shoes. tennis with clothing wear active comfortable in
match play. Students will walk w/ w/ walk will Students play. match
dle student that is interested. Each student should be dressed dressed be should student Each interested. is that student dle troduced, tennis drills, scoring & & scoring drills, tennis troduced,
. The Spartan Spirit intramural is open to any Spartan Mid- Spartan any to open is intramural Spirit Spartan The . 2016 skills. Basic tennis skills will be in- be will skills tennis Basic skills.
SMS students enhance their tennis tennis their enhance students SMS Consent Form and return it to Mrs. Khodjibaev prior to to prior Khodjibaev Mrs. to it return and Form Consent Oct. 3, 3, Oct.
intramural is to help help to is intramural dent that would like to participate must complete the Informed Informed the complete must participate to like would that dent
The purpose of this this of purpose The
and to support the school’s athletic programs. Each SMS stu- SMS Each programs. athletic school’s the support to and
stunts, & basic tumbling), to learning several school cheers, cheers, school several learning to tumbling), basic & stunts, PM 4 - 3
Thurs & Mon dents experience with the basics in cheerleading (arm positions, jumps, basic basic jumps, positions, (arm cheerleading in basics the with experience dents
30 Oct — 26 Sept The purpose of the Spartan Spirit Intramural is to introduce or further a stu- a further or introduce to is Intramural Spirit Spartan the of purpose The
Intramural 4 PM 4 - 3 ● Thurs - Wed - Tues ● 27 – 4 Oct
Spartan Spirit Intramural Spirit Spartan
Tennis Tennis COUNSELING NEWS FOR OCTOBER!
Mrs. Carey (7th Grade & 6th Grade A-K):
Hi Spartan families! October is here! We have done our first guidance lessons. In 7th grade, we learned all about using our BRAIN to solve our problems. We looked at what the Benefits were to that solution, what the Risks were, were there any Alternatives? What was does our Intuition say? What would happen if we did Nothing? Using prob- lem solving skills is a huge part of growing up. Learning how to prob- lem solve will help our students become better Spartans and better citizens. In October we will be focusing on Anti-Bullying. We will have our annual Unity day on October 20 where we will encourage our students to wear orange. I look forward to seeing everyone at Back to School Night on October 6th. If you have any questions or con- cerns, please don't hesitate to contact me!
Ms. Stafford (8th Grade & 6th Grade L-Z): OCT 20, 2016
Happy October SMS families!! I can’t believe we are into our second month of school already! Mrs. Carey and I have already had a chance to visit each classroom for our introduction lessons. In these lessons, we went over what a middle school counselor does as well as how they can utilize the Counseling Center. During our first lesson, we focused on becoming problem solving experts! Our 6th and 8th grad- ers learned how to implement S.O.D.A.S. into their everyday lives. When faced with a problem, students can stop and think to figure out theS ituation, Options,D isadvantages, Advantages, and Solution. When our Spartans en- counter obstacles, we encourage them to use S.O.D.A.S. to problem solve. I challenge you to use it at home!
Small Group Counseling:
School counselors conduct planned small groups outside the classroom to respond to students’ identified needs, interests, or for students expressing difficulties dealing with relationships, personal concerns, and normal develop- mental tasks. Students can be recommended for groups by parents, teachers, or themselves. As school counselors, we prefer that all students who participate in group counseling have parental permission. A list of proposed groups being held is listed below. Please contact your child’s school counselor to sign up or for more information. (Mrs. Carey – [email protected] & Ms. Stafford– [email protected])
Changing Families – Coping with changes in families such as divorce, incarceration, new sibling, deployment, and loss. Groups will be formed by specific need. Organization/Study Skills– Staying on track in middle school by keeping up with our lockers, agen- da, binders, and more! Self-Esteem – Building confidence and communication skills. Keep Your Cool – Anger management skills.
8th Grade Parents: 8th grade students will take the PSAT on Wednesday, October 19th. If you have any questions/ concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact the Counseling Center @ (540)658-6206. Signature Program Night will be Wednesday, October 26th at Brooke Point High School from 6- 9 PM. I encourage all 8th grade families to learn all about the wonderful programs and opportu- nities our county offers to high school students. 6th & 7th grade families are encouraged to attend as well. It’s never too early to think about our futures!
Stafford Middle School’s Focus Program
Saturday, November 12th, 11am-3pm Barnes & Noble Central Park in Fredericksburg
It will be an amazing experience for the whole family. There will be some- thing for everyone! More information will follow outlining the various activ- ities and events we will have that day. Please come on out and support your school’s Focus program. Barnes and Noble will donate a percentage of your purchase. Our goal is buy a class set of chrome books, so any contribution will be appreciated.
NO WORRIES! THERE WILL BE AN ONLINE WAY TO PARTICIPATE. CLINIC NEWS FOR YOUR INFORMATION . . . below is a listing of the DIABETES, EPIPENS and ASTHMA medications require items provided by the school system to all clinics and used a separate medication form and care plan. Please go to regularly for first aid. Should you know of any legitimate the Stafford County website and then to Health Services for reason why these items should not be used on your son/ these forms or call me in the clinic. daughter, please contact me at 658-6210. MANDATED HEALTH SCREENINGS The following products have been approved for use by the Vision and hearing screenings are mandated by Code of School Health Advisory Committee and the Rappahannock Virginia Law 22.1-273 for all new students and students in Emergency Medical Services Council as first aid and illness grades K, 3, 7, and 10. The school nurse will conduct treatments: screenings during the first 60 days of schools and referrals will be sent home by November break. If you have any alcohol 70% first aid cream helpful information regarding your student's vision or hear- antibiotic ointment hand lotion ing, please send in a note to your school nurse. If you do Bactine isotonic eye not wish to participate and would like to provide a screening calamine lotion wash by your family physician, please contact your school nurse. Chloraseptic spray Vaseline School nurses may also check a student's vision or Over the counter medications also hearing at a teacher or require a doctor’s order. parent's request when con- Please do not send these to school with your child. cerns arise in the classroom. 7th grade Hearing and The permission form for this type of medication can be Vision screenings will take found in the Student Code of Conduct Book which you re- place on 10/21/16. ceived at the beginning of the year. Nurse Fisher
his year, our school will be once again participating in the Box Tops for Educa- Ttion™ program. The members of the SMS National Junior Honor Society are thrilled to be the Box Tops Coordinators for Stafford Middle. Clipping box tops is an easy way to help our school buy what it needs. Box Tops are worth 10¢ and they quickly add up to real cash for our school. This school year, our school’s earnings goal is $1000.
To help our school, just look for pink Box Tops on products, clip them, and send them to school. There will be collection sites in the front office and in each homeroom. For more information on the Box Tops for Education™ program, including a list of participating products and our school’s pro- gress, visit www.BTFE.com. Be sure to become a member to receive exclusive coupons and recipes and learn about extra ways for our school to earn.
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact Ms. Mangione, NJHS Advisor at man- [email protected]. October 2016
Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
26 27 28 Football VS 29 30 Field Hockey 1 GMS– postponed VS AGW Volleyball @ AGW
2 3 4 5 Field Hockey 6 BACK TO 7 Kings 8 Field Hockey VS GMS SCHOOL Dominion @ HHP Football VS DMS NIGHT 5-7 PM “Scare School” 3:30 pm Volleyball @ Drama/Art Volleyball VS GMS 3:30 pm Intram. Tennis Field Trip HHP 3:30 pm 3 pm Interim Volleyball VS Intram. Tennis Reports DSMS 3:30 pm 3 pm Field Hockey @ SPARTAN SPIRIT INTRAMURAL 3-4 PM DSMS 3:30 pm
BOOK FAIR IN THE LIBRARY
9 10 11 12 Football VS 13 Intram. 14 Volleyball VS 15 Columbus AGW 3:30 pm Tennis 3 pm SHMS 3:30 pm Day Volleyball VS Field Hockey @ DMS 3:30 pm SHMS 3:30 pm Professional Field Hockey VS Day DMS 3:30 pm No School for Students Carlos O’Kelly’s Spirit Night 5 pm Intram. Tennis 3 pm SPARTAN SPIRIT INTRAMURAL 3-4 PM
16 17 Volleyball 18 19 Football @ 20 Intram. 21 Volleyball & 22 @ RTMS RTMS 3:30 pm Tennis 3 pm Field Hockey 3:30 pm Tournaments Field Hockey Volleyball & -Locations TBD VS RTMS Field Hockey 3:30 pm Tournaments 7th Grade Intram. Tennis -Locations TBD Hearing & Vision 3 pm Screening
SPARTAN SPIRIT INTRAMURAL 3-4 PM
23 24 Intram. 25 Volleyball & 26 Football VS 27 Intram. 28 29 Tennis 3 pm Field Hockey SHMS 3:30 pm Tennis 3 pm Championships -Locations TBD
SPARTAN SPIRIT INTRAMURAL 3-4 PM
30 31 OCTOBER WORD OF THE MONTH:
RESPONSIBILITY Halloween