SMS Weekly Update

This morning we held our first Student of the Month breakfast. What a delight to celebrate the skills that these students already possess and share a wonderful and positive morning with their families and staff. The students were nominated for demonstrating the character trait of being a "self-starter." We had 100% attendance for all students nominated with at least one family member present for each student. It was a great way to start a Friday morning for our staff and families. Next month's theme will be based around communication. We look forward to celebrating those nominees in early November!

Another exciting event this week is that our new School Resource Officer, Preston Neumann, has started. Officer Neumann has a passion for students and education and is excited about the opportunity to be an SRO. Said Officer Neumann, "having the opportunity to continue to build relationships in a place as positive as SMS is exciting. I'm looking forward to getting to know more of the families and students at Sherwood Middle School". Please welcome Officer Neumann to the SMS community!

October 10

• PSO Pledge Drive Begins (see the Freaky Friday Flyer below)

October 11

• Early Release, Dismissal at 2:26 pm

October 13

• Statewide Inservice - NO SCHOOL

October 16 - 20

• Freaky Friday Ticket Sales (at lunches, during school)

October 17

• PSO's "Monster Dash" Run (during PE classes)

October 18

• Early Release, Dismissal at 2:26 pm

• School Board Meeting, 7:00pm - 9:00pm, District Office

October 19

• Builders Club Meeting, 3:30pm - 4:30pm, in room W27 (see more information below)

October 20

• Picture Retakes
• PSO Pledge Envelopes Due
• Freaky Friday Family Event, 5:00 pm - 8:00 pm, at the SMS Activities Entrance
• Freaky Friday Student Dance, 8:00pm - 9:30 pm, re-entry at the Activities Entrance

October 26

• Conferences, 4:45pm - 8:00pm, Gym and Commons

October 27

• Conferences, 8:00am - 12:00pm, Gym and Commons

Additional events may be viewed on the SMS Calendar and the District Calendar.

Front Office Hours: 7:30 am - 3:45pm

Student Hours: 8:45 am - 3:26 pm (Except on scheduled Early Release days)

Doors Open to Students: 8:30 am (Main Entrance and Activities Entrance)

Wednesdays: 2:26 pm Dismissal

The District holds one-hour Early Release days each Wednesday. Please refer to the 2023-2024 District Calendar for the scheduled Early Release days. Dismissal for those days will be at 2:26 pm.

Our school will be participating in our first lockdown drill of the school year during the month of October. Lockdown drills are an essential part of our emergency preparedness, and help students and staff to practice specific actions that would occur in an emergency situation. Practice drills such as these are also an opportunity for our administrators and staff to collaborate with the Sherwood Police Department to continue improving our safety plans. You may notice increased police presence if you are on/near our campus during a lockdown drill, as our SROs do participate in checking our building security during the drill.

During drills, staff and students are secured within their individual classrooms/offices, and there is no movement in the building. No one will be allowed to enter or exit the campus until the drill has been completed.

For more information on District emergency response protocols and communication, please visit the SSD website here.

This is an amazing memory-making trip. We visit historical sites in NYC, Washington DC & Pennsylvania.

We will be having a parent meeting on Oct. 11 at 5:00 p.m. in W6.

Flyers will be available in the front office after the meeting. You can also email smsgoeseast@gmail.com for more information. Deadline to register is November 1. We need a minimum of 20 students to sign-up by then or the trip could be potentially cancelled.

This is a non-school sponsored event.

As you may know, Sherwood Schools are shifting to a standards-based grading system. Research shows that using a standards-based grading approach allows teachers to more precisely identify the next steps for learning and increases student engagement. Additionally, standards-based grading provides more clarity than other grading methods.

To learn more about how standards-based grading is utilized in Sherwood Middle School click here (print) or here (video). You can also find information around accessing ParentVUE by clicking here.

There are no balloons allowed in our building due to latex allergies, and false alarms set off by balloons. Thank you for helping ensure the safety of our students and staff by adhering to this policy.

This is a friendly reminder to have students check the Lost and Found for any missing items. We have had a handful of additions recently and would love for them to make their way home.

Most lost and found items are located in the commons, while electronics may be found in the Front Office.

Sherwood Middle School is partnering with Kiwanis to bring a Builders Club to our school. The Builders Club is a casual, friendly place for middle school students to gain leadership experience and engage in volunteer opportunities throughout our local and global community. Participants will also have the opportunity to be part of an international volunteer organization that continues into high school and beyond.

If your student is interested in helping, "build a better future", there are two ways they can participate. They can sign up to attend an activity during Choice Flex. We will also meet after school on the 1st and Third Thursday of the month from 3:30-4:30 in room W27. There will be an activity bus.

Students staying after school must complete the linked Builders Club permission form.

This month we are meeting on Oct. 5 and Oct. 19. There will be an activity bus. Anyone is invited to attend.

Next week is National School Lunch Week! This week celebrates the National School Lunch Program, which provides nutritionally balanced, low-cost or no-cost lunches to children each school day. The program was established under the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act, signed into law by President Harry Truman in 1946.

Here in the Sherwood School District, our Nutrition Services team served approximately 220,000 school meals to our students last year! We encourage our students to take a moment next week to thank our cafeteria teams for all that they do to provide healthy meals in our schools.

As a reminder, all Meal Program Eligibility from the 2022-23 school year expires on October 12. To ensure your child's access to free/reduced email eligibility continues for the rest of the 2023-24 school year, all families must submit a new application for the current year. The current Meal Application for School Year 2023-2024 can be found here.

If you have already completed a 2023-24 application but need to confirm your eligibility, please contact Nutrition Services at nutrition@sherwood.k12.or.us. This institution is an equal opportunity provider.

The PSO is hosting the first ever Monster Dash! It is a fun seasonally themed obstacle course for the kids that will take place during their PE period on October 17th. Students will spend approximately 15 minutes on the track traversing the obstacles while we as parents either chase them, jump out and scare them, or a combination of the two, all while dressed as monsters. We are encouraging parents to come watch as well as volunteer. To volunteer, sign up on the Sign Up Genius link below.

Our PSO needs candy for Freaky Friday!

Shelf-stable & individually wrapped candy may be dropped off in the Front Office, but if you would like to enter the raffle to win a prize, please bring your donations to the Leadership Room from 8:30-8:45 am (Oct. 2nd-13th).

What: Candy Donations (shelf-stable & individually wrapped)

Where: SMS Leadership Room from 8:30-8:45 am (Oct. 2nd-13th)

Why: Donate candy for Freaky Friday and enter raffle to win a Prize (Blazers Tickets, Gift Cards, Taco Bell Merch, etc)

Who: SMS Students and Staff

Thank you to our Student Leadership Team for supporting our PSO and the Freaky Friday event through this creative campaign!

Join us for Family Fun with food, raffle and an all new Haunted Maze!!! The event is Friday, October 20 from 5pm to 8pm. Students will come home with envelopes for the Monster Dash and we need lots of volunteers to help us pull this event off (more information to come soon).

Picture retakes will take place on October 20th.

Did you miss picture day or want to take a new picture?

Retake day is quickly approaching. If we did not see you on picture day or you would like a new image, Dorian Studio will be taking pictures at your school again soon. Do not miss out on ordering pictures of your student.

Orders may be placed online by searching for your school name at mydorian.com and selecting the green Order button next to your school retake day event. Online orders are available up to 4 days after retake day. If you already ordered and want a new picture taken please be sure to return your original picture packet to the photographer on retake day.

Yearbooks can be ordered on treering.com. Please include your students flight time teacher when ordering (that ensures they get their own book.) If you have ordered a yearbook in the past few years from any elementary in Sherwood you should already have an account. You have the opportunity to personalize pages for your student throughout the year and share photos from sporting events etc. with the yearbook team. You can do this via the app on your phone or the website. There are photo folders for various categories. The SMS school code can be found on the flyer in the newsletter and on the FB PSO site as well as flyers coming home soon. If you are feeling generous you can donate a book when you check out. The school counselors will ensure it goes to someone in need.

Order by October 31st for 10% off.

Directory information means those items of personally identifiable information contained in a student education record which is not generally considered harmful or an invasion of privacy if released.

Under Sherwood School District 88J Policy JOA, directory information shall be released only with administrative direction and directory information considered by the district to be detrimental will not be released. Sherwood school district has parents update this information three times during a student's time in SSD. Once when entering Kindergarten, once when entering 6th grade, and once when entering 9th grade. Of course a parent can change or modify their wishes any time with the school.

All students and families have the opportunity to opt out of Directory Information and to not allow their information to be released. Please complete this Opt-Out form if you do NOT approve the release of your child’s directory information. Student directory information will be released with the absence of this Opt-Out form.

The Sherwood School District is bringing together a committee of stakeholders who will provide input as we draft the district calendars for 2024-2025 and 2025-2026. We are looking for one middle or high school parent and one elementary school parent to join the committee. If you are interested, please email Steve Emmert, Executive Director of Human Resources, at semmert@sherwood.k12.or.us.

This year’s SHS Athletics Boosters Club online auction is now open. To bid on items, watch the kickoff livestream today at 3:00pm, or learn more about the Oct. 14 live auction event, visit the link below.