Panther Press

SMS is rolling out Remind with the rest of IWCS! If you're not already familiar with Remind, it's a classroom communication tool that makes it easy to stay involved with your child's learning. Remind is free to use, and you'll be able to get and send messages on any device—even a simple text message
from your phone!

All students in grades 3-8 will be assessed on the growth assessments in reading and math. Students will be assessed twice throughout this school year--fall and winter.

Growth Assessments are computer adaptive tests, shorter than the Standards of Learning tests, that were developed in grades 3-8 reading and mathematics as a result of legislation passed in the 2021 Virginia General Assembly. The growth assessments consist of test items that measure the Standards of Learning, have been reviewed by Virginia teachers, tried out with Virginia students, and accepted for use on the growth assessments.

Beginning with the second year of implementation (2022-2023) and beyond, the legislation requires that the grades 3-8 reading and mathematics growth assessments be administered to students once in the fall and once in the winter (mid-year) during the school year. In addition to the growth assessments, the SOL tests for grade 3-8 reading and mathematics will continue to be administered.

Unlike the fall 2021 fall growth assessments that focused on content from the student’s previous grade level, beginning with the 2022-2023 school year, the fall and winter growth assessments will focus primarily on content from the student’s current grade level. For example, a student taking grade 5 mathematics in 2022-2023 will be administered a growth assessment that focuses primarily on grade 5 mathematics content. However, in compliance with the 2021 legislation, the computer adaptive test (CAT) algorithm has been configured so that the student might be administered some items from below or above the current grade level depending on the student’s responses to the on-grade-level content items. For example, students taking the grade 5 mathematics growth assessment will primarily be administered grade 5 test items; however, depending on the student’s responses to the on-grade-level test items, the student may also be administered some grade 4 test items or some grade 6 test items.

There are several exceptions to the potential administration of off-grade level test items. One exception is that the grade 8 reading and mathematics growth assessments will only include items assessing SOL content that is at or below the 8th-grade level since there are no above-grade-level items available in the current CAT item banks. Additionally, in fall 2022, items that measure grade 2 SOL content are being field tested with students. Because these items are being tried out with students, they will not count toward the student’s score. Therefore, the items for grade 3 reading and mathematics growth assessments that count toward the student’s score will only include items that assess content at or above the 3rd-grade level. Finally, a student who meets the criteria for a paper test will only be administered test items that assess SOL content aligned with the student’s grade level.

Wednesday, September 20th 7th-grade students will be assessed on math. Thursday, September 21st 8th 8th-grade students will be assessed on math.

Please note our schedule will change on Wednesday, September 13th and 20th.

Testing Schedule

Additionally, students will still be assessed on the Standards of Learning. Families may find the Parents and Caregiver Resources For Growth Assessments very helpful. .https://www.doe.virginia.gov/teaching-learning-assessment/student-assessment/parent-caregiver-resources-for-growth-assessments

Arrival-Students should NOT arrive to our campus without being accompanied by their parent/guardian before 7:10 am. Our doors open at 7:10 am to all students. Parents are to remain courteous to other drivers while dropping off students. Students who are car riders should be dropped off at the curb in front of the school. Please pay attention to our staff directing traffic. Students arriving after 7:25 am are considered tardy.

Attendance-. All attendance notes may be handwritten and dropped off at the main office. Or emailed, scanned, or screenshot to Ms. Davidson at adavidson@iwcs.k12.va.us.

Excused Absences: Students are only allowed 5 parent notes per semester.

Back to School Night-Mark Your Calendars for Wednesday, October 4, 2023 6pm-8pm.

Bus Information-Students should be at their assigned bus stop at least 10 minutes before the scheduled time.

Breakfast-Breakfast is served in the cafeteria 7:10 am-7:23 am. Students who bring breakfast from home or local eateries must eat breakfast in the cafeteria during breakfast time. Breakfast cost $1.35; milk only $0.50; unless approved free/reduced lunch.

Lunch is served during 3rd block classes. Lunch cost $2.85 unless approved free/reduced lunch.

1st lunch - 11:10 - 11:35

2nd lunch - 11:40 - 12:05

3rd lunch - 12:15 - 12:40

4th lunch - 12:45 - 1:10

Dismissal-Parents/Guardians should fill out a daily or an occassional pick-up form by Friday, 9/9. All teachers have the forms.

Staggered Dismissal beginning with car riders. Car Riders will be dismissed at 2:40 pm.

Parents may pull up to the curb for pick-up. Students are NOT to walk through the parking lot during dismissal to get into a parked car; unless accompanied by a parent/guardian.

Bus Riders will be dismissed with their teachers walking them outside.

Dress Code-Students are expected to dress appropriately for a K-12 educational environment. Any attire that inhibits the learning environment will be viewed as inappropriate. Inappropriately dressed students’ parents/guardians will be called to bring appropriate clothing before students can attend class. If a parent/guardian is unable to bring a change of clothes or an alternate, more appropriate outfit will be provided by the school.

Food-Students should not share/exchange food items.

Schedule-A lot of time has been spent on scheduling. We wish we could honor every scheduling change request, however, it could have a greater effect on other classes or the number of students enrolled in the class. Effective September 11th, we can no longer make schedule changes unless an error in original schedule. Exploratory classes are alternating classes each day. Tuesday, Sept. 5th is "A" day and Wednesday, Sept. 6th is "B" day following the alternating pattern.

How to read a student's schedule:

Period-Referred to as blocks. There are four periods followed by (A-B), (A), or (B). (A-B) are core content classes which students will attend daily. (A) is an exploratory class scheduled on "A" day. (B) is an exploratory class scheduled on "B" day.

Course Name-The name of the subject/core class/exploratory class.

Course & Section #-Only for admin to reference.

Term-22-23-Yearlong Course; S1-Semester 1; S2-Semester 2; Q1-Quarter 1 (1st Nine Weeks) ; Q2-Quarter 2 (2nd Nine Weeks); Q3-Quarter 3 (3rd Nine Weeks); Q4-Quarter 4 (4th Nine Weeks)

Teacher-Last Name of the Teacher assigned to the course

Room #-The location of the class.

School Visitors- All visitors must sign in at the main office. Visitors may not visit classrooms unless an agreed-upon date/time is scheduled. DoorDash, GrubHub or local deliveries will not be accepted for students.

Water Bottles Only-Students are welcome to have water bottles in class. Only bottles with a sealed lid/cap.

What I Need (W.I.N.) Block-A daily 25-minute alternating Panther W.I.N. block. The purpose of this block is to ensure that students do not lack the additional time needed in any class to get additional academic help, complete assignment, make up missing assignments, decompress, or apply a new skill.

Please adhere to our traffic pattern to avoid any further damage to our traffic cones.

MacBooks are a part of daily instruction. All SMS students will receive a MacBook (unless outstanding technology balance). Outstanding balances will have to be paid to Ms. Ashby, SMS bookkeeper before students will receive an IWCS-issued device.

Device Usage and Distribution Agreement must be signed signed and returned to the SMS media specialist before a student may receive an IWCS-issued device.

Isle of Wight County Schools continues to partner with Worth Avenue group which provides a full coverage option, including loss or theft of a device. The Worth Avenue form is available from each school and on the IWCS website. If you wish to participate in the optional accidental
coverage plan, send a check made out to Smithfield Middle School or SMS no later than September 20th.

Worth Ave. Group provides comprehensive insurance protection. Use the following link to access:

https://www.worthavegroup.com/portal/isleofwightva.

Any laptop repairs should be addressed with the media specialist or media specialist instructional assistant. Loaner devices will be issued to students only three times throughout the school year. Students who continuously forget their devices will have to meet with an administrator to devise a school-preparedness plan.

Active-duty military parents sign up yourchild/children up to participate in the Military Family Life Program and Anchor for Life. Consent forms are located in the SMS Counseling Suite. Also, if you are an active-duty member deploying or PCS'ing in the next six months, please contact SMS Ms. Frazier at frazierb@magellanfederal.com

To fund the requests of the sport your child plays for, we need to have concessions open for every game. This requires parent volunteers to help work during the games. The easiest way for you to tdo that is to volunteer during the opposite game of what your athlete plays so JV parents work Varsity games and vice versa or just do a half of game if you have to sign up for your own games. This way you still get to see your child play.

Here are the links for you to sign up for a game or two: It takes a village and we have a great time serving the community.

Varsity Football
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/5080F4BACAB23A2F58-varsity4

JV Football
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/5080F4BACAB23A2F58-jvfootball2

Varsity/JV Field Hockey
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/5080F4BACAB23A2F58-varsity_jv

Volleyball/JV & Varsity

Varsity_JV Volleyball Concessions SignUp