SPARTAN SCOOP

Good evening! We had a fantastic first week of school. Thank you for all the support you have shown for staff and your students this week. I am sure everyone slept well Friday night.

This week we will be introducing students to our theme this year. As a school, staff and students, we are setting a one word goal. Our goal for this year is IMPACT. We are going to make a positive IMPACT on one another. We are going to work on skills that will IMPACT our futures. We will have an IMPACT on our school community and hopefully our community at large. 180 days does not seem like a long time, but it is time for us to make a lasting IMPACT and we are going to take advantage of the opportunity.

SPARTY UP! SPARTYON!

• From Mrs. Smith
• Attendance Requests
• Novels Club
• Daily Schedule
• In the News
• The Car Lane!
• Parent Notification of Dyslexia Screener
• Spirit Wear
• **2023-2024 SMS Back to School Consent Form
• Important Information for Student Transportation

Parents now have the ability to submit attendance reasons through Family Access instead of calling your child's school. This is not required, but may be helpful to use. Attendance can be entered on that day (illness) or for future events (doctor's appointment). Absences can be recorded for all day, late arrival or early dismissal. Please follow the directions listed below.

Hello Schmucker! The Novels Club will be up and running again this year. For those who enjoy reading and writing stories, graphic novels, movie scripts, comics, etc... come to our first informational meeting on Friday, September 8 at 8:15am in Room 208 with Mrs. Gish. You will need to sign up on Register My Athlete (now known as Aktivate) BEFORE you come to our first meeting. No transportation fee or physical are needed to participate in Novels Club. Sign up with a friend! Thank you, Mrs. Gish.

Schmucker Middle School - Car Rider Line Procedures & Expectations 2023-2024

Keeping our students safe is our top priority at Schmucker Middle School. Please review the following information about the car rider line procedures and expectations. It is important that everyone adheres to these guidelines, so we can maintain a safe environment for our Spartan families, follow traffic laws, and respect the surrounding residential neighbors.

Procedures

All vehicles must enter the property from Jefferson Blvd. onto Pershing St. and then onto Fillmore St. to assume a position in line as it wraps around the building towards Door F (south end of the building). All vehicles that have entered the SMS parking lot are permitted to allow students to disembark from the vehicle and enter the building through Doors E and F only. At that point, our staff will control the flow of traffic to allow for the maximum number of cars to wrap around the building to Door F before releasing students again. While we understand some students may have classrooms near certain doors, we ask for your cooperation with these procedures to make sure that all SMS students are in attendance at the start of our school day.

Student Expectations

• Be prepared with your personal belongings nearby and easily accessible for prompt exiting and entering the vehicle.

• Remember to get in and out of the vehicle quickly and safely.

• At the end of the day, watch closely for your ride. You are responsible for locating your vehicle and walking to your vehicle.

• Exit your vehicle from the passenger side of the car only, directly onto the sidewalk.

• Always be aware of your surroundings. Pay attention to traffic and others.

• Follow all directions of traffic supervisors and teachers.

• Respect other’s personal space and keep your hands to yourself.

• Stay on the sidewalks to avoid walking on the grass or in the pick up area.

• Just a reminder: there will be no drinks allowed in the building, other than a sealed water bottle

• Please model our SMS Motto - Show Respect, Make a Difference, Set the Bar High!

Parents and Guardians Expectations

• Refrain from using cell phones when driving. For the safety of our students, please refrain from any distractions while moving in line.

• Students cannot be released from vehicles prior to 8:50 a.m.

• To be respectful to our neighbors, enter our property off of Jefferson Blvd. by turning North onto Pershing St. Please refrain from performing u-turns on private or school property.

• Yield to P-H-M buses entering or exiting school property on Fillmore Road.

• Please show respect by following all directions of traffic supervisors and teachers.

• Be attentive to the traffic flow and pull forward with the flow of traffic.

• To ensure the timely and safe arrival and departure of students, stay in one line and pull your car up as far as you can along the curb.

• Remain in vehicles at all times during arrival and drop-off.

• Do NOT park in the lot and direct your child to cross traffic.

• Students are NOT allowed to cross traffic to be picked up at Pennway or Penn High School.

• All P-H-M properties are non smoking facilities.

• Please model our SMS Motto - Show Respect, Make a Difference, Set the Bar High!

It is important to remember that we have a high volume of car riders each day, and we strive to make our arrival and dismissal procedures as safe and efficient as possible. You are an important part of our community and your cooperation helps to keep our students safe.

Sarah Smith, Principal, Cam Brundage, Assistant Principal, Matt Garber, Assistant Principal

We are hoping you have heard, but we have great news to share regarding student book fees! The Indiana General Assembly passed a bill (HEA 1001-2023) that eliminated textbook and curriculum costs at public schools, which includes school supplies like pencils, paper, and notebooks. Parents will no longer be asked to pay school fees. For more information on the specific details, click here.

We also wanted to share that legislation was passed (HB 1447) that all schools prepare a catalog of materials found in the school library and a response and appeal procedure for materials parents find questionable.

We have that process in place already and it is posted on all school websites (Instructional Material Feedback). In addition, secondary teachers will provide their syllabus to you with listed materials and classroom teachers have been asked to create a master list of titles in their classroom libraries. More information will be provided by your teacher in classroom newsletters. As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please contact your classroom teacher or myself.

Scan the QR code below or go to graphietees.com to place your spirit wear order. Items will arrive in early September.

A limited amount of gym shirts will be available for purchase at the walk around on Thursday, Aug. 10th. They are $10 and CASH ONLY will be accepted! Gym shirts are required for gym class, but last year's gym shirts will work, so there is no need to purchase if that still fits.

Please take a moment to help us by filling out the consent below. The consent forms we are asking for you to review are - The Handbook Certification, The Consent to publish student photographs, and The PHM Mandatory Curriculum.

Knowing there is dialog around the state about the Indiana Academic Standards, we continue to follow the direction of the Indiana Department of Education and Dr. Jenner as provided in this letter. If you have any concerns about your child's education, please work with your child's teacher for clarification or reach out to me at anytime!

Questions? Please see the assigned staff at each site to help answer your questions.

Parents,

Families have the option of receiving weekly emails outlining your students online activity while using Chromebooks. This online service is free and it gives parents an opportunity to maintain a safe learning environment at school and at home. Please click on the attached links to learn more about how Securly can help you.

• Click to read and download a copy of the parent letter that provides step-by-step instructions on how to set up your Securly Parent Portal.

If you see something, hear something, say something! The Safe School Helpline is a convenient, confidential way for anyone to report information about situations that might affect safety at any P-H-M school or building. You can call the number any time of the day or night to report concerns about unsafe or potentially disruptive activities or situations including drug or alcohol abuse, weapons, harassment, bullying or threats. All calls are completely confidential.

• 800-418-6423 (800-4-1-VOICE, ext. 359)

• TEXT: 66746, TIPS

• www.safeschoolhelpline.com

• Chromebooks- Sokun Kit (skit@phm.k12.in.us )

• Attendance- Linda Brown (lbrown2@phm.k12.in.us)

• Textbooks and Fees- Ashley Kirkpatrick (akirkpatrick@phm.k12.in.us)

• Special Education Teachers

• 6th grade- Emily Morin (emorin1@phm.k12.in.us )

• 7th grade- Allison Steele (asteele2@phm.k12.in.us )

• 8th grade- Allie Chrise (achrise2@phm.k12.in.us )

• Multiple Grades-

• School Counselors

• Allie Piatt (Last Names A-G) (apiatt@phm.k12.in.us)

• Cara Watt (Last Names H-N) (cwatt@phm.k12.in.us)

• Andrea Hoover (Last Names O-Z) (ahoover@phm.k12.in.us )

• Athletics- Jim Modlin (jmodlin@phm.k12.in.us )

• Enrollments/Withdrawals/Address Changes- Aly Abel (aabel@phm.k12.in.us)

• PTO- (schmuckerpto@phm.k12.in.us)

Email: spsmith@phm.k12.in.us
Website: http://schmucker.phmschools.org/
Location: Schmucker Middle School, Bittersweet Road, Mishawaka, IN, United States
Phone: 574-259-5661
Twitter: @SMSSpartanPride