Good Afternoon SMS Families!
We hope everyone is having a great Labor Day weekend, the weather certainly cooperated! Remember there is no school tomorrow in observance of Labor Day. We will resume our normal schedule Tuesday,
We will be administering our baseline MAP testing this week. Please avoid unnecessary tardies or absences. We use MAP tests to help get a better understanding of how we can help each of our students. In order to get an accurate view, it is important that students do their best. At the same time, we always make sure our students know that these tests aren't for a grade, hopefully easing test anxiety.
On Tuesday, we will be sending home white folders with the youngest child in each family. Those folders will have current tuition balances reflecting scholarships that have been awarded. We will also be sending home forms for upcoming picture day which is Wednesday, September 10. We ask that everyone takes the contents out of the folder and sends them back to the school, along with anything that you might have that needs to be sent to the office.
Kona Ice will be here on Friday as a treat for students as we wrap up testing week. Please send $5 for each of your children by Friday. If you could, send cash in an envelope marked "kona ice" and your family name written on it. You could send it back in the white folder you receive on Tuesday, You could also use a check, or pay on OptionC. Thanks for helping us keep this organized.
Thanks to the Brown County Sheriffs Department, for picking up the extra hours we have requested. They do a fantastic job, and we are blessed to have them. We are pursuing grants and any available public funding, but we will likely need to address this addition to the budget with a fundraiser of some sort. We are working on details, in the meantime, we have requested an officer for the entire school day, indefinitely.
The Ohio General Assembly has passed new legislation banning the use of cell phones by students in school. We will adopt this policy beginning Monday, September 8. I am 100% in agreement with this policy as despite the fact that we have greatly limited the use of cell phones in the past, they remain a huge distraction for students in the class, and honestly get in the way students naturally developing relationships, not to mention the additional dangers that are always present online. I can tell you that just in past few years, the root of any major issues we have had to deal with goes back to cell phones and unfiltered apps of which children unfortunately ae able to gain access. As a dad, I highly recommend waiting as long as you can before letting a child have a cell phone, and when you do, be vigilant about the appropriate uses of this technology. I do realize that some students have cell phones for a variety of reasons which is fine, but the rule will be this. Phones must be brought to my office first thing in the morning to be kept during the day. Students may pick their phones up at the end of the day, before they go home. Students will not have access to use their phones during the day. Of course if a child needs to call home, they can use the phone in the office any time. I know this won't be a popular decision (for them), but I think it is the right thing to do, and sometimes we have to make unpopular decisions because it's the right thing. Also, it will be state law in January. Thank you for your support on this.
The golf outing is less than 2 weeks away. We currently have 65 hole sponsors. I will post a list of our sponsors today. Again, please thank these people for their generosity. We especially need any new sponsors by this Friday, so we have time to have signs made. We also currently have about half the teams that we normally do. Please let me know if you plan to have a team. SMS is the most affordable school in the Archdiocese, and our fundraisers are a big part of what allows us to keep our tuition affordable for our families.
Coming up next week (Week of Sep 8):
Sep 10- Fall Pictures
Sep 11- Grandparents Day
Sep 12- Grandparents Day (attending Mass)
I would just like to say, it is great to have our students back at school. Our parent support is a major factor in the culture of our school. I really appreciate the positive feedback and offers of support I have received from so many of you this week. Sometimes we take things for granted and don't always appreciate this wonderful environment we have all worked so hard to create for our children. Have a great rest of your three day weekend!