Happy Labor Day Weekend SMS Families!
It was a hot week last week at SMS, but I saw a lot of great things happening in class and around campus! I saw small group work, I have heard about major growth for many of our students, already in these first three weeks, and my favorite, listening to little conversations in the hallways makes me so proud of our students.
Thanks to everyone who donated prizes, secured sponsors, played or volunteered at the golf outing this weekend. It was great day of fun and fellowship, raising around $25,000 for our school. We are at our strongest as a school community when we work together on these projects.
We received an overwhelming response to our Grandparent's Day signup. So much so, that our facilities are not going to be able to accommodate the numbers. So, Grandparent's Day scheduled for this Thursday and Friday will be postponed. Students will bring home a new sign up sheet on Tuesday.
Congratulations to SMS students, Emmy Craig, Scarlett Fetters, and Jonah Poole who will be recognized by the Ripley Police Department as this month's "Ripley Red Star Students"! These students have demonstrated respect, responsibility, kindness, a positive attitude and being helpful to teachers and their classmates. They will receive a "Red Star" certificate, be recognized on Ripley PD's Facebook page and be entered into an end of year prize drawing for a summer gift basket. Great job students, and thank you Ripley Police Department!
Squishies have become a problem. Please do not let students bring those to school. I have already told students about it. They have caused distractions during class, as well as caused problems on the bus. I think it would be better if we just leave those at home. Thanks for your help on this!
On Wednesday this week, we will have our first "Out of Uniform for a Cause" day of the year. Students may be out of uniform. They can wear school appropriate shirts, no sleeveless shirts. They may also wear jeans or shorts, PLEASE NO SHORT SHORTS. Also no rips, tears, etc. We will also be collecting donations for the family of Mr. Larry Scott, our former custodian who recently passed away after a battle with cancer. All money donated will be given to his family to help with expenses.
Just to put on your radar, we have parent teacher conferences scheduled for Thursday, September 24 from 1:00-6:00 pm. Students will be dismissed at 12:30 that day. Signups will be posted later this week.
We have moved our annual Creek Science Lab up to September this year for a few reasons. It is hard to find days in the spring that it is warm enough, or isn't rainy, and there is already a lot going on in May. So, on Wednesday, September 16, we will take students in grades 4-8 to a spot on Eagle Creek to explore and identify living organisms. We will have several SMS staff members on site, as well as Mr. Burke. The Ripley Life Squad will be there as well to help with safety. There will be a permission slip posted on OptionC later this week.
I still have some asking about tuition on OptionC. I would refer everyone to the news story from this summer. If you have further questions, absolutely contact me and I will be happy to explain. Speaking of OptionC, we still have a little over 20 students who need eforms filled out. Please try to get those filled out this weekend. It doesn't take too long, I promise! If you are having trouble logging in, just contact me and I will be happy to walk you through it!
I have had several people asking about things going on at SMS. I love having conversations with everyone, but much of the info people are typically looking for is available for you either in the weekly newsletter, which I send everyone in a text, email, and posted on FB, or on our website. If you download the app, you have access to what's for lunch and all events. If you are not receiving newsletters from me, please let me know so I can see what the issue is. Thanks!
In addition to Grandparent's Day sign ups, 7th and 8th graders will receive information brochures from the Archdiocesan High Schools. Our graduates typically do not attend those high schools due to distance and costs, but I do think there is a lot of interesting information, and if anyone would like more information, I would be happy to help.
Enjoy the rest of your holiday weekend!