SPARTAN News Stafford Middle School @WeAreSMSpartans November 2016 Saturday, Nov 19 @ 9 am (registration begins at 8 am) Sponsored by Stafford Middle School PTO Register Online: Schoolathon.org ID#120410 For info: staffordmiddlepto@gmail.com Tuesday, November 1 Mark your calendar REPORT CARDS Nov 14 FALL PARENT CONFERENCE NIGHT Dec 1 WINTER WONDERLAND DANCE Dec 2 WINTER CHORUS CONCERT Dec 14 WINTER BAND CONCERT Dec 20 SCIENCE FAIR Jan 24 RESPECTFUL RESPONSIBLE PRODUCTIVE - The Spartan Way Mark J. Smith Principal smithmj@staffordschools.net Jeff Howard Assistant Principal howardjd@staffordschools.net Lindsey Conn Assistant Principal connle@staffordschools.net STAFFORD MIDDLE SCHOOL 101 Spartan Drive, Stafford, VA 22554 Phone: 540-658-6210 Fax: 540-658-6204
6th Grade English... As we begin the month of November, our sixth grade English department is ending the first 9 weeks strong! Students have just completed their second STAR test, and will complete their third near the end of the month. We have all covered plot elements and types of genres with students, and started a few more curriculum topics. Mrs. Castilleja and Mrs. Geslock will start November by explaining inferencing and different points of view. Ms. Rodebaugh and Ms. Jones will finish teaching direct/indirect characterization, and types of conflict with students, and begin different points of view. Students have completed student surveys to assess their view of the curriculum, instructor, and effectiveness of learning. We appreciate their feedback, and will continue to tailor ourselves to best fit our students diverse learning needs! Mrs. Castilleja Mrs. Geslock Mrs. Johnson Ms. Jones Ms. Rodebaugh PTO UPDATE Fall Parent Conference Night December 1 3:30 6:30 pm Stay tuned for details coming soon! Remainder of PTO Meetings for 2016-2017 Thurs., Nov. 17 Wed., Dec. 15 Wed., Jan. 18 Wed., Feb. 15 Wed., March 15 Wed., April 12 Wed. May 17 This is a general membership meeting where we will hold elections for 2017-2018 PTO board. ALL MEETINGS WILL BE HELD AT SMS AT 7 PM Check the website (SMS website and PTO page) before attending a meeting to make sure no changes have occurred. D igital citizenship is important at SMS. We are teaching our students to be good consumers of information and safe sharers or information online. Throughout the year, we will be participating in a number of activities during each month arranged around a digital citizenship theme/topic. For October we focused on Cyberbullying. During November, students will explore the importance of password protection and security. Help us out each month by reviewing with your student the theme/topic for the month and opening up discussion with them about the importance of being a good digital citizen.
Stafford Middle School s Focus Program Saturday, November 12th, 11am-3pm Barnes & Noble Central Park in Fredericksburg It will be an amazing experience for the whole family. There will be something for everyone! More information will follow outlining the various activities and events we will have that day. Please come on out and support your school s Focus program. Barnes and Noble will donate a percentage of your purchase. Our goal is buy a class set of chrome books, so any contribution will be appreciated. NO WORRIES! THERE WILL BE AN ONLINE WAY TO PARTICIPATE.
This information provided is regarding Spartan Oaks, the community currently under construction that is located across from Stafford Middle School.
2016 2017 Spirit Wear Price List Charcoal Gray T-Shirts $12 Charcoal Gray Hoodies $30 Long Sleeve Royal Blue T-Shirt $16 Flip Flops $10 Beads (Blue & Silver) 25 Decal $1 Pom Pom $2 Thunder Sticks $4/pair PTO Get ready to see one of your teachers shake his or her tail feathers at lunch on November 18, 2016. The teacher from each grade level, with the most feathers, will dance at lunch, to "Shake Your Tail-Feather," while dressed up in a turkey costume! Feathers will be sold during lunch for fifty cents a piece on November 7th, 9th, 10th, 14th, 15th, and 16th. This is an event you don't want to miss!
Wrestling practice begins November 14! Interested students please see Coach Loving for information and workouts. BOYS BASKETBALL TRYOUTS NOV 15 17 3-5 PM PHYSICAL must be on file to tryout Rides must be here by 5 PM 2 MANAGERS are needed please see Mr. Wrye to interview 2016 FOOTBALL SCHEDULE DAY DATE OPPONENT Wed 11/2 @ HHP Wed 11/9 @ DSMS Mon 11/14 Championship #1 VS #2 B Games 3:10 pm A Games 3:30 pm SCA The SCA is off and running. The officers have been elected, as well as, the homeroom representatives. The officers planned the first spirit week for last month and are currently planning the school's Winter Wonderland Dance. The SCA is excited to announce the Winter Wonderland Dance will be on Friday, December 2nd. There will be a DJ, dancing, games, prizes and more! Ashton R..
C older weather will soon be here! Generally once the weather is colder and we are forced to spend more times indoors, the number of sick children seems to increase. This time of the year moisture leaves the air and dries out the membranes of the nose and just slightly hitting the nose can cause it to bleed. If you find your child having many bloody noses, you may want to try a humidifier, saline nasal spray, or a small amount of Vaseline on the outside corners of the nostrils. If your child s nose bleeds, have him/her pinch it just above the opening. Do not let your child tilt his/her head back as this may cause blood to drain down the back of the throat and cause a gag reflex and vomiting may follow. When should you be concerned about your child not feeling well? As always, a child must stay home if their temperature is 100 or higher and they have to be fever free for 24 hours without medication. Vomiting is another reason to keep your child home. HOW TO DETERMINE A COLD VS THE FLU: SYMPTOMS COLD FLU FEVER rare 100-104 (3-4 days) HEADACHE rare prominent GENERAL ACHES FATIGUE/ WEAKNESS EXTREME EXHAUSTION This is the time of year that the flu becomes a concern, (the flu is a respiratory illness with coughing, fever, extreme fatigue. It is not vomiting or diarrhea, which is considered a stomach virus or gastroenteritis.). I strongly encourage everyone, young and old to get the flu shot. The CDC recommends that everyone get this vaccine. The flu shot is a combination of 3 or 4 of the most serious influenzas but not all the influenza that may be out there. The shot is a dead virus and you cannot get the flu from it. Please remember to cough into your sleeves, use a tissue to cover your nose and mouth when coughing or sneezing; dispose of the tissue immediately and wash hands thoroughly. Frequently wash hands with soap and warm water for at least 20 seconds. Rinse and dry hands with a disposable towel. Use the towel to turn off the faucet. Remember to get adequate rest, eat healthy and exercise to keep your immune system strong! Reminder: Remember to update your phone numbers. This is the time of year I need to reach parents and I feel bad when a number has been changed and I cannot reach you. Just send a note in with your child if anything has changed. Wishing everyone a healthy holiday season!! Mrs. Fisher, RN slight mild never usual/often severe pain can last 2-3 weeks early and prominent STUFFY NOSE usual sometimes SNEEZING usual sometimes SORE THROAT common sometimes CHEST DISCOMFORT mild to mod common/severe COUGH mild to mod common Complications: Sinus congestion, Bronchitis, Pneumonia, or earache.
N ow through March 16, 2017, Stafford Middle School ID#02344, will have the opportunity to earn cash through the Giant A+ School Rewards Program. All you have to do is: SCHOOL REWARDS PROGRAMS Log on to www.giant.com/aplus to designate our school online using your Giant Card OR Call the A+ Hotline at 1-877-275-2758 for assistance REMEMBER: If you registered your card last year, you DO NOT need to re-register this year. You can visit the website to verify correct school assignment. Also, don t forget to encourage your friends and relatives to do the same. It could mean more CASH for our school. After you register your card, each shopping trip at Giant using your Card earns CASH for our school. Each month, the amount of CASH awarded will be updated on the Giant A+ website. You can track the amount of points you earn for our school by checking your grocery receipt and online when you create an account at www.giant.com. Our school will receive a check at the end of the program and the money can be used for any of our school s educational needs. Thanks for supporting our school! T his year, our school is participating in the Tyson Project A+ program, a fund-raising program sponsored by Tyson Foods, Inc. Through this program, we can raise up to $12,000 for our school this year! The money can go towards supplies, building improvements, school programs, or anything else we choose. It s an easy way to raise much needed funds by sending Tyson Project A+ labels from products you probably already buy. Here s how it works: Just clip and collect Tyson Project A+ labels from participating Tyson product packages and send them to school with your child. We ll collect the labels and send them to Tyson Foods, and Tyson Foods will send our school a check. Each label is worth 24! I d be happy to answer any questions you have about the program. You can also find details online at ProjectAPlus.tyson.com I hope you ll join the SMS National Junior Honor Society in collecting Tyson Project A+ labels this year and spread the word to your friends and relatives. It s such an easy way to raise much needed funds for our school! If you have any questions, please contact Ms. Mangione, NJHS Advisor at mangionebm@staffordschools.net.
T his year, our school will be once again participating in the Box Tops for Education program. The members of the SMS National Junior Honor Society are thrilled to be the Box Tops Coordinators for Stafford Middle. Clipping box tops is an easy way to help our school buy what it needs. Box Tops are worth 10 and they quickly add up to real cash for our school. This school year, our school s earnings goal is $1000. To help our school, just look for pink Box Tops on products, clip them, and send them to school. There will be collection sites in the front office and in each homeroom. For more information on the Box Tops for Education program, including a list of participating products and our school s progress, visit www.btfe.com. Be sure to become a member to receive exclusive coupons and recipes and learn about extra ways for our school to earn. If you have any questions, please don t hesitate to contact Ms. Mangione, NJHS Advisor at mangionebm@staffordschools.net. G obble Gobble Gobble... We can't believe it's that time of year already! We just finished our unit on Anti-Bullying and had a great time going into all of the classrooms for our bullying prevention lesson with 6th, 7th, and 8th graders. It was great to see so many kids dressed up on Unity Day sporting orange! We loved seeing how excited students were to sign the pledge against bullying. GO SPARTANS!! November is Career Month so we will be going into the classrooms again this month to do a unit on careers. We will be exploring career clusters and possible careers within each of those clusters. We are so thankful to work at Stafford Middle School and are thankful to be working with all of your wonderful children. Thank you for all that you do at home to help all of your children be successful at school. We are here to help so please don't hesitate to call or email us with questions. Have a great Thanksgiving! Love, Your School Counselors Mrs. Carey (6th Grade A-K & 7th Grade) Ms. Stafford (6th Grade L-Z & 8th Grade) COUNSELING NEWS...
November 2016 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday 1 Picture Day All-County Band Auditions 2 Football @ HHP 3:30 pm 3 Fall Drama Show Cafeteria @ 7 pm 4 Fall Drama Show Cafeteria @ 7 pm 5 6 Daylight Savings ends 7 End of Quarter Staff VS Student Volleyball Game 3:30 pm 8 ELECTION DAY Professional Day No School for Students 9 Football @ DSMS 3:30 pm 10 11 No School Veterans Day 12 Barnes & Noble Focus Program Bookfair Fundraiser 11-3 13 14 Report Cards Football County Championships site TBD 15 Middle School Debate Night @ DSMS 6:30-8 pm 16 17 PTO Meeting 7 pm 18 19 Color-A-Thon 9 am Wrestling Begins 3 pm BOYS BASKETBALL TRY-OUTS 3-5 PM 20 21 Winter Athlete/ Parent Meeting 5:30 pm 22 23 24 Thanksgiving Day 25 26 THANKSGIVING BREAK 27 28 29 30 Community Citizenship Education Word of the Month: HONESTY