Friday, October 27th

Happy Friday, Sharks! 

Hopefully, folks are enjoying the weekend before Halloween. All of the students are off today as we start to get ready for the start of the second quarter. Hard to believe that nine weeks of the school year are already in the rear view mirror. We had a lot of after school and in-school events this week. Our basketball season is winding down, so we had several great home games this week. We had a full house at the High School 2022 meeting on Tuesday night as folks from downtown and parents started to discuss what the high schools might look like over the next four years. During the school day this week, we had the Writer’s Eye field trips for some our 7^th grade students, the school climate survey, and an ICA schedule yesterday so students could close out the week with a little fun. Plus, a wonderful donut day yesterday from our spectacular PTO.

As we head into next week, we have a few calendar events to keep in mind. Tuesday will be a modified schedule allowing for our Chomp homerooms to have some fun at the end of the day. Each homeroom should have a theme for the day. Classes will be shortened allowing for a 90-minute block at the end of the school day for the Chomps to come together for a few activities. Standard rule applies: if you are picking up between 2:30 – 4:00 PM, allow a bit of extra time for dismissal.  Next week, we have the all-county choir trip on Thursday and our October birthday celebration on Friday. The PTO also has a busy week with a PTO meeting on Wednesday from 7:00 – 8:00 PM, the Yard Sale drop off here at SMS on Friday from 5:00 – 8:00 PM, and then the yearly SMS Yard Sale starting at 8:00 AM on Saturday. Looks to be a great Halloween week! Have a terrific weekend and on with the news…

Next Week @ SMS:

Monday, October 30^th: Teal Day
5:00 – 8:00 PM: Girls’ Basketball Tournament @ Burley Middle

Tuesday, October 31^st: Black Day
2:30 – 4:00 PM: CHOMP activity schedule

Wednesday, November 1^st: Teal Day
Ms. Harris’s class trip to UVA
5:00 – 8:00 PM: Boys’ Basketball Tournament @ Burley Middle
7:00 – 8:00 PM: PTO meeting

Thursday, November 2^nd: Black Day
All-County Honors Choir trip to C-ville High School
5:00 – 8:00 PM: Boys’ and Girls’ championship games @ Burley Middle

Friday, November 3^rd: Teal Day
3:45 PM: October Birthday Celebration
5:00 – 8:00 PM: Yard Sale drop off

Saturday, November 4^th:
8:00 AM – 12:00 PM: SMS PTO Yard Sale 

News from SMS:

1. It's time for our Annual PTO Yard Sale on Saturday November 3rd!! All proceeds come right back to the school!! We will be collecting donations on Friday November 3 from 5-8 pm in the Sutherland Cafeteria. Please clean out those closets and send in gently used items!! We are always looking for furniture, clothes, toys, games, books, household goods, tools and other items you would like to donate. We also need YOUR help to make it a success.
2. Want to start your Friday off in a relaxing and attention focusing way? Every Friday there is a Mindful Morning group for all interested Sutherland students - we meet in the library. Students are welcome to arrive as early as 8am, we will start at 8:15, and we will finish before first bell - SNACKS provided! You are welcome to bring any of your Sutherland friends. We will do movement like stretching and balance and sometimes add other activities like drumming.  We will do some mindful awareness practices, focused on noticing our thoughts and the present moment.  We also hope to connect with other students at other schools who do similar activities and possibly go on field trips.  No experience necessary. This is a great, healthy way for all of us to start each Friday. This is a drop in class without long term commitment, students are welcome to come any Friday that works. Any questions or comments, let me know. Kindly, Mr. Matriccino

Friday, October 20th

Happy Friday, Sharks!

You know Halloween is starting to get close when you start seeing unicorn horns and jester hats on the 6^th graders as they walk down the halls. It has been an awesome week here at SMS. We have had some great basketball games, a lot of terrific weather which allowed for some fun outside during CHOMP today, and a few all-county events where a few of our students got to showcase their talents. Of course, the buzz around school today is the dance from 4:00 – 6:00 PM. We expect a great event hosted by the 7^th grade team as they load the kids up on donuts and music.

Two events next week to keep in mind: we have the school climate survey on either Tuesday or Wednesday (depending on CHOMP teacher’s choice). This is the one we use to gauge how our school is doing in terms of safety, bullying, homework load, classwork, etc. We also have the High School 2022 meeting here Tuesday night from 6:30 – 7:30 PM where a lot of information will be shared about the changes coming from the state level that will affect all of our students as they prepare to enter high school. I expect between that meeting (which is a public meeting open to all 5 middle schools) and the basketball game that there will be some parking issues, so be prepared.

That’s it for this week. A reminder that next week is a short week for the students and please remember if your child is staying for the dance, they need a ride here at 6:00 PM. Thanks all and have a great weekend!

 
 

Next Week @ SMS:

Monday, October 23^rd: Teal Day

School climate lesson in CHOMP

Tuesday, October 24^th: Black Day

School climate lesson in CHOMP

5:00 – 8:00 PM: girls’ basketball home game

6:30 – 7:30 PM: High School 2020 Parent Meeting (click link for more information) Please note: We expect a crowd, so parking may be tight this evening.

Wednesday, October 25^th: Teal Day

School climate lesson in CHOMP

5:00 – 8:00: boys’ basketball home game

Thursday, October 26^th: Black Day

ICA Schedule

Mr. Matriccino’s class to UVA for Writer’s Eye

Friday, October 27^th: Teacher Work Day

No school for students

News from SMS:

1.  Ms. Harris' classes (Blocks 1,3,4) field trip to Fralin Art Museum, UVA on 11/1 from 10:15-2:00 p.m.

2.  Uncle Jerry's Tees 7th grade Fundraiser is ongoing until October 24th. ANYONE CAN PURCHASE: If you'd like to look and purchase, here is the site and Code:
http://www.unclejerrystees.com/index.cfm
To credit a student or organization
Code: 1156 or call to place order: 1-800-556-2887
The funds made from these sales will assist us in planning the annual pool party for the entire grade. Thank you from the 7th Grade Team

3.  Once a month, SMS has an ICA Day when the kids can sign up to do fun activities for the last hour of the day.  Next week it will be on Thursday 10/26/17.  At the beginning of the ICA period, concessions are sold from snack carts in each grade’s hallway. Each item is $1.50 and the kids will need to bring money if they would like to purchase snacks.  This is a fundraiser for supplies needed for ICA crafts and activities.  Please consider volunteering to help with selling these snacks.  It’s a quick, easy way to help the school (usually about 45 minutes or less.)   Please click here  if you’d like to sign up.    If  you have any questions please contact Amy Dolak at ard07us@yahoo.com.  Thanks!

4.   It's time for our Annual PTO Yard Sale on Saturday November 3rd!! All proceeds come right back to the school!! We will be collecting donations on Friday November 3 from 5-8 pm in the Sutherland Cafeteria. Please clean out those closets and send in gently used items!! We are always looking for furniture, clothes, toys, games, books, household goods, tools and other items you would like to donate. We also need YOUR help to make it a success. 

Friday, October 13th

Happy Friday the 13th, Sharks!

What a great week here at Sutherland. We have made our way through Parent/Teacher Conferences where the PTO treated us to an awesome chili dinner (thanks, all!). We had two nights in a row of basketball where our SMS teams continued to do well. Today, despite the dreary weather, we have the 8^th grade Busch Gardens trip.  The busses rolled out of Sutherland this morning, and the students, parents, and teachers are anticipating a great day at the park, rain or shine! The student will not leave the park until 6:00 pm. Typically, we instruct students to text or call their parents when they are on Pantops, so that you can plan to pick them up in a timely manner.

Looking ahead to next week, we have All-County Drama and All-County Orchestra field trips. We also have our second dance of the year. We have a number of events coming up, including next week’s dance, that need some parent help, so please review the announcements below for lots of information.

That’s all for now, folks. Have a terrific weekend!

Next Week @ SMS:

Monday, October 16^th: Black Day

Tuesday, October 17^th: Teal Day

Wednesday, October 18^th: Black Day

AVID 7 field trip

All-County Drama @ MHS

Thursday, October 19^th: Teal Day

7:00 PM: All County Orchestra Concert @ MHS

Friday, October 20^th: Black Day
4:00 – 6:00 PM: DANCE!

News from SMS:

1.    Attention Parents & Guardians, each year, we administer several surveys to our students to check on issues like school climate, bullying, homework, etc. The data we gather from these surveys helps us steer our school in terms of areas of improvement. We will administer the first of these surveys on October 24^th. As part of this survey, we also include questions about those who are victims of bullying here at Sutherland. This portion of the survey is a county-wide initiative and there is some literature about this portion of the survey. For more information, you can use these links:

English Version

Spanish Version​

2.    It's time for our Annual PTO Yard Sale on Saturday November 3rd!! All proceeds come right back to the school!! We will be collecting donations on Friday November 3 from 5-8 pm in the Sutherland Cafeteria. Please clean out those closets and send in gently used items!! We are always looking for furniture, clothes, toys, games, books, household goods, tools and other items you would like to donate. We also need YOUR help to make it a success. 

3.    SCA will be selling Fall Candy Grams from October 19 - October 25th. Please help support the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Send your friends or favorite teacher a candy gram and help a great cause.

4.    SCA is collecting BOX TOPS! Please send in your box tops with your student. Every year the money earned by redeeming box tops earns the PTO and school about $2000.00. We would love your support in helping us reach that amount this year too. Please send in Box Tops now through October 25th.

5.    We have a dance coming up on October 20^th and need chaperones.