Happy Friday, Sharks!

Just a brief message today as we are all getting ready for the pep rally and dance this afternoon. There have been some great moments this week as students start to get ready for a short break. Last Friday, we had a great turn out at the Veterans Dinner. Our student volunteers did a great job waiting tables for the evening and running food from the kitchen. It was terrific seeing so many of our families come out for this event. Two of our robotics teams, the Roboticists and the Toxics, competed in the Regional Robotics Tournament this week. Roboticists won 1st place in team work & the Toxics won 2nd place overall. Both teams were selected to advance to the Virginia state level competition at JMU. The PE teachers have been doing Elementary Games Week, which has been a trip to watch as they work in great Star Wars and Indiana Jones games down in the gym. Today, we start the Pep Rally here at 3:00, so a reminder that dismissal between 3:00 – 4:00 PM may take a bit longer. We have the Tie Dye Dance from 4:00 – 6:00 PM tonight, so hopefully we have a big turn out and a lot of fun.

A reminder next week is a short week with schools closing Wednesday – Friday for turkey break. We have a few general items below, including information on the Golden Apple Award. I hope you all have a terrific weekend!

Next Week @ SMS:
Monday, November 20^th: Black Day
Tuesday, November 21^st: Teal Day
Wednesday – Friday: Thanksgiving Break (Schools are closed)

News from SMS:

1.      The Golden Apple Award honors outstanding teachers in Albemarle County and Charlottesville City. One winner is selected from each school, and eight winners also will receive a $1,000 Golden Apple Grant for classroom materials or professional development. The deadline to return nominations to the school's principal is February 1, 2018.
More information »Nomination Form »

2.      Parents: The seventh-grade robotics team is doing research on possible contamination of bottled water due to heat exposure resulting in chemicals leaching into the water. They have come up with a solution and need feedback from consumers.  They are requesting that you complete a quick two-question, anonymous survey to help them obtain data for their project.  It should only take a few seconds.  Thank you for any support you can give the kids.  Here’s the link to the survey

3.      This year’s Mustache Madness fundraiser has begun here at SMS. Students (and parents) can now register for the Corn Hole Tournament on December 1^st from 4:00 – 6:00 PM. For every $20.00 raised, one of our SMS staff members will shave their beards, dye their hair, or take a pie in the face. Our hope is to raise $1000.00 for The HEADstrong Foundation to help with cancer research. If you and your child would like to form a team for the tournament, the cost is $10.00. Students can sign up at lunch.