Happy Friday, Sharks!

We are just about ready to get our dancing shoes dusted off, crank the stereo up, and rock out in our Star Wars themed dance. The PTO and the SCA have a great evening planned for those staying behind for the dance. As always, please remember the dance ends at 6 PM. There may be a little extra traffic tonight due to Hollymead’s Heritage Festival, which starts at 6:30 PM. It was great to have a regular week of school (minus Monday) with 4 days in a row with students! Second semester is now underway, so first semester and quarter two grades will be available shortly. We had a wonderful drama performance this week put on by our talented 7th and 8th graders. I posted some pictures to the Twitter Feed on the webpage so you can check out our Horatio, Elvis, Little M, Reality TV hosts, and all the others. Great, great evening last night. We also had the 5th grade parent program this week for all of our soon-to-be Sharks. Some our WSMS students got a field trip today. Our PTO hooked us up with a great donut day today. Thanks again! You all continue to dominate.

Coming up next week: 5 FULL days of school! Also, we have a 6th grade band concert from 7 – 8:30 PM on Wednesday night and All-District Band on Friday. Only one news item, so I’ll wrap it up here and lace up my dancing shoes. Have a great weekend, Sharks!

Next Week @ SMS:

Monday, January 29th: Black Day
Tuesday, January 30th: Teal Day
Wednesday, January 31st: Black Day
7:00 – 8:30: 6th grade Band concert in the Gathering Area
Thursday, February 1st: Teal Day
Friday, February 2nd: Black DayAll-District Band

News from SMS:

1. We are getting ready for a Lost and Found purge! The amount of lost and found is staggering and starting to get a bit ripe. Every year, we take unclaimed items to the Goodwill store, so if you have a child with a plethora of missing jackets, encourage them to stop by lost and found by Friday, Feb. 2nd. Thanks!

Friday, January 19th

Happy Friday, Sharks!

Well, what can I say? An incredibly short week here at SMS due to the holiday and the snow. Students and staff have tried to fit a lot in while they have been here. The 7^th grade Engineering classes have braved the frozen tundra to launch their student-created catapults. Our 8^th grade class got a bonus field trip to the Paramount Theater today to see a show. I was able to get down to the gym and watch the girls do some of their jump rope routines as the boys finished Family Life. Classes started to wrap up projects as the semester was supposed to end today, but then the snow came. That brings us to two important items to touch on before the news blurbs:

First, we have extended the second semester start date to next Thursday to allow students and staff to wrap up their projects and tests on Tuesday and Wednesday of next week. This means 2^nd semester electives for 6^th and 7^th graders will now start Thursday.

Also, as you may know, we are right in the middle of flu season. If your child is officially diagnosed with the flu by their pediatrician, please let the school know so we can keep track. Along with this, if your child has a fever, please make sure they stay home and return to school when they recover. This will help everyone stay healthy.

Thanks all! Have a great weekend. Remember, no school on Monday. On with the news…

Next Week @ SMS:

Monday, January 22^nd: No school ~ Teacher workday
Tuesday, January 23^rd: Black Day
Wednesday, January 24^th: Teal Day
6:00 PM: 5^th grade parent information meeting
Thursday, January 25^th: Black Day
6:30 PM: 7^th and 8^th grade Drama performance
Friday, January 26^th: Teal Day
4:00 PM – 6:00 PM: SCA/PTO Dance!

News from SMS:

The Golden Apple Award nominations are now live for parent or student input. The 2017-2018 Annual Golden Apple Awards Ceremony for outstanding teachers in our school systems. These awards are presented to faculty members from the public and private schools in Albemarle County and City of Charlottesville, including CATEC. Eligible private schools are those that are current members of the Virginia Association of Independent Schools (VAIS). The Golden Apple Award is a means of selecting and honoring some of our outstanding teachers. Teachers are most important in nurturing our children’s inquisitive minds and preparing them for the challenges of the future. For more information, or to nominate a SMS teacher, please click here.

Due to the snow days, we are extending first semester to Wednesday. Students will start their new elective classes on Thursday, January 25^th.

The 7^th and 8^th grade drama performance has been rescheduled to Thursday, January 25^th from 6:30 – 8:00 PM.

From the PTO: Hello everyone! We will need many parent volunteers for the dance next Friday. Since it is sponsored by the PTO and SCA, we may not have as many teachers as usual. Please, please sign up to help if you can and encourage your friends to do so too! http://www.signupgenius.com/go/5080d4bafab2fa2f85-star

Happy Friday, Sharks!

A busy week here at Sutherland as we start to draw close to the end of the first semester. We had an outstanding 6^th grade drama performance on Wednesday after school. It is always great to see our student talents on display. A reminder that the 7^th and 8^th grade performance is now next week. The 8^th graders are back from the trip to CATEC this morning, where they were able to see what options are available through their school programming. The big event of the week was the Spelling Bee yesterday. We had around 50 students participate and dominate their Latin roots, suffixes, and prefixes. About half way through the event, we were down to 12 students as the words progressed to greater and greater difficulty. Two students made it to the end of the first word list and went back and forth a few rounds before a winner was crowned. Great job to our winner, Renae, and to Veda who proved to be an excellent opponent. Awesome job to all who participated and put my own spelling to shame.

As we head into the final week of the semester, a few reminders: Parent Portal is open for all students to select courses for next year. We have no school on Monday as the buildings are closed in observance of Martin Luther King Day. Next week may be short, but we will pack a lot in. Students take the mid-year school climate survey on Tuesday during Chomp. We have the 7^th and 8^th grade drama performance on Wednesday night starting at 6:30. Finally, the grading period ends Friday followed by a teacher workday at the start of the following week.  

That is all for now. Have a terrific weekend, all!

Next Week @ SMS:

Monday, January 15^th: Schools closed for MLK Holiday

Tuesday, January 16^th: Black Day

Climate Survey during CHOMP

Wednesday, January 17^th: Teal Day

6:30 PM – 7^th and 8^th grade Drama performance

Thursday, January 18^th: Black Day

Friday, January 19^th: Teal Day

End of Q2/Semester 1

News from SMS:

1. From the PTO: Donut Day for all staff is January 19th. Please see SUG attached as we are in need of K cups, juice & paper products! Thank you!  https://m.signupgenius.com/#!/showSignUp/5080d4bafab2fa2f85-donut

2. The PTO and SCA are co-hosting the January 26th dance. The theme this month is Star Wars! We are calling all Jedi masters to gather to watch over our young padawans and Captain Phasma and her team to train the next generation of stormtroopers. Get in on the action: http://www.signupgenius.com/go/5080d4bafab2fa2f85-star

1/5/18 Message

Happy Friday, Sharks!

A short week made even shorter with the wind/cold…not too bad a way to start the New Year. Most of this week was spent trying to settle back into the routine of school. Many students are starting to wrap up assignments as the first semester’s end looms ever closer. Not a lot to report from these three days, but we do have a LOT of activity next week. First up, a reminder that teachers have been making recommendations for students for the 2018/2019 school year over the past month. Those recommendations go live on Monday. Parent Portal will open for students and parents to see their teacher’s Math and English recommendations. In addition, students and parents will be able to select electives for the upcoming school year. Information about this process can be found on the Counseling page (https://sites.google.com/a/k12albemarle.org/sms-counseling-department/). The portal will open at the end of the day Monday and will remain open for a few weeks to allow families to make their selections.

Also coming up next week, we have the annual 8th grade trek to CATEC so our soon-to-be-high-schoolers can see what options are available through their school. Eighth graders will leave once the day gets started on Friday and will not be back until noon. We also have the 6th grade drama performance (the 7th and 8th grade has to be rescheduled), a PTO meeting, and a Band Booster’s meeting all scheduled for next week. If we get any snow next week (my Magic 8 Ball says “no”), we will update you all on any changes. Have a great weekend and stay warm!

Next Week @ SMS:
Monday, January 8th: BLACK DAY

Tuesday, January 9th: TEAL DAY
6:30 PM: Band Boosters Meeting
7:00 PM: PTO Meeting

Wednesday, January 10th: BLACK DAY
6:30 PM: 6th grade drama winter performance

Thursday, January 11th: TEAL DAY
9:30 – 12 PM: SMS Spelling Bee
Please note: 7th & 8th grade drama winter performance will be rescheduled.

Friday, January 12th: BLACK DAY
9:30 – 12:00 PM: 8th grade visit to CATEC