Happy Friday, Shark families!

What a terrific week here at SMS. The big news of the day is that our girls’ basketball team ventured over to Burley yesterday for the championship game after a hard-fought win on Tuesday. They played Henley’s team last night, which was the only team to beat our girls during the season. Our SMS girls ended up winning 36-15!!! What an awesome season! We have also had a round of field trips to the Writer’s Eye contest over at UVA again this week, some terrific presentations from our geometry students through Mr. Wamsley’s ELT class, and enough left-over Halloween candy in the second half of the week to make any dentist cringe.

Next week is a bit different as the students have off both Monday and Tuesday.  When we return on Wednesday, it will be a Black day. On Wednesday, we have our Honors Band trip to Western Albemarle High School. On Friday of next week, we have the Veteran’s Day spaghetti dinner from 5:30 – 8:00 PM and grades are due that day, so check on PowerSchool to see the most updated version of grades for quarter one.

A reminder we have the October birthday celebration from 3:45 – 4:00 PM today and the PTO’s big Yard Sale here at SMS tomorrow (Saturday) from 8 AM until noon. Have a great weekend and hope your children get lots of rest with the extra days (and time change)!

Next Week @ SMS:

Monday, November 6^th: No school for students

Tuesday, November 7^th: No school for students

Wednesday, November 8^th: Black Day
Honors Band to WAHS
Thursday, November 9^th: Teal Day

Friday, November 10^th: Black Day
Q1 grades in PowerSchool
5:30 – 8:00 PM: Veterans Dinner

News from SMS:

1. Thanks to everyone who supported Book Fair! Because of a Scholastic shipping error, the final Book Fair orders were just delivered last week.  When the final tallies came in, the library made a bit over our fundraising goal! I look forward to scheduling a guest speaker and renewing subscriptions with the profits. We couldn’t have done so well without a raft of volunteers who gave generously of their time and brought their own smiles to add to those of our happy, shopping, READING students. Hope to see you soon at the library!
2. 2017-18 SMS Student Directories were distributed to CHOMP classes this morning. If your student did not pick one up and/or you need extras, please check in with the front office.
3. Attention 8^th Grade Parents; Start Something Saturday is November 11^th. Do you know a high school student (or 8th grader) interested in starting or joining a passion project? Start Something Saturday is bringing together students in grades 8-12 from the Charlottesville-Albemarle area for a day of project brainstorming on November 11! Students are invited to bring their ideas or just their interest in creative projects, and by the end of the day, they’ll walk out with a project around something they care about.
4. Final Notice: Yard Sale drop off today!!! YARD SALE THIS WEEKEND SATURDAY NOVEMBER 4th AND WE NEED YOUR HELP TO MAKE IT A SUCCESS!
5. DROP OFF YOUR DONATIONS FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 3 FROM 5-8PM in the cafeteria. PLEASE SIGN UP HERE TO HELP OUT: http://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e0b49aba82e5-annual
6. It’s not too late: Just a reminder that we would like to invite all Veterans and Current Members of the Military to join us for a night to thank you for your service! Please sign up your family and put the total number attending in the comment section. There will be a dinner serving group every 30 minutes. Please join us! The dinner is FREE. http://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0e4aaeaa22a3f94-sutherland

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.