Course Selection Timeline

***To indicate your child's elective choices, please complete the Google Form linked here.

Kindly ensure that your child's form is submitted to reflect their preferences by the end of the day on March 10, 2024.

If multiple forms are submitted, the most recent one will be considered accurate. Please note that while we will do our best to accommodate preferences, we cannot guarantee that every student will receive their first choice course.

You can access the presentation here for a detailed overview.

Please reach out to Mrs. Lisa Hall, School Counselor at lisa.hall@sycsd.org or 717.235.4811 x3522 with any questions or concerns.

Sincerely,

Melissa S. Bell, Ed. D.

SMS Principal

SMS Calendar of Events

March 1: 1/2 Day Early Dismissal (11:44 a.m.)

SHS Swing Dance 6 p.m.

March 4: Spring Sports Begin

March 13: SMS PTSO Meeting 6 p.m.

3rd Marking Period Ends

March 14: Meet the Teams Night 7 p.m.

March 20: Report Cards Posted

March 27-April 1: Spring Break/Schools Closed

April 22-24: PSSA 7th/8th Grade ELA

April 29-30: PSSA 7th/8th Grade Mathematics

May 1-May 2: PSSA 8th Grade Science

May 14-15: Keystone Algebra Exam

OVERDUE LIBRARY BOOKS

Parents, please remind your students to return their library books when they are due and to make sure to turn in currently overdue books as soon as possible.

Employment at SYCSD

It’s always been challenging for schools to hire enough qualified teachers, substitute teachers, instructional aides, bus drivers, cafeteria workers, and the other staff members who keep a school day humming. But those challenges have never been more daunting.

SYCSD currently has vacancies in all these areas. Click here to learn more about SYCSD Employment Opportunities.

The district art show will take place Thursday, April 25th from 5-8 p.m. in the high school common area. This event is free and will feature artwork from grades K-12. Please come out to see what amazing art our SMS students have created this year!

ATTENDANCE HIGHLIGHT: Mornings and Tardiness

What time should I drop off my child if I am driving to school?

Between 7:30 and 7:35 a.m. so that your student has enough time to stop at their locker first.

What time is attendance taken?

Attendance is taken promptly at 7:45 a.m. in homeroom.

What happens when you are late?

Students are marked tardy if they are not in their homerooms when the bell rings at 7:45 a.m.

Questions? Please contact Mrs. Sherman:

717-235-4811 ext. 3501 ~ Fax: 717-227-9681

smsattendance@sycsd.org or margarida.sherman@sycsd.org

FID (Flexible Instruction Day)

With winter weather upon us, there is the potential that we may be utilizing FID Days (Flexible Instruction Days).

FID days allow us to provide instruction to students at home, rather than in the classroom, when situations like winter weather or a building emergency require us to close our schools.

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania will count this as a full day of school, which will enable us to maintain our current calendar. In accordance with PA Department of Education requirements, students must log in to their classes for attendance purposes.

Click SMS FID Parent Communication for more information.

STUDENTS OF THE MONTH

Congratulations to our February Students of the Month, who have exhibited PRIDE (Prepared—Respect—Integrity—Doing Your Best—Engaged) in their behavior at SMS. Two students are selected from each team. Please congratulate:

Stephen Lanigan, Katy Stewart, Calleigh Doll, Maxwell Border, Scarlett Pennington-Lindley, Ian Bailey, Akyla Osterhaus, Ava Brown

Youth Preparedness Council

On Feb. 27 at 8 p.m. ET, FEMA will host a webinar for potential applicants to the Youth Preparedness Council.

FEMA seeks to recruit young leaders with a passion for preparedness to join the Youth Preparedness Council.

The YPC offers opportunity for teens to share their ideas and feedback with FEMA, grow their leadership skills and work with like-minded peers to help strengthen preparedness and resilience across the country.

Members will also participate in a biennial summit in Washington, D.C. with FEMA leaders and other professionals to network and learn more about the field of emergency management.

During the webinar on Feb. 27, participants will learn more about the YPC application process. They will also hear from three current YPC members about their experiences on the Council.

Students in grades 8 through 11 are eligible and can apply online. Students have until March 4, 2024, to complete applications.

Interested in attending? Register for the webinar.

Welcome, Patty Valentin!

A warm welcome to Patty Valentin, our new main office administrative assistant at SMS.

Patty is from Stewartstown, Pa, where she worked at People’s Bank for over 30 years.

In May, Patty will be married 40 years. she has two children, ages 33 & 35, and three granddaughters, ages 7 months, 2 years, and 7 years.

Patty enjoys spending time with her family, especially her grandchildren, as well as gardening and shopping.

Please take a moment to welcome Patty! We are thrilled to have her on board!

7th Grade Field Trip in May

Each 7th grade team will travel to The Oakes Museum. Mr. Oswald will send home details about the trip and a permission slip in March. The trip will include:

- A guided tour of Messiah University's Museum of

Natural History (Oakes Museum)

- A plant hike to learn how to identify native plant species

- A creek study (collect and identify macroinvertebrates)

STALL DAY/PI DAY

Stall day is a school wide event and fundraiser for The American Heart Association. Students can bring anything from pennies to dollars to collect for the American Heart Association now through March 13th.

If the school is able to raise $750 dollars, there will be a half-day stall day (which would mean they successfully stalled their classes for half the day). If they raise $1500 collectively, they stall the whole school day, which means school still happens, but there are alternative games and events in classrooms.

Additionally, the school is raising money for Animal Rescue Inc. in New Freedom, PA. We will be collecting money and donations (from the donation list) for pie day, which will occur the same day as stall day.

Students may bring in $5 or a donation from the list and choose one of the teacher volunteers to pie with a cream pie. This is the second year for both of these events and would like to continue to make this a yearly tradition for local charities.

Both stall day and pie day will accept money now through March 13th, with the events taking place on March 14th.

FIRST DAY OF SPRING SPORTS:

March 4, 2024

Meet the Teams Night:

March 14th at 7:00 pm in the SHS Stadium

More information about spring sports can be found on the high school website at www.sycsd.org.

Spring Fitness Club

Intramural Sports

Basketball, football, soccer, floor hockey, baseball and much more!

* Every Tuesday after school, starting 3/5

* Middle School Gymnasium

* Supervised by Mr. Miller & Mr. Nalls

* Club Bus transportation

* See Mr. Miller or Mr. Nalls for more info!

2024 WSSA Mechanicsburg Sport Stacking Tournament

Sport Stacking is an individual and team sport where participants stack 12 specially designed cups up and down in pre-determined sequences.

This unique sport promotes hand-eye coordination, ambidexterity, concentration, teamwork and sportsmanship. Sport stacking competitions are open to all ages and abilities! See Mrs. Marhevka for more info.

SPRING 2024: ONCE UPON A MATTRESS

In this musical version of The Princess and the Pea, Princess Winnifred is an ungainly, brash girl competing for the hand of Prince Dauntless, whose domineering mother Queen Aggravain has declared he must marry a "true" princess before anyone else in the kingdom can marry.

All performances will be held at the SHS Theatre. Tickets can be purchased online at http://susquehannocktheatre.com/landing.html starting on March 11th or in the theatre lobby 1 hour before every performance.

March 22nd @7pm - March 23rd @ 7pm - March 24th @ 2pm

Ticket prices are:

$12 for Adults

$10 for Students/Seniors

$8 for Children 8 years old and under

What Middle Schoolers Can Teach Us About Respect

The program is available to all students at SMS (except anyone already receiving drug/alcohol or mental health counseling). To make a referral, please contact the guidance office or fill out this form SMS SAP Info Request.

NAMI BASICS PROGRAM

NAMI Basics is a 6-session education program for parents, caregivers and other family members who provide care for youth (ages 22 and younger) who are experiencing mental health symptoms.

This program is free to participants, 99% of whom say they would recommend the program to others. NAMI Basics is available both in person and online through NAMI Basics OnDemand.

The in-person course is taught by a trained team with lived experience raising a child with a mental health condition. They know what you’re going through because they’ve been there too.

By participating in NAMI Basics, you’ll realize that you are not alone. You’ll find support and shared understanding—compassion, reinforcement and empathy from people who truly get your situation. And don’t forget: Your experiences may also help others in the course. Together, you will all learn that recovery is a journey, and there is hope.

NAMI Basics Covers:

• The impact mental health conditions have on your entire family
  
• Different types of mental health care professionals, available treatment options & therapies
  
• An overview of the public mental health care, school & juvenile justice systems and resources to help you navigate these systems
  

• How to advocate for your child’s rights at school and in health care settings
  
• How to prepare for and respond to crisis situations (self-harm, suicide attempts, etc.)
  
• The importance of taking care of yourself
  
• Much, much more
  

NAMI York-Adams Counties PA will offer its NAMI Basic Education Program this spring March 5th - April 9th. It will be held every Tuesday from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the Venture Center in York (800. E. King St. York, Pa.)

Contact Alexia Ehrhardt at 717-848-3784 to register or email her at alexia.ehrhardt@namiyorkadams.org

Introducing Check and Connect

Check and Connect is a newly offered data driven program at Southern Middle School developed by the University of Minnesota. For most students, it will not be necessary, but for some it can mean the difference in a successful experience at school.

Check and Connect is a voluntary program that uses attendance, grade, and behavior data to look at a student’s ability to succeed in school. To sum it up, the Check and Connect program is designed to better the student’s success by helping them to improve their routines around the academic setting.

By using weekly check-ins, the Check and Connect Mentor helps the student see their potential success. Often times, the Mentor can act as a secondary counselor, a tutor, and an additional person who holds the student accountable for their actions.

Check and Connect is not just for students. The program mentor works with teachers, administrators, and caregivers to find ways to help the student. It is a team effort to help the student succeed.

If you believe your child is not finding success at school, Check and Connect may be a way of helping them forward. Please contact your child’s counselor or an administrator if you would like to learn more about the program or are interested in signing them up.

The next PTSO meeting is on March 13 at 6 p.m. in the SMS Library.

Aevidum Newsletter

Club Advisors: Mr. Katz & Mr. Snare

Throughout the last few weeks, the SMS Aevidum Club participated in “Random Acts of Kindness” events at the middle school.

This included handing out motivational card hearts of which students were able to then enter a huge raffle contest with the chance of winning an inspirational stress ball.

The club also brought back the popular Aevidum Acknowledgment, providing students an opportunity to give a shout-out to a peer or staff member that they feel is kind, uplifting, and inspirational.

Top submissions earned packs of everyone’s favorite treat, the delicious SMS chocolate chip cookies which are sold in the cafeteria daily.

Aevidum Newsletter

Club Advisors: Mr. Katz & Mr. Snare

Lastly, the group dropped a new podcast episode and focused it on a new feature called “Spotlight of the Month.”

The members voted to interview longtime custodian, Sandy Holtzapple, to learn more about her career and experiences at SMS. Check out podcast episode #3 by clicking here.

Overall, it was a great time and the club was able to encourage our students to focus on kindness and generosity.

During the next month, the Aevidum Club is working on a special 6th to 7th grade transition project for our incoming middle school students along with a wellness fair, which will be held in May in conjunction with Mental Health Awareness Month.

Follow the SMS Aevidum Club on Instagram @smsaevidum for club happenings, mental health resources, and a variety of other content. Take a listen to the SMS Aevidum Podcast on Spotify here. You may also email the club at smsaevidum@sycsd.org.

York County School of Technology

First-round acceptances for the 2024-2025 school year were recently sent out by York County School of Technology. A new student orientation will occur on May 2, 2024, from 6-8 pm.

Families will receive information regarding the new student orientation closer to that date. York Tech will continue to accept students into programs as openings become available according to their admissions policy.

The acceptance process from the waiting list often extends into the summer months. Please contact Mr. Katz at jason.katz@sycsd.org if you have any questions or concerns.

STAFF RECOGNITION

SMS strives to be student-centered and customer service focused. We would like to know if a staff member, including all support staff, (teacher, custodian, instructional aid, secretary, or bus driver) has gone over and above to assist you and/or child.

To send a shout out, simply complete this Google Form and a shout out will be automatically generated and sent to the staff member at the end of the calendar month. Our goal is to let staff know they had a positive impact and to measure our overall commitment to being student-centered and customer service oriented.

If you have had such an interaction with a staff member, please consider sending that staff member a shout out. 

SAFE TO SAY

At SYCSD we are committed to implementing programs that involve and/or educate students, parents, teachers, support staff, administrators, local law enforcement, mental health and wellness professionals, and elected officials to protect our students, staff, and community.

The Safe2Say Something (S2SS) program is an anonymous reporting system, mandated by PA state law, designed to help students and staff recognize the warning signs and signals (especially on social media) of individuals who may be a threat to themselves or others.

S2SS trains students and school staff to treat every warning sign seriously and to act quickly to get help by talking to a trusted adult and/or by reporting it anonymously via telephone, mobile device, or website to the S2SS Crisis Center.

District staff members have been trained to respond to and manage tips that are submitted in coordination with state and local law enforcement officials. The curriculum is designed to be age-appropriate and research-based.

Scheduling Information for Current 7th Graders!

Feb 27: Presentation during all 7th Grade students during IE.

March 1: Dr. Bell to send parent communication & directions to families.

March 4-10: Family/Teacher discussion regarding recommendations.

Student to complete Google form for Elective Choices.

March 10: Teacher recommendations are posted.

Student Google Form for Elective Choices Due

Core Classes Taken By All Students:

English 8 - Science 8 - Social Studies 8 -Health/PE 8

Math 8 or Algebra 1 or Geometry

(placement based on teacher recommendation)

Elective Choices:

Option 1: Band/Orchestra/Chorus + 2 Practical Arts (1/2 year each)

Option 2: Band/Orchestra/Chorus + World Language

Option 3: World Language + 2 Practical Arts (1/2 year each)

Option 4: 4 Practical Arts (1/2 year each over 2 periods)

Practical Arts include Engineering by Design, Computer, Art, Family and Consumer Sciences.

To learn more about taking a World Language Course (French, Latin, Spanish), please watch this video.

For questions regarding scheduling, please reach out to the 7th grade school counselor, Mrs. Hall at 717-235-4811 ext 3522 or lisa.hall@sycsd.org

Cafeteria News

Middle School Breakfast Menu

Middle School Lunch Menu

Smart Snack Price List

Pop Tarts $.85 ~ Fresh Baked Cookies $1.00

Fruit snacks/Fruit roll-ups $.85 ~ Granola Bar $.85

Ice Cream $1.00 ~ Rice Crispy Treat $1.25

Frito Lay Snacks $1.00 ~ Bottled Water $.75

Naked Juice $2.50 ~ Snapple 100% Juice 1.25

Izzi Beverage $1.50

Valentine’s Day Winners

1st Place

Calleigh Doll

2nd Place

Lucianne Wherley

3rd Place

Andre Forrester