Knighthawk Family News

Knighthawk Family,

I hope that all of our students and their families have had a great start to the 18-19 school year. At PKMS, we have had another great opening. It has been wonderful to greet all of our new students to PKMS as well as welcome back our returning students.

One upcoming activity at PKMS that we are really excited about is our One School, One Book initiative. This year, we are reading Refugee by Alan Gratz. You can read more information about the book below in our newsletter. We encourage you to have conversations about the book with your child at home.

I would like all of our parents to know how much we appreciate your ongoing support of Pleasant Knoll Middle School. We ask that you continue to stay involved with your child's education. If you ever have questions or concerns, please reach out to us so that we can help your child be successful. Open communication is vital to the academic and social growth of all students.

Again, thanks for all you do!

Grey Young, Principal

Students of the Month

We are excited to kick off our One School, One Book here at PKMS. For the next couple of months, our students and faculty will be reading aloud Refugee by Alan Gratz during our DEAR period. This is a historical novel that weaves the stories of three young refugees in three different time periods and settings: Josef in 1938 Berlin, Isabelle in 1994 Cuba, and Mahmoud in 2015 Syria. As these three characters and their families embark on their journeys to shelter and safety, we too will embark on a voyage of our own here at PKMS. The journey to increase empathy, seeing the unseen and caring for others, in our classrooms through the reading, discussing and teaching of history. We are very excited about the opportunities this novel will give our students.

Since we are starting our One School, One Book, we would like to provide a copy of this book for all of our students. During student registration, there was a $6.00 fee attached to the One School, One Book. If you have not already done so, please consider paying the $6.00 fee so your child will have their own personal copy of Refugee.

Please consider nominating someone or yourself for our School Improvement Council. For more information and for the nomination form, CLICK HERE. Nomination forms are due back to the front office by September 26.

Attention 7th graders/Parents

September 19th is the date that all immunization records must be up to date in order for your child to remain in school. If you have not provided an updated immunization record showing a Tdap given after the 7th birthday then please contact your doctor, clinic, or health department promptly to resolve this matter. Students have only 30 calendar days (from the first day of school) to be in compliance with having a valid certificate according to the state’s regulations to be eligible to attend school.

Please feel free to email Nurse Young at youngja@fortmillschools.org or call 803-835-3734 if you have any questions.

While seasonal flu outbreaks can happen as early as October, most of the time flu activity peaks between December and February, although activity can last as late as May. It is very important to alert the school nurse if your child has been diagnosed with the flu or any other communicable diseases. This allows the nurse to keep track of the number of students in a classroom/grade level in order to protect others. Please keep your child at home if he or she has a fever of 100oF or higher with a cough or sore throat. Other flu symptoms are fever with a runny or stuffy nose, body aches, headache, and feeling very tired. Children with the flu will need to stay home until the fever is gone for 24 hours without taking medicines to reduce the fever. Practice frequent hand washing and cover the mouth and nose when coughing or sneezing. The best way to prevent the flu is by getting vaccinated each year along with washing hands often with soap and water. If soap and water are not available, use an alcohol-based hand rub. These healthy habits will help prevent the spread of flu. Also, please be sure to keep your student's emergency information updated with correct phone numbers. If a parent/ guardian is out of town and has left his/her child in the care of another adult, written documentation should be on file with the school. This documentation will authorize the school to contact the alternate person in case of illness or a medical emergency.

Please click here for more information on attendance: absences, tardies,and early dismissals

Back to School Yearbook Offer-Limited Time

There's nothing like getting your yearbook. It's the limited edition collection of our school's stories of the year. Let your student share and relive the big events that will make this year special.

Yearbooks are now on sale for the lowest price of the year, $35.00. ORDER NOW AND SAVE $5.00!! For a limited time add Personalization for $7.00 and get up to 4 FREE ICONS.

Hurry! This Back to School Offer only lasts until October 31, 2018.

Ordering Instructions: Click here to go to the PKMS Jostens Yearbook site. Please enter your student's legal first and last name and what grade they are in. Please email Mrs. Munn (munns@fortmillschools.org) if you have any questions.

Congratulations to Mrs. Dwight - our September PKMS TOP KNIGHTHAWK! She was nominated by her peers for continually soaring above and beyond!

Our website registration!

Every family that completes a new or updated registration on our website, www.pkmspto.com, will have their child/children entered into a contest to win a $50 Amazon gift card. We will give away three gift cards to students, one at each grade level but that’s not all. We will also be giving away a $50 Amazon gift card to one teacher in each grade level!

Hawk Pops!

Hawk Pops, our name of Bruster’s Blue Pops, are back for the ’18-’19 school year.

· Hawk Pops will only be sold through the “PKMS Store” or “My Account” menus on our website www.pkmspto.com . This will eliminate the need for teachers to collect/deliver order forms and money as well as drive more parent registrations on our site which will give more entries into our registration contest above. If you have a student without family internet access or with some other barrier to ordering online, please let the PTO know so we can try to make some sort of alternate arraignment.

· Cost is $18 for the year (same as last year) of which half goes to the PTO.

· Purchase deadline is Friday 9/21 for the first Hawk Pop day.

We would like to keep all of our parents informed of upcoming events, classroom news, and school news. Please use the PKMS website, http://pkms.fortmillschools.org/. It should be a primary source of communication for our families and Mrs. Munn does an outstanding job of updating it on a regular basis. Please also use our Twitter and Facebook pages for information as well.

Twitter - @PK_Knighthawks

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/PKMSKnighthawks/

Email: zeppelink@fortmillschools.org
Website: http://pkms.fortmillschools.org/
Location: 2320 Pleasant Road, Fort Mill, SC, United States
Phone: 803-835-3770
Facebook: facebook.com/PKMSKnighthawks/
Twitter: @PK_Knighthawks