Panther Press
October 27-November 3, 2023
FW Patriot's Pen Youth Essay
This year’s topic is
“How Are You Inspired by America?”
Entry deadline: October 31, 2023
Each year, nearly 68,800 students in grades 6-8 enter the VFW’s Patriot’s Pen youth essay contest for a chance to win their share of more than $1.4 million in state and national awards. Each first place state winner receives a minimum of $500 at the national level, and the national first place winner wins $5,000!
The essay contest encourages young minds to examine America’s history, along with their own experiences in modern American society, by drafting a 300- to 400-word essay, expressing their views based on a patriotic theme chosen by the VFW Commander-in-Chief.
Download the rules and entry below, and be sure to check out VFW.org for more information.
SMS Veterans Day Celebratioon
PTA Volunteers Sign-up
Jugs are placed in homerooms for students and staff to participate in Penny Wars.
The winning homeroom will receive a pizza party!
The rules are simple - Pennies are positive, anything above a penny is a negative. So students want to build up their homerooms with pennies, but want to use any other higher denomination for other classes to knock them down.
Military & Family Life Counseling
Active-duty military parents sign up yourchild/children up to participate in the Military Family Life Program and Anchor for Life. Consent forms are located in the SMS Counseling Suite. Also, if you are an active-duty member deploying or PCS'ing in the next six months, please contact SMS Ms. Frazier at frazierb@magellanfederal.com
Arrival-Students should NOT arrive to our campus without being accompanied by their parent/guardian before 7:10 am. Our doors open at 7:10 am to all students. Parents are to remain courteous to other drivers while dropping off students. Students who are car riders should be dropped off at the curb in front of the school. Please pay attention to our staff directing traffic. Students arriving after 7:25 am are considered tardy.
Attendance-. All attendance notes may be handwritten and dropped off at the main office. Or emailed, scanned, or screenshot to Ms. Davidson at adavidson@iwcs.k12.va.us.
Excused Absences: Students are only allowed 5 parent notes per semester.
Bus Information-Students should be at their assigned bus stop at least 10 minutes before the scheduled time.
Breakfast-Breakfast is served in the cafeteria 7:10 am-7:23 am. Students who bring breakfast from home or local eateries must eat breakfast in the cafeteria during breakfast time. Breakfast cost $1.35; milk only $0.50; unless approved free/reduced lunch.
Lunch is served during 3rd block classes. Lunch cost $2.85 unless approved free/reduced lunch.
1st lunch - 11:10 - 11:35
2nd lunch - 11:40 - 12:05
3rd lunch - 12:15 - 12:40
4th lunch - 12:45 - 1:10
Dismissal-Parents/Guardians should fill out a daily or an occassional pick-up form by Friday, 9/9. All teachers have the forms.
Staggered Dismissal beginning with car riders. Car Riders will be dismissed at 2:40 pm.
Parents may pull up to the curb for pick-up. Students are NOT to walk through the parking lot during dismissal to get into a parked car; unless accompanied by a parent/guardian.
Bus Riders will be dismissed with their teachers walking them outside.
Dress Code-Students are expected to dress appropriately for a K-12 educational environment. Any attire that inhibits the learning environment will be viewed as inappropriate. Inappropriately dressed students’ parents/guardians will be called to bring appropriate clothing before students can attend class. If a parent/guardian is unable to bring a change of clothes or an alternate, more appropriate outfit will be provided by the school.
Food-Students should not share/exchange food items.
Schedule-A lot of time has been spent on scheduling. We wish we could honor every scheduling change request, however, it could have a greater effect on other classes or the number of students enrolled in the class. Effective September 11th, we can no longer make schedule changes unless an error in original schedule. Exploratory classes are alternating classes each day. Tuesday, Sept. 5th is "A" day and Wednesday, Sept. 6th is "B" day following the alternating pattern.
How to read a student's schedule:
Period-Referred to as blocks. There are four periods followed by (A-B), (A), or (B). (A-B) are core content classes which students will attend daily. (A) is an exploratory class scheduled on "A" day. (B) is an exploratory class scheduled on "B" day.
Course Name-The name of the subject/core class/exploratory class.
Course & Section #-Only for admin to reference.
Term-22-23-Yearlong Course; S1-Semester 1; S2-Semester 2; Q1-Quarter 1 (1st Nine Weeks) ; Q2-Quarter 2 (2nd Nine Weeks); Q3-Quarter 3 (3rd Nine Weeks); Q4-Quarter 4 (4th Nine Weeks)
Teacher-Last Name of the Teacher assigned to the course
Room #-The location of the class.
School Visitors- All visitors must sign in at the main office. Visitors may not visit classrooms unless an agreed-upon date/time is scheduled. DoorDash, GrubHub or local deliveries will not be accepted for students.
Water Bottles Only-Students are welcome to have water bottles in class. Only bottles with a sealed lid/cap.
What I Need (W.I.N.) Block-A daily 25-minute alternating Panther W.I.N. block. The purpose of this block is to ensure that students do not lack the additional time needed in any class to get additional academic help, complete assignment, make up missing assignments, decompress, or apply a new skill.