SPARTAN SCOOP

December 17, 2023

From Mrs. Smith......

Good evening!

Well, I am sure it comes as no surprise that we had a huge turn out from staff and students for PJ Pant Day on Friday. It has been so fun to watch students and see their creativity with our dress up days. We have one week left and it is going to be a great one. We are going to alter the calendar on Thursday, and make it a "Dress as your Favorite Character Day" . I am sure we will see some of our favorite holiday characters as well.

We are super excited for our Sparty Party on December 20th. Stay tuned for pictures and highlights.

I hope you all have a great winter break. It has been an amazing first semester. Enjoy the well needed time off and have the happiest start to 2024.

SPARTY UP!

#PHM Excellence

We are proud to share that two out of the four students named recipients of the prestigious 2024 Lilly Endowment Scholarship are Penn High School seniors! Congratulations to Bella Schaetzle and Jayden Wang! This highly competitive scholarship awards the winners with a four-year, full-tuition scholarship, and a book stipend for the Indiana college or university of their choice! Including Schaetzle and Wang, Penn has had 37 students named Lilly Scholars!
Schaetzle attended Walt Disney, Mary Frank and Discovery. Wang attended Northpoint and Discovery. Congratulations again to these students, their families, and the teachers who educated them! Click to read more.

Girls Basketball Cheer

Schmucker will have a cheer team for the girls basketball season. If you are interested in being on the cheer team during the girls basketball season you will need to tryout. Tryouts are after school on December 18, 19, and 20th. Monday and Tuesday tryouts will be from 4:00 until 6:00. Tryouts on Wednesday, December 20th will end at 5:00. Bring clothes to cheer in. All cheerleaders trying out NEED to have their physical and other documents completed in at www.registermyathlete.com. You CANNOT tryout without this information uploaded. Please email Coach Jaz with any questions @ jasmond98@gmail.com

Loaner Chromebooks

In order to service and maintain all loaner Chromebooks, all loaners will be picked up from students during 6th hour on December 21, 2023. Loaner Chromebooks will not go home over Winter Break. Please reach out to Mrs. Smith with any concerns.

eLearning Letter and Instructions

Please read the attached letter from Dr. Heather Short about eLearning and the expectations for eLearning.

Dr. Short's Letter

Middle School Technology Expectations

Girls Basketball Tryouts

Attention girls basketball players in 7th and 8th grade: tryouts will be held on December 14, 15, and 18 from 4-6 PM. You must have all documentation approved on Aktivate (Register My Athlete) in order to tryout. Please see the SMS Athletics website for step-by-step instructions regarding Aktivate. You should plan to attend each day of tryouts. We are looking forward to a great season!

December CLUBS

December Clubs/Intramurals

Must have REGISTERED MY ATHLETE Filled out!!

Link: https://www.registermyathlete.com/login/

Gaming

Monday

When: 4:00 to 5:00 PM

Where: Mr. Black’s room (room 314)

Teacher: Karl Black

Dungeons and Dragons

Monday

When: 4:00 to 5:00 PM

Where: Mrs. Grover’s room (room 318)

Teacher: Melissa Grover

Animation (Closed to those that did not do it in November)

Tuesdays

When: 4:00 to 5:00 PM

Where: Ms. Fratena’s (room 309)

Teacher: Monicah Fratena

P-7

Tuesdays

When: 8:00 AM to 8:50 AM

Where: Mr. Black’s room (Will pick you up at the main office at 8:00 AM)

Teacher: Karl Black

Chess

Thursday

When: 4:00 to 5:00 PM

Where: Mrs. Grover’s room (room 318)

Teacher: Melissa Grover

Novel

Fridays

When: 8:00 AM to 8:50 AM

Where: Room 208 (Will pick you up at the main office at 8:00 AM)

Teacher: Colleen Gish

Open Gym

Fridays

When: 7:30 AM to 8:50 AM

Where: Gym (Come in Door L by gym at 7:30 AM)

Teacher: Karl Black

THE MORE YOU KNOW!

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Give Back with Amazon Smile

Please look for Schmucker Middle School in Amazon Smile. With all of our online shopping, it's an effective way to easily give back to our SMS PTO.

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Box Tops for SMS

Box Tops are going digital! Simply download the Box Tops app from the Apple app store or Google Play. Create an account for yourself & associate it with Schmucker Middle School!

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Approved PE Shirts

Please remember that shirts from last year and this year are acceptable for PE! You can buy a shirt at the Back to School Walk Around for $10 cash.

Commonly Used Links and Information

Continued Focus on the Indiana Academic Standards

Knowing there is dialog around the state about the Indiana Academic Standards, we continue to follow the direction of the Indiana Department of Education and Dr. Jenner as provided in this letter. If you have any concerns about your child's education, please work with your child's teacher for clarification or reach out to me at anytime!

Questions? Please see the assigned staff at each site to help answer your questions.

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Safety Update: How Can Parents Monitor On-Line Activity

Parents,

Families have the option of receiving weekly emails outlining your students online activity while using Chromebooks. This online service is free and it gives parents an opportunity to maintain a safe learning environment at school and at home. Please click on the attached links to learn more about how Securly can help you.

Click to read and download a copy of the parent letter that provides step-by-step instructions on how to set up your Securly Parent Portal.

SAFE SCHOOL HELPLINE

If you see something, hear something, say something! The Safe School Helpline is a convenient, confidential way for anyone to report information about situations that might affect safety at any P-H-M school or building. You can call the number any time of the day or night to report concerns about unsafe or potentially disruptive activities or situations including drug or alcohol abuse, weapons, harassment, bullying or threats. All calls are completely confidential.