Stevenson Family Newsletter

Thank you for a great start to our 2021-2022 school year! As we work diligently to engage students in authentic learning, we continue to prioritize student health and safety every day.

Please review the information below for updates at Stevenson Middle School. Thank you for partnering with us to ensure your students learn and grow each day.

Respectfully,

Christyn McCloskey, Principal

We have some exciting news – we will be making our school a phone-free space to improve teaching and learning! We will be using a system called Yondr to achieve this goal. Yondr has been used across the world in over 1,000 schools, as well as at concerts, comedy shows, businesses, camps, weddings and special events of all kinds. The goal of these spaces is to encourage people to engage with each other and their surroundings.

We believe that cell phones have great utility. We have also found that learning and social behavior improve drastically when students are fully engaged with their teachers and classmates.

The Yondr Program employs a simple, lockable pouch that stores a cell phone. Every student will secure their phone in a personally assigned Yondr pouch when they arrive at school. Students will maintain possession of their phones and will not use them until their pouches are opened at the end of the school day. Students are required to bring their Yondr pouch to and from school each day and are responsible for their pouch at all times.

We are encouraged by the effects of this system in learning institutions. Yondr surveyed over 900 school partners to measure the effects of creating phone-free educational environments. These schools achieved notable progress in multiple areas:

• 65% of schools saw an improvement in academic performance

• 74% of schools saw an improvement in student behavior

• 83% of schools saw an improvement in student engagement in the classroom

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the school directly at 713-943-5700, or attend our upcoming meeting about the adoption of Yondr on Tuesday, October 26th @ 9:00 AM. The meeting will be virtual. You can access the virtual meeting here.

In an effort to best serve your child, we appreciate your full support in adoption of the Yondr Program at our school.

Parent Video (English): https://vimeo.com/580294929

Parent Video (Spanish): https://vimeo.com/580299282-

What is Red Ribbon Week?

It is an ideal way for people and communities to unite and take a visible stand against drugs. Show your personal commitment to a drug-free lifestyle through the symbol of the Red Ribbon, October 25 - 29th.

Why?

The Red Ribbon Campaign was started when drug traffickers in Mexico City murdered DEA agent Enrique "Kiki" Camarena in 1985. This began the continuing tradition of displaying Red Ribbons as a symbol of intolerance towards the use of drugs. The mission of the Red Ribbon Campaign is to present a unified and visible commitment towards the creation of a Drug Free America.

Red Ribbon Week at Stevenson MS:

• Monday, 10/25: Camouflage Day
• Tuesday, 10/26: Spirit Day
• Wednesday, 10/27: Jersey Day
• Thursday, 10/28: Black Out Day
• Friday, 10/29: Halloween Costume Day*

*Dress code for Halloween Costumes on October 29th (students and staff):

• PPE masks are still required
• No masks, props, or costume make up (including fake blood)
• Nothing suggestive or provocative - no underwear may be showing and may not be worn as outerware
• Nothing that promotes the use of illegal substances or activities, derogatory or disrespectful or portrays violence
• Show respect to others by not touching, defacing, or insulting others' costumes
• Show respect for others by not choosing costumes that are insensitive and/or offensive to the diverse backgrounds represented at our school

The Scholastic Book Fair is coming to Stevenson on October 25th - 29th in the Library. Students can shop in-person or online using this link: www.scholastic.com/bf/stevensonms

UIL Sports are back! Football, Volleyball, and Cross-Country are already practicing. Keep your eyes out for upcoming sports seasons:

• Cheerleading
• Basketball
• Soccer
• Baseball/Softball
• Track

After-school clubs have started! Here is a list of clubs we have so far:

• Art Club
• Anime Club
• Robotics Club
• Name That Book Club
• NJHS
• Band
• Karate
• UIL Academics Club
• Sparklers Dance Team

After-School Tutorials are in-person from 4:10 - 5:10 PM Monday through Thursday. See schedule below:

• Monday: Math
• Tuesday: ELAR
• Wednesday: Math & Science
• Thursday: ELAR & SS

Saturday Tutorials are in-person from 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM each Saturday! Student receive breakfast and lunch - as well as a "ticket" to get a treat from the Treat Trolley on Fridays!

• If the student is vaccinated, they will not need to quarantine and can stay in class. Please monitor student for symptoms over the following week.
• If the student is not vaccinated, the student will be removed from class and will wait for a parent or guardian to pick them up.
• Student will be enrolled in Temporary Online Learning. Student will receive a confirmation email with their schedule and instructions to log in.
• Specific quarantine instructions will be communicated to parents. Information will include the length of quarantine, earliest date student can test for COVID, and earliest date of return to school.
• UPDATE: Students who are close contacts to presumed positive individuals will no longer need to quarantine.
• UPDATE: All students who are in class with a confirmed positive individual will be notified - however, the name of the confirmed positive individual will not be released. Please remember that your student only needs to quarantine if they are a close contact to a confirmed positive individual - the school will notify you if this is the case.

COVID Vocabulary:

• Presumed Positive: individual is displaying one or more COVID symptoms, but has not tested positive
• Confirmed Positive: individual has tested positive for COVID
• Close Contact: student was within 6 feet of presumed or confirmed positive individual for 15 minutes or longer within a 24 hour period.

Friday, November 5th @ 9:00 AM

Links to all meetings can be found here: https://www.houstonisd.org/domain/52404

• All applications are due on November 12th
• You can apply for any HISD Magnet school here
• The next Virtual School Choice Fair is Saturday, October 30th. Click here to access the event.

• All GT applications are due to the Magnet Office by November 5th
• Applications are paper-based and can be picked up from the Magnet Office
• GT testing will be November 29th - December 18th.

The School Market is back! Stevenson will host the Houston Food Bank for all Stevenson Families on the following dates:

• November 10th - 9:00 AM to 11:00 AM
• December 8th - 9:00 AM to 11:00 AM

The event will be held in the Bus Turnaround in the back of the school. Be sure to bring your ID and some shopping bags to carry all the food!

November 22nd - November 26th

HISD is reinstating the flexible uniform policy. Students will not receive disciplinary consequences for not wearing the Stevenson uniform. However, Stevenson is continuing to highly encourage students to wear their uniforms and will provide a uniform for all students who are unable to obtain a school uniform.

Students are required to adhere to the Stevenson dress code. Please refer to our school dress code policy on page 20 - 21 in the Student & Parent Handbook.

Email: cmcclosk@houstonisd.org
Website: www.houstonisd.org/StevensonMS
Location: 9595 Winkler Drive, Houston, TX, USA
Phone: 713.943.5700
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/smsdragons1/
Twitter: @WIStevensonMS