Sanders Memorial Stallion News

Thank you families for your assistance with the reminders from last week (behavior, attendance, and parking). We have seen great improvement in all three areas. We know that at SMES it is a partnership between our staff, students, and families.

We are gearing up for Kindness Week next week! We can't wait to celebrate and highlight all the ways we can be kind on the Stallion Campus!

Best regards,

Warm Regards,

Mr. Petry and Mrs. Hedgspeth

We are celebrating Kindness Week at SMES the week of February 10th!

Our Theme Days are:

Monday: Workout your problems with kindness. Wear Work Out clothes

Tuesday: For the Love of Comfort, Wear your Pajamas

Wednesday: Light up the day with kindness! Wear yellow/bright colors!

Thursday: Kindness Day! Rock out in all red!

We are looking for classes that have the most participation each day!

Our Winners for the New Year, New Read Challenge were: Emma C (K), Elliott L (1st), William B (2nd), Tyler B (3rd), Von W (4th), and Rowan K (5th)!

It was a difficult task, having to choose only 5 bookmarks to go on to the District level competition but the following students' bookmarks have been selected by a panel of judges to represent SMES at the District level. The winner at the District level will have their bookmark printed and distributed to the whole school!

Bookmark Contest Winners: Dev D, Abigail P, Hallynd Z, Siena S, and Viera V.

We loved seeing everyone who participated and their creativity!

Our new mini February challenge has begun! Our top 5 readers in each grade level will receive a spin ticket AND the top 10 classrooms that log the most Beanstack minutes will receive a sweet treat to share!

Parents, partner with us to ensure your child is accurately logging their reading minutes. We encourage students to log their minutes with their book titles as they read instead of bulk logging at the end of the week. We are trying to create a daily habit of reading for all of Stallions!

Our students are completing new and creative challenges every week in pursuit of becoming the next LegoMaster! Our fifth grade lego club students have begun coding with Legos!

Registration for this event is now closed. If you have already registered, we are excited to see all of our Stallions dressed to impress for a fun night!

K-2 Time: 5:00-6:15pm

3-5th Time: 6:45-8:15pm

It seems crazy to think about, but our annual Field Day is coming up in March! Mark your calendars for Friday, March 7! Every year the PE Department takes pre-orders for shirts and those sales begin Monday, January 27 and run through Friday, February 7. No orders will be taken after this date so that we can place the order and receive the shirts in time. So, set an alarm if you want to get that shirt order in!

This year the shirts are green with black print (see image attached) and will cost $15. You can place your order on Student Quick Pay (the same place you pay for field trips and school fees). If you are unable to pay online (cash or check are on option) please reach out to Coach Satinoff at rsatinof@pasco.k12.fl.us.

Volunteer information will come out later, so be on the lookout for that closer to March.

We currently have 800,592 minutes READ!

Our goal for the end of the year is 1,000,000! Let's blow it out of the water!

When you log your minutes, please be sure to honestly log your minutes. Bulk adding minutes will be flagged entries. We want to encourage the habit of daily reading and logging your minutes with actual book titles is important.

📖Reading in the car? Log the minutes!

📖Reading in class? Log the minutes!

📖Reading with a sibling? Log those minutes!

If your student is participating in this challenge, they need to log their actual minutes reading from the SSYRA reading list AND pass the quizzes. Thank you!

Please remember to return your library books so all Stallions can enjoy our collection!

They can return the books when they are finished but they will go to the library at their assigned class time every other week. We want all Stallions to have a chance to check out our library books, so please make sure you return your books on time. For Sunshine State books, they need to be returned in one week.

🖐🏻We are in need of volunteers! 🖐🏻

We need 3 volunteers every Friday to help reshelve, check in return books, organize books, and any other things that might be needed for the library. Please sign up if you are available every Friday for the remainder of the year.

Sign Up to Volunteer for the Library

📱Wireless Communication Devices (WCDs) 📱

Policy Overview: Students in grades Pre-K through 5 are encouraged to leave their WCDs at home. If students do bring WCDs to school, they must ensure that the devices remain on silent mode and completely out of view for the entire school day. Classroom teachers may provide a designated cell phone storage area in their classrooms for students to use. This includes cellphones, watches and other communicative devices.

Why This Policy Matters at school:

1. Minimizing Distractions: Keeping WCDs out of sight helps minimize distractions, allowing students to focus better on their studies and classroom activities.
2. Promoting Social Interaction: Without the presence of WCDs, students are more likely to engage in face-to-face interactions, fostering better social skills and relationships.
3. Ensuring Safety and Security: By adhering to this policy, we can better ensure the safety and security of all students, as WCDs can sometimes be a source of disruption or misuse.

How You Can Help:

• Encourage Compliance: Please encourage your child to leave their WCDs at home or ensure they understand the importance of keeping them on silent and out of view during school hours.
• Discuss the Policy: Take a moment to discuss this policy with your child and explain why it is important for their learning and the overall school environment.
• Support Teachers: Reinforce the idea that teachers may provide a cell phone storage area in the classroom and that it is a safe place for their devices during the day.

We appreciate your cooperation and support in helping us maintain a focused and safe learning environment for all students. If you have any questions or concerns about this policy, please do not hesitate to contact the school office.

MyStudent Emergency Contact Information

Please make sure to log into MyStudent and update and acknowledge your contact information. This is essential so that we can get a hold of families and ensure you are receiving our communications weekly.

Signing Students out Early

We are requesting that students who need to be signed out early for the day, be signed out by 2:45 p.m. at the latest. after that point, they will not be called up to the office until they have arrived in their designated dismissal room. Unfortunately, we are not able to call students down to the office before parents arrive, as safety is our priority and ID's are required.

Carline Reminders

NO CELL PHONES IN THE CAR LINE!! Please put vehicles in "PARK" while children are loading and unloading. All children must remain in their seats while their vehicles are in motion for loading and unloading. For the purpose of safety, children cannot hang out of windows and sunroofs while cars are in motion.

Transportation Dismissal Changes: VERY IMPORTANT

Any changes in mode of transportation home must be entered in to the Transportation Change Request form on our SMES website by 2:45 p.m. EACH DAY to ensure a safe and smooth dismissal for all students.

Attendance Calls Reminder

Starting from the first day of school, we are enhancing our communication regarding your child's attendance. Keeping parents informed about their child’s attendance is vital for the safety and security of all students.

• Elementary School: If your child is absent, you will receive a notification (phone call and email) one hour after the start of school. Since school starts at 9:20, you will receive a call by 10:20.

Parking for events, arrival and dismissal:

We want to remind everyone about the importance of parking in designated areas only. Recently, there have been instances of vehicles being parked on the grass, over sidewalks and in non-marked parking spots along School Road and Lake Thomas Road.

Please be aware that these actions are ticketable offenses if a sheriff’s office deputy comes by. Additionally, parking in these areas is not conducive to being good neighbors to the residents along these roads and reflects poorly on our school community.

Parent Bill of Rights:

Parents, please ensure that you have completed all the Parent Bill of Rights information in your myStudent parent portal. These forms must be completed yearly.

Volunteer updates:

Volunteers (NEW REQUIREMENT): Sanders welcomes volunteers! Effective August 1, 2024, and every five years after, volunteers will need to pay a fee, currently $41.25 for a Level 2 Fingerprinting and Background Screening that will be monitored. Please visit the district volunteer website at https://www.pasco.k12.fl.us/hreq/page/volunteer to apply to be a volunteer. Volunteering includes any time an individual is around students other than their own.

Field Trip Reminders:

it is important to remember our field trip guidelines and to follow them. These guidelines are in place to ensure the safety and educational value of our field trips, which are an extension of the classroom.

Violation of Field Trip Guidelines

Failure to comply with these guidelines will result in either a reduction of field trip opportunities for all students in the next grade level or a limitation on opportunities for parents to serve as chaperones.

Importance of Compliance

It is crucial that these guidelines are followed to maintain a safe and productive environment for all students. Field trips are designed to enhance the learning experience, and your cooperation is essential in achieving this goal.

Tutoring Interest:

If you are looking for possible tutor services, please reach out to:

👩Caitlin Gryte

📧 cgryte@pasco.k12.fl.us

If you haven't already, please join our amazing PTA! Our PTA is always looking for new ideas to serve our school community.

Check out what is happening with PTA:

February 11- Someone Special Dance 4pm- 8:30pm

February 21- PTA Staff lunch 9am-2pm

February 25- PTA Meeting 8:30am CDI & ZOOM

To join click Join the PTA

If you are interested becoming a PTA business partner please fill out

Become a SMES PTA Business Partner

1/27-1/31 Literacy Week 📚

2/4 Club Picture Day

2/8 Pasco County Science and Engineering Showcase Competition at AAI

2/10 2nd Grade Field Trip to MOSI

2/11 Someone Special Dance 💕

• K-2 Time: 5:00pm-6:15pm
• 3rd-5th Time: 6:45pm-8:15pm

2/14 No School for Teachers and Students

2/17 No School for Teachers and Students

2/18 SSYRA 3rd-5th 12 Book Party (Foam Party)

2/18 Fundraise Foam Party

2/20 Spring Pictures

2/24 Spring Fundraiser Kick Off Pep Rally

2/25 3rd Grade Field Trip to ZooTampa

2/28 PTA Reflections Awards Ceremony @ 9:45am

3/7 SMES Field Day

ll students will be able to receive breakfast and lunch from the cafeteria free of charge. To help expedite the breakfast and lunch lines, as well as, to ensure your student wants the lunch of the day, please view the Sanders Meal Calendar for breakfast and lunch options.

Lunch with your child: Parents are welcome to have lunch with their child by making a reservation at 813-794-1500 ahead of time to check for availability. Lunch reservations are only for the current month and are only available Tuesday-Friday.

Parents must sign in, with an ID at the office to receive a visitor badge. To ensure the safety and supervision of all children, parents may only have lunch with their child(ren). We ask that you limit your visit to once a month. Lunchtime is one of the few times of the day where children can socialize with their classmates.

Sanders Meal Calendar

Pasco County Schools Calendar

Pasco County Student Code of Conduct

Student Quick Pay

School Spirit Shirts, School Fees, Field Trips, ID Badges, Car Tags

Houses:

🔴House of Friendship – Red Wolf

🔵House of Dreamers – Bobcat

🟢House of Courage – Alligator

⚫House of Givers – Rattlesnake

This Houses system will encourage “House” building and bonding between students in all grade levels. It will continue SMES’s path of positive culture and relationships with students and staff.

House Points: Throughout the year the houses will compete against each other in competitions and events to accumulate House points. Individual students can also continue to accumulate points for their House by demonstrating Stallion expectations and beyond.

Spin Tickets: Students can earn spin tickets from house leaders, and other random staff members. If a student earns a spin ticket, they will get to spin the wheel on Spinning Days.

House Champion: At the end of the year, the House with the most points wins the House Championship and all of the honor and glory that comes with it!