Switzerland Point Middle School

• January 20: No School
• January 21: Character Counts! Chats (adjusted bell schedule)
• Week of January 26: Literacy Week
• January 28: Basketball VS GRMS
• January 30: Basketball VS MMS
• January 31: Raider Store
• February 4: BB Vs LMS
• February 6: BB Vs SMS
• February 7: Raider Store
• February 11: Interims Issued, BB Vs PBMS
• February 13: BB vs FCMS
• February 14: No School for Students, Teacher In-Service Day

Congratulations to Ms. Gowin, Media Specialist, who is in the top 5 finalists for SJCSD Teacher Of the Year. The finalist will be announced at the TOY Banquet on January 31.

Click on the flier to order.

Please note that the price of yearbooks increased after 12/20/24.

Get your SPMS Spirite wear before its gone! ORDER HERE!

Complete the form on our website to request early check out. It is located on the bottom left (side bar) of the website. The form needs to be completed by 6 AM the day you are requesting early check out. After the 6 AM cut off, please send your child in with a note to the front office like normal. Please do not request early check out more than 2 days in advance.

As a safety precaution, students will only be released to the parent/guardian or the Emergency Contact listed in HAC. A current driver’s license must be presented to the front office to check a student out early. The following procedure will be strictly enforced: NO student may be signed out after 1:15 PM daily. Parents must arrive in the office no later than 1:15 PM in order to sign their child out early. Students who check out during the school day due to illness are not eligible to return to school that evening to participate in activities or to be a member of the audience.

Behavior expectation assemblies were held Tuesday, January 7th. Expectations were taught and have been reviewed since the beginning of the school year.

• At the end of the year, students can attend a field trip as a reward for their behavior.
• Students who earn ISS or OSS during 2nd semester, to include for tardies and demerits, will NOT BE ELIGIBLE to participate n the grade-level reward trip.
• Students who commit a Level 4 offense during the entire school year, will NOT BE ELIGIBLE to participate in the grade-level reward trip. Please see Section 5, Levels of Discipline, on page 31 in our Student Code of Conduct for examples of Level 4 offenses.
• Students with 15 or more unexcused absences during the school year will NOT BE ELIGIBLE for the trip.
• For 8th grade students, these behavior requirements also apply to the 8th grade formal dance.
• Once a reward trip has been paid for, we will be unable to give refunds or transfer the reservation to another student’s name.

Sea World forms and permission slips came home in 1st period this past week. You will also find the forms in the 7th Grade Schoology Group (Join Code--KMNQ-MDR7-XW6VB) and on the school's website to print from home if your child misplaced theirs. The initial payment is due to Kelly Tours via their website Friday, January 31st. Please use the Trip ID #19923 when signing up. All forms are due to your child's 1st period teacher by March 25th with the final payment being due on Kelly Tours' website on April 25th . If you have any questions, please direct them to the 7th Grade Team Lead, Mrs. Dunn, at kelly.dunn@stjohns.k12.fl.us.

The first order of 7th grade t-shirts also went home this past week. If your child did not order a t-shirt but is planning on attending the Sea World trip, look for another order later this semester as students must have a 7th grade shirt to wear on the field trip.

Each month, our staff nominate students who display the pillar of Charcter for that month. Students will be celebrated the first week of the next month with lunch provided by the PTSO.

This month, we look for students who display the pillar of Respect. We look for students who:

• Treat others with respect; follow the Golden Rule
• Are tolerant and accepting of differences
• Use good manners, not bad language
• Are considerate of the feelings of others
• Don't threaten, hit, or hurt anyone
• Deal peacefully with anger, insults, and disagreements

In partnership with Resiliency Florida, we will explore specific characteristic(s) each month. You can find out more information by visiting their website: https://www.buildresiliency.org/ . Please see the attached documents that relate to this month's Character Counts! pillar of Respect.

America250 just launched America’s Field Trip for the 2024–2025 school year! America’s Field Trip is a nationwide scholastic contest that invites students in grades 3–12 to share their perspectives on what America means to them through artwork or essays — with the opportunity to earn an unforgettable field trip experience at some of the nation’s most iconic historical and cultural landmarks.

• 25 first-place awardees from each grade level category and a chaperone will receive airfare and lodging for a 3-day, 2-night trip to a select historical or cultural site.
• Second-place recipients will receive a $500 cash award.
• The teacher associated with the top-scoring student submissions in each grade level category will receive a $1,000 cash award.

Visit America250’s website to learn more about how students can enter, and for contest rules, judging criteria, classroom resources, and more. The deadline for submissions is April 16, 2025!

DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR., ESSAY AND POSTER CONTEST

OUR THEME FOR 2024-2025:

“The time is always right to do what is right.” MLK JR

The St. Johns Education Association is pleased to present the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. essay and poster contest. We work with the Dr. Martin Luther King Celebration Committee of St. Johns County to celebrate the life and works of this American hero.

Essays and posters are due on January 31st, by 5:00 pm to the SJEA office: 1260 N. Ponce De Leon Blvd., Suite F, St. Augustine, 32084. Late essays and posters will not be accepted.

Essay and poster judging will take place the first week of February. SJEA will notify all contest winners through their submitting teacher.

We will be hosting our annual awards ceremony in the St. Augustine High School auditorium in February 2025 (actual date TBD).

See attached flier for all the details.

Poems should reflect life in a world without violence. Judges will look for poems that

make a positive statement about a world without violence. Images of diverse

kinds of people, places and things that portray a harmonious way of life, a

respectful living and working environment as well as children interacting with

not only each other, but also animals. Any poems depicting firearms, knives or

any other violent images will NOT be eligible; violent images with a ban sign

through them will not be eligible.

The purpose of these activities is to interrupt what otherwise may become a

generational cycle of domestic violence. The entry may only be 8 ½ by 11-size

paper. Written and typed entries will be accepted. Drawings on poetry entries

will not be eligible, only the poems. Only one entry per student- either poetry or

art will be accepted.

Each student MUST have an entry form attached to the back of his or her work

with clear tape.

Please see the attached document about Varsity Tutors, a resource that is free to your students!

SPMS National Junior Honor Society is sponsoring an opportunity to send a special birthday or congratulations message to your student via the marquee in the front of the school. Cost is $25. Complete the form here to submit your request (there's a separate link in the form to pay via Schoolpay upon submitting your request). Requests are due the Friday prior to the event and will display the following week (Tuesday through Monday). Example: If you turn in the request on Friday, September 17, then your message will be displayed on Tuesday, September 21.

Congratulations to the following Mathletes who qualified for and will represent SPMS at the Northeast Florida Mathcounts competition in February! Best of luck!

Ben Mathis
Michael Moreno
Carlos Garcia Tello
James Hadad
Ray Cruz
Nolan Davis
Mia Cherba
Peter Hadad
Adhrit Raghunath
Nishal Lunkad
Aarav Patel
Yashu Dogiparthy
Daniel Amatangelo
Samuel Wright
Ian Behrman

There will be a District Art show in March and all students are welcome to submit entries. Students can submit entries to either Ms. Longueira or Ms. Wallin. However, only a few pieces are able to be entered. The selected pieces will go on display downtown at the Saint Augustine Art Association, and they will run for a month. All entries must be submitted by February 28th. Any type of media is acceptable but cannot be larger than 24x24. Students can email Ms. Longueira or Ms. Wallin with any questions or concerns.

At this time, the opening of School Daze and The Redemption of Gertie Green have been postponed due to the air conditioning unit breaking in the Auditorium. As soon as it has been replaced, we will be in touch with new dates. Sorry for any inconvenience, and we hope to see you at the theatre in the Spring!

Battle of the Books is a competition team based around knowledge of the Sunshine State Young Reader Award Books (SSYRA). The goal of the SSYRA program is to promote the love of reading for students. The SSYRA list is composed of 15 books from a wide variety of genres and interests. Students can read the books and take a short quiz on them in the media center to earn prizes.

The team will be composed of 5 members and 2 alternates. Membership is based on scores during try outs. Information on try outs will come out in December. Try outs will be in January. Practice will be once a week after school until the competition in March.

Please email Madison.Gowin@stjohns.k12.fl.us if you have any questions about SSYRA or Battle of the Books!

The PTSO would love your help stocking the Raider Store! The Raider Store is where students can spend their hard earned Raider Bucks. Your student earns Raider Bucks from their teachers and staff for showing good character in the classroom and hallways. They can then spend them in the PTSO-sponsored Raider Store. We are always looking for new and fun things to stock the store with to keep the students coming back. Please put your student's name on the gift, and he/she will be credited Raider Bucks for your donation!

Thank you for your support!

CLICK HERE TO SHOP

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