Congratulations to the following students who their teachers nominated as a February RAIDER of the Month. In February, teachers focused on the second R in RAIDER, which stands for Respectful. The February RAIDERs of the Month are:

• Grade 6 - Emma Sousa and Brayden Revoredo
• Grade 7 - Lila Martin and Lillian Estrella
• Grade 8 - Quinn Cabral and Ronald (RJ) Blouin

Congratulations, SMS Raiders!

Also pictured below is our new interim assistant principal, Mr. Messore, who is filling the position left vacant by Mr. Hines. Mrs. Monte and I welcome Mr. Messore to the SMS family.

National School Resource Officer Appreciation Day was Saturday, February 15th. We appreciate Officer Lewandowski and are grateful to have him at Somerset Middle School. Officer Lewandowski is pictured below with police badges designed by SMS students and displayed on appreciation posters.

Officer Lewandowski also created his first parent bulletin in February. For any families who missed the parent bulletin sent via email, HERE is his first edition of the SRO parent bulletin.

The SMS Community Service club made over 100 Valentine's cards that were delivered to Brandon Woods Assisted Living in Dartmouth. Great job, Raiders!

Quarter 3 progress reports will be available in Aspen on Thursday, March 6th. Please check the parent portal to view this document on March 6th.

For any families who missed the spring sports information in the February newsletter, please see the information below:

• Spring sports signups and requirements (see the document linked below for additional information) should be completed by March 10th. Any students interested in baseball, softball, or spring cross country should complete the appropriate Google Form linked below.
• The SMS Athletics Requirements, including the health forms, are linked below. Please complete and return the forms to the school nurse by March 10th. Students will be eligible to try out once the nurse has cleared them. Please know that any students who completed these requirements for fall sports do NOT need to complete them again unless their physical needs to be updated.
• SMS Athletics Requirements 2024-2025 - PLEASE READ
• SMS Softball Sign-Ups 2025
• SMS Baseball Sign-Ups 2025
• SMS Spring Cross Country Sign-Ups 2025
• The spring athletics night is scheduled for Tuesday, March 25th, at 6:30 PM.

The spring sports coaches, tryout information, and meet/game schedule are listed below:

• Baseball - Coach Dionne. Baseball tryouts will occur on Thursday, March 13th, Friday, March 14th, and Tuesday, March 18th, from 3:00-5:00.
• Spring Cross Country - Coach Cardozo and Coach Murphy. Cross country will begin practices on Monday, March 10th.
• Softball - Coach Williams. Softball tryouts will occur on Thursday, March 13th and Friday, March 14th, from 3:00-4:30.
• SMS Spring Sports Schedule - please note the sport specific tabs at the bottom of the Google Sheet.

Please email Dr. McKinnon at kerri.mckinnon@somersetschools.org if you have any questions or Nurse Conchinha at tiffany.conchinha@somersetschools.org if you have any questions about sports clearance.

The March parent-teacher conferences are for families of struggling students. Teachers reached out to families to schedule appointments. Any remaining appointment slots were sent to all families on February 14th. The conference appointments are on Thursday, March 6th, from 5:00-8:00 PM. All conferences are in person at Somerset Middle School. Classroom meeting locations should have been provided when the conference appointment was scheduled. Any families with questions are encouraged to email the teacher or teachers directly.

Music Department March Newsletter

SRO Lewandoski is excited to announce the upcoming summer Youth Academy. This is an outstanding regional academy being offered to students who are from Somerset, Swansea, Seekonk, Dighton, Rehoboth, Berkley, and Raynham. (entering grades 7-9) The two-week academy offers physical fitness, introduction to police functions, demonstrations, and much more. Those wishing to sign-up should fill out THIS form. You can check out highlights from last years academy in the attached video. Spots are limited so don't wait. As always if you have any questions you can email Ofc. Lewandoski at eric.lewandoski@somersetschools.org.

The SMS PTO is hosting another online pop-up spirit wear store with new items added! Anyone ordering youth sizes is encouraged to size up. Check out the store and get your SMS Raider gear! The store is open from March 3rd through March 16th. The online store link appears below:

https://theswanbrothers.chipply.com/SMS

The school year is flying by, and now is the time to order your student's yearbook. Soft cover yearbooks are $17, and hardcover yearbooks are $21. All students went home with yearbook ordering flyers in February; extra flyers are in the main office. Yearbook orders can be placed online or by completing the form sent home with your student. To order a yearbook online, go to the website inter-state.com/order. The order code is 92160E. Cash or check orders- complete the back of the form and return to school. Checks should be made payable to Somerset Middle School. All yearbook orders are due by Monday, April 14, 2025.

8TH GRADE PARENTS!

Purchase a "shout out" in the yearbook for your student as a special way to remind them of how proud you are of all their accomplishments during their middle school years. All shout-outs can be ordered through this link - Shout-Out Order Form. All shout-outs must be purchased and paid for before Friday, March 14th. Send payments into the main office - CC: Mrs. Pacheco "Yearbook Shout Out".

- - - - INCLUDE PHOTO PLEASE!

Lastly, let's have fun and show how much our 8th graders have grown! Parents, email one KINDERGARTEN photo of your student(s) to sms.yearbook@somersetschools.org . There is no cost to participate in this portion of the yearbook, and we encourage all 8th-grade students to participate.

The spring book fair is scheduled for March 24th through March 28th. The book fair will be located in the SMS media center. HERE is the link to our book fair page.

Please see the MCAS testing dates below for any families who may have missed this information in the February newsletter.

April - ELA MCAS sessions

• Tuesday, April 1st - Grade 8 ELA MCAS (session 1)
• Wednesday, April 2nd - Grade 7 ELA MCAS (session 1)
• Thursday, April 3rd - Grade 6 ELA MCAS (session 1)
• Tuesday, April 8th - Grade 8 ELA MCAS (session 2)
• Wednesday, April 9th - Grade 7 ELA MCAS (session 2)
• Thursday, April 10th - Grade 6 ELA MCAS (session 2)

May - Math, Science, and Civics MCAS sessions

Math

• Tuesday, May 6th - Grade 7 Math MCAS (session 1)
• Wednesday, May 7th - Grade 6 Math MCAS (session 1)
• Thursday, May 8th - Grade 8 MCAS (session 1)
• Tuesday, May 13th - Grade 8 Math MCAS (session 2)
• Wednesday, May 14th - Grade 7 Math MCAS (session 2)
• Thursday, May 15th - Grade 6 Math MCAS (session 2)

Science

• Tuesday, May 20th - Grade 8 Science MCAS (session 1)
• Wednesday, May 21st - Grade 8 Science MCAS (session 2)

Civics

• Wednesday, May 28th - Grade 8 Civics MCAS (session 1)
• Thursday, May 29th - Grade 8 Civics MCAS (session 2)

Attention all 8th graders attending the DC Trip, please see the information below from Mrs. Cardozo and Mr. Johnson:

ITINERARY CHANGE: The Kennedy Center will be closed on Tuesday, June 10, and has pushed back the opening of Legally Blonde to a date after our trip. After working with Capital Tours, we have finally found an alternate activity: The Magic Duel. We look forward to this new event, which will be presented in a private venue.

Medical forms should be turned in by April 15th. If your child needs medication, including OTC medications such as Tylenol, Mydol, Advil, etc., a doctor's order is required.

SPRING MEETING: Monday, May 5th, is our final and mandatory meeting date. The meeting will start at 6:30 and last about 90 minutes. Families are encouraged to arrive early as we will confirm all necessary forms have been turned in.

We currently have 124 students for the trip, and based on these preliminary numbers, we will notify chaperones so that they can make arrangements as early as possible. However, the numbers may change, requiring us to add or delete chaperones. As stated during the Fall meeting, we will not have firm numbers until after grades close on April 4th.

The next step for students will be roommate selection and turning in medical forms.

Please email marge.cardozo@somersetschools.org or michael.johnson@somersetschools.org with any questions regarding the DC trip.

Monday, March 3rd - PTO spirit wear store opens

Thursday, March 6th - Quarter 3 progress reports available in Aspen parent portal

Tuesday, March 11th - All-District Strings Festival at SBRHS

Wednesday, March 12th - Early release day for students with a noon dismissal time

Thursday, March 13th - All-District Bands Festival at SBRHS

Friday, March 14th - 8th grade deadline to submit kindergarten pictures for the yearbook

Sunday, March 16th - PTO spirit wear store closes

Tuesday, March 18th - All-District Choral Festival at SBRHS

Wednesday, March 19th - Spring picture day

Monday, March 24th-Friday, March 28th - Spring book fair week

Tuesday, April 1st - Grade 8 ELA MCAS (session 1)

Wednesday, April 2nd - Grade 7 ELA MCAS (session 1)

Thursday, April 3rd - Grade 6 ELA MCAS (session 1)