SMS Newsletter

If you need to dismiss your child from school, please use PickUp Patrol. If you are unable to access PickUp Patrol, please call the school. Over the last several weeks we've seen an uptick in families emailing either Ms. Vining or Ms. Middaugh. We cannot guarantee that an email be read i.e. Ms. Vining is helping in a classroom for the afternoon and doesn't see her emails until 3:30pm. Thank you.

On November 19, SMS was fortunate enough to have a visit from Scott and Kristin Poteet. WOW! Scott blew us away with his stories, images from space, and endless hours, days, weeks, and months of practice. While Scott's message was one of dreaming big it was more importantly about practice and lots of it. The answer to nearly every student's question, "I practiced, a lot."

Well, Scott, we're practicing. Thank you for the inspiration.

Thank you, Scott. You inspired us.

SMS Podcast with Scott “Kidd” Poteet - listen to SMS Student Council members Luke Morwood and Tripp Grant as they interview Scott "Kidd" Poteet.

All credits for the amazing videos and podcast go to Ms. Danie Devlin. Amazing.

Check it out - the SMS Newspaper written by students during fall enrichment

Registration for After School Enrichment is open. Registrations will be accepted until this Friday, December 13. All registration materials including registrations fees must be turned into the main office by Friday.

All final enrollment information will be shared with families the week of December 16.

Winter After School Enrichment- January 2025

The board had a lengthy discussion about the first draft of next year’s budget. There is a proposed 4.9% increase, which is in large part due to the increase in special education costs, which have increased nationally and even more so locally over the last several years. The board discussed possible ways to decrease the budget, acknowledging that many taxpayers are feeling the tax burden right now.

The building committee moved forward with the company Careno as a pre-construction manager. They are working on getting the board some estimates on the “must have” list for the renovation. Careno will be presenting the board with their list and cost estimates to the Sub Committee on Thursday December 12th at 5:30pm in the SMS Library/Learning Commons and is open to the public.

The board was briefed on the Multi-Tier System of Support coordination and how education is tailored to each student to maximize learning. Here is the slidedeck: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1On0wsZju2CMMT-NK0-n4viG2EMdknBAG/view

All students are being tracked by this MTSS approach, and approximately 25% receive Academic intervention, 18% receive Special Education services, and 33% receive Social and Emotional intervention.

The board hosted a Fireside chat with our Finance Director, Mollie O’Keefe, to discuss how the school budget impacts the tax rate. You can watch the recording here: https://www.sau16.org/en-us/board-info-ceeefbec/stratham-009f7c52/stratham-school-board-postings-agendas-minutes-f2a49a78

For more, please see the full meeting minutes here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1PMTeUTSfTesVFD3Dar842Jx--_5KLOiX/view

For questions, email Board Chair Jennifer Scrafford at jscrafford@sau16.org. Our next board meeting will be Wednesday, December 18th at 6pm at the SMS library.

This month’s focus is Empathy. One way to think about Empathy is “understanding and connecting with other people’s feelings.” Empathy is a practice that can help us grow strong relationships. Empathy is 1 of 3 traits we will focus on throughout the year that helps students Be Kind. Across grade levels, students will be developing skills like perspective-taking, conflict resolution, and leadership.

SMS’s December Monthly Essential - Empathy

This is a simple reminder that students have access to their lunch cards. It is important to have the conversation at home about whether or not your child should be eating school lunch. We are seeing an increase in the number of students who are eating their meals from home and then getting a school lunch. Growing kids!