Falcon Flyer for Families!

October 7-October 11, 2024

Hello Falcons!

We had a great week thanks to our PTO, parent volunteers, and sponsors! We greatly enjoyed the Falcon Challenge Dodgeball tournament during PE and Related Arts periods, and we congratulate our grade level winners! Thank you, to Ms. Whisonant and our PE department for helping to organizing the event.

Rock Hill schools will have another short week as we mark the end of Quarter 1. District benchmarks are scheduled for our core classes Monday through Thursday, and our "Follow A Falcon" event will be next week, as well. Both Friday and the following Monday are Holidays for students.

Please "save the dates" for Tuesday, October 15 and Thursday, October 17. Tuesday is our monthly SIC and PTO meetings held in the Media Center at 5:30 and 6:30, respectively. Family Night is October 17, and the event begins at 6:00 in the Auditorium. We hope to see you there!

Make it a great day, Falcons!

Dr. Persinski

Thank You, Sponsors!

Falcon Challenge!

The first annual Falcon Challenge Dodgeball Tournament was a huge success! It was a very fun day for everyone involved and all funds raised will go towards support for the entire school. The PTO wishes to thank the volunteers, staff and sponsors who made this event possible. Donation envelopes for students to collect donations where sent home in September. Students have until Thursday, October 10 to turn in their envelope to the school to be eligible for prizes. If you wish to pay by card, you can turn in your students donation online by following this link and entering in your students first and last name, grade and dodgeball team name (found on the front of their donation envelope). You can find a copy of the donation envelope on the school website under the PTO page. Stay tuned to see how much was raised!

6th Winners!

7th Winners!

8th Winners!

Safe Arrival and Dismissal

This is a friendly school safety reminder that students should not arrive at Sullivan Middle School until 7:45 or later since supervision does not occur until this time. Members of our community have shared that students are arriving on, and around, campus prior to supervision as early as 7:00 a.m., and they are not making good choices while being unsupervised.

If your child is a walker or car rider, please encourage your student to use crosswalks and to not challenge cars/traffic.
Please do not use the bus loop before 8:10 and use our car rider loop if you are a car rider. The front office will accept students after 8:10.
Please do not pick up/drop off along Caswell as Eden Terrace/Caswell is a heavy intersection, and U-turns are not safe along Caswell.

We thank you for keeping our students safe!

World Language Newsletter

Please read our World Language Newsletter HERE.

Student Council

Congratulations to the following students:

6th grade President: Matthew Funchess

6th grade Vice President: Kyrin Scott

7th grade President: James Hartis

7th grade Vice President: Taeyaire Burr

8th grade President: Nyla Culbreath

8th grade Vice President: Misael Gonzalez

Historian: Ahtziri Rincon

Secretart: Lucy Smith

Shout-Outs!

Science PLC

6th grade Science is #RockSolid as they are all on pace with each other, they have active learning activities that combine investigative techniques and kinesthetic movements, and they have super positive learning environments! It's such a pleasure to be able to observe their classes!

Community Engagement Night

Family and Community Engagement Night
October 17-Auditorium doors open at 5:30; Presentation starts at 6:00

Learn about the importance of MAPs testing is about and what it means for your student!
Get study tips and how to help your student be successful.
Learn about community resources such as NAMI, RHPD, and the York County Sheriffs Office.
Learn about Mental Health and lives of adolescents.

PBIS: Store items needed

Help support our students who have displayed positive behavior! Contribute to our Falcon Store where students can use their hard-earned Falcon dollars for various snacks and other items. The most requested items are:

Walmart Wish list: https://www.walmart.com/lists/shared/WL/9255b584-b4af-4240-ba3f-3b2b4b875d32

Amazon Wish list: https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/28KJCRMKVATGL?ref_=wl_share

Home Depot Wish List: https://www.homedepot.com/list/view/details/shared/b1751560-7601-11ef-80f3-f96e8524e63a

Cotton Candy (found at Sam's for 9.98/box) 6 boxes

Yearbooks!

Sullivan Sweatshirts

Arriving (Hopefully) Next Week!

Show your Sullivan pride by purchasing a Sullivan sweatshirt! Only $15!!

You can purchase in the front office starting October 1.

Grade level Ts are available, as well, for $10.

Sports and Activities

Volleyball and Football Calendars

Come out and support the Falcons at Volleyball and Football!

This week at HOME: No sports this week.

Calendars are below!

Volleyball Schedule

7th Football Schedule

8th Football Schedule

8th grade DC Trip

Eighth grade will travel to Washington, DC for the grade level field trip in Spring 2025! For more information, click HERE and reach out to Coach E at CEspich@rhmail.org today.

Math Tutors Needed

Sullivan is looking for volunteers to assist with math tutoring in our after school tutoring program Tuesdays through Wednesdays 3:45 - 5:00. If you are interested, please make sure that you have a current volunteer card with Rock Hill Schools and notify Dr. Persinski or another administrator.

Thank you!

SIC/PTO

SIC and PTO Meetings 2024-2025

The next SIC and PTO meeting will be held Tuesday, October 15, at 5:30 and 6:30 in the Media Center!

SIC--If you would like to join our SIC meetings, or if you have any questions, please reach out to Kati McFadden, Parent and Chair. More information can be found HERE.

PTO-If you would like to assist PTO, please reach out to one of the officers.

President: Erica Smith
Vice President: Ashley Lang

Secretary: Melissa Maynard

Treasurer: Amanda Winters

sullivanmspto@gmail.com

District SIC Meeting

The district Fall 2024 School Improvement Council meeting will be Tuesday, October 15 from 6 pm to 7:30 pm. There will be a face-to-face option and a Zoom option. You must register for the meeting to receive the link to participate in the meeting via Zoom. The face-to-face meeting will be held in Conference Room B at the district office.

Link for meeting registration: https://tinyurl.com/2024-Fall-SIC-Meeting

Tutoring!

After School Tutoring will begin Tuesday, September 3 for core classes from 3:45 - 5:00.

Oct 1-3; 8-10; 15-16; 18-21; 22-24; 29-30
Nov 6-7; Nov 12-14; Nov 19-21
Dec 3-5

ST-ARTS Auditions

From Kimberly Grant--District Arts and Technology Specialist

The ST-ARTS program is a 3-week summer institute where identified GT artistic middle school students pursue a "major" and "minor" study with world class experts in music, theatre, dance, and art. This program is competitive and does act as our GT identification process for artistic giftedness. It is vital that ALL middle school students are afforded the opportunity to audition. There is an online application that is linked in the flyer. Read HERE.

District Career Fair

Flu/Covid

COVID and flu can cause mild to severe respiratory illness in children and adults. The symptoms include fever, chills, cough, fatigue, body aches, headache, sore throat, congestion/runny nose, nausea, or diarrhea. Children typically experience nasal congestion, sore throat, and headache with COVID. They experience cough, sore throat, and fever with flu.

If you suspect your child is getting sick, please do not send them to school. Students who are experiencing any of the symptoms listed above should complete the following steps:

Stay home from school
Call the school to report your child’s symptoms
Utilize the district COVID/Flu testing sites if you would like your child tested. This testing is free for all students and staff.
Notification of illness and testing will ensure your child’s absences are coded correctly for COVID or flu. High school students will not have to make up seat time related to an absence if they have a positive COVID or flu test. Home tests are not accepted.
Return to School Criteria: Students and staff must be fever free for 24 hours without medication and symptoms significantly improving without medication

Here are a few things parents can do to help our schools reduce the spread of illness:

Teach your children to wash their hands often with soap and water.
Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue or upper sleeve when you cough or sneeze.
Take time to get a flu and/or COVID vaccine. Vaccination is the best way to prevent the flu and COVID. SC Department of Public Health strongly recommends all South Carolina residents older than 6 months old get the flu vaccine as soon as possible to prevent the flu, unless they have a medical reason not to be vaccinated.
Teach your children not to share personal items like drinks, food, or unwashed utensils.
Know the signs and symptoms of the flu and COVID.
Please don’t send children to school if they are sick. Any child that comes to school sick will be sent home. Staying home when sick will allow your children to rest and prevents the spread of illness in our school.

Parent Portal & Canvas

Parent Portal

Please register for Parent Portal. This hub includes our Transportation Forms, Technology Agreement forms. surveys, and updated attendance and grades.

Parent Portal access is available on the PowerSchool website: https://rock-hill.powerschool.com/public

For PowerSchool questions, email askpowerschool@rhmail.org

Want to follow your student's Canvas to view assignments? See directions HERE.

Sullivan Administration!

Upcoming Events and Calendar

October 11: No School

October 14: No School (Teacher PD Day)

October 15: SIC/PTO Meeting

October 17: Community Nightctober 17: Community Night

October 22: Kevin Atlas "Believe in YOU" Presentation to Students (Day event)

October 25: Kona Ice

October 28: Rock Hill Symphony Orchestra--Performance for Students (Day event)

October 31: No Tricks, All Treats for Teachers (PTO)

November 1: Early Release Day--Leader in Me

Family Academic & Community Nights at SMS 2024-2025

Through the 24-25 school year, SMS will host family academic & community nights. Study tips, IB and World Language information, adolescent social-emotional support, and other safety information will be shared! Save the dates!

October 17

January 23

March 27 *Also IB Showcase Night!