SRMS Updates, August 22, 2024

Good Afternoon, Sandy Run Families,

I hope that your family's summer has been restful and relaxing and that your children are coming back to school excited and recharged for what will surely be a great 2024-25 school year. Our staff has spent the summer getting ready for the first day of school. A special recognition is deserving of our custodial and maintenance staff as the school is looking great and ready for opening day. Teachers have been working diligently throughout the summer, too - often engaged in professional development, curriculum writing, adjusting lesson plans and so much more. We all are excited to get started! The 2024-25 school year promises to be an exciting one, filled with growth both inside and outside of the classroom, making new friends, navigating the social aspects of the middle school years, and more! Throughout it all, our staff is excited to partner with both our students and families to ensure a positive, rewarding, and memorable experience for all. To our families new to SRMS across all three grades but especially our sixth grade families - the staff will work tirelessly to transition your children into the school as seamlessly as possible. If a student forgets a notebook on the first day of school, or brought a pen instead of a pencil, it will be fine and they can bring it on the second day. When a student gets a little lost in the hallway or a student isn't sure where their bus is, there will be many staff members out to help point kids in the right direction. We take great pride in trying to make kids feel as comfortable and welcomed as possible, especially on the first few days of school. So we'll take it slow and ease into the first week so that we ensure that the next 10 months are great!

The first day of school is always filled with so much joy and excitement, and certainly a bit of nerves for some folks (adults included!). As always, we will begin with a smooth transition on day one - there will be grade-level meetings, tours for new students, reviewing norms and expectations and getting to know each other and building relationships. All students will report to school at the regular time - doors open at 8:10 and school starts at 8:20. We will use the first two hours of the day to hold meetings, meet with our teams, learn to use lockers, and much more before beginning our class rotation for the rest of the day. If your child is anxious, don't worry - we will have lots of smiling staff members out and about helping kids find their way! Students should bring a charged Chromebook, a writing utensil and notebook, and a lunch (unless they are getting lunch from the cafeteria). See below for more information.

Students' schedules will be available through Infinite Campus on the afternoon of Friday, August 23. Again, if there is a true error (a student is missing a class, for example), please let us know right away. For changes such as team changes, placement with peers, etc. we are likely unable to accommodate those requests.

We hope that you and your family enjoy the last full week of summer vacation and are excited to return to SRMS on Tuesday, September 3.

Sincerely,
The Entire Sandy Run Middle School Family

For the first day of school, students should bring their charged chromebook, a writing utensil and something to write on, and a lunch (or lunch money). Students should have their schedule via Infinite Campus, and especially should know their grade and team name. Students should also look for their locker number and combination by clicking on "More" on the left hand navigation pane, then selecting " Lockers" - see the screenshot below. It is imperative that students keep their locker combination private and do not share with any other students. Finally, students should know which bus they take home in the afternoon - for some students, the afternoon bus number is different than the morning bus number, so please double check.

On Tuesday, September 3, Sandy Run will operate using a modified schedule. Students should report directly to their "NEST" class as they enter the building. This "NEST" serves as a homeroom type of class that is only used on special occasions (field trips, state testing, etc.). During this two-hour Nest block in the morning, students will meet with their grade-level administrator, their Nest teacher (who is also one of their core team teachers), access their lockers, tour the building for sixth graders, and more. Then, students will proceed with the rest of their day, visiting each class for an abbreviated time, while still having a lunch period. Click here for the Bell and Calendar Schedule.

For any student being dropped off or picked up instead of taking the bus, families should enter the campus off of Twining Road , not through the neighborhood on the north side of the campus - this entrance is for buses and district personnel only. As cars enter campus, there will be staff directing traffic. Cars should pull up as far as they can in the carpool line - past the front entrance and to the end of the long sidewalk (please see the diagram below). Once the line comes to a stop, students from multiple vehicles can exit and walk up the sidewalk to the school. Students should not exit the vehicle until the car pulls as far forward as possible at the sidewalk separating the carpool line from the bus loop - please see the diagram below for a visual representation. Again, staff will be on hand to assist and direct drivers, and we will all stay flexible together as families get accustomed to the new campus at SRMS. The doors to the school open at 8:10 and the school day begins at 8:20. Click here for a diagram of where to drop off.

Here is the parent link to Schoology (sign up as a parent in the top right corner). Please refer to this guide on how to create an account or how to add an additional child to your account. The SCHOOLOGY codes can be found inside your Infinite Campus parent portal. If the code is missing, please contact Tona Morrow in our guidance office tmorrow@udsd.org.

For any 7th or 8th grade fall student-athlete, PIAA physical forms are due by Wednesday, September 4. Students can drop off their forms to the sixth grade office or main office. You can find the forms by clicking here. If you have questions, please contact Mr. Pickford (spickfor@udsd.org).

Please click here for a reminder of the suggested school supplies for the upcoming school year. Again, these are suggestions and were available on the school site as well.

The SRMS PTO officers would like to thank all the past year’s members who helped with a smooth transition in leadership and helped create amazing events! The SRMS PTO officers would also like to thank everyone who has signed up and shown interest in participating the upcoming school year!

Interested in helping the PTO this year??? Email us at srmspto1@gmail.com to let us know! Also, check out our SRMS PTO Facebook page (“SRMS PTO”) and SRMS PTO website https://srmspto.weebly.com/pto-info.html.

Email: dortiz@udsd.org
Website: https://www.udsd.org/o/srms
Location: 520 Twining Road, Dresher, PA, USA
Phone: (215) 576-3280
Twitter: @srmscardinals