Mission: The purpose of Smith Middle School is to ensure learning for all members of our school community.

Website: https://smith.troy.k12.mi.us/
Location: 5835 Donaldson Drive, Troy, MI, USA
Phone: (248) 823-4700

Happy New Year and welcome back! We are looking forward to a great 2025 at Smith! We are jumping right back into it with only 3 weeks left before the end of Quarter 2.

Please note that we have no school on Monday, January 20. We invite all our families to join us at Athens High that morning to celebrate the life and work of Dr. King. More details to come in next week's Knightly News.

Best Regards,

Ryan

• 3:10 - 5:00pm - 7th/8th Grade Boys Basketball Practice
• 4:00 - 6:00pm - Competitive Cheer Practice

• 3:10 - 4:00pm - Homework Help Club
• 3:10 - 4:00pm - History Club
• 3:10 - 4:00pm - STAND Club
• 4:00pm - 7th & 8th Grade Boys Basketball Game vs Van Hoosen (Away)
• 4:00 - 6:00pm - Competitive Cheer Practice

• 7:00am - Student Council Meeting
• 7:15am - IM 6th Grade Boys Basketball
• 3:10 - 4:00pm - Math Club
• 5:30pm - Solo & Ensemble Orchestra Recital Night @ Larson

• 3:10 - 4:00pm - Chess Club
  
• 3:10 - 4:00pm - Homework Help Club
• 3:45pm - 7th & 8th Grade Boys Basketball Games at Baker (Away)
• 4:00 - 6:00pm - Competitive Cheer Practice (Picture Day)

• 3:10 - 5:00pm - 7th/8th Grade Boys Basketball Practice
• 5:00 - 10:00pm - Smith Restaurant Night at McVees

January 20 - MLK Day - No School - Day of Service @ Athens High

January 22 - 1/2 Day (Classes Dismiss at 11:53am)

January 23 - 1/2 Day (Classes Dismiss at 11:53am)

January 24 - 1/2 Day (Classes Dismiss at 11:53am)

& End of Quarter 2

During our last week of 2024, our 6th graders were introduced to the geography of the continent of Africa in an exciting way. Mrs. Cline and Mrs. Khoury brought in a "cafeteria-sized" map of Africa for our students to explore!

The Smith Knights sponsored a group for the national Wreaths Across America event that took place December 14. The Smith Knights created a group at the Guardian Angel Cemetery in Rochester and we helped to sponsor 72 wreaths, and we had approximately 30 people attend and help to lay wreaths at gravesites. There were over 700 wreaths sponsored for the cemetery and a few hundred attended the event. Wreaths Across America is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded to continue and expand the annual wreath-laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery, which was begun by Maine businessman Morrill Worcester in 1992. The organization’s yearlong mission – Remember, Honor, Teach – is carried out in part each year by coordinating wreath-laying ceremonies in December at thousands of veterans’ cemeteries and other locations in all 50 states and beyond. We were excited to give back to the community and participate in such a great event.

A big thank you to the staff, friends, parents, and students who attended this event. We are very thankful and look forward to making this a new tradition.

~Mrs. Casko and the Social Studies Department

Mrs. Chatel, our media specialist, is excited to announce the TSD middle school Media Center’s 25th annual Troybery Reading Program potential nominees list. We have an excellent field of 23 books this year, all books published in 2023 and recommended by Troy students, teachers, and librarians. You can access the list here: bit.ly/troybery2025

The Troybery list is known for having a variety of books reflecting our students’ diverse interests, age levels, and backgrounds. Our goal is to promote a love for reading in our students. We encourage students to participate in our program by reading as many as they would like and by voting for their favorites. Mrs. Chatel is happy to work with your child to find the “just right” book for them from the list.

A Troybery book could be an excellent choice if you are looking for a gift idea this holiday season. Your child will hear a presentation in the upcoming weeks about the Troybery program and our exciting selections.

You can visit the Troy Middle Schools Media Center website for more information about Troybery.

The Smith Student Council is selling 8th grade sweatshirts as a memento of Smith. These are popular as holiday gifts and many bring the sweatshirts with them on the trip to Washington D.C. Deadline to submit is December 20 and we expect them to arrive in January. See the order form below. Order forms are also in the 8th grade Social Studies Schoology course pages.

Link to Order Form

This past week, middle school students were sent an email with instructions on how to update to a more safe and secure online password for their TSD login. Many students have already done this, but if your student has not updated their password from the one assigned by TSD, we are encouraging students to do so. Please see the instructions attached below.

The Smith Social Studies department is excited to announce that it is Bee time again. Students will be taking the Geography, History, and Science Bee’s during their Social Studies Classes in December before break and some classes will finish upon return. The Bees are a great opportunity to see students’ knowledge on a variety of topics and if they qualify, they can compete in the Michigan Regional Bee Competition that will be held here at Smith on April 5. Students who qualify to compete will be notified mid-January. We encourage students to participate in the regional competition and give it a try. Many of our students move on to qualify for the national and international competitions. We have been fortunate to have many students travel for the national competitions that have been held in Florida, Virginia and Chicago over the past few years. We want students to take the tests seriously and give it their all and lastly to have fun! If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to Mrs. Casko, Mrs. Sebastian or any Social Studies teachers.

For more information, check out: https://www.iatoday.org/ia-east/prospective-students

We have a great online spirit wear store with a number of new modern styles and items for purchase. You can either pick them up or utilize the option of having your orders delivered directly to your home for a small fee.

Below is a sample of the logo choices for most items...