Bulldog Bulletin

• Message from the Principal
• Important Dates
• March BARK Bands
• Springer JAZZ Competes and Wins!
• Penny Wars
• Traveling Art Exhibit
• Spring Sports Updates
• Coffee with the Superintendent
• Springer Reading Challenge
• Springer Math Incentive Competition
• BARK Summer Program for Incoming 6th Graders
• BSD Summer Learning Opportunities
• AVID Showcase
• Delaware Scholastic Chess Championship
• Homework Club
• Schoology Access for Parents
• SAFE-DE
• Transportation: WheresTheBus App
• Volunteering at Springer Middle School

Springer Families,

Happy Spring Break to everyone! I hope that families are enjoying time together as we all unwind a bit from the hustle and bustle of the school year. Happy Easter to all who are celebrating today. Now is a good time to relax, disconnect, and recharge for what will be a sprint to the end of the school year. When we return we will have a couple of days of normal schedules and instruction before we begin our state testing, where students will be taking assessments such as Smarter Balanced Assessment System (SBAC) in Math and ELA and our NWEA Measure of Academic Progress (MAPs) in Reading and Math beginning May 1.

I cannot stress enough the importance of these exams. The results have timely and relevant impacts on student’s future school schedules and placement in specific courses. The results of these exams also directly impact Springer, as they are a reflection of the efforts put forth over the past year.

We are focusing on goals at Springer for both the SBAC and MAPs assessments. Students have spent time sitting down with each of their Math and ELA teachers to cover previous performance over the years, including this year, and set goals for themselves. While these testing programs set goals for students, some have set more lofty goals for themselves. More importantly, we are focusing on the growth students have shown. We want every student to hit their goal, but within those goals a level of growth has been established. We meet every kid where they are at when they walk through our doors in late August. Our duty and responsibility as educators is to grow them beyond their level of knowledge and performance from their first day of school.

I began this week’s edition of the Bulldog Bulletin hoping everyone would disconnect a bit. However, as we head towards the end of Spring Break I implore you to talk about these assessments and the goals your children have set for themselves. I will be sending letters out early in the last week of April which will detail how your children have done historically and what goals they selected. Now is a great time to have a conversation about effort and truly trying on these exams versus just getting them done. Both students and staff have worked so hard all year that we want to make sure all of their efforts are truly reflected and represented in the scores. One of the most important factors in showing this effort is hearing about it from you, the parent. If your children know you care and want to know, they will try harder.

If you have any questions, concerns, or need additional information please do not hesitate to contact me or one of my administrators. We are eager to help.

All The Best,

Dr. Sterling H. Seemans

Principal

2024-2025 Middle School Daily Rotation Schedule

BSD School Calendar

Athletics Calendar

• 4/18-4/25/25: SCHOOLS CLOSED for Spring Break
• 4/28/25: First Day Back
• 5/1-5/2: ELA SBAC Assessments
• 5/5/25: Marking Period 4 Interim Period Ends
• 5/6-5/9/25: Math SBAC Assessments
• 5/12-5/14/25: NWEA MAP Reading Assessments
• 5/15-5/19/25: NWEA MAP Math Assessments
• 5/17/25: 8th Grade Formal
• 6/5/25: 8th Grade Promotion at Concord High School

Congratulations to the following March Bark Band recipients. These students were recognized by members of our staff for following our BARK expectations.

Congratulations to Springer JAZZ on being named Outstanding Ensemble at the 2025 University of Delaware Jazz Festival this past Friday. The performance by our Jazz Band drew praise from the adjudicators on the poise, energy, and precision of their performance. In addition, our band did this with just five minutes to warm up and tune.

An additional accolade for the band, Tyler Overly (8th grade/Alto Sax) was named the Outstanding Soloist at the festival. This marks the 4th year in a row that Springer has had a student win Outstanding Soloist.

The Springer Jazz Band, aka Springer JAZZ is looking for an experienced piano player for next year’s band. So, if you are an interested 6th or 7th grade piano player, please see Mr. Baronio to inquire about auditioning for our award-winning Jazz Band.

The Penny Wars results are in:

8th grade raised a total of $239.21

7th grade raised a total of $181.15

6th grade raised a total of $21.83

The total amount raised is $442.19 which will be rounded up to $450 from an anonymous contribution.

Once the silver coins were subtracted from the total amount

8th grade - $163.81

7th grade - $165.85

6th grade - $17.48

This makes 7th grade the big winner; however, 8th grade will also win a treat for raising the most money overall. Thank you to all who contributed to this wonderful cause.

Over 550 people attended the Peace Art exhibit opening event in January that showcased your child’s artwork!

While the artwork was on display, a jury of community leaders reviewed the 546 visions of peace and selected the strongest messages of peace for the upcoming 2025-26 Pacem in Terris Traveling Peace Youth Art Exhibition. Your child’s artwork was selected to be part of the Pacem in Terris Traveling Peace Youth Art Exhibition!

This year, high quality reproductions of the artwork were made for display at over 25 locations statewide between May 2025 to April 2026. The reproductions allow us to get the original artwork back to you and provide longer and concurrent display time options! This means that your child’s artwork and messages of peace will have a lot of visibility. Over 200,000 people typically walk through the display locations which include state service centers, libraries, and family courthouses.

To celebrate this achievement, we hope your family can join us for a Traveling Peace Youth Art Exhibition Artist and Teacher Celebration on Wednesday, April 30th from 6-7 p.m. at Blue Ball Barn. Please see the attached invitation for how to RSVP and register early.

Springer Middle School - Alex A.

Springer Middle School - Kathryn D.

Springer Middle School - Lina N.

Springer Middle School - Sylvia S.

Springer Middle School - Talia D

Soccer

The girls soccer team defeated Aspira Academy yesterday 4-1. Ava Harrison got the scoring started for the bulldogs after a beautiful pass from Allyson Cleghorn. Emery Hailey absolutely dominated the game and scored 3 straight to secure the win for the bulldogs! Brynn Costenbader, Callie Stephens and Katie Scheidel played lock down defense! The entire team played very well against a very physical Aspira soccer team. The coaches are proud of how the girls kept their composure and continued to play clean soccer!

Soccer travels to PS duPont today for both a varsity and JV game!

The girls soccer team defeated Talley yesterday 4-1. The second half started with Springer behind 0-1. Emmie Hailey scored 3 goals and Allyson Cleghorn scored 1 goal. Kennedy Duhadaway had 2 assists and was the spark plug the bulldogs needed to put the ball in the net! Lexi Burris and Quinn Reed Played very well!

With the game tied at 1-1, Talley was on a break away on an empty net, Katie Scheidel went into overdrive to get back at the absolute last second to make a huge game altering defensive stop. Amazing play!

Track

Here are the results from yesterday's Track & Field Tri Meet with Talley M.S., Charter School of New Castle, and Springer. The Springer Boys achieved an impressive "Win" over Talley and the Charter School of New Castle with a score of 52 to 14 (Talley) and (12) C.S. of New Castle. The Boys Teams highlights were the following:

• 8th Grader Lazir Brown 2nd (100M), 1st (400M), 1st (200M)

• 8th Grader Dylan Williams 1st (100M)

• 8th Grader Calvin Davis 1st (110M Hurdles, 800M, 1600M)

• 7th Grader Jason Lockwood 1st (Shot-Put)

The Springer Girls placed 3rd despite putting up a valiant effort against Talley and the Charter School of New Castle Girls Teams. The following are the Springer Girls Team highlights:

• 6th Grader Giselle Madden 2nd (100M)

• 7th Grader Milan Redmond 1st (100M Hurdles)

Go Bulldogs!!!

Baseball

The Bulldogs took a tough loss yesterday against district rival Talley. After a back-and-forth battle, Talley took a 6-4 lead in top of the 7th and managed to shut the door after loading the bases in the bottom half. It was a great team effort all around, and the team showed a lot of heart in a tough battle. Great work bulldogs.

Softball

The Lady Bulldogs pulled off an impressive win over a formidable H. B. Dupont team.

The game ended in the 6th inning as Springer 10 run ruled H.B.

The Lady bulldogs had 16 hits with Scarlett Walther, Jenna Grimes, Quinn Miracle, Kylie Cook and Alli Manchin having multiple hits. Quinn went the distance on the mound recording the win with 7 strikeouts and 0 (zero) walks.

Coaches would also like to recognize the relentless team spirit and energy from those athletes that were supporting from the dugout !!!

Springer Lady Bulldogs defeated conference rival Talley Tigers with a score

of 10-4.

Isabel Oberly was the winning pitcher with Delaney Meyers recording the save. The scoring was led by Scarlett Walther, Jenna Grimes, Quinn Miracle and Hailey Mullenix who all had multiple hits. Isabel Ciavarelli had a timely double.

Tennis

The tennis team destroyed Talley 9 matches to 1. Winning for the bulldogs were the following teams:

Grace Chan/Elin Murray

Zach Glazier/Conner Tobin

Keenan O'Donnell/Vinny Caesar

Ethan Isabella/Adam Soloman

Tyler Moore/Jaxson Gaskill

Will Guarino/John Guarino

Lucas Strain/ Landon Williams

Gabe Holloway/Brodie Champeaux

Zeniick Johnson/Damien Grawl

We are excited to announce the start of our Springer reading challenge! Students will get rewarded with prizes for each book they read. The more books they read the better the prizes will be! Students will win snack line coupons, outside lunches, chances to win gift cards and more! Parents will need to fill out the google form below for every book they read. The google form will collect email addresses, which will be verified in the system. Students are encouraged to head to our library to check out a book. We will be tracking both individual progress and progress by grade level. The reading challenge will go on from Monday, March 10 through Thursday, April 17. Larger prize awards and a celebration of our overall winners will take place the week after Spring Break.

Reading challenge update as of 4/8:

Reading challenge update as of 4/14:

6th grade – 64 books total; Shout out to Mason Carberry, Henry Zimmerman, and Daniel McLarthy for joining the challenge, and Vamsi Gumma is in the lead with 32 books!

7th grade – 56 books total; Shout out to Thomas McCray and Ace Smith for joining the challenge, and Zoey Quigley is in the lead with 12 books

8th grade – 57 books total; Shout out to Paige Asuncion, Alana Malloy, and Devin Moore for joining the challenge, and Kendall Barth is in the lead with 5 books

We are excited to announce our BARK Summer Program, which will take place the last week of July and first week of August. This is program to help incoming 6th graders with their transition to middle school. Students will learn about what it takes to thrive in middle school while meeting new friends and engaging in fun and enriching activities. If you have an incoming 6th grader or know someone who will be coming to Springer, please share this information. Please head to http://springer.brandywineschools.org/SBP for more information!

Talley Middle School is hosting an AVID showcase. This is an opportunity to learn more about what AVID is all about. AVID is a program we offer at Springer and if you are interested in having your child enrolled in AVID at Springer, please contact the school and ask to speak to a school counselor.

When Springer students return in January we are excited to announce our return of our Homework club! The Springer Homework Club is a voluntary after-school program providing academic assistance to students. Homework Club is a program which is held from 3:15 p.m. to 4:20 p.m. on Wednesdays. They meet in room 184 which provides a quiet place to study for each student to assist them in completing their assignments. There will be supervision and access to teachers and school tutors who have been trained to assist students in their studies. A Google form will be added to students' counselor corner page in Schoology for students to sign up, but it can also be found below:

https://forms.gle/KMqsPqenddDJFy8Q7

If you need help access Schoology as a parent to help support your child, please click the following link to access a document that will provide you step-by-step directions:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ZjlNYAoqfGxHO3dciOvXU5JOb11Zj7-E69a7-lPn4w4/edit?usp=sharing

Families, you are encouraged to visit the following link on the BSD website to find out more information about Transportation. For your convenience, we have Where is the Bus app and a brand new bus scanner to help you see when your child(ren) are boarding the bus. Students will either enter their school IDs or lunch numbers. You will receive information in the upcoming weeks on when students will receive their school IDs. Happy Riding!! https://www.brandywineschools.org/families/transportation/bus-scanners

Springer Middle School relies on the generosity of time from our great families within the community. We welcome those who want to help be apart of our village and have a plethora of opportunities for volunteers to engage with our students and staff to better the middle school experience of our youth.

Parents who are interested in volunteering at Springer Middle School will need to follow the Brandywine School District's policy for background checks. Please follow this link: Volunteering at BSD to be properly cleared to work with our students. If you have questions, do not hesitate to contact the main office.

Background checks are good for 1 calendar year