Shockwave

Greetings Parents,

These two weeks with your students have been phenomenal. Thank you for your support as we have navigated the opening of the 2024-2025 school year. Each year, there are things we need to adjust to ensure success, and it takes a few days to do this. Thank you for your patience. On Wednesday of this week in a small town in Georgia, life changed for many people. School shootings are the most unthinkable acts, but they are real. As I was emailing the principal of Apalachee High School, I found it tough to find words of comfort for her because as a principal, there would be no comfort. As a community, as parents, as students, comfort and peace would be very difficult to find during this time. I chose not to mention the incident to your students. I feel that parents can share such information with middle school students in the way you choose with the words you choose and at the time you choose. Unfortunately, social media tells us the story many times; however, I still believe the parental presence and voice for students is the most impactful. At SCMS, the first thing and the last thing administrators and security staff think about each day is: "how do I show up for these kids each day and keep them safe from what could be the harms of the world?". We take this seriously. You bring them to us, and we want to return them even better to you. Thank you for supporting all of our efforts to keep your students safe.

We are making one significant change at South Charlotte relative to safety, and I am thrilled that CMPD, specifically our SRO Haley Stroud is willing to be housed in the front office. Think of Officer Stroud as a small Police Dept. within our school. She handles anything a normal police department would. She can be a major resource and help to you. Please reach out if you should need her. Officer Stroud will have cameras of the entire school, and she will have windows to view the front of the school at all times. Officer Stroud has already contributed so much to our school community, and we are so excited she is here. She wants to engage with kids and the community. She wants to be active and proactive. She is everywhere all of the time ensuring exterior doors are locked, classroom doors are locked, students are not in hallways unattended for extended periods of time and more. Please greet her when you are on campus. She would like very much to meet you.

Fall Sports and Events begin at SCMS next week. I would like to thank all of the Fall Sports Coaches and Sponsors. We depend on parents and community members to support our school as it relates to coaching responsibilities. They do it because they love kids, not for the pay, for sure.

Special thanks to:

Cheerleading Emma Parkes

Golf Kristen Genett

Volleyball Payton Girls

Tennis Sejal Desai- Guinn

Softball Dionisio Tolentio

Field Hockey Katie Menard

Fit180 Coach Lisa Sluiter

Football Sean Carberry

Because our sports begin next week, this is a great time to inform or remind you of a few regulations for after school events that ensure our school is safe. We would like as many students as possible to attend the Home SCMS athletics events and all events after school. School Spirit and a positive school culture are goals at South Charlotte Middle School.

We appreciate students and parents adhering to the following regarding after school events:

1. Students must go home after school.

2. All students are allowed at the game unless parents have been informed otherwise by a coach or an administrator or if the student is suspended out of school.

3. Parents are not required to accompany their students to the game, but they must be picked up no later than when the game concludes.

4. Parents must be easily reachable by phone if there are issues.

Always let us know if we can ever do anything for you or your students.

Have a great weekend…

Lisa Bailes

6th Grade- September 16th @ 6:30

7th and 8th Grade- September 17th @ 6:30

Fall Picture Day- September 24

Welcome back! Let’s make it a great year!

Another school year is upon us and we hope to make it even better this year! We want to welcome all of our new and returning families to the new school year! Let’s make it fantastic! The counselors have been busy going into classes during the first two weeks of school to introduce ourselves and assist new and returning students with anything they need. Please feel free to contact us if needed. We look forward to working with you and your child.

Student Services Team:

Whitney Matthews – 6th Grade School Counselor

Amanda Jones – 7th Grade School Counselor

Emma Parkes – 8th Grade School Counselor

Jennifer Rito – School Psychologist

Frieda Miller – 504 Counselor

Heidi Berger – School Social Worker

Fewer disruptions means more personalized learning and academic support. Sometimes, students don't come to school because they're struggling with the material in class and staying home is a way to avoid it. But the better choice is to come to school -- that's where the support is. The more time students have with their teachers, the more successful they will be.

Not having to play catch-up reduces stress and boosts self-assurance. This is exactly what will carry students successfully through graduation and beyond.