Happy Spring Trailblazers! First, THANK YOU for joining us for our National PTA grant-funded STEM Night! We were thrilled that over 55 families participated in a night full of hands-on learning and exploration. A huge thank you to the engineers and volunteers from SFT and Nall Avenue Baptist Church, and our dedicated grant writers and SFT parents. Your time and effort helped create a fantastic experience for our students and families. We appreciate your continued support of STEM learning at SFT and look forward to more exciting events in the future!
And now, before we slide into spring break, mark your calendars for our major March events that students and PTA volunteers have been working so hard to plan. Please join us and read on for more details about the SFT Movie Trivia Night and Auction, Spring Book Fair, and Variety Show. Thank you to the incredible volunteers behind the scenes making this magical month happen. See you there!
Follow along on Facebook, Instagram, and the SFT PTA Website!
Save the Date! Our next Why Cook Wednesday is at Chick-Fil-A! March 19. Watch for a flyer to be sent out.
Order your SFT Yearbook today! If you would like to donate a yearbook for a family who might not be able to cover that cost themselves, please add another book to your order and enter "Donate" as the first name and the last name. Thank you!
The SFT Spring Book Fair will be held March 10-13, with time available for browsing before and after school Monday-Thursday. We will be open until 7pm on Tuesday and Thursday to allow families to stop by after work.
Tuesday will be combined with the Variety show and Thursday with an open house so you can stop in the library during both events! It’s a great time to stock up on books for birthdays and summer reading while supporting your SFT library!
Last year's book fairs raised over $6,000 in Scholastic dollars to purchase books for the library.
We will send out a volunteer sign-up genius closer to the date. For questions contact:
Meghan Pecina meghanpecina@yahoo.com or
Sue Wiley-Carter suewileycarter@smsd.org
The SFT PTA Nominating Committee is now taking nominations for 2025-2026 SFT PTA Board positions. Please use the form below to nominate yourself or someone who is a great candidate to serve on the board. The slate of officers will be published in the April Trail Talk Newsletter and voted on at the April 15, 2025, General SFT PTA Meeting.
The 2024-2025 Kansas PTA Citizenship Writing Contest theme was "Small Things I Can Do to Impact My Community..." The SFT PTA is proud to congratulate our two 6th grade winners on their recognition in the district level competition. We are so proud of you!
- Award of Merit: Milly Bauman (Poetry)
- Honorable Mention: Aniyah Morgan (Essay)
SFT special education teacher Ms. Renee McCracken has been working in special education for 29 years, and boy, is she good at it! We were so pleased to get to honor her with the February Trailblazer of the Month award. The parents and peers who contributed to her nomination had very nice things to say about her. If you want to be inspired, click here.
P.S. We have two more Trailblazer of the Month award opportunities left this year. To nominate a teacher or staff member for this honor, click here for the nomination form.
SFT Families,
Believe it or not, it’s already that time of year when we begin thinking about class placements for next year. The staff at SFT will spend a great deal of time and thoughtful effort in creating class lists for the 2025-2026 school year. Right now, it looks like we will have two classes for each grade level kindergarten - 6th grade. Classes are constructed in such a way to meet the following criteria:
- Even mix of males/females in all classes at a given grade level
- Combining and placement of students academically to best meet their needs
- Combination of social/behavioral levels in all classes
- As near equal class sizes as possible in all classes at a given grade level
Beyond that, we look at students with clearly exceptional learning or behavioral needs and see if there is one particular teacher’s style or strengths that would benefit that student more than another. We also look at the social dynamics between certain students, and if our experiences tell us that two or more students have a negative influence on each other when they are together in the classroom, then we may ensure they are placed in different classrooms. When placement decisions are made, it is a combination of the classroom teachers, special teachers, parent input, and building principal.
If you, as parents, have specific information to share about your child’s needs, please share them in writing with me by March 31. An email would be fine. You may include information such as: strengths or special needs; learning style; other students who may present distractions; qualities you seek in a teacher. I will not take teacher requests. However, I will take into consideration any previous experience you may have had with a staff member and reasons why you would prefer not to have that person as your child’s teacher.
Educationally yours, Ms. Leiker
March Lunch Sign-up
Below is a link with available slots to sign up for a lunchtime visit with your child for each grade level (K-6) for the month of March. We are limited on available seating, so only Mondays and Fridays are open for lunch visitors. Also, we only have two family slots per grade level per date since we are so limited on space. (If more than one person is coming for the same child, only one person needs to sign up for the slot. Example would be both parents or grandparents.) When you arrive for your scheduled lunch visit, please first check in with Ms. Jones in the office to get a sticker, and then you can meet your child down in the cafeteria. Staff will assist you on finding your seats. If you are bringing an outside lunch, please keep it healthy. Remember, photos cannot be taken in the cafeteria in order to respect those students with no photo release. This link is also on our website under Families and updated for each month. Here is the link for March.
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C094AABAE22AB9-55278244-march
Pre-K and Kindergarten 2025-2026
Pre-K and Kindergarten registration has begun for next year. For families that are not new to SMSD, log into your Skyward Family Access account and select New Student Enrollment to enroll your incoming Pre-K or kindergarten student. Please be sure to indicate whether you are enrolling for pre-kindergarten or kindergarten and that the enrollment is for the 2025-2026 school year when prompted on the application form. Kindergarten Round-Up is scheduled for Thursday, April 17 at 6:00. Pre-K Meet & Greet will be on May 1 at 4:00 pm.
Proper Footwear
For safety reasons, please assist us to be sure students have the proper footwear each day. Flip flops and slides are not safe and should not be worn to school. Students have opened doors and scrape the skin off the tops of their feet, tripped and fallen over their floppy flip-flops, slipped right out of them or stubbed their toes kicking a ball. Students go out to recess each day and many classes also do movement breaks in the room throughout the day. Crocs need to have the back strap down to help secure them. Ms. Fescoe would like you to remember that tennis shoes are needed on PE days so students can safely participate in all the activities. We appreciate your support in keeping everyone safe.
Did you know that the Shawnee Mission School District has a podcast? The newest episode of Shawnee Mission Mic'd Up is LIVE! This episode we are exploring the annual Instructional Fair (iFair). This unique professional learning day gives our team the opportunity to learn the skills that matter to them from their peers. This event showcases the vast range of talent across our district while bringing the whole team together for a day of learning. Watch or listen on your favorite podcast app!
This week, we celebrate National School Social Work Week, a time to recognize and appreciate the profound impact our school social worker, Mrs. Grant has on our school community. She tirelessly provides emotional support, guidance, and resources that enhance our students’ academic and personal growth. Whether it’s leading group sessions, one-on-one counseling, or developing strategies for overall student well-being, Mrs. Grant is always there with a compassionate heart and expert advice.
Join us in expressing our deepest gratitude for Mrs. Grant’s dedication and commitment. It’s through her efforts that we see the true spirit of SFT shine—supportive, inclusive, and always striving for the best in each student. Thank you, Mrs. Grant, for being an essential part of our school family and for all the incredible work you do every day!
The deadline for the Next Great Idea competition is approaching on March 7. This contest invites students to share their ideas for a new business or product to a panel of judges. Competitors have a chance to win prize money that will help them make their idea a reality.
Students and staff are also encouraged to think of projects, experiments, inventions, and displays to feature in the Student Showcase. Submissions for the showcase are due by March 28.
The R&D student showcase is a district-wide open house for the entire community. Click here for more details.
We are seeing the usual illness for this time of year at SFT. When calling in for your student(s) please let us know specific symptoms (vomiting, fever, cough, etc.) or positive testing (strep, Flu, COVID, etc.). This helps give us a better picture of any increase in illness trends in our school.
Also, remember to keep your student home when they are ill and keep them home for exclusionary illness. These are SMSD guidelines for student illness.
2025
Mar. 8 --> SFT Spring Movie Trivia Fundraiser
Mar. 10 -13 --> Spring Book Fair
Mar. 11 --> SFT Variety Show 1:30 and 6:00 pm
Mar. 13 --> Open House 6-7 pm
Mar. 14 --> No School - Teacher Workday
Mar. 17-21 --> No School - Spring Break
Mar. 19 --> Why Cook Wednesday Chick-Fil-A
Mar. 29 --> Yearbook Orders Due
Apr. 15 --> PTA General Meeting 6-7 pm
Apr. 16 --> Why Cook Wednesday: Andy's
Apr. 17 --> Kindergarten Round Up 6 pm
Apr. 25 --> SFT Carnival
May 1 --> Pre-K Meet and Greet 4 pm
May 5-9 --> Teacher Appreciation Week
May 6 --> Skate Party
May 9 --> Field Day
Connect with SFT PTA!
Email: sftptapresident@gmail.com
Location: 7100 Lamar Avenue, Overland Park, KS, USA
Facebook: SFT Trailblazer Connection | Facebook
Website: www.sftpta.org