SPARTAN SCOOP

Good evening!

Please see the message below about SLCs. We are excited to see all of our students in action this week as they tell you about all of the great things they are doing in school and they share about the opportunity they have had to be reflective about where they need to improve. It has been a great first quarter.

Our Veterans Day Ceremony is taking shape and we are looking for a great turn out so that we may show our appreciation for the people who have served and their families.

Lastly, you have a couple of more days to sign up your 8th grade for the Washington D.C. trip. It is a tremendous experience for our students to get such an introduction to our nation's capital.

As always, do not hesitate to reach out if you have concerns. We are always looking to increase our IMPACT.

SPARTY UP!

#PHMExcellence

For the past several weeks, P-H-M Superintendent Dr. Thacker has been surprising teachers with the most significant overall student growth during the 2022-2023 school year and awarding them with P-H-M's Impact Award. On Thursday, October 1st, one of our very own Spartan teachers received an award. Eighth grade Math teacher Mr. Tony Krupa was recognized because his students had 85% growth in proficiency from Clear Sight 1 to ILEARN. Krupa also had two of the top three highest growth 8th grade math classes in all of P-H-M! Click to read more about this special honor.

At the October 9th P-H-M Board of School Trustees' meeting, the Board approved a donation by Dr. and Mrs. Jerry Thacker to the P-H-M Education Foundation naming rights campaign. Dr. Thacker and his wife have generously donated $10,000 to have the basketball court in Penn High School’s Main Arena named after Hall of Fame and Penn’s legendary coach, Al Rhodes, renaming the court “Al Rhodes Kingsmen Court” who retired at the end of last school year. Over the course of 17 years, Dr. and Mrs. Thacker have donated $202,500 to the Education Foundation! This is the second time the Thacker's have given to the naming rights campaign. In 2021, they donated $25,000 to have the Kingsmen Athletic Center renamed the Chris Geesman Kingsmen Athletic Center after Penn’s legendary football championship coach.

Per PHMEF’s naming rights fundraising initiative, 80 percent goes into the Foundation’s endowment, which is used to fund teacher and classroom grants. The remaining 20 percent directly funds professional development for P-H-M teachers.

Mark Your Calendars

Student Led Conferences are October 16th and 18th. This is an opportunity for your student to highlight their successes so far this year.

The staff and I are getting excited about our upcoming SLCs (Student Led Conferences). We are asking that students with the last name of A-L bring their parents on Monday, October 16 from 5pm to 8pm and the students with last names of M-Z bring their parents on Wednesday, October 18 from 5pm to 8pm. This experience is held so that your student can show you their classrooms and share their successes and areas for improvement. You will be able to meet teachers and briefly touch base about your student, and set up time for longer conversations. We look forward to seeing you at Schmucker.

The 6th grade Social is October 27, 2023 from 4:00pm to 5:30. Mark your calendars. More info to follow.

The Scholastic Book Fair is coming to Schmucker. It will be in the building the end of October/beginning of November. To help you and your student make thoughtful choices, I am attaching the list of books for sale. Please know that copies may be limited, so you may want to pick a few.

Once again, SMS is proud to host a Veterans Day celebration on Friday, November 10th. The program will start at 9:45. Each year we encourage 8th graders to invite a veteran to join them at the celebration. The link below is the invitation and your 8th grader needs to fill it out and return it by October 30 to Room 203, Mrs. Schuster.

We will have a reception afterwards in the LGI with drinks and desserts.

Twenty-six day countdown to register for the 8th Grade Washington, D.C. field trip! Interested families may register their student on HemisphereTravel.com by Wednesday, October 18. If anyone might have questions, please contact Mrs. DuBois or Mr. Reininga.

Knowing there is dialog around the state about the Indiana Academic Standards, we continue to follow the direction of the Indiana Department of Education and Dr. Jenner as provided in this letter. If you have any concerns about your child's education, please work with your child's teacher for clarification or reach out to me at anytime!

Questions? Please see the assigned staff at each site to help answer your questions.

Parents,

Families have the option of receiving weekly emails outlining your students online activity while using Chromebooks. This online service is free and it gives parents an opportunity to maintain a safe learning environment at school and at home. Please click on the attached links to learn more about how Securly can help you.

• Click to read and download a copy of the parent letter that provides step-by-step instructions on how to set up your Securly Parent Portal.

If you see something, hear something, say something! The Safe School Helpline is a convenient, confidential way for anyone to report information about situations that might affect safety at any P-H-M school or building. You can call the number any time of the day or night to report concerns about unsafe or potentially disruptive activities or situations including drug or alcohol abuse, weapons, harassment, bullying or threats. All calls are completely confidential.

• 800-418-6423 (800-4-1-VOICE, ext. 359)

• TEXT: 66746, TIPS

• www.safeschoolhelpline.com

• Chromebooks- Sokun Kit (skit@phm.k12.in.us )

• Attendance- Linda Brown (lbrown2@phm.k12.in.us)

• Textbooks and Fees- Ashley Kirkpatrick (akirkpatrick@phm.k12.in.us)

• Special Education Teachers

• 6th grade- Emily Morin (emorin1@phm.k12.in.us )

• 7th grade- Allison Steele (asteele2@phm.k12.in.us )

• 8th grade- Allie Chrise (achrise2@phm.k12.in.us )

• Multiple Grades-

• School Counselors

• Allie Piatt (Last Names A-G) (apiatt@phm.k12.in.us)

• Cara Watt (Last Names H-N) (cwatt@phm.k12.in.us)

• Andrea Hoover (Last Names O-Z) (ahoover@phm.k12.in.us )

• Athletics- Jim Modlin (jmodlin@phm.k12.in.us )

• Enrollments/Withdrawals/Address Changes- Aly Abel (aabel@phm.k12.in.us)

• PTO- (schmuckerpto@phm.k12.in.us)

Email: spsmith@phm.k12.in.us
Website: http://schmucker.phmschools.org/
Location: Schmucker Middle School, Bittersweet Road, Mishawaka, IN, United States
Phone: 574-259-5661
Twitter: @SMSSpartanPride