Panther Parent 411

Welcome back, Panthers! I hope you were able to have some fun and get some rest and relaxation during our unexpected snow days last week. Hopefully, you were able to stay warm and cozy and enjoy some time watching movies or diving into a great book.

It is hard to believe that we are already halfway through the 2024-2025 school year! As we begin the spring semester, I want to provide you with some helpful information and important upcoming dates. Some of our students are also highlighted in this edition of the 411 for their academic and extracurricular accomplishments. Please read on for all of the details, and, as always, if you have any questions or need additional information, please do not hesitate to let me know.

Enjoy the rest of your week!

As you know, our Panther family participated in our annual campus wide community service project on December 20th. We partnered with Children's Hospital to provide one of their greatest needs, blankets for their patients. I want to thank you, our Panther Parent community, for your generosity with your fleece donations. We used every inch of fleece received, and I am so very proud to share that our students and staff made 195 blankets to donate to this worthy cause.

Our students were all beaming with pride and so very excited to be doing something special to help someone else. They poured their hearts into their work, and I am certain that the children receiving these wonderfully warm blankets will feel the love and care that was put into making them. I could not be more proud of our students. It was an amazing day and a great way for our Panther family to end our semester together.

Please join our PTA for the January General Meeting on Friday, January 17th, at 8:30am. The meeting will be followed by a Coffee & Chat with Ms. Kinnard. Important campus updates for spring 2025 and next school year will be shared during our time together. This is a great opportunity to ask questions and stay informed.

All are welcome. Hope to see you there!

In observance of Martin Luther King Day, next Monday, January 20th, is a holiday for both staff and students.

All students will take STAAR tests later this spring on the designated dates listed below. Please make every effort to avoid scheduling appointments for your student on these testing days. If you have any questions, please let me know.

April 10th: Reading/Language Arts 6-8 STAAR

April 15th: Science 8 STAAR

April 22nd: Social Studies 8 STAAR

April 29th: Math 6-8 STAAR & Algebra 1 EOC

The theater department will be holding auditions for the upcoming One Act Play, "Danny, King of the Basement," after school on Tuesday, January 21st, and Thursday, January 23rd. If interested, please select a time slot on the sign-up log linked below.

https://tinyurl.com/SMSDannyAuditions2025

Auditions are open to all grade levels!

If you have any questions or need additional information, please contact our theater director, Monique Wallace, at Monique.wallace@pisd.edu.

Schimelpfenig PTA is excited to announce an upcoming Spirit Night at one of our local eateries. This event will take place all day on Thursday, January 23rd, at Lita's. This is a wonderful and easy way to give back to our campus. Please see the flyer below for more details.

With the cooler weather, more of our families will be using the carpool lanes for arrival and dismissal each day. Knowing this, here are a few reminders on our arrival and dismissal procedures.

• Please adhere to the signs posted in the circular drive and on the streets.
• Students should always use the crosswalks when crossing the street.
• When exiting the carpool lane in front of the school in the morning, please turn right only.
• Please refrain from dropping off your student along Maumelle. When you stop, it hinders the flow of traffic and, more importantly, it could put your student's safety at risk if they need to cross the street.
• While in the carpool lane, please make sure to pull all the way forward along the curb before dropping off your student.
• Dropping off or picking up your student from the outside lane of the carpool is prohibited. This is a major safety issue, as students must cross in front of other cars to get to the sidewalk.
• Please refrain from using the parking lot next to the tennis courts as a drop off or pick up location. This parking lot is designated for special education students needing extra time and assistance.
• Please remember that our school zone is a phone-free zone, so please adhere to this.

By taking these small steps, we can ensure that all of our students arrive to and leave from school safely each day.

Thanks you for your continued partnership on this!

Our 6th-grade science team needs your help! We are currently collecting clear, washed 2-liter soda bottles with caps to use for an exciting planting unit later this month. Our goal is to gather approximately 120 bottles. A collection box has been set up outside the front office for donations.

Thank you in advance for supporting our students and their learning journey!

Last month, some of our seventh and eighth grade students participated in the science fair here on campus. The Schimelpfenig community would like to recognize the following outstanding science fair winners who now qualify to compete at the District Science Fair on January 25th.

Students earning a 3rd place ribbon include:

Trinity S

Nathan T

Ashika C

Hamaira R

Diya R

Cooper H

Trisha B

Aarav C

Lucy J

2nd place experimental project winner: Ashlyn E

2nd place engineering project winner: Dhanya D

1st place experimental project winner: Milin V

1st place engineering project (a tie with two winners): Mohammad K & Emma A

And our 2024 Schimelpfenig Middle School Science Fair Grand Prize Engineering winner is: Elim W!

And our 2024 Schimelpfenig Middle School Science Fair Grand Prize Experimental winner is: Om N!

If you see any of these students out in the community, please make sure to congratulate them on this huge accomplishment. Way to represent, Panther Scientists!!

Last month, the Schimelpfenig Robotics team, 12900 Quantum Claw, defended their ranking in the second FTC Flyset League competition of the year. They ranked 3rd out of the 18 teams at the meet, operating like an F1 pit stop crew, repairing some major technical turbulence that occurred during the competition. This included everything from coding challenges and wiring issues to timing belts snapping in half! Their vigor, vigilance, and passion for engineering is unparalleled, and they certainly proved their mettle as they took a firm stand against the high school teams.

Our team for this match included:

Madhav A

Jordan B

Niv H

Prathamesh D

Tyler Y

Luke B

Please continue to cheer this team on as they tackle their last two competitions later this month.

Congratulations to all of our Cross Country runners who completed the CITY Meet last month. We had teams as well as individual runners place in this competition. A Special Shoutout goes to our Panthers who finished in the top 25 of their grade level! Please see the results below, and give a high five to these students when you see them this week in the halls or in your classroom.

Individual Recognitions for the 7th Grade Boys Team:

Darrell B: 5th Place *NEW TOP SCHOOL RECORD 12:45

Alex F: 9th Place *NEW SECOND PLACE SCHOOL RECORD 13:07

Individual Recognitions for the 8h Grade Girls Team:

Camille M: 8th Place

Diya N: 18th Place

7th GRADE BOYS TEAM – Placed 3rd Overall

Darrell B *Season Best (Personal Record)

Lewis E *Season Best

Alex F *Season Best (Personal Record)

Nathan J

Drisen K

Kinsler N *Season Best

Alex P

8th GRADE BOYS TEAM - Placed 10th Overall

Jordan B *Season Best

Luke B *Season Best

Greyson E *Season Best

Alex I *Season Best

Tyler P

8th GRADE GIRLS TEAM - Placed 6th Overall

Sophia A *Season Best

Quinn C *Season Best

Lucy J

Camille M *Season Best (Personal Record)

Diya N *Season Best

Emmaline W *Season Best

Way to go, Panthers!! We are proud of you!!

• Math teacher and eighth grade team lead, Ashley Rael, was selected as Schimelpfenig Teacher of the Year for the 24-25 school year. Ms. Rael will compete for district teacher of the year this spring. Plano ISD Teacher of the Year will be announced in May.
• Science teacher, Brandy Skinner, was selected as Schim's nominee for the 24-25 TI STEM Award, given for overall excellence in teaching in the STEM fields. Final award winners will be recognized at the school board meeting in May.

Congratulations and best of luck to both of our amazing nominees!! We are Panther Proud of you!

Do you have suggestions that would positively impact our school environment? Would you like to send a shout out to a staff member who has gone above and beyond for your student? Do you simply have a question that you would like to ask? If the answer to any of these questions is yes, then the Schim Community Suggestion Box is just for you!

Simply complete this form to share your thoughts and feedback! This is just another way to keep the line of communication open while we partner with you to make the educational experience for your students the very best that it can be. QR codes are available in the front office for you to use as well.

Please let me know if you have any questions about this process.

The yearbook staff is hard at work on the 2024-2025 SMS yearbook! Currently, the cost for a yearbook is $45 before any customization. Be sure to order by January 31st to avoid a price increase! Orders can be placed at www.jostens.com or by calling 1-877-767-5217.

If you have any questions, please contact our yearbook advisor, Shawnee Bautista, at Shawneedawn.bautist@pisd.edu.

The SMS PTA is currently taking donations for gift cards that will be used on campus for student recognition and staff incentives. If you would like to make a contribution, please sign up here.

Thank you in advance for your generosity!

As we enter the holiday gifting season, many of you will take some time to clean out closets to make room for new items, and SMS PTA has the perfect place to donate your old and gently used clothing and toys! Please drop your discarded items into the blue World Wear bin located on campus in the front parking lot. Proceeds from our blue bin project will go directly back to the campus through programs and events for our students and staff. Please consider donating to this worthy cause.

Many students are beginning to ask about clubs and organizations on campus. If your student would like to start a club, please let them know that they must first find a staff member to sponsor their club. The sponsor will then work with the student to complete a "Request to Meet" Laserfishe form on the PISD webdesk. This form must be initiated by the student. Once the form is approved, the student can make fliers to promote the club and set dates to meet.

We have shared this information with students through morning announcements and will review the process with students during presentations this week.

If you or your student needs additional information, please do not hesitate to let me know.

I have had a number of parents who have asked if there is a Schim Staff favorites list available. The answer is yes! If you have times throughout the year when you would like to show appreciation or recognize a staff member in a special way, please feel free to reference the staff favorites list for ideas.

If you have any questions, please let me know.

Like last year, students were issued chromebooks and chargers during the first three days of school. If damage is incurred on the device assigned to them or if your student's electronic device is lost or stolen at any point throughout the year, students will be held financially responsible. While it is our hope that we will not see any of these concerns this year, we want to still make you aware of the charges, so there are no surprises if a situation requiring payment arises. Please reach out to our campus technology specialist, William Brannon, should you have any questions.

Chromebook: $410

Chromebook Charger: $27.50

It is an expectation that your student's chromebook comes to school every day fully charged. In addition, chargers should be brought to campus daily, as there are no extra chargers in the classroom. This is a school-issued device and should be treated as such. Stickers and writing should not be placed on the device.

At the beginning of the year, parents are asked to complete some online information regarding your student through Parent Portal. Part of this information includes a Notice Regarding Directory Information and Parent's Response Regarding Release of Student Information Form. By district policy, the district may be required by law to release certain information about district students to anyone who follows the procedures for requesting the information unless the parent or guardian objects to the release of the information about this student. Therefore, it is very important that you complete these forms in Parent Portal if you have not already done so, so we have accurate information as to your wishes on the release of information regarding your student. If you have any questions regarding these forms or if you would like to confirm if you have completed this process, please reach out to Debbie Collins in the counseling office.

All students are required to wear their student ID badge at all times. This is a district policy for all secondary schools to ensure the safety and security of our campus. Following several serious incidents in the state of Texas over the last two years, Plano ISD and Schimelpfenig Middle School increased and improved badge and safety measures to ensure all students are easily identified. Students wearing their badges allow staff members to quickly and easily identify people that should not be on campus.

The district policy states that badges must be visible on a lanyard around the student's neck. Initially, a lanyard was issued to each student, but students may wear an alternate lanyard of their choosing if they prefer. Badges should not be cut, bent, or covered with stickers. Damage to the badge will result in a needed replacement.

The initial badge AND temporary badge are both issued for free. Replacement badges are $5. Replacement badges are issued from Mrs. Carthledge in the front office. If a student forgets his or her badge, then the student should report to the front office, and Mrs. Carthledge will issue a temporary sticker badge good for that day only. Each time a student forgets their ID and receives a temporary one constitutes a badge violation.

During the first couple of weeks, we gave our students grace and consistently reminded them that we would be assigning discipline for students who violate the badge expectation. If a student receives two or more badge violations in a five-day period, they receive Friday After Hours for that week. Friday After Hours takes place the last day of the week, usually on a Friday, from 3:50pm-5:50pm.

If you have questions regarding badges or the badge procedures, please let us know.

Cell phones and personal devices are not allowed anywhere on campus during the school day. This includes but is not limited to the classrooms, hallways, cafeteria, locker rooms, and bathrooms. If a student is caught using their cell phone during the school day, it will be taken up. Cell phones and personal devices are only allowed before school until 8:20 am and should then be powered off and put away until 3:40pm.

If you need to contact your student, you can call the front office at 469-752-6402 and we will get a message to them.

PHONE CONSEQUENCES:

• 1st offense: Teacher collects and returns at the end of the class period.

• 2nd offense: Teacher collects and returns at the end of the school day.

• 3rd offense: Teacher collects and turns into the front office. Your parent must come to the school to collect your phone.

• 4+ offenses: Teacher collects and turns into the front office. Administration handles from there.

Please let us know if you have any questions regarding the campus cell phone procedures.

• Shorts, including athletic shorts, must extend beyond the buttocks.

• No pajamas, houseshoes, or slippers may be worn to school.

• Excessively loose or tight garments are not acceptable.

• Underwear-type sleeveless shirts, spaghetti straps, tank/tube tops are not permitted.

• Hard-soled shoes must be worn at all times.

• Sunglasses, caps, hats, raised hoods, etc are not permitted.

• Students in violation of the student dress and grooming code will be expected to change to appropriate attire or will be subject to other disciplinary action.

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?

• Crop Tops - If your student raises their hand and you can see their stomach, the shirt is too short and will be asked to change.

• Shorts and Skirts - Bottoms must cover the entire buttocks area.

• Hoodies - Students can wear a jacket with a hood, but the hood must remain off their head during the school day or the student will have to take off the jacket.

• Hats - Any item that covers the head is not allowed. This includes baseball caps, beanies, etc. Religious coverings are allowed.

Matt Mitchell is the Campus Title IX Coordinator for the 2023-2024 school year. Mr. Mitchell will address employee and student concerns or inquiries regarding discrimination based on sex, including sexual harassment. Reports can be made at any time and by any person, including during non-business hours, by mail, email or phone. During district business hours, reports may also be made in person.

Contact Information:

Matt Mitchell

matt.mitchell@pisd.edu

469-752-6411

Principal

Schimelpfenig Middle School

Email: kristen.kinnard@pisd.edu
Website: pisd.edu/schimelpfenig
Location: 2400 Maumelle Drive, Plano, TX, USA
Phone: 469-752-6410