Principal's Message
Good afternoon, everyone -
Hasn't it been amazing to see the steel skeleton of our new classroom structure go up?!? I have been amazed at how it seemed to spring up from the ground! Check out the construction pics (below). The final beam should be secured in place by the end of this week!
Sunnyvale Promise
Every student is known by name, strength, and need,
Ready to excel in high school and beyond,
and to lead a life of joy and purpose.
Returning to the Sunnyvale Promise, excelling in high school and beyond means knowing how we are performing and talking with our teachers if we need to redo something. Trimester1 ends on Friday, 11/8. That means students have two weeks left to make up missing work or retake any tests. Please check in with your student and ask them to show you their grades on PowerSchool.
If there is missing work or a test that needs to be made up, please encourage them to email or to talk with (best choice) their teacher. Speaking up for ourselves is a skill essential to successfully navigating this world.
I added links to several of the calendar events below for easier access.
Please check them out (especially the "Halloween Costumes" guidelines!)
Vince Iwasaki, principal
on behalf of the Sunnyvale Middle School staff
Useful Links:
This week's features ...
Construction & Traffic Updates
Pics from the week including our Season1 Sports Celebration!
JBK Festival!
Spartan Sports!
After School & Lunchtime Opportunities! - WE HAVE UPDATED THE LINKS!
PTSA!
Recap
We met as School Site Council this past Friday (10/25). Here are the
agenda and minutes (these will be posted to the school website as well).
Special thanks to the student, parent, and staff members of School Site
Council for serving our community in this fashion. Our next two meetings
are scheduled for 11/21 and 12/13. These meetings are open to the public.
Upcoming Calendar
Spirit Week! (10/28 - 11/1)
* Monday, 10/28 is an "A" Day
* Wednesday, 10/30, PTSA Fundraiser - Panda Express!
Details are here in English Flyer and Spanish Flyer
20% of your Panda Express order will be donated to our PTSA!
* Thursday, 10/31 is Halloween!
Costume guidelines are here
PE will host its Annual Halloween Run during classes!
* Friday, 11/1, All-School JBK Festival!
Tardy Challenge! (11/3 - 11/7)
* Sunday, 11/3, Daylight Savings Time Ends! Set your clocks back one hour!
* Monday, 11/4, is a "B" Day
* Tuesday, 11/5, is Election Day
* Friday, 11/8, End of Trimester1
* Monday, 11/11: *** NO SCHOOL ***, Veteran's Day
* Tuesday, 11/12, is an "A" Day
* Friday, 11/15, email report cards
* Monday, 11/18, is an "A" Day
* Monday, 11/25 - Friday, 11/29: *** NO SCHOOL *** Thanksgiving Break
Attendance Note
Report an absence:
email (preferred): sms.attendance@sesd.org
phone Julie Melville: call: 408.522.8288 x2105
Please include student's first & last name, grade, & reason for absence
JBK Festival!
The JBK (Just Be Kind) Festival is a schoolwide activity specific to SMS that is designed to facilitate and strengthen positive interactions between staff and students.
How does it work?
Students are given a list of activities and asked to pick their top three; from there, they are matched up with students and teachers from all grade levels that share similar interests, like making friendship bracelets, playing card games or pickleball, or singing karaoke!
Based on their selection, students will participate in two sessions in the afternoon of Friday, November 1st.
This event is organized by Ms. Kim, Ms. Patterson, and Ms. Shreve - the same folks that do our 6th Grade WEB Orientation. The activities are staffed by teachers and 8th grade WEB Volunteers.
Spartan Sports
This Week In Sports 10/21-10/25
We are already into Season Two with a full slate of games!
WRESTLING
10/29, 4pm: Away vs. Crittenden Panthers
GIRLS VOLLEYBALL
6th Grade:
10/29, 5:05pm: Home vs. Crittenden Panthers
(Egan Vikings do not have a 6th grade team)
7th Grade:
10/29, 4pm: Home vs. Crittenden Panthers
10/30, 4pm: Away vs. Egan Vikings
8th Grade:
10/29, 4pm: Home vs. Crittenden Panthers
10/30, 4pm: Away vs. Egan Vikings
Valley Athletic League website with scores & schedules & gym locations
After School & Lunchtime Activities!
New after school and lunch clubs!
If you are looking for something to do at lunch or after school, please check out these clubs!
After School & Lunch Clubs
We have everything from BlackPink to Gardening to 3D printing to K-Pop to Dungeons & Dragons to Robotics to ASL (American Sign Language) - there is a club for everyone. And if you have not found a club to fit you - please consider visiting:
Peer Connect Club: Wednesday, lunchtime, Rm B4 with Mr. Burnsed
Wellness Center: Open before school, brunch, and lunch in Rm B7 with Ms. Carina & Ms. Henry
We also have high school- and teacher- led clubs after school here:
List of After School clubs, descriptions, schedule, and signups.
If you would like to join a club, please go to the meeting!
Spartan PTSA Updates!
PTSA Updates:
PTSA membership - We are at 129 members this week and at 86% for our 150 membership goal for this year! If you have not signed up yet, please sign up to be a PTSA member and have a vote in how we spend the money we raise!
PTSA Fundraiser - Keeping up to our tradition of hosting a fundraiser on the last Wednesdays of the month, this time, we have our Fundraiser at Panda Express, Sunnyvale. Come and support the SMS PTSA Fundraiser at Panda Express this Wednesday, Oct 30th. The SMS community has supported these Fundraisers in the past and thank you for doing that!
PTSA Donation Updates - SMS PTSA has raised ~$5,000 so far this year. The target for SMS PTSA is to raise $45,000 this year. Thanks for all of your donations to help us raise ~11% of our target so far. Direct Appeal letters have been mailed out to SMS families. All of your support in helping us reach the $45,000 goal is appreciated. Here is a link to the SMS donation portal. If your companies match your donations, please donate through them.
VOTE YES ON MEASURE Y THIS NOVEMBER‼SMS PTSA unanimously voted to support Measure Y. Measure Y renews a parcel tax used to fund SMS personnel. Of districts in the area with a parcel tax, Sunnyvale’s is the lowest, and Measure Y renews this existing funding SESD relies on. Approval requires a 2/3 vote, so every vote matters.
See more information on the Sunnyvale School District Website (www.sesd.org/Page/3935) or at SupportSunnyvaleSchools.org.
If you have any questions regarding PTSA, please contact:
president.sms.ptsa@gmail.com
6th Grade Survival Guide!
Check out "The Guide" - everything a new student needs to know about navigating Sunnyvale Middle School! This work was put together by three Sunnyvale Middle School 8th graders in July, 2023. Significant portions of this work will show up in our PBIS Expectations assemblies and in our AST lessons. Credit to: Lauren Ishimatu, Claire Ishimatsu, and Maggie Ng for creating this for our community!
Nurse's Corner
The school nurse shares reminders, notes health trends, and encourages healthy behaviors!
Previous Nurse's Corner articles.
Student grades
Your student's grades are up-to-date in PowerSchool. These are the directions for accessing:
If you have questions about your student's grades, please reach-out to your student's teacher or AST teacher.
Lots of good information for students ...
Credits: Lauren Ishimatu, Claire Ishimatsu, and Maggie Ng for creating this for our community!
2024-2025 Bell Schedule
On Wednesdays, get to school no later than 9:30 am.
Report an absence:
Julie Melville ......... sms.attendance@sesd.org (preferred) OR
call: 408.522.8288 x2105
- Include student's first & last name, grade, and reason for absence
Principal Team:
Vince Iwasaki (vince.iwasaki@sesd.org), Principal
Allison Crawford (allison.crawford@sesd.org), 6th grade Assistant Principal
Giovanni Bui (giovanni.bui@sesd.org), 7th grade Assistant Principal
Angela Guzmán (angela.guzman@sesd.org), 8th grade Assistant Principal
Contact us:
1080 Mango Avenue
Sunnyvale, CA 94087
Phone: 408-522-8288
Office Hours: 7:30 am- 3:30 pm