Dear Students, Parents, and Staff,

As we approach the final week of the first semester, I want to take a moment to celebrate our incredible SLMS students.

During our NWEA testing, I was deeply impressed by our students’ focus and the effort they put forth to do their best. In addition, throughout the winter sports season, our teams have consistently demonstrated outstanding sportsmanship and character, whether in victory or defeat.

Last Friday, all of our students enjoyed a performance of our fall musical, The Little Mermaid Jr. They showed remarkable respect for their peers on stage and were an excellent audience, fully supporting the hard work of the cast and crew that brought this wonderful production to life.

This week promises even more excitement as our music department is in full swing with holiday concerts. On Monday, we will host a combined strings performance, featuring talented fifth-grade musicians from each of our feeder elementary schools, SLMS 6th grade orchestra, and Chamber Orchestra. Our holiday concert this Thursday evening will feature our 7th and 8th grade select choirs, 8th grade band, 8th grade orchestra, and Jazz band. Wrapping up the week is a repeat performance of Thursday evening’s Holiday concert for all SLMS students on Friday morning.

Thank you for sharing your amazing students with us. We are so proud of their achievements and look forward to celebrating more successes together.

Don’t forget, December 20 is the final student attendance day of the first semester. All middle schools will dismiss at 12:45pm. Grab and go lunches will be available for students during our modified schedule.

NOTE: Similar to regular days, students are always welcome to bring their own lunch.

Below is the menu for lunch:

• Uncrustable
• Goldfish crackers
• carrots
• cheese stick
• choice of milk/juice
• For Gluten Free there will be a GF Peanut butter and Jelly Sandwich
• For Peanut Allergy there will be yogurt.

Have an amazing upcoming final week of the semester. Thank you for all you do to support your middle school child and SLMS - we appreciate you!

Respectfully,

David Mitchell, Ed.D.

Principal, SLMS

• Archery: Monday 12/16 and Wednesday 12/18 - 7:00PM
• D&D Club: Thursday 1/9- 3:30 - 4:30PM - Applications form https://forms.gle/fv4oBJThZykTrHwR9
• Embroidery: Tuesday 12/17 - 7:35AM
• Falcon Smart: Thursday 1/9 - 7:30AM
• First Priority: Thursday 12/19- 7:35AM
• GSA: Monday 12/16 & 1/13- 7:40AM in Ms. Whyte's room.
• LSTA: Tuesday 1/14 - 7:35AM
• Peer Mentors: Thursday 1/16 - 7:30AM

Do you know any high school students who are in need of A+ hours? SLMS is looking for tutors on Tuesday and Thursday from 2:40-3:15. Please contact Ms. Thompson at caitlin.thompson@lsr7.net if you or anyone you know is interested in helping tutor our SLMS students!

Our lost and found is getting pretty full. Please remind your student to check the lost and found, located in the front office, if they are missing something. All Stanleys, Owalas, and airpods are kept behind the front desk, so make sure your student speaks to someone in the front office if they are missing one of these items specifically.

This week is the LAST week to grab your items from the lost and found before they are donated. ALL items in the lost in found will be donated on Friday 12/20 after early release. Please make sure your student is aware that anything lost during 1st semester will NOT be in the lost and found when we return from Winter Break.

Dear SLMS Families,

I want to remind our families that all LSR7 students in grades K-8 are to be accompanied by an adult while attending district evening activities. This includes middle school athletic competitions, both indoors and out, which begin at 4:00pm.

SLMS will provide Falcon Fan Days during our fall, winter, and spring sports seasons. Falcon Fan Days are an exception and allow students with signed permission slips to stay after school and attend our home contests without their parent/guardian in attendance. Students participating in Falcon Fan Days will have some supervised time after school followed by attending the contest and sit in our designated student section. Students who are signed up will receive a ticket for a hotdog + water/pop or water/pop + candy at our PTA concession stand. Students are always encouraged to attend our athletic events to support their fellow falcons with a parent or guardian.

24-25 Falcon Fan Day Dates:

• Volleyball - 9/16

• Cross Country - 9/30

• Football - 10/8

• Wrestling - 11/20

• Girls Basketball - 12/5

• Boys Basketball - 1/14

• Track - 4/22

We are proud of the many outstanding and successful extracurricular activities that our students participate in and we want families and students to be able to support and enjoy these events safely.

Thank you for your support with this expectation. We appreciate your partnership.

Respectfully,

SLMS Administration

We are excited to announce that we will once again celebrate our teachers with the SLMS Teacher Cookie Exchange and we are asking for your support!

We need 75 dozen cookies by Wednesday, December 18th! You can begin dropping off cookies starting next Monday. Sign up here:

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/60B0C48A9AF2CA6F85-53900052-slms#/

Don't have time to bake or purchase? No worries, you can donate here: https://www.paypal.biz/SLMSPTA

A reminder to all families regarding our AMI (Alternative Method of Instruction) procedures should we have weather-related school closures this winter. On AMI days, district communication will be sent to families and staff announcing that all school classes will take place virtually, along with reminders for students regarding how to access instructional materials.

For SLMS, teachers will post student assignments in Schoology by 9:00am and be available to answer questions during Google Help Meet times (10:00-Noon) NOTE: Teachers will share Google Meet codes with students through Schoology. In addition to the virtual help sessions, staff will be available via email during normal school hours (7:35am-3:30pm)

In the event of a DELAYED START (Two-hour late start):

School will begin two hours later than normal. For middle school, our start time would be 10:20am. Buses would run their regular routes adjusted by two hours (ex. A regular pick up time of 7:35am would be 9:35am).

At SLMS students are expected to complete all assignments on time and submit on the date they are due. Homework is given as practice to assure that students are building the necessary skills to master course objectives. We believe that meaningful work should be completed prior to taking any assessment. Our goal is to ensure that all students are reaching the desired grade-level standards that have been established for each course.

Students will have a set amount of passes for missing/incomplete homework per subject. When all passes have been used for that subject area, students will be assigned a before or after-school Homework Center. This is an opportunity to complete missing homework and get help from teachers. Students should report to the LMC with missing assignments to work on when assigned to the Homework Center.

Homework Center Hours: - Located in RM 510

• AM: Monday - Thursday (7:30-8:10)

• AM: Friday (8:30-9:10)

• PM: Monday (3:20-4:20)

In the case that your student is absent during a test in a class, they will be given the opportunity to take the test in the Testing Center. This is a proctored environment to provide the student with an ideal testing environment.

Testing Center Hours:

• AM: Monday - Thursday (7:30-8:10)

• Monday - Rm 520

• Wednesday - Rm 520

• Tuesday/Thursday - Rm 613

• AM: Friday (8:30-9:10) - Rm 511

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With an increase of fall allergies and illnesses starting the health room would like you to send your students prepared. Your student is always welcome to carry a water bottle and lozenges with them in the building. We are unfortunately unable to provide every student with water bottles and lozenges, so it is best to send these items with your student daily. We have multiple water filling stations throughout the building, so a reusable water bottle is a great investment!

In order to ensure that transportation needs are met, we ask that you follow the below processes for end of day transportation changes:

• If you need to communicate a transportation change with a student, we ask that you notify the main office prior to 3:00pm. This allows us time to reach your student with the message, as students begin dismissing at 3:13pm.
• It is difficult to check students out between 3:00pm-3:15pm, as many activities occur during Advisory at the end of the day, and students are often moving between locations in the building. In order to ensure that you are not waiting, or late to appointments - please pick up your student prior to 3:00pm if you need to leave before 3:15pm.
• If you need a one-day bus pass for your student to ride home with a friend on a different bus - we need written permission from both families prior to 1:30pm the day of in order to arrange this with transportation. Written permission can be emailed to courtney.mitchell@lsr7.net.

We appreciate all your help and understanding in helping to ensure that all of our Falcons have a safe and timely dismissal.

LSR7 is now hiring school bus drivers. No experience needed, and the opportunity includes paid training, full benefits and pay starting at $20.03 - $28.05 per hour based on experience. Have a vested interest in supporting students?

Apply to be one of our district's greatest assets.

Call 816-986-4287 for more information.

Email: firstname.lastname@lsr7.net
Website: slms.lsr7.org
Location: 3500 Southwest Windemere Drive, Lee's Summit, MO, USA
Phone: 816-986-1375
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/summitlakes
Twitter: @SLMSFalcons