Notes from the Nest

September 6th, 2024

SMS Pet of the Week

Meet Daisy and Tootsie, part of the Lindgren Family. Daisy is an 11 year old Maltese who loves food and likes to chase chickens! Tootsie is an 8 year old Boxer Mix who loves playing outside and being loved. Once you pet her, she’s never leaving your side.

SMS Pet of the Week

Meet Kaiser, part of the Frazer Family. Kaiser enjoys spending time playing with his best puppy buddy, Kaija, chasing balls, bunnies, and going for walks through the woods. He also enjoys barking as loud as he can when delivery drivers pull into the driveway to deliver packages.

SMS Pet of the Week

Meet Spider, part of the Martin Family. The Martin family adopted Spider from the humane society for Ellis' 5th birthday. He is a very friendly, outgoing cat. Mrs. Martin turns the sink on for him every morning so he can drink from a running tap. Spider begs for attention with headbutts and gives love bites if you stop petting him.

6th Grade Learning Calendar

Homecoming Events

This year, Slinger's Homecoming is scheduled for September 27th. Slinger Middle School will dismiss at 2:20 PM on Friday, September 27th to allow students time to make it to Homecoming festivities. Go Owls!

SMS Butterfly Project

Throughout the 2023-2024 school year, Slinger Middle School students from all grade levels and abilities created a stunning three dimensional hanging Monarch Butterfly art installation during their Growth, Resilience, & Innovation Time (GRIT). The beautiful student led installation is now hanging in the main stairwell of SMS. Please see the video below that details how our butterfly project came to life.

Butterfly Project Video

Student Grading FAQ's

As we embark on a new school year, we wanted to answer a few frequently asked questions regarding SMS grading. Please see the link below for additional details regarding grading here at the middle school.

Student Grading FAQ's

SHE Program

SHE is a 14-week program for pre-teen girls in 5th – 8th grade. This program focuses on building confidence, making social connections, and learning more about topics relevant in pre-teen life!

SHE focuses on growing an individual’s mental, social, emotional, and physical health through discussion, education, and skill building. The girls who participate build self-esteem and are empowered to create lasting friendships before entering high school!

Topics Include:

• Girls in the Woods

• Healthy Friendships

• Self-Defense

• Yoga & Stress Relief

•Healthy Eating & Nutrition

• Mental Health

Meeting Information:

SHE program meets every other week 5:30PM - 7:30PM from October 2024 through April 2025.

Click here for more SHE information.

Questions: Please call or email (262) 247-1052 | cstreff@kmymca.org

Medication and Emergency Action Plans

Please review this letter from our School Nurse, Annie Sommers, if your child has medication administered during the school day or needs an action plan on file. After reviewing this information, please submit any medications/forms/action plans applicable for your child to the office before school starts. Please remember that all medications for the 24/25 school year need to have a medication consent form completed and medications need to be in their original bottle. Prescription medications do require a doctor's signature on the medication consent form.

Slinger Apparel Order Link

Reporting Absences

Attendance is taken first thing every morning so we can accurately verify students who are present. If your child is absent, Mrs. Spaeth starts clearing those absences at 8:00 a.m. by checking voicemail and email messages. Please help with this by reporting your child’s absence as quickly as possible.

The automated District Voice Mail System can be used to report an absence by dialing (262) 644-9307. Select “choice one” and follow the voice prompts to report the absence. This system will allow you to report an absence any time of the day or night so you may call and not be concerned if the school’s office is open or closed. You can also email dawn.spaeth@slingerschools.org by 8:00 a.m. informing her of the absence.

If your child is absent and the school wasn’t notified, Mrs. Spaeth will send you an email requesting verification of the absence. You may respond by email or phone. If the school doesn’t hear back from you, Mrs. Spaeth will call the numbers provided in Skyward in an attempt to verify the absence.

Leaving During The School Day

Slinger Middle School is a closed campus, so students may not leave the school grounds without authorization from the school office during any part of the school day. Students who need to leave during the school day have two options.

1. Parents may email dawn.spaeth@slingerschools.org by 8:00 a.m. (preferred method)

2. Students bring a parent’s written note to the office before 8:00 a.m.

Please make sure to include the reason for the early release regardless of the option you choose.

Annual Student Fee

Families are required to pay the $75.00 annual student fee that is due by September 30th, 2024. You may make payment via RevTrak for school online payment, or cash/check (payable to Slinger School District). If you have any questions about your child(ren)'s fees, please contact Kimberly Gehring at kimberly.gehring@slingerschools.org.

Pet of the Week

Pet of the Week is back! If your pet is chosen, your pet and child(ren) will come to the main office on a chosen day (which will be communicated with you ahead of time). Their picture will be taken and rumor is your pet might even get a little treat during his/her visit! Their picture will be shared on our SMS TV's as well as our parent and staff newsletters.

If you are interested in signing up for Pet of the Week, click on the link below. Please note, due to the high interest and the limited amount of weeks we have in a school year, we will have to keep the responses to the first 60 families who fill out the form. We look forward to getting to know your families!

Pet of the Week

Character Strong

One of the aims at our school is to equip young people for all the realities of today’s world. With that in mind, we have partnered with CharacterStrong – an organization that provides training for educators and curricula for students. Their work focuses on 3 main outcomes: increasing a sense of belonging for all students, improving skills that support student well-being, and deepening student engagement in their academics, in their school, and in their community.

Students will be engaged in these lessons on select Wednesdays throughout the year during their GRIT time. These lessons will be shared out with families monthly so that you can engage in conversations around these characteristics with your child. In addition, sessions will be covered in the Health 6/Health 7/Life Skills 8 classes.

Below are some links for families to use to learn more about Character Strong. If you have any questions related to Character Strong, please email kelly.pokrzywa@slingerschools.org or kylie.carbol@slingerschools.org.

Introduction Letter to Families

Health 6/Health 7/Life Skills 8 Lessons

Grade Level Scope & Sequence with Descriptions

Hard Copies of Mailings

In the district’s ongoing effort to save resources, we do not mail home copies of report cards or newsletters. The school year is divided into four equal quarters, each lasting nine weeks. We will post all report cards online. Mrs. Lutter emails parents “Notes from the Nest” every other Friday, an update of happenings around SMS. If you need hard copies of any correspondence electronically sent, please call or email Mrs. Cauwels at (262) 644-5226, sarah.cauwels@slingerschools.org. She will get you set-up to receive paper copies of this information.