WILDCAT WORD

• Jan. 16: Wildcat Welcome for incoming 7th grade (current 6th grade) families @ 6:00
• Jan. 20: No School. Martin Luther King Jr. Day
• Jan. 21: No School. Teacher Professional Learning Day.
• Jan. 22: Boys Basketball Game @ WR
• Jan. 22: SMNW Enrollment visit for 8th Grade Students
• Jan. 23: NW Area Band Festival @ SMNW
• Jan. 27: BBB vs HG @ TR
• Jan. 29: BBB vs IW @ TR
• Feb. 3: BBB @ IH
• Feb. 5: BBB vs. WR @ TR
• Feb. 6: 2nd Semester Parent Teacher Conferences 5:00-8:00
• Feb. 7: No School. Parent Teacher Conferences 8:00-4:00
• Feb. 17: No School.
• Feb. 18: No School. Teacher Professional Learning.

Click Here to access the SMSD Calendar

Click Here for Trailridge's Athletics Calendar

Greetings Wildcats,

This has been a unique way to start the second semester! Our students did a great job navigating the unexpected snow days. As you'll learn over the next few weeks, January marks the beginning of our enrollment season for the upcoming school year. During this time, we will meet with our 7th grade students to kick off the enrollment process, and the SMNW team will visit our 8th grade students to walk them through the high school enrollment process.

Thursday night is our Wildcat Welcome event, from 6:00 to 8:00 PM. This event is for any family with a current 6th grade student who will be a 7th grader at Trailridge next year. It’s designed to introduce families to the Wildcat experience at Trailridge. We've reached out to all of our elementary feeder schools to help promote the event.

Next week, we will administer the iReady math assessment. We will follow an assessment schedule on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. Please encourage your student to be fully prepared by charging their MacBook and getting a good night's sleep.

Thank you for helping us navigate the snow-packed parking lots. A big shout-out to our SMSD Operations and Maintenance team for working hard to get us open on Thursday. They’re already hard at work again to ensure we're ready to go on Monday!

Sincerely,

Matt, Cara and Ericka

Trailridge Middle School Administration

#ShowUpShowOut!

Is Your Student Thinking About College? We've Got the Perfect Foundation!

The International Baccalaureate (IB) Program at Shawnee Mission Northwest is the perfect way to prepare for college success! This globally recognized curriculum not only sharpens students’ critical thinking skills, but it also teaches them how to learn—skills that last a lifetime. Plus, students can earn college credit and fulfill their Market Value Asset graduation requirement!

🎓 Join us for an IB Info Night! 🎓
📅 Thursday, January 16
🕕 6:30 PM
📍 Shawnee Mission Northwest Library

At this meeting, you’ll discover how the IB program not only prepares students for high school, but also gives them an edge in college. From potential college credits to increased chances for honors programs, scholarships, and special recognition, IB can open doors and opportunities!

Whether you’re a prospective student or a curious parent, come learn how the IB program can set your student up for success in high school and beyond. We’ll cover course recommendations for freshmen and sophomores and answer all your questions about the program.

For more details, reach out to Amy Walker, IB Coordinator at Northwest, at nwwalker@smsd.org.

See you there!

This week we highlight Oliver Davis. Competitive gymnastics and diving seasons got off to a great start for Oliver. He competed for the Twisters Diving Club at the Kansas Diving Invitational at KU in November and placed 1st at the Junior Olympic division on both 1 meter and 3 meter events. He is training for USA Diving Regionals in Chicago later this year. He also competed for Impact Gymnastics in the Dragon Invitational and 360 Gymnastics Winter Meet in December, where he placed 1st in his age group (and had the overall highest score for all ages) at the Level 4 division in both meets. He moved up to Level 5 in January and has upcoming meets in Des Moines, Wichita, Springfield, and Oklahoma City.

Our student highlight will run throughout the year to showcase the amazing things our talented students are doing outside of the school day. Examples may include community service, sports accomplishments, awards, and more! If your student is involved in something that deserves recognition, please email Mr. Engler at matthewengler@smsd.org with a short description and a few pictures.

Our amazing PTA is providing dinner for our teachers on the upcoming February conference night. If you are interested in donating an item for the dinner, please use this link to sign up. Thank you in advance for your help!

An email was sent out today regarding the upcoming R&D Forum. I have included some information below as well. This is an awesome opportunity for our students and we hope you take advantage of it!

The Shawnee Mission School District (SMSD) Research and Development Forum is coming this spring! This is a big, district-wide celebration and everyone in the SMSD is invited to be ALL IN!

Every student can submit projects, every educator can share student work and encourage students to participate, and every community member will be able to see the amazing, innovative learning that takes place in our district.

The R&D Forum will feature a Student Showcase and a student pitch competition called The Next Great Idea!

What is the R&D Forum? The Shawnee Mission School District Research and Development Forum (R&D Forum) is an annual event that celebrates student achievement and highlights innovative student projects and talent from across the district. The event, held in the spring, features student work in the areas of art, career and technical education, and science. The year 2025 will mark the 63rd annual R&D Forum! Shawnee Mission is grateful to the Regnier Family, who has supported the R&D Forum since it began.

Dear Families,

We were excited to start the second semester, even though it was mixed with unprecedented snow days and time off. Our students received their updated second semester schedules on Thursday. Over the next few weeks, we will guide our students through the enrollment process for next year. If your student has any questions or concerns, please reach out to their grade-level counselor.

Have a safe and warm weekend!

As always, please do not hesitate to let us know if there is anything we can do to assist.

• Elisabeth Johnsrud (8th Grade Counselor) elisabethjohnsrud@smsd.org
• Kristin Warner (7th Grade Counselor) kristinwarner@smsd.org
• Anna OConnor (School Social Worker) annaoconnor@smsd.org

Important resources:

• If you or someone you know is experiencing a mental health crisis, call or text 988 immediately.
• If you are uncomfortable talking on the phone, you can chat the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988lifeline.org.
• You can also text NAMI to 741-741 to be connected to a free, trained crisis counselor on the Crisis Text Line.

Other links for Suicide Prevention:

• https://samhsa.gov/newsroom/observances/suicide-prevention-month
• https://988lifeline.org/promote-national-suicide-prevention-month/
• https://afsp.org/national-suicide-prevention-week

24-25 School Year Physicals

Student athlete physicals for the 2024-2025 school year must be completed after May 1st, 2024. Here is the updated KSHSSA Physical Packet that must be completed. Please note that the date on the bottom right-hand corner of the form is 3/2024. Every physical packet turned in must be using the updated packet. If you have any questions, please contact Ericka Corrado at erickacorrado@smsd.org.

Student Athlete Handbook

Attached is the Trailridge Student Athlete Handbook. This handbook reviews policies and procedures for being an athlete at Trailridge. Please review this handbook at your convenience.

Click Here to access the Trailridge Student Athlete Handbook.

Athletics Calendar

Be sure to visit our calendar page, and download the app to stay up to date on all Trailridge athletic activities: CLICK HERE

BOYS BASKETBALL

Boys Basketball tryouts will resume next week. Boys interested in trying out must have all athletic paperwork completed and turned in to Ms. Corrado before they can try out. Requirements for athletic eligibility can be found in the Trailridge Student Athlete Handbook.

Contact Information

Athletic Director: Ericka Corrado, erickacorrado@smsd.org

Athletic Coordinator: Kelsey McCall kelseymccall@smsd.org

Football: Larry Benson, larrybenson@smsd.org

Volleyball: Reece Lovitt, reecelovitt@smsd.org

Cross Country: Michael Scott, michaelscott341@smsd.org

Wrestling: Justin Andrews, justinandrews387@gmail.com

Girls Basketball: Rachael Baumgartner, rachaelbaumgartner@smsd.org

Boys Basketball: Brandon Hoch, brandonhoch212@smsd.org

Boys and Girls Soccer: Ben Archacki, benjaminarchacki@smsd.org

Athletic Trainer: Josh Hardy, jhardy2@kumc.edu

If you have not logged into your parent portal of Canvas yet, I would highly recommend doing so. Canvas is the learning management system that SMSD uses. It allows you to view assignements, assessments, grades, schedules and many more important items regarding your student's day at Trailridge.

Here is the link on how to access your Canvas parent portal. If you need additional assistance, feel free to contact the office.

Please make sure your student is taking care of their device. Below is the fee structure should the MacBook be unintentionally damaged:

• 1st Incident: $100 charge
• 2nd Incident: $150 charge
• 3+ Incident: ~$750 charge (full device replacement)

If a device is intentionally damaged the student may be responsible for a full device replacement cost of approximately $750.

Our PTA is very active in supporting students and staff at Trailridge through grants, assemblies, student activities and celebrations, and more and while our events and activities will undoubtedly look different this school year, our commitment to supporting our students, staff, and families is as strong as ever! Please consider joining and getting involved in your Trailridge PTA as we find new and creative ways to support our students, staff, and families in 2024/2025!

The Trailridge Spirit Wear Store is live!! Visit the PTA website for a link to the store and to check out all of our new designs! Items are shipped directly to you and you can order anytime.

Please use the link or the QR Code to access the PTA website:

https://www.trailridgepta.org

Attendance Line: 913 993-1012

If your child is going to miss a class for an appointment or any reason, please make sure you are calling the attendance hotline listed above and leave a message for the attendance clerk. This is important so that we can excuse the absence.

Early Pickup for Appointments:

If your student will need to be picked up early, please call the main office (913-993-1000) when you are on the way to pickup your student. We will immediately call them down so that they are ready when you arrive. Please avoid calling too far in advance.

INFORMATION ABOUT TRUANCY

The administration of Trailridge may begin to request documentation for all absences after the 10th absence in a school year. Absences without a doctor's note or administrative approval may be recorded as unexcused. A student with three consecutive unexcused absences, five unexcused absences in a semester, or seven unexcused absences in a year is considered TRUANT according to Kansas State statues. A truancy report may be filed with the Johnson County District Attorney's office.

We have now enabled the ability for parents and guardians to report student absences online through Skyward. If reported through Skyward, you would not need to call the attendance line or office to report. Multiple schools and families have reported this system is very easy to do and quicker. We hope it makes reporting absences easier for our families as well.

Below are the step-by-step procedures on how to do that.

• FRONT OFFICE 913 993-1000
• SECRETARY: Angie Marsh 913-993-1002
• ATTENDANCE CLERK: Francy Johnson 913 993-1012 (Absences should be reported by 9:30 AM)
• SPANISH INTERPRETER: 913 993-1062 Ms. Veronica Simonetti
• DS BUSING: 913 384-1190
  
• BOOKKEEPER: Ms. Gina Bristow 913 993-1003
• NURSE: Ms. Darla Denny 913 993-1007

Email: trailridge@smsd.org
Website: trailridge.smsd.org
Location: 7500 Quivira Road, Shawnee Mission, KS 66216
Phone: (913) 993-1000
Facebook: facebook.com/trailridgemiddle
Twitter: @Wildcats512