Switzerland Point Middle School

• April 10-12: Shrek the Musical
• April 17: Night of the Arts
• April 18: No School
• April 23: Interims Issued
• April 25: Raider Store, 8th Grade Formal
• Week of April 28: Staff Appreciation Week - Stay Tuned for Details
• April 28: Character Counts! Chats and Drill

The City of St. Augustine will host several opportunities for the community to recognize Earth Week during the week of April 21, 2025. Residents are invited to participate in events aimed at promoting environmental awareness and sustainability.

The following events are free and open to the public:

• Tuesday, April 22 – Fish Island Walking Tour (15 participants max, register here)
• Thursday, April 24 – Resiliency Walking Tour (10 participants max, register here)
• Friday, April 25 – Recycling & Shredding Event (More information here)
• Saturday, April 26 – Fish Island Walking Tour (15 participants max, register here)

The free community recycle event on Friday, April 25 will take place at the Solid Waste Facility, located at 601 Riberia Street, from 9:00am – 1:00pm. Residents can shred documents (limit 5 boxes per City of St. Augustine resident), recycle outdated or broken electronic devices, and dispose of used cooking oil. No hazardous waste or televisions will be accepted.

More information regarding Earth Week events is available online at www.CityStAug.com/SustainabilityEvents, or by contacting Liz Johnson, Sustainability Specialist, at sustainability@citystaug.com or 904.201.8836.

The countdown is ON to the best week of the year – BOOK FAIR WEEK!! The Scholastic Book Fair will be returning to the Media Center April 9th through April 17th!

Please visit our book fair homepage at https://www.scholastic.com/bf/switzerlandpointmiddlesch1 to preview the fair and set up an eWallet if needed. eWallets let students shop the fair directly – no cash or credit card necessary! However, we do still accept cash, check, card, or Apple/Samsung pay.

Please note that the materials available for purchase at the Book Fair were not selected by the St. Johns County School District. We encourage parents to review their child’s wish list and have a conversation about what they are allowed to purchase at the book fair before sending money to make any purchases. Purchases can also be made online – all orders ship directly to your home, and shipping is free for book orders over $25. Every online purchase will also benefit our school! Please email madison.gowin@stjohns.k12.fl.us if you have any questions regarding the book fair.

The deadline to purchase tickets for the 8th grade formal is 4/18/25. Please remember that the eligibility requirements for the dance are the same as for the field trip.

Night of the Arts is a free event where you can see some performances by Winterguard, theatre, and band. There will be displays of our students' artwork from 2-D and Digital Art classes, as well as projects from other content area classes. There will be tables of activities sponsored by clubs such as oragami, rock painting, STEM projects, face painting, and more. PTSO will be there selling spirit wear, too. There will be snacks for sale (cash only, please). We hope to see you there!

In honor of Military Child Day, we invite everyone to wear purple on April 15th to show support and appreciation for the incredible resilience and sacrifices of military children. At Switzerland Point Middle School, we honor the resilience and strength of children in military families. Military Child Day is a special opportunity to recognize the unique challenges these children face, from frequent moves to time spent apart from parents serving in the armed forces. Let's take a moment to show our support and appreciation for these young heroes who demonstrate incredible courage and adaptability. We are proud to stand with them and their families!

Extra Resources:

Month of the Military Child DoD Website

Support for Military Personnel & Families | Military OneSource This is a great resource for military families.

Staff appreciation week is officially the first full week of May. However, here at SPMS, we are celebrating it the week of April 28th so we can all celebrate before state testing begins. Our theme this year is the '90's!!! We want our students to show their spirit for our staff by participating in the dress up days that week.

During the weke of April 28th, please do not forget to reach out to your student's teachers to let them know you appreciate them and have your student write a note of thanks.

Get your SP Spirit wear before it’s gone! ORDER HERE!

Complete the form on our website to request early check out. It is located on the bottom left (side bar) of the website. The form needs to be completed by 6 AM the day you are requesting early check out. After the 6 AM cut off, please send your child in with a note to the front office like normal. Please do not request early check out more than 2 days in advance.

As a safety precaution, students will only be released to the parent/guardian or the Emergency Contact listed in HAC. A current driver’s license must be presented to the front office to check a student out early. The following procedure will be strictly enforced: NO student may be signed out after 1:15 PM daily. Parents must arrive in the office no later than 1:15 PM in order to sign their child out early. Students who check out during the school day due to illness are not eligible to return to school that evening to participate in activities or to be a member of the audience.

Behavior expectation assemblies were held Tuesday, January 7th and will be reviewed again in 1st period on March 25th. Expectations were taught and have been reviewed since the beginning of the school year.

• At the end of the year, students can attend a field trip as a reward for their behavior.
• Students who earn ISS or OSS during 2nd semester, to include for tardies and demerits, will NOT BE ELIGIBLE to participate n the grade-level reward trip.
• Students who commit a Level 4 offense during the entire school year, will NOT BE ELIGIBLE to participate in the grade-level reward trip. Please see Section 5, Levels of Discipline, on page 31 in our Student Code of Conduct for examples of Level 4 offenses.
• Students with 15 or more unexcused absences during the school year will NOT BE ELIGIBLE for the trip.
• For 8th grade students, these behavior requirements also apply to the 8th grade formal dance.
• Once a reward trip has been paid for, we will be unable to give refunds or transfer the reservation to another student’s name.

State testing dates have been announced (see below). Students will be told of their testing room by their 1st period teacher. Testing begins promptly at 7:30. Please encourage your child to do their best, bring testing materials (pencil, calculator, wired earbuds for students with oral presentation accommodation), and eat a healthy breakfast. Be sure to save the date!

We are only two weeks into our 4th quarter Kindness challenge, and the results so far are below.:

6th Grade: 31.9%

7th Grade: 40.9%

8th Grade: 22.7%

Congratulations to the students below who were recognized by SPMS staff members for displaying the pillar of Trustworthiness. They were celebrated this Friday, April 4th, with lunch provided by the PTSO, certificates, and letters from their teachers.

6th Grade

Ashton Bonavia

Grace Brown

Easton Graston

Theo Joyner

Kennedy Martin

Isabella Pesquera

Oliva Schreck

Stella Watson

Josie Whitnell

7th Grade

Jesse Bryant

Jonny Giaco

Adalyn Goddard

Keaton Powell

Reagan Robinson

Frank Spinner

Polina Struzhkova

Patrick Tapp

Aiden Zura

8th Grade

Avery Ardizzoni

Larry (LJ) Barther

Jaycee Collins

Marlie Dean

Tori Dowd

Elizabeth Eaton

Sophia Harrison

Caleb Hovis

Payton Johnson

Connor Killday

Nicholas Lattanzi

Jenna Lazinsky

Vanessa Maxfield

Keegan Parkkonen

Kallen Smith

Lillian Tanner

Knox Timony

Carina Van Camp

Aryan Vishwakarma

Alysa Zachariou

Juliana Zapata

Each month, our staff nominate students who display the Pillar of Character for that month. Students will be celebrated the first week of the next month with lunch provided by the PTSO.

This month, we look for students who display the characteristics of all the pillars of character. We look for students who are:

• Trustworthy
• Respectful
• Responsible
• Fair
• Caring
• Good Citizens

In partnership with Resiliency Florida, we will explore a characteristic each month.

You can find out more information by visiting their website: https://www.buildresiliency.org/ .

Please see the attached document about Varsity Tutors, a resource that is free to your students!

SPMS National Junior Honor Society is sponsoring an opportunity to send a special birthday or congratulations message to your student via the marquee in the front of the school. Cost is $25. Complete the form here to submit your request (there's a separate link in the form to pay via Schoolpay upon submitting your request). Requests are due the Friday prior to the event and will display the following week (Tuesday through Monday). Example: If you turn in the request on Friday, September 17, then your message will be displayed on Tuesday, September 21.

The WEB students will be collecting items for the Movers for Mom collection drive benefiting women and family centers in our area, including the Betty Griffin Center and the Quigly House. The homeroom who donates the most items to this worthy cause will win a snack bar full of delicious treats.

The National Junior Honor Society will be accepting applications for all rising 7th and 8th graders from April through May. Please pick up colored applications in the media center. Applications will be available starting April 7th and can be found on the Media Center table. Applications will be due by May 2nd. If you are a current NJHS member, you must still fill out an application form.

Rising 7th grade students (yellow application) will turn in their member application to Ms. Keith in room 555, and rising 8th grade students (blue application) will turn in their member application to Ms. Dunn in room 415. If you were in NJHS in the 7th grade, you will need to fill out a new application for 8th grade. 7th graders who did not fulfill their obligations in the previous year may not reapply.

NJHS is an organization for 7th and 8th grade students with a 3.5 GPA or above (in the 4 academic courses only) that exemplify Scholarship, Leadership, Citizenship, Service, and Character. This organization is designed to help students develop habits to be successful in high school, college, and their career, as well as support their community with the completion of 20 service hours during the year.

Current NJHS members: Don't forget about the field trip on April 17th.

Team members include Kiara, AJ, Natalie, Bri, Sreya, Lily, and Gabe. They tied for 4th place in the district-wide competition on March 25th and had a lot of fun this season reading the SSYRA books!

Here are also some photos from our author visit with Taryn Souders on March 25th. Over 60 students attended her presentation, 24 got to participate in the Sherlock games afterward, 1 team won, and 5 lucky students also won free signed copies of her books.

See below for try out information and night of the arts info!

• Several volunteer opportunities available! The PTSO could use your help as we head into the 4th quarter with Raider Store! If there aren't enough volunteers, the stores must be cancelled! Please come and see the students have a great time at the Raider Store, as well as to see how it all works. This is one of the biggest things that the PTSO offers for your students. Raider Store Volunteer

• The SP 8th Grade Formal Team could use your help with lots of things for the formal! 8th Grade Formal Volunteer

Calling all rising Raiders!

🥳Celebrate your rising high school student with a fun yard sign!

‼️💲20 and it includes personalization!‼️

PTSO MEMBERS! Check your email for a coupon code!

🔜Sale goes from February 1 to April 1, 2025.🔚

➡️ONLINE ONLY⬅️

https://switzerland-point-middle-school-ptso.square.site/

Signs will be available for pick up in the front loop starting May 1, 2025. They will be displayed in the grass so stop by after 2:15 anytime after 5/1/25 to get a picture and take it home!

The PTSO would love your help stocking the Raider Store! The Raider Store is where students can spend their hard earned Raider Bucks. Your student earns Raider Bucks from their teachers and staff for showing good character in the classroom and hallways. They can then spend them in the PTSO-sponsored Raider Store. We are always looking for new and fun things to stock the store with to keep the students coming back. Please put your student's name on the gift, and he/she will be credited Raider Bucks for your donation!

Thank you for your support!

CLICK HERE TO SHOP

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