Spartan Update 1/6/25

Hello SBMS Community!

Welcome Back!

We are excited for our students to return to us tomorrow, January 7th! Sometimes the return to school can be difficult after having 2 weeks off from the standard routine, but we are here to support your child get back into the habits of school. If there is anything that we should be aware of as your child returns, please call the office and talk with a staff member.

Changes to Advisory and FLEX

We will be making some changes to our Advisory and FLEX classes (which days of the week those are held and the structure of classes). More details are below.

Congratulations to our Band and Orchestra Students!

Before Winter Break the SBMS bands and orchestra had a fantastic concert! Thank you to music teacher Ms. Toni Hansen for all of her hard work supporting students- and thank you to all of the students who worked hard to prepare for their great concert!

School Choice Season

If you or people you know are interested in school choice information, there are details below in this newsletter. SBMS will be hosting in-person and online sessions this week.

Thank you for your time in reading this week's Spartan Update. If there is anything that I can do for you, please feel free to contact me at nolan_p@4j.lane.edu, 541-790-8300, or by clicking the Contact Paula button at the bottom of this newsletter.

Have a nice day,

Paula

Paula Nolan

Principal

Spencer Butte Middle School

Changes to Advisory and FLEX

Advisory is a scheduled time during the week when a caring teacher and group of students are able to build relationships and discuss issues relevant to student success, school culture, and the middle school lived experience. FLEX is a scheduled time during the week for students to receive academic support and have opportunities to form and reinforce positive connections with peers and staff. Before winter break we would have Advisory on Mondays and Fridays and FLEX on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Based on staff and student feedback we are making a change to our advisory and FLEX schedule. The period is the same (end of the day) but we will have Advisory on Mondays and Tuesdays and FLEX on Thursdays and Fridays. On weeks where we don't have 5 days with students, we will only have 1 Advisory day.

Monthly Calendar

Part of the change to advisory is the introduction of a weekly "Business Day" these days are dedicated to school business and the important work of learning to use a calendar (a very important skill to have when going into high school). I invite our parents to check in with their student each week about their calendar. In addition to business and calendars, students will have the opportunity to work on assignments and projects, missing work, or to study for upcoming quizzes, tests, etc...

School choice lottery season is upon us! If you or people you know are interested in school choice, there are a few ways to learn more about the process:

District School Choice Webpage: The 4J school choice webpage has a lot of information and frequently asked questions.

District Hosted General School Choice Information Sessions: Learn about the 4J school choice process by attending an information session. Each session will have a video presentation and a question and answer time at the end of each session.

• Virtual: Tuesday, Jan. 7 at noon | Link to session
• Virtual: Thursday, Jan. 9 at 6 p.m. | Link to session
• Reunión en persona en español: Thursday, Jan. 16 at 6 p.m. (4J Main Office, 200 N. Monroe St., Tower Room

School-Specific Sessions: Want to learn more about individual schools? Check out the schedule at this link. The SBMS sessions for interested families are below:

• Online: Wednesday, January 8th from 5:30-6:15 PM (Link to Presentation)
• In Person- Wednesday, January 8th from 6:30-7:30 PM at SBMS in the Lunchroom
  
• In Person- Friday January 10th from 7:30-8:30 AM at SBMS (Meet at the office).

Volunteers are incredible forces in the lives of our students. We have many volunteer opportunities at SBMS- activity nights, field trips, and in-school events are a few examples. To be a volunteer, there's a two-step process:

1. Volunteer Application
2. Background Check

If you've been a volunteer in the past, your background check is good for 2 years.

We will share our volunteer opportunities through the Spartan Update and emails to families. To get the process started, please click the button below.

SBMS activity nights are a fantastic way for students to connect with one another in a fun way! We host a game room, open gym, movie room, dance hall, snack bar, and lobby hang-out. Giving students a variety of supervised choices takes help and we would love to have you join us. There is no set-up and no clean-up on your part! Chaperones come a little bit early to get signed in and assigned to a station, and leave right after the dance!

If you are interested in helping at our upcoming activity nights on February 7th (click here) or on April 11th (click here) or contact Stephanie our school secretary at 541-790-8300 or at minter_s@4j.lane.edu

We are here as a part of your child's team. Whenever I have the opportunity to speak with a parent about something involving a class I always ask if they've had a chance to connect with the teacher. I ask that question because involving the teacher is the most powerful thing that we can do to help your child in class.

Our teachers love to hear from parents. Whether there is information about something happening in the student's life, a fun story about when your child spoke about the class at home, concerns about academic progress, or questions about the class, connecting with staff is the first and most important step in helping your student to succeed.

There are many ways to connect with staff. Sending an email or message in Canvas is the most direct way of reaching teachers. You can also call the school at 541-790-8300 and leave a message for a teacher to return.

Contacting Teachers Via Email

To find a teacher's email address, please access our directory below.

[Link to SBMS Staff Directory: https://spencerbutte.4j.lane.edu/41178_2 ]

Contacting Teachers Via the Canvas Parent App*

You may find the Canvas Parent app the easiest way to send a message. When in the app you can send a message by tapping on a course name and then the speech bubble emoji in the bottom right corner. Alternatively, you can also navigate to the inbox, tap on the speech bubble emoji, and then select the teacher/course you are intending to send the message to.

Canvas on Desktop*

If you are accessing Canvas via desktop you are able to send a message through the Inbox feature. To use that, follow the directions below:

1. Click on the Inbox logo/name on the left hand side of the screen.
2. Once you are in the Inbox, look at the top of the webpage and then click the pictogram that looks like a pencil writing on paper.
3. After you do that, you can select the course/teacher you are attempting to contact.

*Information about how to access Canvas is below.

Canvas is the online learning platform that parents can use to track grades and what is happening in classes (announcements, due dates, etc...). It is a very important tool to use and I recommend that every parent/guardian uses their Canvas Observer account (accessed via the web or the Canvas Parent app on your phone).

The information below will tell new and returning users how to activate their Canvas Observer account for this school year.

All new and returning users must activate their account before you can start using Canvas Observer (even if you had an account last year). To activate your account , complete the following steps:

1. Visit 4J’s Canvas for Families webpage and click on “Forgot Password?”

2. Enter the email you provided your child’s school and then click the “Request Password” box

3. Enter a password after clicking the reset link you receive in your email

4. Return to the Canvas for Families webpage to log in with your username and new password

One account per email- Canvas Observer will not allow you to activate more than one account if parents/guardians have the same email address on file for their student. In this case, contact your school and provide a unique email address for each parent or guardian associated with your student.

Please contact us at 541-790-8300 or email me at nolan_p@4j.lane.edu if you run into any problems with activating your account.

Having the ParentSquare app will allow you to receive instant notifications from the school (in addition to emails). By going to this site or downloading the app you can get registered in a few minutes. Setup is pretty easy (I did it last year for my own parent account). Basically, you'll create your account and then you'll be asked to link your children to your account. The site or app will walk you through the process. If you need any help with it, please call us at 541-790-8300.

This platform is being used at all schools and I encourage our community to download it so you get the instant notifications in addition to emails.