Bulldog Bulletin

• Message from the Principal
• Important Dates
• Tyler Overly Recognized by UD as Top Soloist
• Tri-M Music Honor Society Applications Due
• Summer Library Challenge
• Chairs for Charity Event
• Artist of the Month
• Brandywine Parent Counsel Meeting
• Spring Sports Updates
• Coffee with the Superintendent
• Springer Reading Challenge
• Springer Math Incentive Competition
• 8th Grade Formal Expectations
• 8th Grade Promotion
• BARK Summer Program for Incoming 6th Graders
• BSD Summer Learning Opportunities
• AVID Showcase
• Homework Club
• Schoology Access for Parents
• SAFE-DE
• Transportation: WheresTheBus App
• Volunteering at Springer Middle School

Springer Families,

This upcoming week brings us Teacher Appreciation Week! This is a wonderful time to recognize some of the hardest working groups of individuals on the planet. We have all been inspired, motivated, or positively impacted by an educator. The teachers we have at Springer are no different. This job is not your traditional 9-5, but rather one where working during nights and weekends is the norm. They worry about kids in our classes and building in the middle of the night. They sacrifice their own time and families to ensure our students get high-quality instruction and even higher quality relationships. At times the job can seem overwhelming and thankless. However, it only takes one student, one win, one instance where a child learns or grows and we are right back in. Springer Middle will do our part to celebrate the wonderful job our teachers do, but if you have a second consider sending a teacher, either current or past, a note or email letting them know they are appreciated. It goes a long way and sticks with us forever.

I personally want to thank all of the educators, paras, and support staff of Springer Middle School and beyond for their tireless efforts to improve the lives of students. You are literal super heroes. The work you do, the effort you put, and the impact you make on the lives of children is profound.

If you have any questions, concerns, or need additional information please do not hesitate to contact me or one of my administrators. We are eager to help.

All The Best,

Dr. Sterling H. Seemans

Principal

2024-2025 Middle School Daily Rotation Schedule

BSD School Calendar

Athletics Calendar

• 5/5/25: Marking Period 4 Interim Period Ends
• 5/6-5/9/25: Math SBAC Assessments
• 5/12-5/14/25: NWEA MAP Reading Assessments
• 5/15-5/19/25: NWEA MAP Math Assessments
• 5/17/25: 8th Grade Formal 7pm-10pm
• 5/26/25: NO SCHOOL-Memorial Day
• 5/29/25: Art Club's Chairs for Charity
• 6/5/25: 8th Grade Promotion at Concord High School 6pm

Tyler Overly (8th grade/Alto Sax) was named the Outstanding Soloist at the University of Delaware Jazz Festival. This marks the 4th year in a row that Springer has had a student win Outstanding Soloist.

Attention all current 6th and 7th grade music students! Are you a high academic achiever? Do you consider yourself a leader in your ensembles? Consider applying for the Tri-M Music Junior Honor Society. The application includes 3 signatures from your teachers, a 2-paragraph essay, a B average in all of your non-music classes, and an A in your music class. Applications are available in the back of the choir room and are due by the end of the day on Monday, May 19th to Mrs. Ferrara or Ms. Lee.

There are three new artists of the month for May! Congratulations to Berra Aydin, Liem Reed and Madeline Derle! Your artwork is now on display outside of Mrs. Dooley’s room 161

Soccer

The girls soccer team defeated district rival Talley yesterday 3-0. The entire team played really well. Emme Hailey got the scoring started with a great corner kick that found the back of the net!Allyson Cleghorn absolutely blasted a kick from 30 yards out for the second goal. Finally, Emma Burkhart ran down a ball and hit a great cross to a crashing Ava Harrison to bury the final goal for the bulldogs. Defensively, Brynn Costenbader, Callie Jones, Katie Scheidell and Marley Richardson shut the Tigers down!

The coaches are really proud of Emma Wallace and Kennedy Duhadaway for the great sportsmanship they’ve shown this week.

With this win the girls earned a spot in the district championship game!

The JV girls soccer team defeated PS DuPont the Thursday before break! The offense was led by Reagan Manlove, Allana Malloy, Emilie Golden, Isabella Garcia, Charlotte Doyle and Ciara Lindenberg. The defense was led by Sophia Marquette, Corinne Dorman, Rahini Shine, Ellie Reynolds and Deanna Johnson. Kayleigh Tolposki preserved the shutout for the team! Great Team win!

The Varsity Soccer team defeated PS the Thursday before break as well. Great team win!

The Varsity soccer team defeated odyssey charter yesterday 7-2.Emme Hailey controlled the play of the game throughout scoring 3 goals. Ava Harrison scored 2 goals and Allyson Cleghorn and Emma Burkhart both scored terrific goals as well! Quinn Read played brilliantly and defensively the team was led by Brynn Costenbader and Katie Scheidel! Corinne Hall played great in goal. The girls look to extend our winning streak when we play district rival talley at home today!

Track

The Springer T & F team traveled to Talley Middle School yesterday and did not disappoint as they "crushed" the competition! The official results have not been received at this time, however, here are a few of the highlights.

• 8th Grader Lezir Brown placed 1st in the Boys 100M,and 400M.

• 7th Grader Ryan Caswell placed 1st in the 1600M and 1st in a come from behind victory in the 800M.

• 7th Grader Adriana Delrasso placed 1st in the Girls 200M.

Go Bulldogs!!!

Congratulations to the Springer Boys Track & Field team who were declared "Champions" of the Jimmy Blunt Invitational!

Baseball

Congratulations to the baseball team on a tough win against district rival Talley. The team played great fundamental baseball all game long, moving runners over when at bat and making clutch plays all over the field. Charlie Friedrich made two outstanding catches in center field to take away extra bases, Wes Fiske gunned out what would have been the tying run at the plate on a fly ball to right, Nate Cruser pitched 5 lock-down innings to keep the Talley bats quiet, and Matt Sullinger slammed the door shut in the seventh with a strike out to end the game. Great team win boys!

Congratulations to the Baseball team on a 9-8 walk-off win against a scrappy PS team. Charlie Friedrich got the rally started with a 1 out double in the 8th, and scored on Shane Horn’s walk-off single. With the Bulldogs down to their last out Shane blasted a 3-1 pitch to left to secure the win. Great job Bulldogs.

Softball

The Springer Lady Bulldogs Softball team defeated Newark Charter 10-0 in a run rule shortened game.

Delaney Meyers went the distance on the mound recording 11 strikeouts.

Jamie Cook led the offense and was 3 for 3. Kendyl Mauro hit a 2 run home run with Kendall Jones, and Jenna Grimes having multiple hits.

The Springer Bulldogs scored a big conference win against the Talley Tigers 13-3 in a run rule shortened game.

Quinn Miracle recorded the win with Kendall Jones getting the save.

The Lady bulldogs had 8 hits while good quality at bats produced 13 walks.

Go Bulldogs !!

Springer Lady Bulldogs recorded another win against P.S. DuPont 18 - 0

Hailey Mullenix, Delaney Meyers and Kendall Jones combined to throw the shutout.

Springer recorded 21 hits with the following players having multiple hits:

Jamie Cook

Hailey Mullenix

Julia Baxter

Maya Goldstein

Clare Williams

Emma Young

Tennis

The tennis team came back, after trailing PS DuPont 0 matches to 4, to win 6-4. Winning for Springer were the following teams:

Tyler Moore/Jaxson Gaskill

Will Guarino/John Guarino

Lucas Strain/ Landon Williams

Gabe Holloway/Brodie Champeaux

Zeniick Johnson/Justin Chen

Rowdela Rahman/ Autumn Isabella

Final reading challenge update!

Congratulations to our top readers! All together, our students read 224 books and over 60,800 pages!

6th grade – 80 books total; 1st place – Vamsi Gumma, 33 books; 2nd place – Ellie Straub, 14 books; 3rd place, 2 way tie – William Dech and Ava Harrison, 13 books

7th grade – 76 books total; 1st place – Zoey Quigley, 14 books; 2nd place, 3 way tie – Isabella Autumn, Inbha Manikandan, Amira Zogheib, 11 books each; 3rd place – Patrick Coffey-Pusey, 9 books

8th grade – 68 books total; 1st place – Kendall Barth, 7 books; 2nd place, Alana Malloy, 4 books; 3rd place – Ja’siere Garrett, 3 books

We are quickly approaching the 8th grade formal, which will take place on Saturday May 17, 2025. We wanted to take a second to review expectations for elgibility to the dance, which were emailed on March 3, so families are aware and can plan for whether their child can attend or not.

Students will need to meet the following criteria:

• Any student with 3 or more referrals and 2 or more missing assignments from the start of marking period 4 Tuesday, April 1 to Friday, May 16 will not be eligible for the 8th grade formal
• Any student with a suspension in marking period 4 will not be eligible for the 8th grade formal

Tickets for the formal will go on sale later starting Wednesday, May 7 and the cost will be $20.

Our focus is and will always remain on preparing our middle school students for the rigors of high school and enabling and empowering them for success. We hope that through a combination of high expectations and high support, our students will finish the year strong and feel accomplished as they and their achievements are celebrated in many ways.

Please feel free to reach out to Dr. Seemans at sterling.seemans@bsd.k12.de.us

Our 8th grade promotion ceremony will be held on Thursday, June 5 at 6pm at Concord High School. Currently, we are still at a 2 ticket per student limit. If you wish to request additional tickets, please complete the following form: 2025 8th Grade Promotion Additional Ticket Request . Large requests will not be granted as space is limited and I cannot guarantee all requests will be fulfilled. Dr. Seemans will send out further details about 8th grade promotion as we get closer, but we wanted to communicate some initial details so parents and families can prepare and plan accordingly.

• Families can begin arriving at 5:00pm and seats are first come first serve
• Both the first floor and second floor sections of the auditorium will be used for promotion
• Students should plan to arrive at 5:00pm and will report directly to the gymnasium
• Students should be dressed in appropriate attire that is becoming of this event. No athletic wear, hats, pajamas, hoodies, t-shirts, sweatshirts/pants, etc. Students who are not dressed accordingly may be asked to change or leave. Long gowns are not recommended as students will have to navigate stairs, walking through narrow aisles, and walking across a stage
• Instructions for how students will process into the auditorium will begin around 5:30pm in the gym with administration
• The ceremony will begin at 6:00pm sharp. Students will receive their certificate of promotion at this event
• If you or one of the guests require handicap seating, please complete this form here: Request for Handicap Accessible Seating Springer Promotion Ceremony This information will allow us to properly plan student seating
• Students will sit in the front away from their guests
• There are no balloons, signs, or noisemakers permitted. Any of these items will be confiscated as guests enter the lobby area.
• We are planning a brief slideshow to present that will run on a loop until the ceremony begins. This will include pictures from the school year. We would also love to show baby/toddler/kid photos as well. Please only submit 1 baby/kid photo as the file to store these is limited. If you wish to submit 1 photo for this presentation, please complete this form: Baby/Kid Picture Submission.
• We will also set up for this event to be streamed to our YouTube page for those who can't make the ceremony in person.
• We are planning for the event to take about 90 minutes
• Behavior and attendance leading up to this ceremony is important. Students who are unable to attend regularly and follow our BARK expectations can lose their ability to attend this event.

If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate Dr. Seemans at sterling.seemans@bsd.k12.de.us

We are excited to announce our BARK Summer Program, which will take place the last week of July and first week of August. This is program to help incoming 6th graders with their transition to middle school. Students will learn about what it takes to thrive in middle school while meeting new friends and engaging in fun and enriching activities. If you have an incoming 6th grader or know someone who will be coming to Springer, please share this information. Please head to http://springer.brandywineschools.org/SBP for more information!

Talley Middle School is hosting an AVID showcase. This is an opportunity to learn more about what AVID is all about. AVID is a program we offer at Springer and if you are interested in having your child enrolled in AVID at Springer, please contact the school and ask to speak to a school counselor.

When Springer students return in January we are excited to announce our return of our Homework club! The Springer Homework Club is a voluntary after-school program providing academic assistance to students. Homework Club is a program which is held from 3:15 p.m. to 4:20 p.m. on Wednesdays. They meet in room 184 which provides a quiet place to study for each student to assist them in completing their assignments. There will be supervision and access to teachers and school tutors who have been trained to assist students in their studies. A Google form will be added to students' counselor corner page in Schoology for students to sign up, but it can also be found below:

https://forms.gle/KMqsPqenddDJFy8Q7

If you need help access Schoology as a parent to help support your child, please click the following link to access a document that will provide you step-by-step directions:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ZjlNYAoqfGxHO3dciOvXU5JOb11Zj7-E69a7-lPn4w4/edit?usp=sharing

Families, you are encouraged to visit the following link on the BSD website to find out more information about Transportation. For your convenience, we have Where is the Bus app and a brand new bus scanner to help you see when your child(ren) are boarding the bus. Students will either enter their school IDs or lunch numbers. You will receive information in the upcoming weeks on when students will receive their school IDs. Happy Riding!! https://www.brandywineschools.org/families/transportation/bus-scanners

Springer Middle School relies on the generosity of time from our great families within the community. We welcome those who want to help be apart of our village and have a plethora of opportunities for volunteers to engage with our students and staff to better the middle school experience of our youth.

Parents who are interested in volunteering at Springer Middle School will need to follow the Brandywine School District's policy for background checks. Please follow this link: Volunteering at BSD to be properly cleared to work with our students. If you have questions, do not hesitate to contact the main office.

Background checks are good for 1 calendar year