Hello SBMS Community!

There are just a few new updates in this Spartan. There is a lot of student excitement for summer break and we are looking forward to supporting all of our students through the end of the school year. There's still a lot of learning happening in these last few weeks!

Activity Night Rescheduled for 5/31!- Deadline for Volunteers is Wednesday at 4:00

Last week I shared that we were able to reschedule our activity night to this Firday (the 31st). We haven't done a lot of advertising to students because we are still hoping for a few more parent volunteers to sign up by 4:00 on Wednesday so that we can hold the event. If you are able to help, please click this link to see available volunteer opportunities at the activity night or contact Stephanie at 541-790-8300 or minter_s@4j.lane.edu.

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

If your student has medication at school, it will need to be picked up by 4pm on Friday, June 14th, 2024, the last day of school.

Prescription and over the counter medications must be picked up by a parent or authorized adult.

EPI-pens and inhalers may be sent home with student only with your permission. If you authorize us to send your students EPI-pen/inhaler with them, please email downes_j@4j.lane.edu.

Any medication left past this time and date will be disposed of. Medications cannot be left at the school over the summer.

Thanks!

Nurse Jenny

Hello SBMS Community! It has been a wonderful school year and we now have an opportunity to say THANK YOU to our fantastic teachers and staff!

We will be hosting June Giving on the last day of school. This is a chance for teachers and staff members to let us know what they have been needing for their classrooms or around the school to make things work more smoothly. We have compiled a wish list of items that can be purchased. All items will be gathered and given to staff and teachers on the last day of school with some fun snacks.

You may purchase items from the wish list and have them sent directly to school, sent to your home or picked up at a locker location. If you choose not to send them directly to school, please drop them off in the office with Stephanie Minter. Please order by June 7th.

There will also be an envelope in the office for cash donations. Any cash donations will be combined to purchase items not fulfilled on the wish list or for snacks on the last day of school. If you’d like to use Venmo, please email sbmscommunity@gmail.com for more information.

Thank you for helping us say a big THANK YOU to this amazing team that has done an outstanding job taking care of our students this year.

https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/3VZFIGO8PRAGO?ref_=wl_share

We would appreciate you helping students search for any overdue library books that may be at home. An overdue, as well as lost book list (from the 2022-2023 school year) is posted outside of the library and updated weekly.

If your student knows that a book is lost, it would be helpful if you communicate that to us so we may provide you a bill and clear the account before the end of the school year. Please email Jenn Kotlarek with any questions (kotlarek@4j.lane.edu).

To order a 2023-2024 SBMS Yearbook please use the link below.

We do order a set number of books each year based on enrollment, so we recommend placing an order as soon as you can to ensure order fulfillment. Thanks for supporting our yearbook.

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 would like to help with the activity night on 5/31, please sign up using the link below or contact Stephanie at 541-790-8300 or at minter_s@4j.lane.edu.

The Camas Carnival is back!! Thursday June 6th, 2024, 5:30PM - 7:30PM. We can't make our Camas Carnival magic without community support! We welcome middle & high school Camas alums to volunteer! We offer free Carnival entry to all student volunteers. Shifts are 1 hour long. There will be music, games, a raffle, silent auction, bake sale, plant sale, inflatable obstacle course, photobooth & more!

Sign-up to help here: bit.ly/CamasCarnivalVolunteers2024

Each week you receive the Spartan Update message in your inbox and via text. Next year the district is switching our mass messaging platform to ParentSquare. The biggest difference you will see is that we will no longer have the ability to automatically push text messages to your phones next year. However, if you download the ParentSquare app from your app store of choice and create an account, our messages can be sent as notifications and if you still want texts you can also go into your settings and enable text messages. You will start seeing some messages from SBMS coming via ParentSquare, and we will use text messaging for the Spartan Update for this week (week of 4/15) and the week of 4/22. After the Spartan Update for the Week of 4/22, we will no longer push this info out via text.

By going to this site or downloading the app you can get registered in a few minutes. Setup is pretty easy (I recently did it 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.

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 Email List: https://spencerbutte.4j.lane.edu/staff-e-mail-list/ ]

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.

This newsletter is produced by Spencer Butte Middle School for the benefit of our school community. Please feel free to contact us directly.

In addition to contacting teachers, Canvas is also the tool that you can use to keep apprised of your child's grades in class.

How can I access Canvas?

You can access Canvas via the Canvas Parent app (available in the Google and Apple app stores) or by going to https://4j.instructure.com/login/canvas

How do I connect my account to my child's?

In Canvas, parents are called Observers. From the 4J Canvas webpage we learn that "As an Observer you will be able to check grades, monitor assignments and due dates, as well as communicate directly with your student’s teachers."

The key part of becoming an Observer is to pair your parent account with your child's account. To do that, you need a pairing code from your child. There are two ways to get your child's pairing code.

Student Supplied Pairing Code

If you would like to get the pairing code directly from your student, please click on the link below with your child to learn how to get the code:

Link to Creating a Pairing Code for an Observer Video: https://www.loom.com/share/33d85e2c1c7d4b6087ae0a708d63afac

Paula Provides the Pairing Code

Another way to get a pairing code is to contact me directly (nolan_p@4j.lane.edu, 541-790-8300, or click the Contact Paula button at the bottom of the page). Once I receive your request, I will generate the code and email it to you.