Sandwich Middle School

Hard to believe that we are in the second quarter already! Time sure flies when you are having fun! Speaking of fun….the Social Studies classes will be studying Life in Ancient Egypt and Pyramids. In Science, the students will be digging into the inner workings of planet Earth. While in Language Arts classes, your student will be reading the novel Bud, Not Buddy and applying the reading skills we’ve been practicing so far this year. In Advanced math, students will be working on ratios and comparing unit prices to learn to be a smart consumer. In regular math, students will be working on solving expressions with an emphasis being placed on order of operations. They will also be working on analyzing word problems.

Instructional Language Arts- Students have been reading the novel Maniac Magee, learning new vocabulary words, and working on summarizing what is read and also completing comprehension activities. Students are greatly enjoying the novel, as there is never a dull moment when something exciting is happening or when students are wondering what will happen next! The students have also been working on correcting sentences that have capitalization, punctuation, and grammatical errors, as well as identifying the difference between simple and compound sentences. We have had a great first quarter and are excited to dive into more fun during the second quarter.

The teachers would like to congratulate Grady Feicht and Cheyenne Ledger as being our Students of the Month! Their hard work and kindness have not gone unnoticed!

We are well on our way into 2nd quarter! Please remember that parent/teacher conferences are right around the corner on November 20th & 21st. If you would like a conference with your student’s team of teachers, please reach out to any of them via email to get on the schedule.

We know this is OLD NEWS, but it’s so important: Please ensure that Chromebooks are charged nightly and brought to school with the charger. Please check Google Classroom and TeacherEase for work and grades. The TeacherEase program has complications with Google Classroom in terms of comments. If you are seeing an assignment marked as “missing” but it has a grade, please go to Google Classroom and hit “turn in” or “mark as done.” This will take care of the “missing” label.

The 7th-grade team is implementing the BUGS (Bringing Up Grades Successfully) program which began on September 11th. Students have the opportunity to stay after school on Tuesdays and Thursdays until 3:45. During this time, students are able to get extra help that may be needed in their classes. BUGS will take place in room 306 or 307. Students should look for the BUGS sign that will be located outside of the classroom where BUGS is taking place each day.

The Students of the Month for October are Luke Englehart and Riley Wolff. Great job to two great kids! Keep up the excellent work. We are proud of you.

8th Grade Newsletter

We are so proud of our 8th graders! We made it through the first quarter and they are getting back into the swing of things. Google Classroom is our students’ best organizational tool, but TeacherEase is still the best way to keep track of missing assignments. Please check daily. Please make sure your child has the supplies they need for each class so they can be organized and prepared. Many students are running out of pencils and colored pencils. You can find what each subject area is up to as you read below…

History: We are finishing up Chapter 23, WWI. Students learned about the causes of WWI and American involvement. Key points of study include u-boats and submarine warfare, the sinking of the Lusitania, the Selective Service Act, President Wilson, the Zimmerman telegram, the Treaty of Versailles, and the League of Nations. We will move into chapter 24, the Jazz Age, to finish out the month.

Language Arts:

The 8th Grade Language Arts classes are reading short stories to identify the elements of literature and plot. After we are finished going through all of the elements of literature and plot individually, we will move on to reading “Flowers for Algernon” written by Daniel Keyes. This will be our culminating short story, and with it, we will review and discuss figurative language.

Instructional Language Arts:

Instructional LA students are reading short stories to identify the elements of literature and plot. We are finishing up sentence structure and moving forward to paragraph writing. We are continuing to work on a variety of comprehension skills, sequencing and inference are coming up this quarter.

Math:

We just started chapter 3 on Equations in One Variable where we have covered the constant rate of change, slope, Equations in y = mx form and slope-intercept form. We will be continuing on through chapter 3 with graphing a line using intercepts, and writing linear equations. We will be ending the chapter with systems of equations.

Instructional Math:

Students in the instructional math class are working on Unit 1, which includes integers, number relationships, functions, expressions, and equations. Each week, the students continue to brush up their basic math skills through daily warm-ups and practice applying math skills to real life situations (a.k.a. word problems).

Science:

We have finished our periodic table review unit and students did a great job. We will be moving into our unit on interactions of matter (chemistry) next. Please make sure students are staying up to date on their assignments because this subject matter will be a little more challenging than the 1st quarter. Students should check on Google Classroom for any missing work and on TeacherEase for their grades.

Students of the Month: Our 8th grade Students of the Month are Andres Arriola and Ella Calvert. These are two hard working students who have great attitudes and are kind to others. They are great role models!

The SMS Band and Choir are doing a "Rock Your Socks" fundraiser from November 1ast through November 20th. Purchase your fun and comfy socks here:

https://fundsnow.org/s/DmwJ

Please share this link with others. Orders ship directly to the buyer.

Mark your calendars! The Holiday Choir Concert is coming up on Wednesday December 13th and the Holiday Band Concert is on Thursday December 14th.

Hello from the Physical Education department. Wow, how time flies. We are already in full swing of the 2nd quarter and our students' actions are at an utmost high. We have already finished off our soccer and flag football units, and are now embarking on a basketball unit with volleyball to come next. We currently have a plethora of plastic bags in our locker rooms for students to bring their clothes home on the weekend to be washed and ready to be brought back to school on Mondays. Please feel free to utilize this or help encourage your student to use this service.

One student who stuck out and went above and beyond our expectations in class was Shanea Hinman. Shanea has repeatedly stayed at the end of class and helped put our equipment away, and has shown great manners and participation levels in class. We are so proud of all her accomplishments and look forward to great things in the future. Keep up the great work.

In the United States, about 30 million adults and 200,000 people under the age of 20 have diabetes. Here are some website resources for Diabetes:

diabetes.org

jdrf.org

idf.org

Dental Reminder:

Completed Proof of School Dental Exam forms are required for current sixth grade students by May 15th. If you are unable to obtain the required dental exam, please complete the Dental Exam Waiver Form.

Flu season is here!

Shannon Joiner, MSN, RN

Sandwich Middle School

Sandwich CUSD #430

815-786-2138 ext. 23015

sjoiner@sandwich430.org

Our new Visitor Check-In System has been a welcome addition to our school. As you know, our number one priority is the safety of your students, and this impressive system is a great upgrade for our school. Using a visitor's ID (state ID or Driver's license), this system will complete a quick background check by searching the US sex offender databases & criminal databases. Now that we have a new visitor check-in system, we will no longer ask parents to fill out a volunteer packet.

The Sandwich School District needs your help! Please consider joining us as a substitute teacher. Did you know you can make $120 a day as a substitute teacher? You can create a work schedule that fits your availability through the use of our Frontline app. Earn $120 a day and work when you want to. Please click below for more information.

https://dekalbcounty.org/departments/regional-office-of-education/roe-services/educator-licensure/substitute-teachers/

Please feel free to follow our Sandwich Middle School Facebook Page at https://www.facebook.com/people/Sandwich-Middle-School/100044267353557/ This is a place where we share celebrations, community information and school reminders for various events. Please note that all important information and announcements will go home to you in our newsletter, classroom newsletters or in your student's backpack. The page is not intended to be your primary source for communication, but instead an extra one. Please avoid sending messages or posting school related questions as the page is only monitored intermittently. Instead, always contact our school office for school related questions or to communicate about your student. We appreciate it!

Dodgeball Fundraiser

On Friday, November 17 Sandwich Middle School will be having a students vs staff fundraiser to raise money for local Veterans in the form of gift cards as well as a monetary donation to VetsRoll to support Veterans. Students can return a permission slip and $5 before Thursday the 16th for a chance to play a game of dodgeball against the staff. If a student would like to watch this epic event, they can bring $1 that day to pay for admission to watch. This is the 12th year that we have had this fundraiser and have raised over $12,000 for Veterans. Any questions, please contact Mrs. Tripp.

SLIME FUNDRAISER

During WIN class, students can add money to teacher/staff jars to see who will get SLIMED on Nov 17th…1-6th grade, 1-7th grade and -8th grade staff or office staff will get the slime at the end of the day during a whole school assembly!!!

WRESTLING SIGN-UPS!

Wrestling season is just around the corner! Come be a part of our family and help us continue to build our program. We are committed to keeping a winning tradition alive! Sandwich Wrestling is a place for everyone, we believe all athletes can become a better wrestler and just as important to us, a more responsible, disciplined and supporting individual. Do the best thing you can for your son or daughter & get them involved!

Eligible to all students 5th-8th grade, boys and girls, no experience necessary

How to sign-up:

Online through our Facebook page – https://m.facebook.com/SMSBravesWrestling?mibextid=LQQJ4d

In-Person during lunch hours with Coach Hicks – November 13th

Come to open-mats November 14th or 16th – 3:00pm-4:00pm @SMS Gym

Any questions please feel free to reach out to Coach Hicks – hicksc@sandwich430.org or 815-712-2220

November 11th - Veteran's Day

November 14th - School Board Meeting @ SMS Library 2nd floor 7:00PM-8:00PM

November 17th- SMS Progress Reports

November 20th - No School - Parent Teacher Conferences

November 21st - No School - Parent Teacher Conferences

November 22nd - No School Thanksgiving Break

November 23rd - No School Thanksgiving Break

November 27th - School Resumes

The carry over period for students who were receiving free/reduced lunch for the 2022-2023 school year ended on September 27, 2023. If a new 2023-2024 application was not received your child was automatically put on paid breakfast and lunch effective September 28, 2023.

Please click on the link below to apply for free/reduced breakfast and lunch:

https://www.freereducedlunch.com/sandwich430

In accordance with Federal law and U.S. Department of Agriculture policy, this institution is prohibited from discriminating on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, or disability. To file a complaint of discrimination, write USDA, Director, and Office of Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, D.C. 20250-9410 or call (800) 795-3272 or (202) 720-6382 (TTY). USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.

The Core Value of the month is RESPONSIBILITY. Responsibility means to be dependable, honor your commitments, and to be prepared. What does that look like for a responsible member of the staff and students: on time to school and to class, lessons are prepared,materials are ready to go, homework is completed, all materials are in class with them (including a pencil), and they are engaged in the topic being taught (PARTICIPATION! Teachers LOVE it).