Welcome to Sandwich Middle School

Good afternoon. My name is Andy Heilemeier and I am the principal at Sandwich Middle School. On behalf of the staff, I want to welcome back our students, parents, and guardians. We are looking forward to a positive and productive school year. The first day of school is Wednesday, August 16 and students will be dismissed at 1:10 pm. The lunch program also begins this day.

Thank you for registering your student. At this time you will only receive a phone call if your student appears “unregistered.” Please do not hesitate to contact the office if you have any questions.

Mrs. Julia Vick- 8th Grade Language Arts and History

Mr. Mark Guilinger- 7th Grade language Arts and History

Brian Long- SMS/SHS Multilingual

Student Schedules are available via the student's TeacherEase account. https://www.teacherease.com/common/login.aspx

6th Grade Open House- August 14, 2023 6:00pm - 7:00pm

7th/8th Grade Open House- August 22, 2023 6:00 - 7:00pm

August 14th, 2023- Soccer Practice Starts 3:00pm

August 14th, 2023- Cross Country Practice Starts 3:00pm

August 14th, 2023- 6th Grade Open House 6:00pm-7:00pm

August 16th, 2023- First Day of School 1:10 Dismissal

August 22nd, 2023- 7th/8th Grade Open House 6:00pm-7:00pm

August 28th, 2023- 6/7/8 Girls Basketball Starts

September 1st, 2023- Fall Picture Day

Sandwich Middle School will generally email a monthly newsletter. The purpose of this communication will be to highlight the latest things going on at school while also keeping you up to date on future events.

Sandwich Middle School will be using a Facebook page. Please be patient with us while we adjust to using it as a social media platform. You can access our page by clicking this SMS Facebook Page.

You can also view our Instagram page by searching Sandwich Middle School

Here are the start date for all of our fall sports programs this year:

• Golf - Currently underway (Grades 6-8)

• Cross Country - Practice begins August 14th at 3:00 PM. Open to 5th-8th grade boys & girls.

• Co-ed Soccer - Practice begins August 14th at 3:00 PM. Open to 6th-8th grade boys & girls.

• Girls Basketball - Try-outs will start on August 28th, times TBD. 6th - 8th grade girls.

Reminder that your student athlete must have a current sports physical on file in order to practice/try-out. Also, there is a sport fee of $75 that must be paid. If you have questions, please feel free to contact the Middle School office.

Attention All Incoming 6th Grade Students:

The physical exam and immunization record are due by the first day of school

• Complete physical exam: Please note that a sports physical does not meet the requirement for the 6th grade physical.

• Up-to-date immunization to include: Tdap, 2-varicella doses, hepatitis B series, and meningococcal vaccine. Please check with your health care provider to be sure these immunizations are included on your child’s 6th grade physical exam.

• Exemption Forms: Renewal of Religious Exemption Form or Medical Exemption, if applicable.

• Dental exam: Due by May 2024
  

Health Plans

Health plans for certain medical conditions (ex, asthma, diabetes, seizures, food allergies, etc.) need to updated every school year. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact the school nurse. REMINDER :Students who require an inhaler at school should also have a spacer/chamber available to be used with the inhaler

Medication Reminder

Any student requiring medication during the school day needs to have a completed school medication form on file in the office. This includes all prescription, over the counter, inhalers, and emergency/rescue type medications. Forms can be found on the district website or you may contact the school nurse.

Routing our students into buses is a very big job each school year. Please note that we are in the process of finalizing this task with our limited transportation staffing. If you elected to receive transportation then you will receive a text message with your bussing information by the end of the day on Monday, August 14. If you have not received this text by then, please contact the transportation office.

Currently, there is a shortage of bus drivers across the United States and Sandwich is no different. We will be starting the year understaffed by two part-time drivers. At this time, we believe we can operate our service with a limited number of delays. We will do our best to hire more qualified drivers. If you are interested in a part-time job and would like to know how to become a bus driver, please call Transportation Director Sue Graham at 815-786-8325

Every school in the district will be rolling out a new security protocol and technology for guests and volunteers entering the buildings. This system will require identification from visitors (i.e. state ID, driver’s license, etc.), and all visitors will be photographed. A quick background check will be performed by searching US sex offender databases (with the option to expand this to criminal databases.). This system will also link with our student database to provide an extra layer of protection for students with no contact orders

In 2018 the Sandwich School District entered an agreement with the Sandwich Police Department to provide School Resource Officer (SRO) services to the school district. This included an on-site officer present at our schools for most of the school day, the DARE program, supervision at larger events (i.e. football games, homecoming events, etc.), and safety education. Starting last year, it was necessary to assign our SROs to some daily patron activities, which resulted in a reduction of some of these services.

This 2022-2023 staffing model will continue into the 2023-2024 school year. The two officers assigned to be our School Resource Officers have just been recertified and will continue to be our main contact at the Police Department. They will respond to calls at the school and/or be present in the school whenever possible. They will continue to be our DARE presenters and help out at large after-school activities. We will continue to work together to increase their presence at the school.

Cameras: Starting over 10 years ago the district began installing cameras in large traffic areas including hallways, entrances, playgrounds, and parking lots. With better technology, the district has taken a large step forward in purchasing new cameras for these areas, while reutilizing the older cameras to lower traffic areas. At this point, over 80% of the new costs have come from grants.

With the new 45 cameras we purchased, we have a total of 121 cameras and 6 vape sensors deployed throughout the district. With our recent purchase, we used the organization “22Vets” to review our building blueprints and recommend camera placements. This organization is owned and run by US Military Veterans..

2023-2024 Safety Goals: Each year the Board of Education adopts goals for the school year. This year, in addition to academic and financial goals, the board has adopted the following 4 safety goals:

• Review SRO expectations and contract with the city.

• Research and begin implementation of a new safety protocol.

• Work with a consultant to review current safety practices.

• Develop a plan to provide safer alternatives to building access.

Are you struggling to pay for fees, lunches, field trips, and/or extra fees? Please be aware that there are opportunities to get help with school fees, field trips, lunches, and other fees.

We currently utilize the free and reduced waiver program through the USDA. If you qualify, this waiver may cover lunches, registration fees, sports fees, field trips, etc.

If you would like to know more about this program, what the qualifications are, or how to apply, please call Mrs. Kruswicki at 815-786-2187.

Please remember, this program must be renewed every year. Since we utilize the guidelines of the USDA program, we must use their forms. Please make sure to do this as soon as it is available.

For those who would like to apply for free/reduced lunch, please do so using the following link: Online Application. Families who qualify for free/reduced lunch will have their registration fees waived or reduced.

Note: You can also learn more about this program through the USDA Income Eligibility link.

Email: smorel@sandwich430.org
Website: sandwich430.org/schools/sms/index.html
Location: 600 South Wells Street, Sandwich, IL, USA
Phone: 8157862138
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100044267353557