Scarborough Middle School
Family Newsletter for 11-19-2021
Hello Scarborough Middle School Families,
We want to thank our middle school families for taking the time to attend our recent parent-teacher virtual conferences and hope that your conference provided you with some valuable insight into your child’s progress in school. We look forward to our continued partnership throughout the remainder of the school year.
On another note, with a shortened week ahead of us, there will not be a newsletter next week. We want to take the opportunity now to extend our wishes that you are all able to enjoy the upcoming break from school with your families.
Respectfully,
Kathy Tirrell, Principal
David Currier, Assistant Principal
Important Upcoming Dates
November 24-26 - Wednesday, Thursday, Friday
- NO SCHOOL - Thanksgiving Break
- Second Dose, COVID Vaccine for Grade 6
- Early Release - 12:55pm
December 23 through January 2
- NO SCHOOL - Winter Break
- Last full day of school before Winter Break is Wednesday, December 22nd
- Students return to school from Winter Break on Monday, January 3rd
Our SMS Daily rotation of A, B, C, D days can be found on our webpage: SMS Monthly Calendar. The District Monthly Calendar has additional information on upcoming events district-wide along with the District School Year Calendar (PDF).
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Pooled Testing Update
If close contacts who are enrolled in weekly pool testing are identified from a school exposure during this period, there is a plan in place that involves rapid-antigen testing to keep these students in school and will be communicated more in depth if that situation arises. We will resume pooled testing the Tuesday following Thanksgiving break.
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Scarborough Kiwanis Winter Drive
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NWEA MAP Growth Tests Reports
The individual student results of the fall NWEA MAP Growth Tests were mailed out to middle school families today. They include a Reading, Language Usage and Mathematics report.
We are sharing the NWEA reports with you now in our efforts to provide you with the current information we have regarding your child’s performance on this assessment. As students will be required to take these assessments again in the spring, we will be sending these reports home again by the end of the school year.
The data is very important to us as it will assist us in making improvements to our curriculum and instruction. We track and study group data to inform shifts in curriculum and we look at classroom and individual data to plan for instruction. The spring data will be used to gauge and celebrate growth.
Our primary purpose for these assessments is not to give your child a score or grade but to determine how to best support their learning and their growth. They are not placement tests. They are tools, along with classroom data, to help your child continue their learning at an appropriate level of challenge and celebrate their growth. NWEA is an adaptive assessment that adjusts questions to identify your child’s areas of instructional readiness.
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SMS Student Council Contest
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Student Absence Reporting
Excusable reasons for an absence:
- illness
- appointment
- religious holiday
- family emergency
- planned absence
For Planned Absences (a day out of school which is not illness or medical appointment related), families should fill out the Scarborough Middle School Planned Absence form, which is found here.
For questions about attendance, please contact the Scarborough Middle School main office at 207-730-4800 or email us at msoffice@scarboroughschools.org
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SMS Yearbook 21-22
Yearbook Pre-Order
- Order online through Lifetouch. School ID Code is 12904722.
- Only limited extras are available at the end of the year so make sure to order ahead of time!
More information on our SMS Yearbook can be found online on the SMS Yearbook Website. For questions about the SMS Yearbook, please contact Will Cabana, Yearbook Advisor at wcabana@scarboroughschools.org.
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Scarborough Middle School
Email: msoffice@scarboroughschools.org
Website: https://sms.scarboroughschools.org/
Location: 21 Quentin Drive, Scarborough, ME, USA
Phone: (207) 730-4800
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/scarbmeschools/
Twitter: @scarbmeschools