Spartan Weekly Update
Friday, August 26
Open House
Good Evening Spartan Families:
We had a fantastic, first full week of school with tons of memorable learning experiences and a visit from our Superintendent. As you head into the weekend, be sure to check out our many updates below.
We hope to see you for our in-person Open House on Tuesday evening (info and schedule below).
If your student hasn't found a way to get connected to our extracurricular activities we still have openings on the Cross Country Team, Student Council Starts next week and Ultimate Frisbee will be kicking off their first session on Friday. Click Here for Access to Our Extracurricular Calendar (Note: This calendar is live, so changes and updates will be made throughout the school year).
We hope you have a safe, relaxing and wonderful weekend! #SMSPride
Chris Cybulski, Principal
Marie Zlotnikov, Associate Principal
Ginger Logemann, Coordinator for Student Services
Collaboration
Mr. Simeck giving clues
Break Out!
OPEN HOUSE 8/30 (6:30pm)
Our annual Open House evening event will take place on Tuesday, August 30 from 6:30pm-8:30pm. This event is meant for the parents/guardians of our students, and will provide an opportunity to meet with and hear from all of your student's teachers.
We will open the night in the Shepard Gymnasium, with a quick welcome and introduction to our EnCore Teams. From there, parents/guardians will move to a designated location to meet with their child's team of teachers:
Team 6White - Lunchroom
Team 6Red - Gym
Team 7White - Art Room
Team 7Red - Library
Team 8White - Multipurpose Room
Team 8Red - 8th Grade Science Lab
To close the evening, parents/guardians will have time to visit our classrooms and explore our building.
*Note: This is an in-person event that will not include a livestream option*
Open House Schedule
Upcoming Dates
August 26 - 6th Grade After School Bash (Sponsored by PTSO)
August 30 - Shepard School Picture Day
August 30 - UPDATE - Open House/Curriculum Night (in-person at 6:30pm)
August 31 - 6th Grade Camp Duncan Field Trip
September 5 - No School (Labor Day)
Week of September 12 - MAP Testing
September 19 - 7th Grade Camp Duncan Field Trip (Info coming soon)
Ultimate Frisbee
Ultimate frisbee is one of the fastest growing sports in the world! Come check out this amazing, non-cut sport open to all SMS students on Friday, September 2nd from 3:00-3:20. Practice schedule will be announced there. If you've never played the sport before, you can learn the rules, learn how to play, and try it out! It's a great athletic way to have fun playing the ultimate game!
Check out this video to see some of the amazing ultimate highlights!
Shepard STUCO Starts Thursday
The first meeting of the Shepard Student Council is on Thursday, September 1 at 7:15am. All students are eligible to join the STUCO, which serves as a student government, philanthropic outreach and positive culture builder in our school community.
Please email Ms. Oliff and Ms. Zelnick with any questions
It's Not Too Late to Join Cross Country
Practices have begun, but there is still time to join the fastest Cross Country Team this side of Deerfield Road.
Check out our SMS Clubs/Sports Calendar for practice times.
Please reach out to Coach Ramsden and Coach Rummelhart with any questions.
Google Classroom
Hello!
You should receive a Google Classroom Guardian invitation by the end of the day Friday August19th. Accepting this invite will set things up so you start receiving email summaries of your child's Google Classroom classes. The email used to send the invitation is the one you've provided in Skyward. If you'd like the email changed, please contact your child's first period classroom teacher (math, ELA, science, social studies).
Please watch this video to learn more about how Google Classroom Guardian Summary Emails work: https://youtu.be/ugSvRwEp99E
A few notes to help! When accepting the invitation:
- To adhere to student privacy, guardians will not be joining the actual classes so you won't need a class code or the Google Classroom app or Google Classroom login.
- When prompted, select DAILY as the frequency otherwise the email summary will be delivered only once a week. You can always change the frequency anytime: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HeLemCnYF1E
Please feel free to direct all questions regarding Google Classroom to our Innovation Curriculum Specialist, Maria Galanis mgalanis@dps109.org, and she will be happy to help.
Include the following information when contacting Maria:
Your child's:
name
school
grade
team
first period subject area teacher (math, ELA, science, social studies)
DISTRICT COMMUNICATION
Is your child symptomatic for COVID?
As a reminder; if your child is presenting with COVID-19 symptoms, we will be continuing to accept home test results via our website. Here is the link to submit your child’s home test results (please select your child’s school from the drop down menu). If you have any questions or concerns about your ability to access home tests during the school year please reach out to Joanna Ford at jford@dps109.org.
SHIELD Take Home Tests Have Been Distributed
If your family opted in prior to August 11th, expect your child to bring home testing supplies today along with information on what to do. Those that opted in after our initial deadline will begin testing next month.
Turn in those required health forms!
There’s still a few weeks to accomplish this. Check this list by grade to make sure you’ve got all the right forms submitted!