Falcon Flash
May 13, 2022
Principal's Message
Stetson Families:
Parents of students currently enrolled in Algebra, you should have received Keystone testing information by email. The Algebra I Keystone Exam is a graduation requirement and will take place on Monday May 16th and Wednesday May 18th. Algebra students should have a #2 pencil, calculator, and NO electronic device (including watches) in the testing room each day. We will begin this testing promptly at 8:15 am.
As May weather arrives, the excitement of the end of the school year approaches. Our teachers are planning fun activities for all three grade levels. We will be communicating this culminating activities information soon.
We continue to experience serious social media concerns that disrupt our school environment. We need parents to partner with us in helping our middle school students safely use social media. While social media apps are used as the primary means of communication, Mayo Clinic research also suggests that they are distracting, disrupting sleep, and exposing youth to bullying, rumor spreading, unrealistic views of other people's lives and peer pressure. We need to continue the conversation with our children about using appropriate and respectful language when speaking to one another regardless of the platform. Group chats, pictures, digital threats are too common in middle schooler’s lives. Parents please stay as active in your child’s electronic world as you do in their physical world. We encourage kindness and respectful in school but the online social damage becomes irreparable at times. If your child is experiencing any type of inappropriate behavior, please report it to our administrative team. We want to help provide supports for our students through their adolescent ups and downs.
Thank you for continued support!
Have a great weekend,
Mrs. Puchalla
Calendar --Look Ahead and Plan
May 16th--Day 3 **Algebra Keystone Testing Day
May 17th--NO SCHOOL
May 18th--Day 4 **Algebra Keystone Testing Day
May 19th--Day 5
May 20th--Day 6 **HOOPS For Heart Fundraiser during UA classes
Daily bell schedule
Falcon Period Schedule--Tuesday and Thursday
Technology concerns--If technical issues arise, please use the following resources:
Tech Support @ Home – WCASD website with important information:
- Schoology Support
- Laptop Support
- Additional Resources
- Schoology Parent & Student Support
If there is an issue with your 1:1 device please email SMS tech_support@wcasd.net
New Initiative for 4th Marking Period--PBIS Falcon Bucks!
We have started a new initiative for the 4th marking period designed to support and encourage positive behaviors and habits from our students. Some examples of behaviors where students can earn Falcon Bucks would be comforting a friend when they are upset, lending supplies like a computer charger to a friend, finding a valuable lost item and turning it into the office, a genuine and kind behavior towards another student, or being an upstander to a peer in need. Every Friday we will hold a raffle and pick a Falcon Buck out of the bucket. The winner of the raffle will be awarded a prize. We will also be doing an end of the marking period for each grade level to win a special activity like a game against their teachers.
8th Grade Dance
We are excited to announce that the 8th grade dance is June 3rd from 6:30-9:30 pm. Permission forms are past due. If your child would like to still attend, please have them bring their signed permission form to Ms. Morris or Mrs. Chavarria. The success of the dance depends upon parents to help with chaperoning, decorating, food preparation, and cleaning up. Please see the sign up link on the permission form. Thank you in advance for those who help out!
Student Council Info
Our student council has provided a new online school store for Stetson spirit wear. There is no deadline to purchase items. Please see this link if you are interested in ordering something for your child:
https://teamlocker.squadlocker.com/#/lockers/stetson-middle-school
Spring Sports
Home events next week-- start time scheduled for 3:15 pm:
5/16--7th grade Baseball vs Chichester
5/16--Girls Lacrosse vs Downingtown
Ineligibility
It is Stetson’s mission to help all students maintain passing grades, however, if a student is failing two or more academic subjects, or one academic subject, and two unified arts classes, they will be placed on our ineligibility list. Students who are on the ineligibility list are unable to participate in any extracurricular sport/activity. A report is generated every Thursday to determine eligibility status for the following week.
6th Grade Intramural Opportunity
The 6th Grade Intermural Track Program is an after school activity in which 6th Graders will learn the fundamentals of track and field, participate in a tri meet, interact with their peers and get physical exercise. Practices will begin May 3rd and culminate with a track meet with Fugett and Pierce tentatively scheduled for May 25th. If you would like to sign up your child for 6th Grade intermural Track please fill out the form in the link, 6th Grade Intermural Track . To join the 6th Grade Intermural Track page on Schoology use the access code MHSDS-STR8D. Our Practice Schedule will be posted on the Schoology page. Feel free to contact Mr. David Loescher with any questions dloeschervelazquez@wcasd.net
Hoops For Heart--May 20th, 2022
Back by popular demand, our Hoops For Heart fundraiser will take place this school year on May 20th. Stetson's goal this year is to raise $7,000 for The American Heart Association. Please read flyer to find out about how to make a contribution or have your child join in on the basketball fun!
Reading Olympics Update
On Tuesday, May 3rd, Stetson’s Reading Olympics team, Eat. Sleep. Read. Repeat, put on an amazing performance at the countywide Reading Olympics competition. This year, the five team members read 46 books in order to prepare for the trivia-like competition. Despite having a late start to the season, each team member went above and beyond to make sure every single book was read and discussed during our bi-weekly meetings. Please help congratulate Alex Han, Kaylee Troutman, Georgia Green, Laura Calabria and Maggie Perritt on a job well done! We are proud of you! Thank you Mrs. Mesi for sponsoring this team.
Falcon Flyer
The Falcon Flyer Newspaper Club has published the Spring Edition! Please take a few minutes to read the students’ interviews, articles, stories and poetry.
Lost & Found
Our lost and found is getting quite large lately. If your child has lost any item (especially a water bottle), please have them take a look at our lost & found area. All of the items are located on a cart located in the cafeteria by the entrance doors.
Water bottles
We are asking students to bring in a refillable water bottle to school with their daily supplies. We have several water stations located around the school for them to refill their bottle to get a drink at any time. The warm weather makes us thirsty, especially after PE class.
If you child has lost their water bottle, please ask them to check the lost and found items in the cafeteria. We have several unclaimed bottles on a table in the cafeteria.
Dress Code Reminder
Please help us in reminding our students to follow our dress code policy. These include crop tops (mid-drift showing), pajama pants, slippers, and wearing hoods inside the school building. As our warm weather approaches, let's make sure our students are dressed appropriately for the school setting. Students who continue to violate the dress code will receive a consequence of after-school detention.
Cell Phone Reminder
Our personal cell phones are not permitted to be used during school hours in the educational setting. Please review the policy below with your student. The cell phone should be placed off or on silent in personal locker. If any student is caught video taping an incident at school without permission, a level II, Saturday School consequence will be given to this student.
Library Information
Our second Scholastic Book Fair runs from May 23rd to the 27th.
Students will come to the book fair with their English classes – 6th grade on Monday, 7th on Tuesday, 8th on Wednesday.
We will also be open before the concerts on Monday and Tuesday.
Volunteers needed!
Please e-mail SMSLIB@WCASD.NET with your availability:
We would like two volunteers –
starting at 10am on Monday, until 3pm;
8am to 10:30 then noon to 3pm on Tuesday;
8am to 1pm on Wednesday
Thank you for supporting Stetson’s Library and Reading programs!
Announcements from PTO
Now we are moving on to the end of the year events - be sure to follow along on our Facebook Page to see all we have going on.
A small thing we can do for our teachers and staff is to provide some treats to show our gratitude. We have lots of open spaces on our teacher snack bowl signup. Please take a look and see if you can help. THANK YOU to all who have already signed up and participated in this act of teacher/staff gratitude and appreciation!
https://m.signupgenius.com/#!/showSignUp/805054aa8a72da7f94-teacher
Nurse's Corner
Attention 6th Grade Parents-
Dental exams are a PA State requirement for all 7th grade students. Your student will need to have a dental exam on file within the first 60 days of their 7th grade school year. Dental exams dated after June 1, 2021 is acceptable. Feel free to send in with your student, or email to mczerpak@wcasd.net at your earliest convenience!
Please see information regarding Lyme Disease and Tickborne Diseases
https://www.cdc.gov/lyme/index.html
If you have any health questions, please contact our school nurse by email at mczerpak@wcasd.net.
Community information
Many parents have requested to learn more about Social and Emotional Learning (SEL). Please see the attached flyers for more information and opportunities for three parent sessions coming soon.