Sugar Land MS Titan News
Week #22 - February 1, 2021
Greetings SLMS Parents and Guardians,
We hope you and your family are doing well. This week's newsletter has a significant number of new and important items. Please take some time to review them all.
Topics in this Week's Newsletter:
- National School Counseling Week (Feb 1-5)
- Week At-A-Glance
- Upcoming Dates
- NEW - Crucial Reminders for All Parents and Students
- NEW - Yearbooks on Sale Now! (until February 11) - $40
- NEW - Semester 1 Grade Repair and March Interventions
- NEW - Federal and State School Report Cards for SLMS
- Girls' Track Starts February 8
- Explore UT - Annual Event Held Virtually March 5-6
- REN360 Middle of the Year (MOY) Assessments - January 19-February 12
- Crowdsourcing Photos for the SLMS Yearbook - through February 1
- Reminders and Expectations for F2F Students
- Resource for Parents of Online Students
- Immunization Reminders for Current Sixth Graders
- and more
Thank you for your time and support of our school. As always, our ongoing priority is to serve our community in the best way possible. Please continue to follow all CDC guidelines for minimizing exposure to COVID-19 through frequent handwashing, use of hand sanitizer, not congregating in groups, and most importantly, wearing a mask. It will take all of us working together to defeat this virus once and for all.
Sincerely,
Keith Fickel, SLMS Principal
#GracePatienceOptimism
#BetterTogether
#InfinitePossibilities
#TitansOwnIt
Thank You - SLMS Counselors! National School Counseling Week
SLMS appreciates its wonderful counselors and counselors' clerk! Please take a moment to thank your child's counselor this week!
- 6th Grade - Eleni Smith
- 7th Grade - Kimberly Seright
- 8th Grade - Nafecia Brinson
- Counselors' Clerk - Carmen Brantley
Week At-A-Glance
Upcoming Dates
- January 19 - February 12 - REN360 Assessments through Math and ELA classes
- February 1 thru 5 - National School Counseling/Counselors' Week
- February 8 thru March 11 - S1 Grade Repair (select students)
- February 15 - Presidents Day Holiday (no school)
- March 9 - Spring Open House (Format TBD, most likely virtual)
- March 11 - Career Day (details forthcoming)
- March 15-19 - Spring Break
- March 22, 23, and 24 - Interventions for select students
Crucial Reminders for All Parents and Students
- All students (including online students) must complete the wellness check EVERY MORNING. F2F students who need to stay home because of not feeling well will also need to complete the wellness check every day. Continue to submit the wellness check each morning throughout your child's day(s) of absence. Nurse Lincoln must clear students to return, and she will have the needed time to do that when parents complete the wellness screener each morning, even when their child stays home.
- F2F students received new Wellness Check Cards during their 8th period class on Friday, which will cover the months of February and March. These cards DO NOT take the place of doing the wellness check each day in Skyward Family Access. These cards simply indicate that you have already completed the wellness check in Skyward, and are meant to be used by students who do not have a smartphone. School discipline will be administered to students who are found to have a pattern of not completing their wellness checks or who use the wellness card improperly.
- Face to face students who were issued a district-owned device are expected to bring it to school daily, including the charging cord.
- Students are expected to wear their school-issued picture ID badge, using the school-issued lanyard, over their outermost layer of clothing every day.
- There is no left turn allowed out of the front circle drive during arrival and dismissal
- U-Turns are not permitted along Seventh Street after exiting the circle drive
- Students enter and exit vehicles ONLY in the circle drive. Nowhere else.
For those of you whose children are online and have not had the opportunity to have a picture made so that your child may be represented in the yearbook, we are working with Balfour to give parents an opportunity to take a picture at home and then upload it to a secure website where our yearbook staff will ensure your child will not be excluded from the yearbook. We do not want the fact that your child was an online student be the reason that they do not appear in the yearbook. Online students are just as much a part of SLMS as the in-person learners. We hope to have details sent to the parents of students for whom we do not have a picture yet by February 8. Please stay tuned!
Semester 1 Grade Repair and March Interventions
Soon, select students and their parents will be notified of opportunities to repair grades from semester 1 in core classes or to have required academic or attendance interventions put in place. The students will generally fall in these categories:
- Semester 1 Grade Repair - Students in both learning models who had a semester 1 (S1) grade between 60 and 69 in any of their core classes will be notified of an opportunity to repair their S1 grade up to a 70. These opportunities will run February 8 thru March 11, and will occur during 8th period (F2F students) or during the asynchronous time for online students (2:45-3:45)
- March Interventions (March 22, 23, and 24) - Students in both learning models who had S1 (semester 1) grades lower than 60 in core courses and/or poor rates of attendance. There are other reasons students may be asked to come to these in-person sessions, as well. These sessions will be held on campus, even for students in the online learning model. Sessions are 2.5 hours/day on the three days following spring break.
Federal and State School Report Cards for SLMS
Schools are required annually to share their federal and state report cards. Parents and staff will receive a separate communication with this same information by February 2, 2021. Links to federal and state report cards for our campus:
- Link to Federal Report Card for Sugar Land Middle School
- Link to State Report Card for Sugar Land Middle School
- Link to FBISD website dedicated to campus report cards
See the parent notification letters below (English and Spanish)
Girls' Track - Starts February 8
- Sign up on the sign-up sheets outside the girls' gym starting February 1
- Ensure all documentation is completed in RankOne, including physicals
- See Coach Efron with questions you may have
Explore UT (University of Texas) - Virtual Event March 5 & 6
The University of Texas at Austin is excited to bring the wonder and discovery of Explore UT to participants in a virtual format March 5-6, 2021. This free virtual experience will feature live programming with demonstrations, hands-on activities, and other interactive elements to incorporate in the classroom or at home.
Topics covered will include campus life, science and engineering, liberal arts, business, and more—providing a unique look at life on the university’s flagship campus.
More information and a schedule of events will be available on the Explore UT website in February. To receive updates from UT about Explore UT directly to your email, visit this link.
REN360 Middle of the Year (MOY) Assessments - Jan 19 - Feb 12
A separate notification went to parents on January 17 via email that outlined the REN360 middle of the year (MOY) assessments that are being administered through ELA and Math classes between January 19 and February 12. This information was posted on our campus webpage, as well. Please take a moment to read it so you are familiar with it. It is particularly important for parents of online students to read it, as we are relying on you to a degree to ensure it is successful.
Crowdsourcing Photos for our Yearbook - Through February 1
We would encourage you to share any and all photos you have taken at school and at home that show our students in their learning environment or participating in other school related activities. We want to capture the environment in which all of our students have been learning (from their bedroom or dining room table) and we hope to receive submissions of students doing other activities both in and out of school. Of course, we will review all submissions for appropriateness. Additionally, we will not be able to use all the pictures that are submitted. The deadline for submitting pictures is February 1, so please go back into your camera roll, and find any photos you may have taken in the first semester that could potentially be used, and upload them.
Below is a flyer that gives you detailed instructions on how to download an app that will enable you to upload photos directly from your device. You may also upload photos from your computer by visiting https://studio.balfour.com/ezpix/. Our project number is 107856, and because we have no "upload code", you may leave that field blank when signing up.
We will kick off a yearbook sales campaign soon, as well. Stay tuned for that information. Our yearbook staff appreciates your help!
Important Reminders and Expectations for F2F Students
Please assist us in the following ways in order to keep all students, staff, parents, and community members safe:
All F2F students, regardless of being a walker, bike rider, car rider, or bus rider:
- Ensure your child has his/her student ID badge, including the school-issued, color-coded lanyard
- Complete the daily wellness screener BEFORE leaving home. Parent or child may complete it in Skyward Family Access or use the wellness card. Be prepared to show proof of completing and passing the wellness screener to staff upon entry to the building
- Keep cell phones turned off and in backpacks for the entire school day. Headphones, “Air Pods”, etc. – turned off and put away in your child’s backpack (because the cell phone/device should also be turned off and in the backpack)
- Just like last school year, students needing to contact a parent during the day will request a pass from the teacher to go to an office to make a call. Parents wishing to contact their children may call the main number at (281) 634-3080 to have a message delivered during the day. Please ensure we have your current contact information updated in Skyward, as well
- Remain in vehicle until asked to exit by a staff member
- Students exit the passenger side of the vehicle only, not the driver’s side, and only in the circle drive, not along Seventh Street
- No left turns from the circle drive onto Seventh Street (it is posted, but parents are still turning left. SLPD is starting to monitor this more closely)
- Have your child’s daily wellness screener already completed and ready to show to the staff member on duty on the front circle drive, and ensure your child exits your vehicle quickly. This keeps the line moving
- No U-Turns on Seventh Street into the driveway of the district’s landscaping and maintenance facility (it is marked along Seventh Street as no U-Turns)
- Display your child’s dismissal number prominently in your windshield. If you do not have a car rider number, please complete this quick form, and we will contact you with your number
- Please do not text your child to say you are in the car rider line – their phone should be off, and they need to wait until we call their car rider number over the PA
- No left turns from the circle drive, just like in the morning
- All car riders will enter parents' vehicles in the circle drive, and NOT on Seventh Street. We have observed some parents having their children enter their cars along Seventh Street, which is a safety hazard and it obstructs our dismissal process
Important Resource for Parents of Online Students
If your child(ren) are online, they (and you), may struggle to make sense of everything. If that describes you, please take a moment to check out this "Online Learning: What You Need to Know" resource on the FBISD web page.
Immunization Reminders for Current Sixth Graders (Online or F2F)
Your sixth-grade child did or will receive the Tdap and the Meningitis vaccines at their 11-year-old check-up. If they have had these vaccines, please provide proof of this to the clinic when your child gets them. These are the required shots for 7th grade and providing them as soon as you get them will keep your child compliant! You may email it to julie.cutaia@fortbendisd.com or fax it to (281) 327-3091.
Our experience has been that some parents wait until the last possible minute to be in compliance with these immunization requirements. Please help us help your child be ready for next year, as it will approach faster than you think!
SLMS Titan Masks for Sale - $10
PE Uniforms on Sale
Revised 2020-21 FBISD Calendar
Reporting a Positive Case of COVID-19 or Exposure to a Positive Case
To ensure the safety of all staff and students, it is critical that families report all positive cases of COVID-19, or exposures to a positive case of COVID-19, immediately. If your student tests positive for COVID-19 or is exposed to a positive COVID-19 case, please notify the District by reporting within the Daily Wellness Screener in Skyward Family Access.
Attendance Information for Parents
Parent notes are required for all absences within five days from the absence date. Notes must include full student name as well as the reason for the absence (including technical difficulties). If a student misses a synchronous engagement, they are counted absent.Please email all absence notes to AttendanceSLMS@fortbendisd.com. Contact our attendance clerk, Mrs. LaVergne, at (281) 634-3089 if you have questions.
Important Contact Information
- Assistant Principal - Dr. Dawn Rogers (dawn.rogers@fortbendisd.com)
- Counselor - Eleni Smith (eleni.smith@fortbendisd.com)
Seventh Grade
- Assistant Principal - Luster Goodwin (luster.goodwin@fortbendisd.com)
- Counselor - Kim Seright (kimberly.seright@fortbendisd.com)
Eighth Grade
- Associate Principal - Monika Martin (monika.martin@fortbendisd.com)
- Counselor - Nafecia Brinson (nafecia.brinson@fortbendisd.com)
Counselor Clerk - Carmen Brantley (carmen.brantley@fortbendisd.com)
Assistant Principal Secretaries
- 6th and 7th Grade - Tina Garcia (diamantina.ibarragar@fortbendisd.com)
- 8th Grade - Sherri Woodcock (sherri.woodcock@fortbendisd.com)
Attendance - Mary Beth LaVergne (mary.lavergne@fortbendisd.com)
Registrar - Tandi Phillips (tandi.phillips@fortbendisd.com)
Nurse - Angi Lincoln (angela.lincoln@fortbendisd.com)
Executive Assistant to Principal Fickel - Mary Connealy (mary.connealy@fortbendisd.com)
Sugar Land Middle School
45 Years
1975-2020
Inspiring and equipping the young men and women of our community for futures beyond what they can imagine since 1975.
SLMS Campus Mission Statement
Working collaboratively, the Sugar Land Middle School Professional Learning Community will commit to creating a safe environment with high expectations leading to physical, social, emotional, and academic success for all Titans.
#TitansOwnIt
#BetterTogether
#InfinitePossibilities
#GracePatienceOptimism
- 8:20-4:20 Monday-Friday
Email: keith.fickel@fortbendisd.com
Website: www.fortbendisd.com/slms
Location: 321 7th Street, Sugar Land, TX, USA
Phone: (281) 634-3080
Twitter: @SLMSTitans