Panther Press
September 30th-October 7th
PTA Meeting
Greetings all!
First, thank you all for supporting the Smithfield Middle School Parent Teacher Association! It is with your support that we will be successful in supporting our students, and our teachers at SMS throughout this school year. We would like to announce our first full member meeting will occur on October 6th at 6 pm via Zoom. We will send a link out as we get closer to the meeting date. At this meeting we will discuss the PTA's budget, officially vote in our new board members and talk about the fund raisers and initiatives we are working on for the year. We hope you all can be there! See you then!
Your SMS PTA Board Members.
Bully Prevention Month
Bullying Prevention Classroom Presentations-October 3-October 31
The school counselors will present in the 7th-8th-grade classrooms regarding Bullying Prevention. Students will learn the definition of bullying, the Isle of Wight County Schools Bullying Policy, types of bullying, participants in the bullying triangle, empathy, strategies to help fight bullying, sexual harassment, cyberbullying, sexting, child pornography laws, etc...
Unity Day-Wednesday, October 19, 2022
UNITY DAY: Together against bullying. United for kindness, acceptance, and inclusion.
Make it ORANGE and make it end! What are your true colors when it comes to bullying? If you care about safe and supportive schools and communities make your color ORANGE on Unity Day. That’s the day everyone can come together – in schools, communities, and online – and send one large ORANGE message of support, hope, and unity to show that we are together against bullying and united for kindness, acceptance, and inclusion.
(Information is taken from the website: http://www.pacer.org/bullying/)
Red Ribbon Week 2022-October 24th-October 28th
Monday, October 24th: “Sock It to Drugs and Bullying”
● Wear crazy or mismatched socks!
Tuesday, October 25th: “Wear Red Day”
● Wear as much Red as you can to take a stand against drugs!
Wednesday, October 26th: “Unity Day”
● Wear orange to show we are united against bullying and drugs.
Thursday, October 27th: “Team Up Against Drugs”
● Wear your favorite team’s logo/jersey!
Friday, October 28th: “Turn Your Back on Drugs and Bullying”
● Wear a shirt backward!
Wear pink on October 7th & October 14th.
October 20th @ 6 pm
Contact Information
We want to remain in contact with you. Please make sure your student's contact information is updated using the https://www.iwcs.k12.va.us/apps/pages/powerschool . Also, check your voicemail to make sure you can receive voice messages because we have attempted to contact families that had voicemailboxes that were full.
Mass communications may be sent via Connect 5. If you opted out, please reconnect with us https://www.iwcs.k12.va.us/apps/pages/connect5 . Another way to receive mass communications is through Remind. On your iPhone or Android phone, open your web browser and go to the following link: rmd.at/iwcssms.
If you don’t have a smartphone, get text notifications.
Text the message @iwcssms to the number 81010.If you’re having trouble with 81010, try
texting @iwcssms to (901) 466-8785.
Let's stay connected!
Things to Know....
Arrival-Students should NOT arrive to our campus without being accompanied by their parent/guardian before 7:10 am. Our doors open at 7:10 am to all students. Parents are to remain courteous to other drivers while dropping off students. Students who are car riders should be dropped off at the curb in front of the school. Students arriving after 7:27 am are considered tardy.
Attendance-. All attendance notes may be handwritten and dropped off at the main office. Or emailed, scanned, or screenshot to Ms. Asby at lashby@iwcs.k12.va.us.
Excused Absences: Students are only allowed 5 parent notes per semester.
Bus Information-Students should be at their assigned bus stop at least 10 minutes before the scheduled time.
Breakfast-Breakfast is served in the cafeteria 7:10 am-7:23 am. Students who bring breakfast from home or local eateries must eat breakfast in the cafeteria during breakfast time. Breakfast cost $1.35 unless approved free/reduced lunch.
Lunch-Lunch is served during 3rd black classes for 30 minutes.
11:05-11:35-7th Grade English & Science-7
11:35-12:05-7th Grade Math & History-7
12:05-12:35-8th Grade Exploratory
12:35-1:05-8th Grade Math & Science/History
Lunch cost $2.85 unless approved free/reduced lunch.
Dismissal-
Staggered Dismissal beginning with car riders. Car Riders will be dismissed at 2:35 pm.
Parents may pull up to the curb for pick-up. Students are NOT to walk through the parking lot during dismissal to get into a parked car; unless accompanied by a parent/guardian.
Bus Riders will be dismissed with their teachers walking them outside.
Dress Code-Students are expected to dress appropriately for a K-12 educational environment. Any attire that inhibits the learning environment will be viewed as inappropriate. Inappropriately dressed students’ parents/guardians will be called to bring appropriate clothing before students can attend class. If a parent/guardian is unable to bring a change of clothes or an alternate, more appropriate outfit will be provided by the school
Schedule-A lot of time has been spent on scheduling. We wish we could honor every scheduling change request, however, it could have a greater effect on other classes or the number of students enrolled in the class. Exploratory classes are alternating classes each day. Tuesday, Sept. 6th is "A" day and Wednesday, Sept. 7th is "B" day following the alternating pattern.
How to read a students schedule:
Period-Referred to as blocks. There are four periods followed by (A-B), (A), or (B). (A-B) are core content classes which students will attend daily. (A) is an exploratory class scheduled on "A" day. (B) is an exploratory class scheduled on "B" day.
Course Name-The name of the subject/core class/exploratory class.
Course & Section #-Only for admin to reference.
Term-22-23-Yearlong Course; S1-Semester 1; S2-Semester 2; Q1-Quarter 1 (1st Nine Weeks) ; Q2-Quarter 2 (2nd Nine Weeks); Q3-Quarter 3 (3rd Nine Weeks); Q4-Quarter 4 (4th Nine Weeks)
Teacher-Last Name of the Teacher assigned to the course
Room #-The location of the class.
School Visitors-Limited access to the building. All visitors must sign in at the main office. Visitors may not visit classrooms unless an agreed-upon date/time is scheduled. DoorDash, GrubHub or local deliveries will not be accepted for students.
Water Bottles Only-Students are welcome to have water bottles in class. Only bottles with a sealed lid/cap.
Food-Students should not share/exchange food items.
Join SMS PTA
About SMS
Email: kbuggs@iwcs.k12.va.us
Website: https://sms.iwcs.k12.va.us/
Location: 14175 Turner Drive, Smithfield, VA 23430
Phone: 757-365-4100
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PantherSharpSMS
Twitter: @SMSIWCS