Stanwood Middle School
Family Update - October 29th, 2020
We are sending our Family Message early because so many students asked about wearing costumes tomorrow for their Meets!!
Yes, students can wear costumes tomorrow.
Here are the guidelines we've used for many years at Stanwood Middle School:
1. Students cannot wear full costume face mask and there should be no blood or replica weapons with costumes and full face paint is not allowed.
2. Students can wear make up, but their face must be distinguishable. All other school dress code requirements are still in place.
3. If a teacher asks a student to remove a part of your costume during class (ie: hats or something they are wearing or a prop they carrying with them that is distracting them from doing their work in class) they should remove it for that class period.
4. If you have any questions about a potential costume please email Mr. Klundt or Ms. Christmas.
Are your Halloween costumes fangtastic?
It seems very strange not to be getting ready for our annual costume parade during lunch on Friday. We really miss all of the "creatures" in our building. Mr. Wall and the yearbook staff really want to see your costumes for the yearbook! Please email your pictures to lwall@stanwood.wednet.edu or use the Snap App.
Conferences and the end of 1st Quarter
The end of 1st Quarter is Thursday, November 5th.
Remember, every teacher has office hours on Wednesday mornings. This is an open time students can join their Google Meet to ask questions/get clarification about the week's work. We highly encourage all students to use this time to work with their teacher's to improve their learning. All teachers have their Google Meet Codes in their Google Classroom for students to access.
Conferences will be help on the afternoons of Wednesday, November 18th and Thursday, November 19th at Stanwood Middle School. We will have more information regarding conferences next week. We only have two afternoons for conferences this year which gives us a limited number of slots. More information soon!
We have great Spartans doing great things. We are highlighting the great things that are happening during Distance Learning everyday during our morning announcements. We are so proud of all of our students who are working hard to connect and turn in work. With the end of the quarter just nine school days away, keep up with your routines and working toward getting any late work in by the last day of the quarter.
Veterans Day
This year we will have our annual Veterans Day assembly virtually. If you would like to send us a picture of a Veteran or current service member in your family, please email Mr. Wall a picture with their name and the name of your SMS student. lwall@stanwood.wednet.edu
Class Meeting + Advisory this week
We will meet at 11:15, 12:15, and 1:15 this week before going to our Advisory classes. We do take attendance during Advisory--our Character Strong curriculum is the cornerstone of our program. Lots of great information to help students navigate these unprecedented times.
Thank you and have a great afternoon!
Tod Klundt
Principal
Stanwood Middle School
Our Stanwood Middle School Staff Dress Up Pic from 2019!!
Here are the costume guidelines given to students during class meetings this week:
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A message from our Counselor Mrs. Fox!
Four Great Strategies for Stress
Hello Everyone! This week in Class Meetings, I presented another Character Strong lesson to expand on the “toolbox” concept I talked about with students a few weeks ago. The idea is that our primary feelings can drive a lot of our daily choices. The more “tools” we have in our “toolbox," the more choices we have in responding effectively when faced with heightened stress and strong emotions.
Another way to think about this is a quote by Abraham Maslow: “If the only tool you have is a hammer, [you’ll] treat everything as if it were a nail." We want to have several tools in our emotional toolbox so we have more choices in responding to stress in healthy ways.
This is definitely a time heightened stress and big emotions for many of us. These four “tools” or strategies will hopefully help your student have more options in handling stress and big emotions. We encourage students to pick one or two that feel like a good fit and practice them. Naturally, as humans, we don’t get it right every time, but practicing these strategies is a healthy thing to do and we get better at using them the more we practice.
Take a look at the four strategies below and perhaps talk about them with your student and help them practice a few at home.
Please be in touch if you would like some extra support for your student or family: KFox@stanwood.wednet.edu
Thank you so much for everything you are doing to navigate this time and help your students succeed with distance learning. We are heroes for our youth — always and especially right now. We will get through this together!
Kara Fox
Counselor
Stanwood Middle School
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HIB Poster Contest
Our theme for this year's HIB contest is "Kindness, Friendship, Respect, Caring, and Community--even at a distance, Spartans unite to end bullying."
Students can upload their posters through their Google Classroom for their class. There are prizes for the top three at each grade level, plus prizes for the top three overall.
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SEL
What is SEL?
SEL is an acronym for social/emotional learning. We are committed to regularly checking in with students to see how they are doing with school and during this unprecedented time. Our district wide adopted curriculum is Character Strong. You will see these messages pop up in our announcements, advisories, and classrooms. Here is this week's Character Dare students received in Advisory.
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Super Star Spartan
Teachers are naming students for meeting expectations and going beyond the norm during Distance Learning. We are posting these Super Star Spartan Shout-outs in our morning announcements as they come in, and will highlight the students during the class meetings on Wednesdays as well.
*You can find our morning announcements on our website each day, the Stanwood Middle School PTO Facebook page each day, or clicking on this link: Stanwood Middle School Morning Announcements
For Parents of 8th Grade Students
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Yearbook Snap App
Even though we are at a distance, our yearbook can bring us together! Mr. Wall and the yearbook staff are asking people to submit photos from summer and the first day of school through the Yearbook Snap App or their computer. The flyer down below explains how to do this!
School Pictures and Student Identification Cards
We will keep you updated and make sure all our families know right away once we have them scheduled!
Message from Food Service
Please click on this link food service page.
Below Is All The Important Information From Previous Family Messages!
1. Video regarding Family Access/Skyward
2. A link to a toolkit for Family Access/Skyward
3. A message from our Counselor Mrs. Fox
4. Our Open House slide show
5. Information regarding accessing student email
6. Information regarding accessing Google Classroom
7. The Weekly Schedule for students
Please see the video below regarding Family Access/Skyward
Click the box below for a toolkit to help with Family Access/Skyward
In case you missed it last time, here is our Open House Staff Slideshow - 2020/2021
Typically a big part of our Open House is our introduction of staff in the gym and then students are able to tour the building and see those staff members in the classrooms. Because we are not able to be in person this year Mr. Wall, our wonderful multimedia, yearbook and keyboarding teacher, has put together a slideshow to allow families to see faces, to see what peoples roles are in the building, and to see contact information for everyone!
Please click the link to see our slideshow:
Accessing Student Email
Google Classroom Access
Students will need to access Google Classroom to get assignments, take quizzes and tests, and see other information teachers post.
Here are directions to access Google Classroom.
Weekly Schedule for Students
Please see the schedule below for what the schedule will look like for a middle school student once we start school.
Students will attend periods 1, 3, & 5 on Mondays and Thursdays as well as periods 2, 4, & 6 on Tuesdays and Fridays (schedule with times shown below).
During these class times, teachers may be instructing students and/or be showing a pre-recorded video along with classroom discussions & activities.
On Wednesdays, students will have the opportunity to check in with their teachers during student hours set up by individual teachers.
The Stanwood-Camano School District does not discriminate in employment, programs, or activities on the basis of sex, race, creed, religion, color, national origin, age, veteran or military status, sexual orientation, gender expression or identity, disability, or the use of a trained dog guide or service animal and provides equal access to the Boy Scouts and other designated youth groups. Inquiries regarding compliance and/or grievance procedures may be directed to the District's Title IX/Affirmative Action Officer and Civil Rights Compliance Coordinator, Maurene Stanton (mstanton@stanwood.wednet.edu), or the Section 504/American Disabilities Act Coordinator, Robert Hascall (rhascall@stanwood.wednet.edu) Stanwood-Camano School District, 26920 Pioneer Hwy, Stanwood, WA 98292. Telephone: (360) 629-1200.
El Distrito Escolar de Stanwood-Camano School District no discrimina en sus programas o actividades por motivos de sexo, raza, credo, religión, color, origen nacional, edad, condición de veterano de guerra o grado militar, orientación sexual, expresión de género o identidad, discapacidad o uso de perro guía entrenado o animal de servicio, y ofrece igualdad de acceso a los Boy Scouts y a otros grupos de jóvenes especificados. El empleado mencionado a continuación ha sido designado para atender consultas y quejas de supuesta discriminación: Título IX / Oficial de Acción Afirmativa y Coordinador de Cumplimiento de Derechos Civiles, Maurene Stanton (mstanton@stanwood.wednet.edu), o la Sección 504 / Coordinador de la Ley de Discapacidades Estadounidenses, Robert Hascall (rhascall@stanwood.wednet.edu), Distrito Escolar Stanwood-Camano, 26920 Pioneer Hwy, Stanwood, WA 98292. Teléfono: (360) 629- 1200