The Seahawks Call
Week of February 22, 2021 Volume 22
Message from Principal Taylor...............................................
WELCOME BACK TEACHERS!
We are excited to open our doors on Monday, Feb. 22 to welcome teachers back to Somers! As you know, we are transitioning to Phase 2 where specified students will return on March 22nd. This will give teachers plenty of time to adjust and prepare for teaching in a hybrid setting. During Phase 2, our bell schedule will remain the same. Students, whether in-person or virtually, will have classes on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from 7:30 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. and Wednesdays will remain asynchronous learning days for rest of the school year.
Second Quarter Report Cards
Report cards have been posted to StudentVUE and ParentVUE. Please make sure you review your child's grades and see how he/she is progressing. Look to see if your child's grades got better or worse compared to the first quarter. Look to see what the semester grade is for every subject. Administrators and Counselors are looking closely at students' grades to see which students are in jeopardy of NOT meeting Middle School Promotion Requirements, which are indicated below. Grade-level VPs and Counselors will soon be scheduling conferences to make sure students are aware of their progress and develop a plan of action.
Middle School Promotion Requirements
1. Pass Language Arts/ Reading; and
2. Pass Mathematics; and
3. Meet one of the following:
a. Pass Science and Social Studies and at least one Related Arts Course; or
b. Pass Science and at least two Related Arts classes; or
c. Pass Social Studies and at least two Related Arts classes.
Has your child received their new school-issued laptop?
If the answer is NO, I encourage you to contact our office at 301-753-1787 and a date and time for pick up will be scheduled. If your child isn't in need of one, that is fine. However, please remember, whatever device your child is using, it MUST have a working camera!
LIGHTS..........CAMERA..............ACTION!
Last chance to take your 20-21 School Picture and be included in our Yearbook
Attention all Seahawk Parents/Guardians,
This year our yearbook looks a little different. You will have two options for submitting photos for our yearbook. You may opt to have your student’s photo taken by Lifetouch, or you can submit your own photo.
OPTION 1: Lifetouch
If you want to have school photos taken by Lifetouch, you must schedule an appointment for Wednesday, February 24th from 8:30am – 4pm. This is the only day that Lifetouch will be at our school. There will be no retakes or makeup picture days. A separate appointment must be scheduled for each student. Appointment sign up is located using the following link:
Somers Picture Day Time Sign Up
You are required to wear masks and adhere to social distancing guidelines while you stand in line waiting to take your individual photo. This will be a paperless photography program. No picture orders will be accepted on the day of pictures. However, if you wish to purchase pictures, you may do so online prior to picture day or after picture day. A picture day flyer is attached to this email.
OPTION 2: Submit Your Own Photo
If you want to submit your own portrait for the yearbook, you may do so. All portraits are due by March 1, 2021. Please use the eShare Portrait attachment which provides detailed instructions to ensure a quality photo as well as directions on how to submit your photo taken at home into the yearbook portal.
If you have any questions about picture day or submitting photos to the yearbook, please email Ms. Strobel at mstrobel@ccboe.com or Ms. Villela at avillela-villela@ccboe.com.
Library News from Ms. H-J!
Seahawks Read
Our current Beanstack Challenge honors Black History Month. Besides encouraging your student to continue to log their reading minutes, consider taking some time to explore the Activity Challenges with your student. Explore Civil Rights, Art, Music, and so much more. 23,000 minutes of reading have been logged so far in February, and 303 badges have been earned to date.
Curbside Book Pickup
Students next opportunity for curbside pickup will be Tuesday, February 23rd. Students who have books out, are encouraged to return them to the book return box in the Somers lobby during school hours.
Somers Celebrates Black History Month
During the month of February, Somers staff members will be sharing poetry and book excerpts centered around this year's Black History Month theme of The Black Family: Representation, Identity, and Diversity. Gather your family around our YouTube channel to listen. And be sure to check back weekly for new videos.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLqrBKZUpwoGGr1U815k2FooLDS40RlYc6
SCHOOL SUPPORTS
Marlon Walker - 6th Grade VP - mwalker@ccboe.com
Cynthia Panizzi - 7th Grade VP - cpanizzi@ccboe.com
Wualanda Thenstead - 8th Grade VP - wthenstead@ccboe.com
Sonia Matthew - Administrative Asst. - smatthew@ccboe.com
COUNSELING SUPPORTS
Kenneth Tojek - 6th Grade Counselor - ktojek@ccboe.com
Nancy Franklin - 7th Grade Counselor - nfranklin@ccboe.com
Brittany Williams - 8th Grade Counselor - bwilliams@ccboe.com
INSTRUCTIONAL LEADERSHIP TEAM
Andrea Johnson - Reading Resource Teacher (Reading) - afjohnson@ccboe.com
Jennifer Branham - Instructional Resource Teacher (Math) - jbranham@ccboe.com
Suzanne Johnson - Learning Resource Teacher (Gifted Education and Testing Coordinator) - srjohnson@ccboe.com
Email: somersms@ccboe.com
Website: https://www.ccboe.com/schools/somers/
Location: 300 Willow Lane, La Plata, MD 20646
Phone: 301-934-4663
Twitter: @miltonsomersms