We have a full week of classes this week at SMN, and we are looking forward to another fantastic week. We have two weeks of a normal schedule to finish the month of September before we get into some unique schedules for the first few weeks of October. Those schedules are posted below. Please do not hesitate to reach out to us if you have questions or concerns. Thank you for your support and Go Bison!

Week of Oct 2 –6 (Homecoming Week)

Monday – 1, 3, 5, 7

Tuesday – 2, Seminar (Homecoming assembly), 4, 6

Wednesday – 1, 3, 5, 7

Thursday – Late Start, 2, 4, 6

Friday- Assembly T Day schedule (Homecoming Parade begins at 1:00 p.m.)

Week of Oct 9 – 13 (Oct 12 – Professional Learning – No School, Oct 13 – Teacher Workday – No School)

Monday – 1, 3, 5, 7

Tuesday – 2, Seminar, 4, 6

Wednesday – T Day with shortened blocks (early release at 1:10 p.m.)

Thursday- Professional Learning (No school)

Friday- Teacher Workday (No School)

Week of Oct 16 – 20 (Oct 20 – Parent Conferences – No School)

Monday – 1, 3, 5, 7

Tuesday – 2, Seminar, 4, 6

Wednesday – 1, 3, 5, 7 (Evening Conferences – 5:00 to 8:00 pm)

Thursday – Late Start, 2, 4, 6

Friday- No School (Parent Conferences)

ALL GRADES WILL HAVE PICTURE RETAKES ON SEPTEMBER 27 in the auditorium.

Grades 9 to 11-

If never photographed-no charge

If purchased and the package is returned-no charge

Rolland Studios will not print a package at no charge if the original package is NOT returned.

If never purchased-$3.00 charge

The studio has moved to all online ordering. They can take cash or check for the $3.00 underclass retake fee.

Here is a link to the grades 9 to 11 retakes. https://bit.ly/SMNRETAKE

I have attached a flyer for grades 9 to 11 and the QR code for Seniors.

Senior Retakes are $10.00

There is a calendar for Seniors to sign up. The online Senior appointment system will have students pay online

Here is the link to the Senior Appointment calendar.

https://bit.ly/SMNSR22

Greetings from Nurse Kelly:

We’ve been busy updating students’ vaccination records in our office.

October 23th is the exclusion date for those students who are not compliant.

Quite a few 9th graders are missing the required Hepatitis A vaccine.

We are still playing catch up with our 11th graders and their meningococcal vaccine compliance.

We will continue to work with our families to help them with this.

If you need assistance, please contact us at 913-993-6907 or 913-993-6916.

Important dates approaching at SMN:

September 26 & 27, our community Lions Club members will be assisting us with vision screenings for all 10th graders whose parents opted in for this screening event. Results will be sent home with your student IF they do not pass the screenings.

Thank you for your attention to this important announcement from the nurse’s office at SMN!

Jostens will set up a display for class rings in the entrance Monday, September 25. Ring packets and information will be available for students to pick up.

Orders will be placed online (ring sizers will be in the packet), and orders will be due Sunday, October 1st at midnight.

Hello Parents of SMN Students!!

This is Alba and Bella and we are the social events coordinators for this school year. We need chaperones for our Homecoming Dance, which is October 7th. We would need chaperones 6:30-10 and it will take place in the field house. Attached below is a link to sign up.

Thank you for any help!

Link To Sign Up For Chaperoning

https://forms.gle/rzoVfu29X8ZZYcLz9

Homecoming Dance is happening October 7th in the Field House, 7-10pm. The theme is Midsummer Night’s Dream. Ticket sale information below.

• The online fee payment portal is now available for school fees. Go to www.smsd.org, hover over the "Families " tab, and click the link entitled "Pay Fees Online".
• Fees are needed for teachers to buy supplies for classes and to cover other expenses for the 2023-24 school year.
• If you are interested in applying for free or reduced lunch, please use this link.
• The following fees are required: instructional resource Fee, participation fee, ID card and course fees.
• Optional fees are: parking, class dues, literary magazine, yearbook, pep club. Unpaid optional fees will be swept from your account after 1Q.
• If you need to pay by check, please mail your check with your student’s ID number in the memo to SM North, Attn: Bookkeeper, 7401 Johnson Dr., Overland Park, KS 66202.
• If you qualify for free or reduced lunch, email a copy of your food service benefits letter to shellelewis@smsd.org. Free lunch students receive a $105 waiver & reduced receive $52.50.
• For payment plans and questions, please call 913-993-6910 or email shellelewis@smsd.org.

The September meeting of the SMN All-Activities Booster Club is on Monday, 9/18 at 6:30pm in the SMN Learning Commons - all are welcome!

You can earn $$$ for your favorite group at North by attending Booster Club meetings. We offer Attendance Grants to any SMN club, group or team that sends a parent, student, or sponsor/coach to our meetings.

If your team or group has someone attend at least 4 Booster Club meetings a year, we will give your group a $100 grant - attend 6 total meetings and receive a $200 grant!

RENEW or PURCHASE your $10 SMN Booster Club Membership for the 2023-24 school year and receive a FREE t-shirt!!

https://shawnee-mission-north-booster-club.square.site/

Volunteers Needed!!

Help sell spirit wear at one of these upcoming events - it's a great way to meet other SMN Parents!

Shifts run from 5:30-7:15pm and 7:15-9:00pm.

Home Football Game - Spirit Wear Sales – FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 22

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090E4EAFA62FABF58-help5

Home Football Game - Spirit Wear Sales – FRIDAY, OCTOBER 6

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090E4EAFA62FABF58-help6

Did you know… Each year the SMN All-Activities Booster Club supports student clubs, groups, and teams by funding grant requests from coaches and club sponsors for expenses that are not funded by the school district? Since our organization began, we have given over $250,000 in grants to student organizations & teams at North! We raise funds for our grants through our spirit wear sales, memberships, an Annual Trivia Night & Annual Golf Tournament.

Purchase SMN Spirit Wear and BC Memberships at our online store (click on the link or use the QR code below) We have tons of NEW gear in stock!!

https://shawnee-mission-north-booster-club.square.site/

We have submitted our application to get after-school tutoring up and running for the 23-24 school year. We don’t have an official start date quite yet, but we are hoping to start ASAP. Once we have the approval, we will have tutoring for all subjects in the Learning Commons every Monday and Wednesday afternoon from 3:00-4:20. With this, we will have FREE meals for students who stay. These meals can be picked up in the cafeteria at 2:50 and must be consumed on campus. FREE late busses will also be available to bring students home anywhere in the North attendance area. Busses will leave from the cafeteria doors in the front circle drive at 4:30. Students must have a pass from a staff member to ride the free bus.

October 11, 2023- National Testing Day

• Seniors- 12th-grade students will have the opportunity to explore post-secondary options on this day in lieu of attending school. Look for a Google form in a future North News to complete that will excuse your student from attendance on 10/11/23.
• Juniors- 11th-grade students will have a couple of options outlined below.
• Students not taking the PSAT or ACT will have normal classes with a shorted schedule for the 1:10pm early dismissal.
• Sophomores- all 10th-grade students will have normal classes with a shortened schedule for the 1:10 early dismissal.
• Freshmen- all 9th-grade students will have normal classes with a shortened schedule for the 1:10 dismissal.

September is Suicide Prevention Month and a time to raise awareness and discuss this highly stigmatized topic. In addition to shifting public perception and stigma, this month is also used to spread hope to people affected by suicide. Our goal as a district is to ensure students, staff and families have access to the resources they need to discuss suicide prevention and to seek help.

• If you or someone you know is experiencing a mental health crisis, call or text 988 immediately.

• If you are uncomfortable talking on the phone, you can chat the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988lifeline.org.

• You can also text NAMI to 741-741 to be connected to a free, trained crisis counselor on the Crisis Text Line.

Other links for Suicide Prevention Month:

• https://www.counseling.org/knowledge-center/mental-health-resources/suicide-prevention-month

• https://988lifeline.org/promote-national-suicide-prevention-month/

• https://www.sprc.org/resources-programs/suicide-prevention-month-ideas-action

• https://afsp.org/national-suicide-prevention-week

• https://jasonfoundation.com/get-involved/suicide-prevention-month/

• The Parent/Teacher/Student Association (PTSA) and the All-School Booster Club are great ways for parents and guardians to get involved with our school!

• Join PTSA by clicking on this link!

• Join Booster Club by clicking on this link!

• All proceeds raised by both organizations directly benefit SMN students!

Shawnee Mission North has been selected to take part in a pilot study for a new curriculum to assist with teaching our students the Cornerstone Standards. The curriculum we will pilot until October 31st is called Character Strong. Our students in grades 10th-12th will have opportunities for these lessons through BRICK times on Tuesday mornings already scheduled Advisory sessions. We invite you to read more details in this Introduction Letter, and reach out if you have additional questions. Surveys will be given to students, staff, and families in early November when the pilot is complete.

We would like to provide the opportunity for families and students to nominate a staff member for Staff Member of the Week. Please use this form to nominate someone and we will try to honor as many nominations as we can!

Celebrate your senior's graduation with a Senior Ad in the 2024 yearbook.

You will purchase your Senior Ad online.

To pay with a credit card and/or submit all your photos go to www.yearbookforever.com. Choose SM North. You can upload all of your photos and pay here.

After you send your Senior Ad in, you will receive a proof via email by Feb. 9. Not all will be done by then, but a majority will be. If you haven't seen yours by then, please call 913-993-7012 or email notate@smsd.org and check on the ad..

Thanks so much for supporting the Brickhouse yearbook. We look forward to designing your senior’s ad.

If you have any questions, please contact yearbook advisor Becky Tate at 913-993-7012 or at notate@smsd.org .

Please check out the Class of 2024 webpage: https://smnorth.smsd.org/students/graduation

This school year (2023-2024) the Shawnee Mission School District is once again utilizing the Panorama Social-Emotional Learning survey to assess student’s perseverance, grit, determination, school culture and student-teacher relationships. The Panorama Social-Emotional survey takes approximately 30 to 45 minutes to complete and will be administered during the first semester. 9th and 10th graders will take the survey on October 17 and 11th and 12th graders will survey on October 24th. Parents/Guardians must consent for their student(s) to participate in the Panorama survey; this would have been done during the 23-24 registration process. Survey data will be reviewed at the district and classroom level to determine areas of strength, as well as areas where more instruction and/or support is needed. Once survey results are returned, parents/guardians are welcome to see and discuss the results with their students’ teachers, social workers, and counselors. Sample survey questions can be found here and here.

We encourage you to visit the Kansas State Department of Education (KSDE) website to learn more about how Social Emotional Learning benefits your child and their environment. All data is maintained by SMSD and will remain confidential. Please visit this site for more information about the Panorama SEL survey.

Are you interested in working at the Brickhouse? SMN has a number of para-educator positions and an ELL Aide position available. If you are interested, please apply online at www.smsd.org or contact Mr. Dustin Jamison for more information. 913-993-6900.

If you are interested in food services positions in the SMSD, please see the image below.

YMCA: Part Time Youth Development Leader Positions Click here for more information

Freddys: Click here for more information

Montessori Asst. teacher