SMS GIANT News
August 12, 2022-- First Days of School
Sequoia Middle Mission Statement
We did it
We are finally back! Our halls echo with student chatter and laughter. Classrooms are filled with students. Students are interacting with one another in ways that they hadn't for some time. Let's cherish the noise, the movement, the memories we will be creating post pandemic. We now have opportunities in front of us to look at with a new pair of eyes. We have the ability to take advantage of this situation and make our school, your school better than ever. So proud to be the instructional leader of such an amazing and collaborative learning community. My goal is to lead, collaborate, and support SMS in ways that will create long term benefits for our students and families and staff for years to come.
Thank you in advance for your partnership this year!
Lisa
Sequoia Middle Site Council Needs You!
Please email Lisa Keck right away if interested keckl@mdusd.org
We currently have 1 parent vacancy to fill for a 2 year commitment. Once we have names of interested parents, we will hold an online election. Interested parents, please include a short bio in your email of interest that we will use in the online election.
Thank you so much!
SMS Specific "Back To School TIPS "
A couple of things to consider...
- EARBUDS: Students wearing earbuds hanging off their neck or in their ears. Please remind your child to put them in their backpack until after school. They cannot have the headphones around the neck or earbuds in their ears even if they are turned off.
- DRESS CODE: Students must wear clothing that is school appropriate and not offensive to others as we are a community. If your child wears graphic T's please take a quick look at what the message says to ensure that it is school appropriate and not offensive to others. If a student is wearing an inappropriate shirt, we will do our best to provide a loaner SMS shirt and shirt will be returned once the SMS shirt is returned. Also, as stated in our Dress Code:
A Shirt (with fabric in the front, back, and on the sides under
the arms), must have a continuous lower hem that meets the waistband.
Students that wear tops that show their midriff will be asked to change into a loaner top. If we do not have one to provide we will call home and ask that one be brought to them. Thank you for supporting our schoolwide policies. See below for the link to the entire dress code which is also found on the front page of our website.
- FORGOTTEN ITEMS: Pick up Board- If you have something to drop off for your student, we cannot interrupt instruction to give it to them but your child can check the pick up board on the B side of the office daily on their way to brunch. The Message board is where we post which items have been dropped off or even found (if lost) so students can come and retrieve their items from the office without having to interrupt their instruction.
- WATERBOTTLES: Students should bring a refillable waterbottle (label with their name) as we have 2 filling stations. Our water fountains are currently inoperable due to Covid so the filling stations are available instead.
Student Class Schedules-Thank you for your patience!
Please be patient as in the first few weeks of school there is a lot of movement in schedules based on the need to maintain contractual numbers in the classes while taking into consideration what the students choices for electives were. At SMS, students drive the scheduling process as we consider their choices for electives and make it a priority in our decision making. In addition, we are allotted a number of sections with different class maxes. Due to this reason, there will continue to be some schedule changes this week. All students will have their classes but may have some movement while we settle the numbers in placement.
PLEASE have your child check HOMELINK every morning this week to ensure that your child has their latest schedule. While not every student will see a change, it is good practice since we need our students to understand and utilize Homelink as they navigate through Middle School and later onto High School. We know that each of you chose for your child to be at SMS and go to great lengths to get them to school each day. Just know that EVERY class is awesome and every teacher will welcome your child with open arms!
Requests for elective changes or teacher changes will not be accepted. All schedules are subject to change based on student enrollment/need.
SMS Parent Faculty Club Meeting and Social- This.....
In Person Back-to-School Night- August 24 6:00-8:30
PART I - 6:00- We will be prerecording an Administrator/Counselor Welcome Presentation Video for your viewing. This will also be available and shared with after the event in case families could not watch it when initially shown.
PART II- 6:30 Virtual Back to School Night Individual Class visits- LIVE
Each teacher will create a Virtual Meeting link for the evening. This will be an open meeting for the entire evening. Parents will go from meeting to meeting by using their child's teachers' links. As we do in an in person year, parents will go from "room to room" in 10 minute increments and follow their child's schedule for all 8 periods consecutively. As time is tight, we ask that all parents stick to the evenings timelines so they don't miss any of the presentations.
IMPORTANT! Parents/Guardians who attend will be MUTED but may ask questions at the end of their presentation if time permits. Please utilize this time for more general questions. If time does not allow for your question to be asked, as always, we encourage you to reach out to your teacher via email.
**Please note that individualized questions specifically about your child may be asked at another time privately between you and the teacher. At the end of their presentations, teachers will be answering grade level questions that would apply to most if not all students if time allows.
While we would much rather see every parent in person, we cannot do so at this time due to Covid. We appreciate your flexibility as we work to create a memorable Virtual SMS Back to- School-Night event for our learning community.
Virtual Meeting links and specific schedule will be communicated out to families before our BTSN event.
Campus Happenings...
PFC Welcomes teachers with a wonderful lunch!
Teachers enjoying their lunch outside
One of the two filling stations on campus
First Day of School Festive decorations
First Principal Selfie of the school year
Jen Sachs and Principal Keck
Our Dynamic Duo counseling team
Pick Up and Drop Off information- PLEASE READ, important info added...
- Do NOT block neighbors driveways when on Boyd Road. PHPD will issue tickets and besides it is not legal or polite. Let's be role models for our students!
- DO NOT pull over on Boyd, this is dangerous and creates more traffic for our other families. Drive into our parking lot and follow pick up procedures to pick up your child.
- When dropping off, drive all away around and pull over to the right to drop off (DO NOT STOP in the red zone). Stopping in the middle of the parking lot holds up traffic and creates an unsafe situation for our students and families.
- Consider dropping off in alternate places to avoid traffic. The back of the school has an entrance onto the field of our campus however DO NOT drop off on Moiso Lane but instead perhaps by the park. Moiso Lane is a residential street and is being monitored by police. They will issue tickets as there is no pick up or drop off allowed there. There are areas close by that students may be dropped off and walk a block (good exercise to wake them up in the morning). Helps alleviate the traffic jam and leaves the driver happy and less stressed.
- Do Not Park your car when picking up and expect your child to walk across moving traffic. We have a fabulous Noon Supervisor monitoring our lot and she will guide cars to enforce our parking lot rules. It is for the safety of our students, staff and families.
- First bell rings at 7:55. Parking lot gets very busy around 7:35. Consider dropping off around 7:25-7:30. They can talk to their friends on the blacktop before school or even read a book. Sometimes it can be 5 minutes that makes a difference in traffic in our lot. Please do not drop off earlier than that as there is no official supervision and we don't want students unsupervised.
- Students who travel to school on scooters, bikes or skateboards can store them in our bike rack area which is locked when school is in session. Students must not ride them on campus.
2022-2023 BELL SCHEDULE (also on our website)
Sequoia Middle School
Email: keckl@mdusd.org
Website: sms-mdusd-ca.schoolloop.com/
Location: 265 Boyd Road, Pleasant Hill, CA, USA
Phone: 925-934-8174
Twitter: @SequoiaMSGiants
TITLE IX NON-DISCRIMINATION STATEMENT
The Governing Board is committed to providing equal opportunity for all individuals in education. District programs, activities, facilities and practices shall be free from discrimination, harassment, intimidation, and bullying based on actual or perceived ancestry, age, color, disability, gender, gender identify, gender expression, nationality, race or ethnicity, religion, sex, sexual orientation, actual or potential parental, family, marital status, or association with a person or a group with one or more of these actual or perceived characteristics (Governing Board Policy 0410).
Contact Us / How to File a Complaint
For questions, concerns or complaints regarding student harassment, discrimination, intimidation and bullying, please contact Jennifer Sachs, Chief of Educational Services, at sachsj@mdusd.org or by phone at (925) 682-8000 x4016.