Hello Scarborough Middle School Families,

Welcome back to school! We are excited to begin school next week and are looking forward to meeting our new students as well as getting reacquainted with our returning students.

Scarborough Middle School is committed to promoting a positive and productive environment that is both physically and emotionally safe for our school community. We will be spending time during the first couple of weeks on team building activities and learning key procedures and protocols. We will also continue to teach, model, and practice SMS PRIDE across all learning environments and recognize students who are demonstrating SMS Pride in a variety of ways as the year unfolds.

Positivity

Responsibility

Integrity

Dedication

Effort

Please take a moment to review the announcements and attachments listed below for our families.

Respectfully,

Kathy Tirrell, Principal

Chris Murphy, Assistant Principal

Morning Drop Off: Please note if you are dropping your student off at school, building doors will open at 7:40am. If there is an occasion where you need to drop your student off prior to 7:40am, they may wait directly outside the doors or in the Main Entrance vestibule.

Bus Drop Off: Our buses will drop off students using the bus loop lane closest to the Main Entrance doors. They will line up upon arrival in those lanes and dismiss students from the bus at 7:40am.

Car Pool Drop Off: If you are dropping your child off in the morning, please enter the middle school campus and move to the left traffic lane upon arrival. You will turn into the visitor parking and outer loop. There will be staff there directing traffic to assist you and to support your child in safely crossing the crosswalk to the Main Building where doors will open at 7:40am.

To ensure the safety of all, please adhere to the following:

• Do not pass other cars in the lane.

• There will be no parent traffic allowed behind the 6th grade portables, between the middle school and the 6th grade portable, nor in the lot between Wentworth School and the Middle School.

• Due to safety concerns, 6th grade students are not allowed to be dropped off in front of the 6th grade portable. Please only drop off 6th grade students in the designated area above.

In the afternoon, students who are riding buses will be dismissed first, beginning at 2:20pm. We ask that parents and guardians who are picking up students do not arrive until 2:30pm so that we can safely manage traffic patterns. Once buses have departed, both traffic loops will be open for parent pick up. Students being picked up will wait at the entrance of the main building for their parents to enter the traffic loops.

Dismissal Plan:

2:20pm - Bus Students

2:30pm - Walkers & students being picked up

2:40pm - SMS Athletes and SMS Activities Participants

Your patience with the middle school dropoff and pickup is greatly appreciated!

We have had a number of staff changes this year, please see Powerschool for the teacher updates. All students will be provided a printed schedule, and their Powerschool login and passwords, on the first day of school.

In addition, please see below for the Crew assignments to help determine your child's teams.

Medications to be stored in the clinic for the 2023-24 school year may be dropped off by an adult starting on August 28th 8am-2:30pm.

Linked here you will find the permission to administer medication at school form to be completed for the upcoming school year. Please remember that both you and your child’s physician must sign a new form/provide medication orders at the beginning of each school year.

Reminder; students may not carry, transport or use medications outside of the clinic with the exception of inhalers, EpiPens, and on rare occasions, certain other emergency medications. Written parental permission, approval of the school nurse, and a physician order indicating that the student may carry and self-administer such medications are required.

Medical orders may be faxed directly to the clinic at 730-4834.

Sincerely,

Amanda Eason and Suzanne Kenney

Scarborough Middle School Clinic

Students must complete the Chromebook Care, Use & Responsibility Guide prior to being issued a laptop. Students who have submitted their paperwork will receive laptops on Thursday, August 31 and Tuesday, September 5. Please note that all laptop paperwork needs to be completed by 11:00 pm the day before laptop deployment for your student to get their laptop on time.

This form has been made available to complete through the Parent/Student PowerSchool Portal. For more information regarding school laptops can be found on the Middle School website.

Students are not allowed to use cell phones during classes or school activities. Upon entering school, cell phones must be turned off and out of sight. Each classroom has a designated cell phone holder (sleeves) where students must place their phone and/or ear buds upon entry to class. Cell phones cannot be used to take pictures on school property or at any school-sponsored event, including events that happen beyond the school day. If a student must make a call while at school, a phone is located in the office area for student use. Students are allowed to use cell phones at dismissal time (2:20 p.m.).

The Board recognizes that responsibility for the dress and appearance of students rests with individual students and their parent(s)/guardian(s). The Board will not interfere with this right unless the personal choices of students create a disruptive influence, per the criteria outlined below, on the school program or affect the health or safety of others.

Students are encouraged to use sound judgment and reflect respect for themselves and others in dress and grooming. In keeping with the goals of the school unit to provide a safe, healthy and non-discriminatory environment for educating students for maximum academic and social development, the following restrictions on dress shall be enforced

The following are prohibited as it relates to clothing, footwear, and accessories:

• Items that promote the use of tobacco, alcohol or other drugs;

• Items that are intended to identify the wearer as a member of a particular gang;

• Items with displays that are sexual, vulgar, lewd, violent, indecent or include insulting words (e.g., racial/ethnic slurs). The school administration has the authority to prohibit other logos, pictures or messages which they determine to be in violation of the Board’s nondiscrimination or harassment policies, or disruptive to the school’s learning environment.

• Items that are destructive of school property (e.g., cleats, pants with metal inserts that scratch furniture).

Students are required to wear footwear at all times. Footwear should be appropriate for the school setting.

School administrators or teachers may require special clothing for health and safety reasons for students participating in physical education, certain extracurricular activities, work with or around machines or other activities. However, no particular brand may be required.(Adopted and revised by the Scarborough Board of Education 07/21/22– Policy JICA)

As a reminder, all breakfast and lunch meals for all students in Scarborough Schools are free for this school year 2023-2024. All existing students whose parents have an account will be able to order breakfast and lunch using the same procedure as last year, from the Nutrislice app on a device or at the Nutrition Program Menus page.

All new students to the district will have to make a Nutrislice account through the Nutrislice app or website before they can order breakfast and lunch. Parents will need the child's ID # before they can start the registration process.

To order lunch and breakfast:Go to the School Menus Page and click on the purple school menus image. (Nutrislice). At the middle school pre ordering breakfast and lunch is not required but highly recommended.

Extra Milks or Drinks to Accompany Home Lunch - Drinks will be available to purchase at all schools for any children that would like a drink with their home lunch. The options are white milk, chocolate milk, and 8 oz water. The cost for this is 50 cents.

To add money to an account: Go to School Payment Portal Information website.

Please email Brenda Franklin at bfranklin@scarboroughschools.org if you have any questions or need assistance obtaining your students ID#.

The SMS school picture days are Tuesday, September 19 and Wednesday, September 20.

The SMS picture ID # is EVTM7QVJQ

AUGUST:

First Day of School - Grade 6

• Wednesday, August 30

First Day of School - Grade 7 & 8, Day 2 for Grade 6

• Thursday, August 31

SEPTEMBER:

No School

• Friday, September 1 and Monday, September 4

Early Release - Wednesday, September 13

• Dismissal at 12:55pm

Fall Open Houses at SMS

• Wednesday, September 13 6:00-7 pm: Grade 6 and 8

• Thursday, September 14 6:00-7 pm: Grade 7

• More details will be shared closer to the event

Fall Pictures at SMS

• Tuesday, September 19 and Wednesday, September 20

• During school day - more details will be shared closer to the dates

7th Grade Vision Checks

• Tuesday, September 19

OCTOBER:

No School

• Friday, October 6- STAFF ONLY DAY

• Monday, October 9- Indigenous People Day

Early Release - Wednesday, October 18

• Dismissal at 12:55pm

SMS Flu Clinic

• Thursday, October 26 in am

MAY

6th Grade Dance-

• Friday, May 3 from 5:00pm-7:00pm

7th Grade Dance-

• Friday, May 17 from 5:00pm-7:00pm

JUNE

8th Grade Celebration and Dance

• Friday, June 7