Springton Lake Middle School
Every Student. Every Day. No Matter What.
Springton Lake Middle School
Email: RSalladino@rtmsd.org
Website: https://www.rtmsd.org/2/home
Location: 1900 North Providence Road, Media, PA, USA
Phone: (610) 627-6500
Twitter: @SpringtonLakeMS
September 24, 2021
Five Days...
Happy Friday, everyone! I hope that you are all doing well and that you had a positive and successful week.
This week, we did something for the first time in over 18 months - we had all grades levels in attendance for a full week of five days of in-person instruction. Perhaps this is the explanation for me hitting the snooze button an extra time (or two) this morning! I plan on getting some extra rest this weekend - perhaps our students will need some, too.
Overall, things appear to be going well...
- Students are adjusting to their schedules and we have completed two rotations of our 7-day cycle.
- We have completed two weeks of advisory group meetings that focused on social and emotional wellness.
- Much of our benchmarking assessment is complete and teachers are beginning to analyze the data to tailor their classroom instruction.
- Fall sports are up and running for our 7th & 8th grade students. We will be launching our slate of additional clubs and intramural sports in the coming weeks.
- Students have adapted to our "Plan B" for lunch when the weather has not allowed us to eat outdoors.
Of course, not everything is perfect if I'm being completely honest with you. We continue to address more concrete issues like wearing masks properly and keeping cell phones away during the school day. We are also working through larger and more significant issues such as kids making good decisions about their behavior and treating everyone in a kind and respectful manner. We will continue to have high expectations and to teach and model these expected behaviors. In the end, that's what we do as middle level educators.
If you want to hear more about my daily messages and updates to the students, take a few minutes to view the Spartan Scoop for each day - links are at the bottom of this newsletter.
As always, we appreciate your cooperation and support. Thanks for taking a few minutes to review this week's newsletter. Have a wonderful weekend!
Ready - One of the 4Rs
We have asked students to add two additional items to their daily routine of coming to school ready to learn each day. Students should bring with them...
1. A water bottle that can be used and re-filled at the bottle filling stations around the building. We are not currently permitting students to drink directly from the water fountains.
2. An extra face mask just in case there is an issue with the one that they are wearing at the start of the day. This is particularly necessary if students are using a disposable mask - the elastic on these masks is not very durable all day in a middle school.
We appreciate any reminders that you can offer at home!
Spartan Bucks & Live School
As part of our school-wide plan to positively reinforce expected behavior, our teachers award students Spartan Bucks. Spartan Bucks are the official "currency" of Springton Lake Middle School and are given to students when we observe them demonstrating one or more of the "4Rs" - Ready, Respectful, Responsible, & Resilient. Students are then able to redeem their Spartan Bucks at various times throughout the school year for special privileges, prizes, incentives, and raffles. Spartan Bucks are awarded, managed, and tracked electronically using a platform called Live School. This week, students were provided with the access information to create their Live School accounts. They did this on Thursday during homeroom. The handout that students were given also included information for parents to access their child's Live School account. While it is not necessary for you to make an account, I wanted to make you aware that your child has this information. Certainly ask your child if they have earned any Spartan Bucks thus far and have them show you Live School.
Attendance Notifications During the Day
You may have noticed this year that attendance notifications are going out through HAC during the day. This is something new and we do not want you to be alarmed. Our teachers are now recording attendance each period in HAC. When your child is absent from class, automated notifications are going out via email. Please do not be worried about this and do not feel as though you need to respond or reach out to a teacher when it happens. If your child is present in school, but marked absent from a class, it can mean LOTS of different things...they may be meeting with their school counselor, perhaps they are speaking with someone in the office, maybe they stopped by the nurse, or they could be with another teacher, but forgot to let their regular teacher know. In 99% of the cases, when a student is present in school and marked absent from a class, there is a legitimate reason. Again, there is no need for you to panic or feel like you need to respond.
School Picture Day - Thursday, September 30th
Our annual School Picture Day will be held on Thursday, September 30th. All students will be photographed on Picture Day. We use these photos for student identification cards, official school records, and for inclusion in the annual yearbook. Families also have the option to purchase their own photo packages. Lifetouch is the official photographer for our school. To order and pay for a photo package online, go to mylifetouch.com and use our school's Picture Day ID# - EVTQVR74Q.
Calendar of Events & Activities - UPDATE
Early this past summer, we posted our Calendar of Activities & Events for the entire school year. The slate of offerings closely resembles what we have done in a pre-COVID world. Since this information was shared with everyone, things have obviously changed a bit in terms of the status of the pandemic and the associated restrictions. While we are not making any sweeping changes to the calendar at this time, we wanted to let you know that we will need to evaluate each event as it approaches to determine if it will still be feasible and, if so, how it might need to be adjusted.
I shared with our students this week that the All-School Dance slated for Friday, October 8th has been cancelled. We hope that having dances will be possible at other points later in the school year.
Please continue to look for updates in this weekly newsletter about other events and activities.
Parent Involvement Opportunities
Parental support and involvement are a large part of what makes our school a great place for kids. We invite you to get involved throughout the school year and to be a part of our two, formal parent groups - FARE & PTG.
The Parent-Teacher Group - PTG - supports school-wide activities and events and coordinates volunteer opportunities. Information about volunteer opportunities and payment of the annual PTG dues is located on the website. The first PTG meeting of the school year will be held on Tuesday, October 12th at 7:00 PM.
The Family Alliance for Respect and Equity - FARE - is a parent group that is open to any caregiver who has a current student enrolled at Springton Lake. FARE strives to encourage diversity awareness, build relationships and support unity. Thank you to everyone who attended the first FARE meeting this week. The discussion was excellent. The next FARE meeting will take place on November 10th.
Student Arrival & Departure
Despite the volume of traffic on our campus, arrival and departure are going well. We could still use your assistance with a few items...
Morning drop-off is permitted starting at 7:40 AM. Some students are arriving earlier, but we do not have supervision prior to that time. Please do not drop-off prior to 7:40 AM.
Drop-off and pick-up are not permitted in the parking lot. Please only use the lane that is directly in front of the building.
By Popular Request - SLMS Car Magnets NOW AVAILABLE!
Show your family's Spartan Pride wherever you travel around DELCO. Pick-up the new Springton Lake car magnet in the Main Office for just $5.
Magnets are going FAST - get yours before they are gone!!
Health & Safety Information
Keeping our students healthy, safe, and learning will be a top priority for us this school year. Previously, I shared the Health & Safety Plan that was approved by the Board of School Directors. If you have not already done so, please take a few moments to familiarize yourself with this information. As we begin the school year, face coverings will be required for all students and staff. Students may remove their face coverings when eating, when outdoors for lunch, physical education, or recess, and during designated mask breaks. Please be sure that your child comes to school with a face covering and we strongly encourage that they keep a spare in their backpack. Our classrooms have also been configured to provide at least 3 feet of spacing between students - and more, when possible.
All district information related to the impact of COVID-19 will be posted to the RTMSD website.