Summit Lakes Weekly Bulletin
September 20, 2021
Calendar of Events
September 20 - 4:00 pm - Volleyball A/B Game at South Valley MS
September 21 - 6:30 pm - Human Growth & Development Meeting (virtual)
September 22 - 4:00 pm - Cross Country Meet at Raymore-Peculiar East MS
September 22 - 4:00 pm - Volleyball A/B Game at Summit Lakes MS
September 25 - 8:30 am - Volleyball B Tournament at Pleasant Lea MS
September 25 - 8:30 am - Volleyball A Tournament at Bernard Campbell MS
Summit Lakes Middle School
Email: firstname.lastname@lsr7.net
Website: https://slms.lsr7.org/
Location: 3500 Southwest Windemere Drive, Lee's Summit, MO, USA
Phone: 816-986-1375
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/summitlakes
Twitter: @SLMSFalcons
Good afternoon Falcon families,
As we complete our fourth week of the 2021-22 school year, I wanted to take a moment to thank our families for all of your patience, grace, and support with the start of the new school year. We have navigated the change in start times and the impact felt early with morning and afternoon traffic delays along with attempting to return to “business as usual” school while the pandemic continues to linger on. Through all of this, I am proud of our students, staff, and school community for their efforts thus far.
Over the past two weeks, all SLMS students completed their fall NWEA testing window. This was the first of three benchmark tests that are taken in the fall, winter, and spring each year beginning in 4th grade. NWEA test results provide valuable information to students and their families as well as teachers about student learning levels. Over the coming weeks, we will be working with students on setting goals related to his/her individual achievement with an emphasis on personal growth throughout the year. Reports will also be shared with families once fall testing has concluded.
Additionally, the LSR7 school district is requesting that each student take a survey through Panorama three times during the 2021-2022 school year. The survey will help gauge the levels to which students feel safe and connected at school, and to discover how students perceive their own social and emotional skills.
Summit Lakes students will begin taking the survey next week during his/her social studies class and will be asked to participate in two surveys:
1) Climate Survey - questions over how students feel about our school and what they think about school in general
2) Social Emotional Survey - questions over how students feel about current learning, classes, performance in school, and how they respond to different school environment situations
This information helps SLMS staff identify areas where our school can better serve the needs of our students and continue our work to maintain a school where all students feel they belong.
Thank you for all you do to support your middle school child and SLMS. As always, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me should you have any questions.
Respectfully,
Dr. David Mitchell
Principal, SLMS
A FEW FRIENDLY IMPORTANT INFORMATION ITEMS
A new (but unwanted) trend...
Last week we were alerted by our SRO, Clarinda Woods, of a new Tik Tok trend going viral. Throughout this week, we have begun to see occurrences of this at SLMS. I am reaching out to you in hopes that we can partner to put this deviant trend to an end and further prevent the consequences that students are subjecting themselves to when defacing school property through acts of vandalism or theft. Rest assured, when items such as soap dispensers, towel dispensers, and salad bar utensils are removed, there is a disruption to our student population that is unfair. The button below will show you a video of what I am referring to. I thank you in advance for your support in helping to eliminate this behavior from our school community.
Proper Mask Wearing Guidelines
Correct mask-wearing ensures that students do not have to be quarantined in areas where mask-wearing is required. The progressive steps for students who do not wear their masks correctly are as follows:
- Multiple teacher reminders lead to a phone call home by the teacher.
- Teacher discipline referral stating that the student is still not wearing their mask, Assistant Principal will call home.
- On the 2nd referral by a teacher, Assistant Principal calls home again.
- A 3rd referral results in a transfer from In-person to online school.
STUDENT ACTIVITIES
LSR7 DISTRICT INFORMATION
Parent Overview of “Choosing the Best Path” Human Growth and Development Unit
Annually, the Lee’s Summit R-7 School District presents a Human Growth and Development Unit for seventh-grade students. Health classes will be using abstinence-based curriculum materials from the “Choosing the Best Path” curriculum. Due to the sensitivity of the subject matter, boys and girls will meet separately for portions of this unit.
We feel a shared responsibility with the parents and the community to disseminate information that will assist students in making intelligent and informed decisions concerning their health, safety, and well-being. To better support your understanding of the curriculum, we have scheduled informational parent meetings to allow you to obtain an overview of the videos/student workbook from the “Choosing the Best Path” curriculum. For parents of students taking Health in the fall, the meeting will be held virtually on Tuesday, September 21 from 6:30-8:00 pm. An additional meeting will be scheduled on February 8, 2021, for parents of students taking Health in the spring. Parents need only attend one meeting. The upcoming September 21 meeting will be held virtually (https://meet.google.com/eyc-rnas-gxj) beginning at 6:30 pm.
If you are unable to attend a meeting and would like to see the material, or you feel you need more time to review the material, you may contact Dr. Eric Flack’s office (986-1086) and request a time.
The topics for the Human Growth and Development Unit are listed below:
- Heredity and the influences of family and environment on human growth and development.
- The reproductive system includes male and female organs, and the specific hormones responsible for the production and release of reproductive cells and the development of secondary sex characteristics.
- Facts about sexually transmitted diseases including HIV/AIDS.
If you prefer that your child opt-out of the “Choosing the Best” portion of the curriculum or you prefer that your child not receive instruction during the Human Growth and Development or AIDS unit, including videos, please provide a written notice to your child’s seventh-grade health teacher (Mr. Wolverton, Mr. Brewer, or Mrs. Crain).