Knighthawk Family News
Pleasant Knoll Middle School - April 2020
Message from Mr. Young
Knighthawk Family,
I hope that all of our families are doing well and staying healthy! Obviously, we are in unprecedented times with the closure of schools until the end of March as the COVID-19 virus has rocked our world. I am so proud of our school district and most importantly, our PKMS staff, that has worked tirelessly to develop an E-Learning system for 900 plus students so quickly (17,000 students in the district).
During this difficult time, our students will be served through an E-Learning system that our district and teachers have designed. This platform will allow our students to receive valuable instruction while we are physically away from school. On Sunday evening, all parents received a survey to determine whether they had the capability to be served on E-Learning or get a paper/pencil option. If you informed us on that survey that you need the paper/pencil option, you may pick up your packets on Wednesday, March 18 between 7AM and 1PM at the front of the school. There is more information below about the paper/pencil packets.
Obviously, these are uncharted waters for all of us. We are going to continue to work as hard as we can to provide the best experience possible for your child. We ask for your patience and flexibility as we work through this new way of learning. I can't tell you how much I appreciate the ongoing support of our PKMS community. I have had so many parents ask what they can do to help. The overwhelming support of all of you is what makes our community so great.
As I am sure you can imagine, we are going to miss our students tremendously. Our teachers and staff went into this field because of them and the ability to work with them each day. While we will continue to help them, it is heartbreaking that we will not get to see their smiling faces for the next few weeks. We look forward to their return!
Thank you again for all that you do as parents!
Grey Young, Principal
E-Learning for Online Users
Students should access their Google Classroom for all E-Learning lessons. Only students should join our Google Classrooms.
Please see below for a video about help for students with Google Classroom.
E-Learning for Paper/Pencil Packet Pick-Up
Emergency Meal Program
https://www.fortmillschools.org/news/what_s_new/emergency_meal_program
SCHOOL OFFICE HOURS
TEACHER OFFICE HOURS
6th Grade Teachers - 9AM - 11AM
7th Grade Teachers - 11AM - 1PM
8th Grade Teachers - 10AM - 12PM (noon)
Congratulations to Mrs. Bard, Mrs. Tyler, and the Cast and Crew of Frozen, Jr.!
Congrats to our PKMS Chili Cook-off Team on taking home the Chef's Award thanks to Mr. Toms awesome recipe!
School Counselor Assignments
- All Students (Last Names A-G)
Allison Davis - davisa@fortmillschools.org
- All Students (Last Names H-N)
Margaret Causey - causeym@fortmillschools.org
- All Students (Last Names O-Z)
Nurse News
While seasonal flu outbreaks can happen as early as October, most of the time flu activity peaks between December and February, although activity can last as late as May. It is very important to alert the school nurse if your child has been diagnosed with the flu or any other communicable diseases. This allows the nurse to keep track of the number of students in a classroom/grade level in order to protect others. Please keep your child at home if he or she has a temperature of 100° F or higher with a cough or sore throat. Children with a temperature of 100° F or higher will need to stay home until the fever is gone for 24 hours without taking medicines to reduce the fever. Other flu symptoms are fever with a runny or stuffy nose, body aches, headache, and feeling very tired. Practice frequent hand washing and cover the mouth and nose when coughing or sneezing. The best way to prevent the flu is by getting vaccinated each year along with washing hands often with soap and water. If soap and water are not available, use an alcohol-based hand rub. These healthy habits will help prevent the spread of flu.
Handwashing
How can YOU help prevent the spread of infections? Hand washing is the most important thing you can do to stay healthy and prevent the spread of illness. Parents play an important role in teaching children to wash their hands. Handwashing can become a lifelong healthy habit if you start teaching it at an early age. Teach kids the five easy steps for handwashing—wet, lather, scrub, rinse and dry. Please make sure your children wash their hands before meals, after using the restroom, and if hands are visibly greasy or dirty. Washing with soap and running water is the best way to reduce the number of germs on hands in most situations. If soap and water are not available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol.
Handwashing with soap removes germs from hands. This helps prevent infections because:
- People frequently touch their eyes, nose, and mouth without even realizing it. Germs can get into the body through the eyes, nose and mouth and make us sick.
- Germs from unwashed hands can get into foods and drinks while people prepare or consume them. Germs can multiply in some types of foods or drinks, under certain conditions, and make people sick.
- Germs from unwashed hands can be transferred to another person’s hands by touching objects such as door handles, tabletops, and other high contact areas.
- Removing germs through handwashing, therefore, helps prevent diarrhea and respiratory infections and may even help prevent skin and eye infections.
Other recommended prevention and control measures for families include:
- Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue or upper sleeve when coughing or sneezing. Place tissue in a trash receptacle and wash your hands after use.
- Avoid close contact will ill people. Stay home when experiencing flu-like illness until free from fever for 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medicine.
- Routinely clean and disinfect frequently touched surfaces such as doorknobs, tables, desks, computer keyboards, handrails, remote controls, etc.
PKMS Yearbooks!
Yearbooks are now on sale for $40.00. Students may also purchase personalization, such as their monogram, a crest, or their name, for an additional $7.
There are only 100 yearbooks left. Once they are all gone, there will not be any available to purchase.
Click here for link to order yearbooks.
If you have any questions, please contact Mrs. Munn: mailto:munns@fortmillschools.org
PKMS Booster Club
Hello fellow Knighthawks parents!
The end of the school year is fast approaching as is the end of my tenure as the Athletic Booster Club President. Sadly, my youngest will be leaving the esteemed halls of PKMS and moving on to high school. Not only will I be leaving, at least one other member of our Board will be moving on to high school as well. This message is to ask for your committed and active leadership on the ABC Board. I'd love to make the transition as smooth as possible for anyone stepping into the roles of ABC Board membership. If you're interested in serving as President, Vice President, Treasurer, Secretary, Fundraising Lead or Concessions Lead or if you just want to inquire about what is needed to fulfill these duties please reach out to me by email at arlethia.hailstock@gmail.com.
Thank you and GO KNIGHTHAWKS!
PKMS ABC President,
Arlethia
School Administrator Assignments
7th GRADE - Daniel McCallum - mccallumd@fortmillschools.org
8th GRADE - Grey Young - youngg@fortmillschools.org
Parent Communication
We would like to keep all of our parents informed of upcoming events, classroom news, and school news. Please use the PKMS website, http://pkms.fortmillschools.org/. It should be a primary source of communication for our families and Mrs. Munn does an outstanding job of updating it on a regular basis. Please also use our Twitter and Facebook pages for information as well.
Twitter - @PK_Knighthawks
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/PKMSKnighthawks/
Pleasant Knoll Middle School
Email: zeppelink@fortmillschools.org
Website: http://pkms.fortmillschools.org/
Location: 2320 Pleasant Road, Fort Mill, SC, United States
Phone: 803-835-3770
Facebook: facebook.com/PKMSKnighthawks/
Twitter: @PK_Knighthawks