Simis Mini Scoop
October 6, 2023
Principal's Letter
A Note from Mrs. Murray
Hi Simis Families,
Today is the last day of quarter 1 and school is closed next week. Since we are on fall break, I am sending a mini-scoop this week. The next Simis Scoop will be sent out Friday October 20th with a full update of the "goings-on" at Simis. In this Mini Scoop, I am including a topic that relates to student wellness. With Halloween and fall season here, students may be exposed to media and programming that includes topics of weapons and violence. At school, students sometimes transfer what they see into daily conversation. Please read more below about how we can support students at school and home when these topics are brought up at school.
Wishing you a restful and happy fall break,
Lindsay Murray
Student Wellness
Topic to Discuss at Home
This year, schools are seeing an increase in threatening language used by students. When students are angry, we are hearing some students make statements threatening harm to others. We take threats at school seriously. We would like to partner with parents to reduce comments that are not truly intending harm to others.
Through our investigations, we often discover that these comments are meant by students either as a joke or to express that they are really angry. Students will often say that they didn't mean it but didn't know how to say how mad they were at something. Students will say they have heard this language from a TV show, movie, or video game. As we enter fall and Halloween season, some students are referencing weapons we learn are associated with Halloween costumes in threatening comments made to peers. With fall break next week, there may be more unstructured time for students when screens will be present. Commonsensemedia.org is a great resource for age-based media reviews to support parents in evaluating programs students are exposed to at home.
After fall break, we will be reviewing strategies that can be used at school to help students productively express their feelings without being threatening. One strategy we explicitly teach is the Meta Moment. This tool helps students pause, reflect on their feelings, think about how they want to act, use a self-regulation strategy and respond calmly. As we work to address this behavior at school, please consider talking with your students at home about appropriate and inappropriate ways to express their frustration.
Thank you for your support.
Lost and Found!
Is your student missing an item at school?
Please check out the Lost and Found outside the music room for missing jackets, sweaters, lunchboxes, or water bottles. We will donate all items left behind at the end of semester 1.
Tax Credit and Activity Fee Information
Learn About Paying Activity Fees and Tax Credit Donations
Did you know that there is an Activity Fee for students attending Madison schools? When you pay the $50 activity fee for your student, you are ensuring that Simis is able to continue providing the high quality experiences such as our noon duty coaches, field trips, and other extracurricular activities.
To make a payment please follow the process below:
Madison Homepage> Families> Pay a Fee > School Activity Fee, Athletic Fee, Student Club Fee> Online Portal
The online portal page instructs guardians to login to POWERSCHOOL.
Guests can create an account and login directly through the online portal page.
Once logged in, parents can PAY Fines/Fees that are posted on their student's account or self select Items at Schools. For example, Activity Fees have already been posted on student's accounts and can be paid through Pay Fines/Fees. If your child is participating in a school club/team, such as Odyssey of the Mind, that requires payment for participation, a fee will be posted to parent accounts to make a payment to that program.
If you would like to make additional donations to the school, individuals can pay up to a total of $200, and families up to $400, as a tax credit donation to the school. This total includes activity fees and club payments made to the district. Payments can be designated to go towards a specific experience, such as the 4th grade end of year celebration field trip, or can be left without designation for the Site Based Management Council to allocate appropriately. Site Based Management Council determines how all Tax Credit resources will be used at Madison Simis.
Important Dates
TCT 1pm Early Release
Wednesday, Oct 18, 2023, 01:00 PM
TCT 1pm Early Release
Wednesday, Oct 18, 2023, 01:00 PM
TCT 1pm Early Release, Conferences
Wednesday, Oct 25, 2023, 01:00 PM
Conferences, Half Day Release
Thursday, Oct 26, 2023, 11:00 AM
Conferences, Half Day Release
Friday, Oct 27, 2023, 11:00 AM
Trunk or Treat
Friday, Oct 27, 2023, 05:00 PM
Parent/Guardian Opportunities
School Lunch Visitor Registration Form
Sign up for a lunch visit here! Please read the details on the sign up form for more information.
THRIVE Parent Information Series
Madison School District just placed 4 new modules in our THRIVE section of the Madison website. These short and informative videos with experts in the field provide families with resources to approach and support their child in ways that align with the students of the Alpha and iGeneration.