M 'n M
Mustangs in the Middle : Week of February 8, 2021
From the desk of Mrs. Boytim, Principal of SMS
Dr. Ryba recently communicated a change to our schedule in his recent communication to families. Students who attend in person are to attend Monday- Wednesday next week and will then receive their work online asynchronously on Google Classroom, Thursday and Friday. SCS Connects will log into live sessions Monday - Wednesday and proceed to find asynchronous work Thursday and Friday. Thank you for a great week and we hope you stay safe and warm this weekend!
Mrs. Boytim
From Dr. Ryba: Change of Schedule
"Yesterday, we received our staff COVID vaccination dates and times. These dates and times are set by the county, not by SCS. We will receive our first dose on February 11th and our second on March 4th. All interested staff will be assigned an appointment between 9:10 a.m. - 1:50 p.m. and must go to Independence to receive their vaccination. We have over 90% of our staff receiving the vaccine. Based on this vaccination schedule and the need to proactively plan for any vaccine reactions, we have made adjustments to our school calendar, which are listed below.
Thank you in advance for your flexibility and understanding with these changes. We all hope this is the first step in getting back to some consistency and stability for our students, parents, and staff so that we can continue to provide the premier educational experience we all want for our students."
Update to the School Calendar
You can CLICK HERE to see the updated calendar. Please check out the color key and notes for each day. Listed below are some items of note.
- February 11th: This is the selected vaccination day for the first dose and therefore will be a remote/asynchronous learning day for students. Teachers will have all assignments/learning for this day posted to Google Classroom and communicated to students prior to the start of the school day and there will be no live instruction on this day. This also applies to SCS Connects students. Note. This will not impact any students in Lincoln Learning, Edgenuity, Edmentum, or Apex.
- February 12th: We will keep our previously scheduled professional development day on this date. This will be a remote/asynchronous learning day for students and a professional development day for staff following the same procedures/expectations as detailed for February 11th.
- February 15th: This is Presidents’ Day and is a non-school day for students and staff.
- March 4th: This is the selected vaccination day for the second dose and therefore will be a remote/asynchronous learning day for students following the same procedures/expectations as detailed for February 11th.
- March 5th: This will be a staff professional development day. Students will not have school on this day - remote or in person. Note. We have moved the previously scheduled PD day from March 15th to March 5th.
- March 15th: In the previous calendar, this was a non-school day for students and a professional development day for staff. This has been moved to March 5th and March 15th will now be a school day for all students.
- April/May: There are no changes to our previously adopted calendar in April or May.
MUSTANGS OF THE MONTH - January
SHOUTOUTS OF THE WEEK
STAFF MODEL MUSTANGS OF THE MONTH
COUNSELOR'S CORNER
We Appreciate our School Counselors!
National School Counseling Week
College Credit Plus
Ohio’s College Credit Plus program allows qualified students in grades 7-12 to earn college and high school credits at the same time by taking college courses from community colleges or universities for free. College admission requirements apply to all students participating in the CCP program (based on college readiness in one or more subject areas).
The College Credit Plus informational meeting for the 2021-2022 school year will be streamed live from Boxcast on February 11th at 6:30 p.m. If you are interested in learning more about the College Credit Plus (CCP) program for the 2021/2022 school year, it is HIGHLY recommended that both students and parents attend the CCP meeting. The direct link for the meeting is https://www.strongnet.org/Page/12692 or individuals can watch from the Strongsville City Schools channel on the BoxCast app available on Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV/Stick. Intent to Participate paperwork will then be made available for students to access by their school counselors on February 12th. The deadline to submit your Intent to Participate paperwork is May 1, 2021.
9th Grade Class Registration
The online Class Registration Portal will be open from February 8th to February 19th, 2021. 8th Grade students can complete their 9th Grade class registration on their own at any time when the portal is open, but all in-person & SCS Connects 8th grade students will have the opportunity to complete their registration in their science class on Wednesday, February 17th. For 8th Grade SOLO students who are taking classes via Edmentum, Edgenuity, or another online platform through the school district, Mrs. Ray will be hosting a google meet on February 16th at 12:00pm to answer any questions students may have regarding class registration. The direct link to join the meeting is: https://meet.google.com/hey-cpda-xsu.
Please access the following link for specific directions on how to complete online class registration: Directions for 9th Grade Online Class Registration Prior to completing class registration, students (in collaboration with their parents) will need to decide what classes to take in 9th grade. To assist you in choosing classes, please reference the following resources: In person & SCS Connects students have already watched the high school scheduling presentation video in their Career Connections class. SOLO students should view this 20 minute video independently to prepare them for 9th grade online class registration If you have any questions, please contact Mrs. Ray (8th Grade School Counselor) at eray@scsmustangs.org or 440-268-5292.
SCS Connects/SOLO Quarter 2 Grades
SMS Athletic Updates
Girls Basketball
Boys Basketball
TRACK & FIELD
Announcements & Reminders
News From the Media Center
Biography Project: Mrs. Battle has created a resource guide to help 6th grade students who need to select a biography for a language arts class project (only some 6th grade ELA classes are completing a biography project and you student has already been told by their ELA teacher if they need to find a book).
Books: If your students would like to order and have a library book delivered there are 2 ways for students to do this. They can order the book themselves using Option 1 on the SMS Media Center website or use Option 2 and ask Mrs. Battle, our SMS Media Specialist, to help them to find a great book.
Makerspace: If your students are looking for something fun to do we have Mobile Makerspace kits that are available. You can view the available options on the SMS Makerspace website. Students can pick up the kits in the media center.
- Lost Books: Please help us find our SMS lost library books! If you find any library books from any Strongsville City School they can be returned to SMS, and we will help them find their way home!
Live Streaming
IT'S TIME TO ORDER YOUR YEARBOOK!!
PTA Stroller Foods Fundraiser
Please support the Strongsville Council PTA's no contact fundraiser with Stoller Foods! The dry good items include granola bites, popcorn, pretzel kits, and coffee. All items will be delivered to your home. The funds earned from this go to Senior Scholarships and school grants, previously funded through our Rockin' at the Rec dances which have been temporarily suspended. Share with your extended family!
Click the link to order - Select Products | My Fundraising Place
TEAM WEEKLY PREVIEWS
Teams complete this every week to help parents and students receive a forecast of assignments to help organize their week. GOOGLE CLASSROOM is still the MAIN location for all resources. This is a great tool to help check in with students
WEEKLY ANNOUCEMENTS
These are also linked to our Team Preview templates and located on our school website.
Waiver of Student Fees for Families that Qualify for Free Meals
If you are a family that would typically qualify for the Free Meals Program and want to be considered for a fee waiver for your students’ instructional fees, you must still complete the application for this school year. Otherwise, you will be responsible for student fees for this school year. Applications must be submitted annually for each school year and cannot be applied for fees from a previous year. CLICK HERE to obtain a copy of the application. completed applications can be returned to the Food Service Department or your child's school. If you have any questions regarding the application, please contact Tammy Ray at 440.572.7058 or tray@scsmustangs.org.
“State of the Schools”
Follow Mrs. Boytim and School News @MrsBoytim and @TheSMSMustangs on Twitter!
Strongsville Middle School
Mrs. Boytim: jboytim@scsmustangs.org
Mrs. Peters: jpeters@scsmustangs.org
Mrs. Bailey: jbailey@scsmustangs.org
Counselors:
Mrs. Gerber (6): kgerber@scsmustangs.org
Mrs. Pietrocini (7): spietrocini@scsmustangs.org
Mrs. Ray (8): eray@scsmustangs.org
Website: https://www.strongnet.org/Domain/411
Location: 13200 Pearl Road, Strongsville, OH, USA
Phone: 440-572-7090
Twitter: @mrsboytim