Falcon Flash
October 15, 2021
Principal's Message
Hello Stetson Families,
Happy Friday! October is flowing by and we are loving this great weather! We have so much to look forward to in the upcoming weeks. The Stetson Musical has been practicing in the afternoons for their upcoming production in November (please see details below). Our fall sports teams have shown great sportsmanship and are having fun this season. Please stay tuned in future newsletters for our winter sports season and more intramurals.
Today, we practiced our yearly lockdown drill. The drill was in accordance with our health and safety drill and we maintained three feet of space. Our students did a great job preparing for an emergency situation.
Thank you for your continual support in helping us guide your child through the challenging times of middle school. Please reach out and communicate any concerns that you may have in the upcoming months. Remember that we are on this journey together!
Thanks for your time, attention, and support in reading this week's edition!
Have a great weekend,
Mrs. Puchalla
Calendar --Look Ahead and Plan
October 18th--Day 2
October 19th--Day 3 *PAYS Survey will be administered during Falcon Period
October 20th--Day 4
October 21st--Day 5
October 22nd--Day 6
**Spirit week on October 25th - 29th **more details to follow
**November 1st--Retakes for picture day
Daily bell schedule
Falcon Period Schedule--Tuesday and Thursday
Technology concerns--If technical issues arise, please use the following resources:
Tech Support @ Home – WCASD website with important information:
- Schoology Support
- Laptop Support
- Additional Resources
- Schoology Parent & Student Support
If there is an issue with your 1:1 device please email SMS tech_support@wcasd.net
IMPORTANT
Attendance concerns
Late Arrival and Early Dismissal Procedures
Early Dismissal Procedure
- Please send a signed note in with your student on the morning of the desired early dismissal. Your student should bring that note directly to the office upon arrival to receive a pass to leave class at the appropriate time.
- Early dismissal is considered leaving prior to the end of the student day more than 60 minutes early.
Late Arrival Procedure
- Students are considered late to school after 8:05 am. Students are required to be in homeroom at this time. All late arrivals must check-in at the office/late table to receive a pass.
- A tardy is defined as a minimum of one minute of lateness to school.
- Eight (8) tardies to school and/or early dismissals will be considered one (1) unlawful absence in grades K-8.
Dismissal/Drop off Procedures
- Drop off is between 7:30 am - 8:05 am
- Student pick-up is between 2:50-3:10 pm.
- ALL cars MUST loop up to Starkweather and loop around before entering the Stetson car line loop
- It is vital to follow this procedure as we have experienced 202 traffic causing on-campus gridlock and delaying the start of the school day.
- Please allow ample time for drop off to avoid tardies
- When students arrive at school between 7:30 - 7:50 am, they will remain in one location until the first bell rings at 7:50 am.
- 6th grade will remain in the cafe
- 7th/8th grade will remain in LGI
- Students arriving after 7:50 am will report directly to homeroom
- Students will be considered late to school if they arrive AFTER 8:05 am
- Please use the crosswalk to pick up your child from the parking lot, safety is important to us! **We prefer that you use the car dismissal line for safety purposes!
- Thank you for being respectful to our staff on duty with all traffic procedures!
A Word From Our Athletic Department
Fall sports are in full swing. Following is the contact information for our coaches:
Football-- Mr. Pete Stolzer pstolzer@wcasd.net
Field Hockey-- Mrs. Melissa Moritsch mmoritsch@gmail.com
Volleyball-- Mr. Jim Ascareggi jascareggi@wcasd.net
Cross Country-- Mrs. Lindsay Beegle lbeegle@wcasd.net or coachbeegle@gmail.com
Boys Soccer--Ms. Erica Roebuck eroebuck@wcasd.net
Girls soccer-- Ms. Erin Listrani elistrani@wcasd.net
Cheerleading--Ms. Rachel McDonald rachaelmcdonald1997@gmail.com
**Call our athletic director Mr. Corcoran about any athletic concerns at 484-266-2725
HOME Athletic Games this week:
10/18 Volleyball @ 3:15 pm
10/19 Field Hockey & Girls soccer @ 3:15 pm
10/20 Boys Soccer & Field Hockey @ 3:15 pm
Ineligibility
It is Stetson’s mission to help all students maintain passing grades, however, if a student is failing two or more academic subjects, or one academic subject, and two unified arts classes, they will be placed on our ineligibility list. Students who are on the ineligibility list are unable to participate in any extracurricular sport/activity. A report is generated every Thursday to determine eligibility status for the following week.
Looking Ahead--Girls Basketball
Attention 7th and 8th-grade girls. Try-outs for the 8th-grade girls' basketball team will be on Friday, November 5th, and Monday, November 8th from 3 to 4:50 pm. Try-outs for the 7th-grade team will be Tuesday, November 9th, and Wednesday, November 10th from 3 to 4:50 pm. In order to try out, you must have a current PIAA physical uploaded to FamilyID. The PIAA physical must be dated after June 1, 2021. Any student who participated in a fall 2021 sport at SMS must have the PIAA re-certification section signed by a parent and uploaded to FamilyID. If you have any questions, please contact the 8th-grade coach
6th Grade Intramural Opportunity
The 6th Grade Intramural Soccer Program is an after-school activity in which 6th Grade boys and girls will learn fundamentals of soccer, participate in organized scrimmages, interact with their peers and get physical exercise. Practices will be spread out throughout the months of October and early November. If you would like to sign your child up for 6th Grade intramural soccer please fill out the form in the link (6th Grade Intramural Soccer ).
To join the 6th Grade Soccer intramural page on Schoology use this access code CJ2F-MSK7-2GVNZ
Feel free to contact Mr. David Loescher with any questions dloeschervelazquez@wcasd.net
Stetson Drama Club--6th through 8th grades
Come see the Stetson Drama Club production of All Together Now! on Friday or Saturday nights, 11/12 or 11/13 at 7:00 pm with a matinee on Saturday 11/13 at 1:00 pm. All Together Now! is a Musical Revue celebration of the fact that Broadway and theaters across America and many other countries are now open again with live theater productions. Stetson Middle School will present songs from some of the greatest musical theater productions of the last 50 years including songs from Mary Poppins, Beauty and the Beast, Newsies, Annie, Hairspray, and Frozen. Ticket prices are … Come support the Arts at Stetson!
Mrs. Ann Ellis --aellis@wcasd.net
Social Media --What Can Parents Do?
It is important to be aware of what your kids do online. Parents need to find a balance of being aware and snoop which can alienate them and damage the trust you built together. The key is to stay involved in a way that makes your kids understand that you respect their privacy but want to make sure they are safe. Tell your kids that it's important to:
- Be nice (treat others with respect)
- Think twice before hitting enter (posting personal/private info)
- Follow the "WWGS" (What would grandma say) rule
- use privacy settings
- don't friend strangers
Stetson PTO Information
Thanks to all who have volunteered to join the PTO this year! We will be contacting you as soon as we get a meeting scheduled.
To show our teachers some love during these challenging times, we are instituting a ‘Candy Bowl’ in the teacher’s lounge which we will fill weekly. If you are willing to provide a few bags of candy, please use this SignUpGenius to sign-up.
More PTO information can be found on our website: www.wcasd.net/domain/936
Nurse's Corner
Community Resources and Events
Community Conversation--Part II--October 21st
The West Chester Area School District is leading a series of Community Conversations inspired by the title of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s final book Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community?
As a community member, your voice and your perspectives are important to us. If you’re new or returning to the discussion, we hope you can join us for Part 2 of Community Conversations held on Thursday, October 21, at Bayard Rustin High School (1100 Shiloh Road), beginning at 6:30 p.m.
Please register to attend the event by Thursday, October 14. Due to the format of the event, registration is required to attend. This event is not open to the media or anyone living outside the WCASD attendance boundaries.
We look forward to continuing the work from Part 1 as we build to strengthen our community.