SLMS Titan News
Week #19 - January 3, 2022
Greetings SLMS Parents, Guardians, Students, and Staff,
Our hope is that your winter break was peaceful, relaxing, and energizing and that the start of 2022 has been a great one for you and your family. We look forward to the return of our Titan students on Wednesday, January 5. We have two professional development days with our teachers and staff on Monday and Tuesday of this week, and we will welcome our students back on Wednesday.
If you have not taken a moment to review the message sent by Dr. Whitbeck, FBISD Superintendent of Schools, sent on Thursday, December 30, please visit this posting on the district website with a COVID-19 update. We encourage students and staff to wear well-fitting masks, and as Dr. Whitbeck's update mentions, we are pausing in-person visits from parents and guests for lunch for the duration of January. On-campus visits from parents will be limited to vital ones, such as parent/teacher conferences and delivery of medication to the clinic.
Thank you for your faithful use of the FBISD Wellness Screener, even during the break. Please continue to use the Wellness Screener if your child tests positive for COVID-19. You may also wish to view the current FBISD Isolation/Quarantine Guidelines for staff and students. If you traveled outside the USA during the break, or have plans to do so, please review the Post-Travel CDC Guidance for re-entering the USA. To keep an eye on the case count for the district or for any particular campus, including SLMS, please visit the district's COVID-19 Dashboard.
And while the above items help us with physical well-being, we continue to ask parents to help their children and our school with mental/psychological well-being through close monitoring of their childrens' use of social media, messaging (texting), and the use of their personal devices. Increasingly, improper use of these devices and platforms, even outside of school, has a negative impact on students' mental, emotional, and psychological health at school. While our expectation is that students' cell phones are turned off and stored in their backpacks during the school day, that alone does not prevent harm from being done. Parental monitoring of their childrens' social media consumption and devices goes a long way toward ensuring everyone's well-being. Thank you in advance, parents, for partnering with the school to support the well-being of every child and staff member at SLMS.
Please take some time to review this week's newsletter, which contains information about:
- Upcoming Important Dates and Events
- Immunizations for Current Sixth Graders and Readiness for Seventh Grade
- Safety Reminders for Vehicle Traffic at Arrival and Dismissal
- Parent Coffee with the Principal - January 14
- Yearbooks On Sale Online Now!!! - Only $40
- Everyone Can Help With Yearbook Pictures!
- Birthday Messages on the SLMS Electronic Marquee
- Important Contact Information
I hope you have a peaceful and enjoyable start to the new semester, and we want all of our Titans to return to us safely on Wednesday, January 5!
Sincerely,
Keith Fickel, Principal
#NewBeginnings
#TitansOwnIt
#ReturnOfTheTitans
The Week At A Glance
Upcoming and Important Dates
Grade Level Assemblies
- Grade 6 - thru Discovery classes January 6
- Grade 7 - during Advisory Tuesday, January 11
- Grade 8 - during Advisory Wednesday, January 12
Parent Coffee with the Principal - January 14
REN360 Middle of the Year (MOY) Window – January 10 through 28
Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday – January 17
Theatre Field Trip – January 20
Academic Interventions (Advisory Tue/Wed, & after school Tue, Wed, Thu) – Start January 25
Black History Month – Month of February
Immunizations for Current Sixth Graders and Readiness for Seventh Grade
Your sixth-grade child did or will receive the TDAP and the Meningitis vaccines at their 11-year-old check-up. If they have had these vaccines, please provide proof of this to the clinic when your child gets them. These are the required shots for seventh grade and providing them as soon as you get them will keep your child compliant. and be one less thing for you to do in preparation for seventh grade. You may email it to Nurse Patel at Shetal.Patel@fortbendisd.com or fax it to (281) 327-8745.
Our experience has been that some parents wait until the last possible minute to be in compliance with these immunization requirements. Please help us help your child be ready for next year, as it will approach faster than you think!
Safety Reminders for Vehicle Traffic During Arrival and Dismissal
Safety is important during arrival and dismissal each day. Some things we continue to notice that we want to bring to your attention include:
- Drivers on cell phones/devices while in the car rider line
- Students entering/exiting vehicles along Seventh Street instead of in the circle drive
- Students entering/exiting vehicles in parking lots on either side of the building instead of in the circle drive
- Students entering/exiting vehicles on the drivers' side rather than the passenger side
- Drivers turning left out of the circle drive (it's a posted no left turn during school zone hours)
- Speeding in the school zone and driving too fast in the car rider line
- Parents and students crossing Seventh Street in places other than the crosswalk monitored by our crossing guard
Please help us help you and your children (and our staff) to remain safe by being mindful of these concerns during arrival and dismissal.
Parent Coffee with the Principal - January 14 at 10:00 AM
Please join Principal Fickel in the monthly Parent Coffee via Microsoft Teams on Friday, January 14, at 10:00 AM. Use the link below to join the conversation.
January Coffee with the Principal
Friday, January 14
10:00-10:30 AM
Reminder about Student ID's and Lanyards
At the beginning of the school year, each student was issued a color-coded lanyard (coded by grade level), a photo ID, and a plastic sleeve to keep the ID in and to attach to the lanyard. The expectation is that students wear their ID visible at all times over their outermost layer of clothing, except when doing physical exercise in Kickstart or PE/Athletics class. As we have progressed throughout the fall semester, a growing number of students have lost their ID (some students multiple times), and we have created new ones for them, without charge. Also, an increasing number of students continue to forget bringing their ID's to school, and we issue a temporary sticker ID badge to them. Both of these processes are massively time-consuming for our staff and result in lost instructional time for students, and in the case of the replacement ID badges themselves, it has become an expense that we cannot continue to subsidize. Therefore, starting Wednesday, December 1, students who lose their ID badge and need a replacement will be charged $5.00 to offset the cost of the supplies. Also, once students have forgotten their ID for the 4th time and have been given a temporary sticker ID badge, they will begin to be issued consequences. These consequences may progress from lunch detention, to after school detention, and if needed, Saturday detention, and possibly exclusion from the ability to attend school functions after hours. Our office staff have lost a great deal of their productivity and support time to address these growing issues with ID badges, and we hope that these new procedures will help them to regain their lost time, but also to instill a level of responsibility in students to keep up with this expectation. Students are expected to have and wear their ID badge every day, just as they are expected to be in dress code each day and to bring their school supplies to/from school each day. Please help your child keep track of his/her ID badge so that it does not get lost and that it is remembered every day.
Please note that we will collect the ID badges from 6th and 7th graders at the end of the year for re-distribution at the start of 2022-23 school year, and we will create new badges for students during the 2022-23 school year once our fall portraits have been uploaded into Skyward. Thank you in advance for your understanding and support of these revised guidelines and expectations.
Yearbooks On Sale Online NOW! Only $40.00
Our yearbook staff is hard at work creating the yearbook for this year. You do not want to miss out. Yearbooks are $40.00, which is the same price as last year, and they may be purchased online by visiting this page on the Balfour website.
We still have copies of last year's yearbook available for sale, as well. They are $40.00, and may be purchased only with exact cash, money order, or check, and they are not available online. Please contact our Yearbook Sponsor, Ms. Simpson at alison.simpson@fortbendisd.com if you have any questions regarding this year's yearbook (or last year's yearbook).
Everyone Can Help with Pictures for the Yearbook
The yearbook staff cannot be everywhere to take pictures for the yearbook, but you can help them out! Download the Balfour ImageShare app to your device, and follow the instructions in the flyer below to be able to share pictures you have taken for possible inclusion in the yearbook. Pictures submitted must be school-relevant and appropriate. The yearbook staff and sponsor will determine which photos to include. Note that any inappropriate photos submitted will be referred to campus administration, and possibly to law enforcement, if warranted.
Birthday Messages on SLMS Marquee
Does your SLMS child have an upcoming birthday? Would you like to wish them a happy birthday on our new digital campus marquee? The PTO is coordinating birthday messages to go on our marquee as a means of raising funds to help meet needs of students and teachers. Publicizing your child's birthday is only $15.00. Please follow these simple steps to get your child's birthday announced on the marquee:
- Visit https://my.cheddarup.com/c/slmspto
- Scroll down to the "Happy Birthday Marquee" item
- Click "Add to Cart"; you are redirected to another screen where you will
- Enter information about your child and select the style of announcement you wish to see on the marquee
- Click "Add to Cart ($15.00)"
- Review your order
- Click "Continue to Forms"
- Enter your child's name and grade level
- Click "Continue to Payment" and finish your purchase
Note that submissions must be received at least two weeks ahead of the desired date to be posted on our campus marquee. Please contact Heather Martin of the SLMS PTO at heathermartincpa@gmail.com with questions. And feel free to order SLMS swag like hoodies, t-shirts, and more while you are ordering your child's birthday message!
Important Contact Information
- Associate Principal - Monika Martin (monika.martin@fortbendisd.com)
- Counselor - Nafecia Brinson (nafecia.brinson@fortbendisd.com)
- Assistant Principal - Dr. Dawn Rogers (dawn.rogers@fortbendisd.com)
- Counselor - Eleni Smith (eleni.smith@fortbendisd.com)
Eighth Grade
- Assistant Principal - Luster Goodwin (luster.goodwin@fortbendisd.com)
- Counselor - Kim Seright (kimberly.seright@fortbendisd.com)
Counselor Clerk - Carmen Brantley (carmen.brantley@fortbendisd.com)
Assistant Principal Secretaries
- 7th and 8th Grade - Tina Garcia (diamantina.ibarragar@fortbendisd.com)
- 6th Grade - Sherri Woodcock (sherri.woodcock@fortbendisd.com)
Attendance - Mary Beth LaVergne (mary.lavergne@fortbendisd.com)
Registrar - Tandi Phillips (tandi.phillips@fortbendisd.com)
Nurse - Shetal Patel (shetal.patel@fortbendisd.com)
Clinic Aide - Cassandra Rodarte (cassandra.rodarte@fortbendisd.com)
Executive Assistant to Principal Fickel - Mary Connealy (mary.connealy@fortbendisd.com)
Sugar Land Middle School
46 Years
1975-2021
Inspiring and equipping the young men and women of our community for futures beyond what they can imagine since 1975.
SLMS Campus Mission Statement
Working collaboratively, the Sugar Land Middle School Professional Learning Community will commit to creating a safe environment with high expectations leading to physical, social, emotional, and academic success for all Titans.
#TitansOwnIt
#NewBeginnings
#Resilience
Office Hours
8:20-4:20 PM
Email: keith.fickel@fortbendisd.com
Website: www.fortbendisd.com/slms
Location: 321 7th Street, Sugar Land, TX, USA
Phone: (281) 634-3080
Twitter: @SLMSTitans