SHARK MAIL
Saturday, October 10th 2020
Saturday Message:
Happy Saturday, Sharks!
It has been a busy week here at SMS and here in Albemarle County. As you have probably read, the School Board has approved a move to Phase Three for the second quarter. To learn more about this update, please see the county's Return to School Website. We will update you soon as to what that means for us here at Sutherland. Meanwhile, here at home, it has been a terrific Spirit Week sponsored by our SCA. It has been fun getting to see kids join their Zoom sessions with their pets, in their sports jerseys, with crazy hats/hair, and in their beach clothes. Please remember to submit pictures on the SMS website for the yearbook!
I wanted to take a moment to share with you all that we will be administer our Fall Math MAP assessment this week on Wednesday, October 14. This assessment will be administered through your student or students' math course. It is strictly meant to gather information on our students' math skills to date. It will not be counted as part of their grade. Please encourage your child to do their best on this assessment as it provides valuable information that we use to help make instructional decisions. Algebra and Geometry students will not take the MAP assessment. Due to the length of the assessment, we will suspend asynchronous assignments for October 14. If you have any questions regarding this assessment, please feel free to reach out directly to me.
One final note, if you have not yet updated Parent Portal using the student verification, please make sure you see the note at the end of this mailing. We want to make sure all of our contact information is correct. Thank you and have a great rest of your weekend.
Sincerely,
Megan Wood, Principal
Grade Level Newsletters
News from SMS:
The Parent Resource Center is being operated by Michael Armstrong for the 2020-21 School Year. The Parent Resource Center Site can be reached at:
https://www.k12albemarle.org/our-departments/special-education/prc
The first Albemarle County Public Schools Parent Resource Center Monthly Newsletter has been posted: October 2020 ACPS-PRC NewsletterThe Parent Resource Center is located at:
Albemarle County Public Schools
Department of Special Education
401 McIntire Rd., Room 323
Charlottesville, VA 22902
You can contact the Parent Resource Center at 434-296-5885 or by email at spedhelp@k12albemarle.org.Flu Shots: There will be a free flu shot drive-thru clinic at Jack Jouett Middle School on October 20th from 5:00 - 7:00 PM. Details can be found here.
Holiday Help: Although we are just starting to decorate for Halloween, we also start turning towards those in need for the holiday seasons soon approaching. If your family may need support for either Thanksgiving or the Winter holidays, please make sure you contact your child's counselor in October. If you are a family interested in helping our fellow Shark families in need, please also reach out to your child's counselor for ways to help. Thank you!
Parent-Teacher Conferences: Conferences are scheduled for Tuesday, October 13, and Thursday, October 22 from 4:45 until 8:00 pm. Information and sign-up links can be found on the SMS website. Thank you.
Cloud Computing Form: In addition to the resources already provided by ACPS, our teachers have selected more tools to further enhance learning throughout the school year. Some of these tools require parent/guardian permission for students to create accounts.
Each of the tools listed below has been thoroughly reviewed by the Department of Technology to ensure student safety, age appropriateness, and data privacy. For a detailed look at the criteria they use to review the technology resources and to learn more about the Children’s Online Protection Act (COPPA), please visit this informational guide bit.ly/ACPStechReview. Click here to complete the form.
Student Verification
We are excited to announce that online registration verification for the 2020-2021 school year is now open! This process replaces the paper forms traditionally sent home in First Day Packets at the beginning of each school year. Your verification is now available online. You will need to use the PowerSchool Parent Portal to access the PowerSchool Enrollment registration system. We request that you submit registration verifications for all students by Friday, October 9, 2020.
Note: Only students attending an ACPS elementary, middle or high school will complete registrations using this method. Students served by Ivy Creek, CSA, or our special education department will continue to update their information in the same manner as they have previously.
How do I get started?
If you have a PowerSchool Parent Portal account, go to https://sis.k12albemarle.org/ and sign in to the PowerSchool Parent Portal. From the Parent Portal:
1. Select the student you wish to update along the top.
2. Either:
- Click the Student Registration Verification button on the left sidebar; OR
- Click the Applications icon in the top-right corner and select Student Registration Verification.
3. Enter your student's date of birth to verify access to the form.
4. Follow the prompts to begin the form.
5. Review all information on each page and make changes where necessary.
If you do not yet have a Parent Portal account, please contact your student’s school.
Attendance Procedures
- Present Virtual Synchronous - PVS: indicates that a student was present virtually during the allotted class period.
- Present Virtual Synchronous- PVA: indicates that a student did the classwork but did not attend the class during the allotted period.
- UNV/UEX: indicates that a student did not attend class during the allotted time nor did they complete the class.
If you have questions regarding a student's attendance, please contact the teacher directly first. The teacher will email our attendance coordinator if a change is warranted.
Social Media
Email: cguy@k12albemarle.org
Website: https://sms.k12albemarle.org/
Location: 2801 Powell Creek Drive, Charlottesville, VA, USA
Phone: (434) 975-0599
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sutherlandpto
Twitter: @SMSSharks