Thunderblast 2023
Taking Risks by OWNING Our Learning- November 5, 2023
WOW... Just WOW
Last week's blast opened with A Week to Remember. This one takes the cake! In a 3-day student week, we got prepared for a jam-packed weekend that started Thursday evening with staff, students, and families packing up for a 5:00 AM departure to National Harbor to play a 20-minute set at Gaylord Conference Center at the most prominent Middle School Conference in our country. Trust me when I tell you, for 62 of our 8th grade band members to get in front of over 1000 educators and showcase their diligence and greatness is a landmark for Seneca Ridge. This was the experience of a lifetime and it took a village.
I stayed to participate in the conference until Saturday. Our students and music program were complimented repeatedly by those in attendance. I'm not going to lie, I teared up a little (or a lot) thinking about everything they had accomplished as the conference wound down. It was indeed special.
But it didn't end there! Check out below for the Flag Football Championship and All-District Chorus!
Inaugural Flag Football LCPS Playoffs
3 inches separated us from the championship, but make no mistake, it was our sportsmanship, communication, and teamwork that shined and made Seneca proud. Great work from EACH staff and student involved! Thank you to EACH family for coming and supporting our kids!
6th Grade All-District Chorus
Ms. Shoemaker's 6th grade students represented Seneca proudly at
Marvin Amoani
Nina Daignault
Ellie Fair
Saheb Goel
Kamaya Jones
Daisy Ortega
Serra Sahin
We were double booked on Saturday and I regret missing this performance at Stone Bridge, but I heard they were awesome!! 😊
November 7- Student Holiday & Staff Professional Learning Day
Every year, on off days, I feel bad for the students who wake up ready to come to school and wonder why the doors aren't opening at 8:00. This is a reminder that students can sleep in on Tuesday. Our staff will be working on equity in the morning and departmental learning in the afternoon. Elections will be in the cafeteria.
November 10- Photo Retakes
FYI- Students without parent permission or previous orders will not be able to go for photo retakes. We are trying to reduce the amount of missed class time. You can ensure your student is able to get a retake by emailing your house administrative assistant or completing the initial order. Anyone who has not ordered can still do so using the link below :
November 11- Veteran's Day
Veterans Day will be the focus of three advisory lessons this week. Monday will feature a book reading that reflects the sacrifice of men and women through U.S. history. On Wednesday and Thursday, students will listen to a pre-recorded interview with local Sterling veterans of U.S. Marine Corps and Army backgrounds. Their service stories will be told as they respond to questions recently submitted by students. We will encourage crafting a thank you card that can be shared with a family member who is a veteran or added to our collections that will go to local veterans at the Sterling Volunteer Fire Company Station 618, American Legion Post 150, and Falcon’s Landing retirement community.
I'm excited to hear from our local veterans as they respond to our students and help us build empathy, appreciation, and awareness.
Saturday, November 18 Turkey Trot- Save the date!
Bounty Of Books
Unified Mental Health Team (UMHT)
Seneca’s UMHT: One of our goals is to provide families with information on community resources, access to basic needs, mental health/crisis counseling, reducing stress/anxiety, substance abuse resources, and resources to support learning. Please feel free to access the resources below as needed.
Fentanyl
As a middle school parent, I know how scary opioid addiction, Fetanyl, and drug use in general can be. This is not a Loudoun problem, a high school problem, or an individual school problem, but a nationwide problem. You saw the following message using this link from the division. I wanted to highlight three action steps from LCPS:
- Naloxone. We want to let you know that LCPS has Naloxone available at every secondary school in the division (high schools and middle schools). Naloxone is a medication designed to rapidly reverse opioid overdose. LCPS employees are trained to administer this medication and all School Resource Officers for Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office and Leesburg Police Department carry it as well.
- Community Educational Events. Please check our LCPS calendar.
- Extra Security Presence. We are working with our law enforcement partners to maintain extra security on our campuses and we have added LCPS Safety & Security support.
Please reach out to us immediately if you feel a student might be struggling with substance use. Our partnership is everything when it comes to keeping our students safe.
PBIS - Students of the Week... Attendance, Bolt Bucks, & Overall Awesomeness!
Congrats to this week's PBIS winners!!
Jonathon A Ordonez Rodriguez7
George Hooper7
Aaron Aviles-Ortiz8
Jayden Hernandez Santos8
Angel Cruz Bustillo6
Gretta Moser7
Jason Gomez Arenivar8
Seydi Murrillo Aguilar 6
Matthew Albanese7
Aria Khazai8
Ming Ma6
Ilyas Khan/Roksi Ramirez Gudiel7
Jose Rodriguez Solorzano8
PBIS - Staff Of The Week
You saw it at the opening- Ms. Napoli has been absolutely amazing! Of course, she did it with a team of support starting with student hard work, held together by multiple staff members being available over the last couple months, and the cherry on top was the amazing support from our parents! Ms. Napoli has built an amazing music program through her leadership that extends well beyond band and guitar. This community is truly fortunate to have her talents and diligence working for our students.
PTO Corner
Staff Appreciation- Please join us in bringing a hearty and warm taste of autumn to our teachers on Wednesday, November 15th! Local Provisions in the Cascades Marketplace is generously preparing salads, and we are asking the community for donations to help complete this delicious feast. Contact Julie Garrett at staffappreciation@srmspto.org for any questions. You can sign up here to donate food, time or money:
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F0444A5AB2DA4F85-45744053-staff
PTO Sponsorship- help us give back to our teachers and students in various ways including Teacher Appreciation & Snack Carts, Clubs and Activities for our kids, School Community events! Learn more about becoming a sponsor.
We are meeting on Nov 8 at 6 pm in SRMS library. If you are unable to meet in-person, please join us virtually using the Google meet link below or Dial in!
Join the meeting:
https://meet.google.com/wua-cvat-dfe
Dial in (audio only):
518-635-0260
PIN: 536 971 724#
Spirit Wear- PTO will be setting up table on Nov 16 and Nov 17, meet us at our table to stock up your school Spiritwear!
Order new items online, delivery is in November - this order form is open until November 30th. Check out our in-stock inventory here and order year-round!
Science Olympiad -
Interested in participating in Science Olympiad?
Please attend a virtual meeting on Thursday November 9th at 8 PM.
Meeting Link: Science Olympiad Zoom LInk
Want to learn more about Science Olympiad? Checkout https://www.virginiaso.org/
If you have any questions please contact nalinibtandon@gmail.com
Reminders for Families and Students to Get Connected
- American Mathematics Competition info and sign-up.
- Science Olympiad and Math Counts info and STEM Interest Form (9 Families for Science Olympiad and Match Counts) Looking forward to the meeting later this week!
Bring Your Parents to School Day- Nov 16-17 Please use this Google Form to RSVP. 30 families signed up so far!
Yearbook 2023-2024
You can use this link to order a yearbook, our school code is 5475. Or bring $25, cash or check, to the main office. Order now to secure a copy and save, Pre-Sale ends February 11th.
I saw this one and thought you might appreciate... I got a 100% on this test :(
📨 Email: nick.cottone@lcps.org
💻 Website: Seneca Ridge Middle School
🏫 Location: 98 Seneca Ridge Drive, Sterling, VA 20164
☎️ Phone: 571-434-4420