Thunderblast Weekly
February 27, 2022
Women's History Month: Providing Healing & Promoting Hope
On Friday, we had student leaders in 8th grade develop the bulletin board below and put it together during resource. They have linked resources and a petition that I have not been able to access yet and will share soon. I love seeing this type of initiative from our active learners. Anything we can do to foster and support student ownership of their learning, we are here to help. Great work Sam, Nia, and Ellory!
When I asked why they were motivated to work so hard for this endeavor, Sam mentioned that equity regarding women can sometimes be overlooked. She continued, "Women have worked so hard to be equal, and we felt like this was our way of not only honoring them but continuing that tradition."
Clinic Updates (formerly known as COVID Updates)
I'm going to take a chance and rename this section "Clinic Updates." No, we are not ignoring COVID or dismissing it. Yes, we are ready to shift our attention back to creative and innovative lessons with a renewed focus on the social-emotional growth of our students.
Thank you for filling in the form to help us with contact tracing if your child tests positive.
This week we had 1 staff and 0 student positive tests or quarantines. Students continue to make their choices about wearing their masks and we have not had any instances of bullying or teasing based on a student or family personal preference.
We have had these strong numbers for a long time, staying well below county averages. Please remember to keep students home if they are sick. That has been working well. On Tuesday, we had 63 students visit the clinic with many who went home early coming to school with known symptoms.
Since it is now "clinic updates," I will give you a heads up that we typically have 45-55 students visit the clinic daily. In some cases, it is warranted. In other cases, it may be an opportunity for a student to avoid class. Our goal is to make sure students who come to the clinic truly need medical support, so we will screen all non-emergencies in the house offices prior to sending students. We will be sensitive to each students needs as we continue to be here for them in any way possible.
Unified Mental health Team (UMHT)
Attention 8th Grade Families:
The College Achievement & Multicultural Program for Unique Students (CAMPUS) is an academic and college preparation initiative for students in grades 9-12. CAMPUS is a high school college access program designed to remove barriers and/or meet the specific needs of first-generation college-bound students attending Loudoun County Public Schools. CAMPUS seeks to provide support and encouragement to students who demonstrate the ability to achieve academic success and college admission. The CAMPUS online application portal closes on March 4th . If interested, students can complete the application here.
For information from the UMHT and on Course Selection, please click here.
Technology Survey
As you may know, Loudoun County Public Schools has partnered with Brightbytes, a data analytics organization built specifically for K-12 to provide insights into our new and changing learning environments with the goal of ensuring personalized learning support for all students.
We are reaching out to ask you to take part in our school survey. Your responses are completely anonymous, and the survey will take approximately 5 minutes to complete.
The last day to complete the survey is Friday, March 4th. Please respond using the link below.
Parent Link: www.BByt.es/9K9XR8Q
Para esta encuesta se puede cambiar el lenguaje al espaƱol.
We appreciate the information that we are already receiving from this survey. The information helps us as we plan for continued communication with families. Below is a sample of the questions that help inform our school as we prepare for the rest of the school year and into next year.
Currently, 882 students have completed the survey, 85 staff members, and under 30 parents. We would love to hear your voice!
Tardy Update...
Good news! It is no longer an alert. The level of severity has been reduced to an update.
Tuesday 21 (down 7 from last week)
Wednesday 24 (down 8 from last week)
Thursday 34 (up 9 from last week)
Friday 23 (down 20 from last week)
Overall, we are getting better. Let's try and keep the trend going this week and drop below 20 each day. We can do it!
Fine Arts Night- March 10 at Dominion High School
Simpson vs. Seneca Basketball Extravaganza!
1st Quarter: 5 min girls/ 5 min boys (6th)
2nd Quarter: 5 min girls/ 5 min boys (7th)
3rd Quarter: 5 min staff (pretty sure we won't make it through 10 :)
4th Quarter: 5 min girls/ 5 min boys (8th)
Simpson is about to be Thunderstruck!
PBIS- Students of the Week
8th Grade: Christian McGrath & Hannah Mottaghi
7th Grade: Sofia Sebti & Patrizio Uribe
6th Grade: Brielle Jefferson & Jerry Wilson
Thank you for your hard work and CORE leadership!
PBIS- Staff of the Week
PTO Corner
The PTO Needs your Help!!!
SRMS Basketball Event Helpers: We have some volunteers, but could use a few more! Help us support a fun community event- Seneca Ridge vs Simpson Middle School basketball game. This would involve helping with a team of people that would focus on ticket sales, concessions, and the players. Please contact Kim Blough for more information. vicepresident@srmspto.org.
8th Grade Graduation Celebration: We are so excited for our 8th grade graduation celebration that will be happening in June! We need lots of volunteers to make this a special event. Please consider helping us make this special for our soon to be highschoolers.
8th Grade Graduation Celebration Volunteer Sign-Up
Next PTO Meeting - March 9 @ 6PM - This will be a virtual meeting.
Google Meet joining info
Video call link: https://meet.google.com/awd-ziba-uge
Or dial: +1 405-389-1044 PIN: 558422595
More phone numbers: https://tel.meet/awd-ziba-uge?
pin=4023278823482
Check us out!
Email: nick.cottone@lcps.org
Website: https://www.lcps.org/Page/30563
Location: 98 Seneca Ridge Drive, Sterling, VA, USA
Phone: 571-434-4420
Twitter: @SRMS_Official