Please be aware that winter and spring Parent/Teacher Conferences are scheduled for tonight, Monday, February 25th from 4:00-7:00PM. Please take note that the conferences will take place in individual teacher classrooms throughout the building. The intent of this format is to provide a more intimate personalized atmosphere for dialogue between parents, students, and teachers. We ask that you keep individual conferences between 5 and 10 minutes with each teacher. If additional time is needed, you can always request another meeting time with the teacher or correspond via phone or email.

NJROTC members will be here to guide and direct parents and patrons to the appropriate rooms, however you will need to know your student’s schedule/teachers as printed schedules will NOT be provided. We will also have Spanish-speaking interpreters available that evening as well.

Lastly, Booster Club will be selling spirit-wear and PTSA will be available to answer your questions about membership. We hope to see you here to help support the learning of your student.

The district has recently updated its transfer policy and sent the information to all district patrons. One important update includes a new provision that states:

"transfer students will not be required to apply for re-admittance annually. This includes students who are moving from sixth grade to seventh grade and students moving from eighth grade to their freshman year of high school.

In other words, if you are an approved transfer student in good standing, you will not need to fill out a transfer form this year if you plan to stay within the same feeder pattern - even if you are moving on to high school. Only new transfer students will need to apply beginning on March 1, 2019 for the 19-20 school year.

The full transfer policy can be read here.

The Kramer 212 – open on 2/1/2019

S.M. Class of 1952 – open on 2/7/2019

Mary L. Jones Bluejacket-Flint – open on 2/8/2019

JoAnn Wooten Memorial – open on 2/14/2019

Harry & Sally Bolton – open on 2/14/2019

Scholarships are available to seniors. Applications are available in student services. Contact Terri Holloway for all questions.

The International Baccalaureate Program (IB) at Shawnee Mission North is a two-year college preparatory program with a comprehensive academic program designed to address the needs of challenge seeking junior and senior students.

This fall, in a testament to the challenge-seeking opportunities at Shawnee Mission North, teachers and students have begun their journey in the IB world. In addition to the students who are taking a single class or a few IB courses, four students are seeking the full diploma, which requires a class in each of the six areas (English, World Language, Individuals and Society, Science, Math, and an elective), a course in Theory of Knowledge, as well as completion of Creativity-Action-Service (CAS) and an Extended Essay.

Students who are diploma-seeking will participate in fifty hours in each of the three areas of CAS. The service portion is community-oriented service hours that are monitored by, and must be approved by, CAS Coordinator, Stephanie Gagnebin. Stephanie is always interested in opportunities for our students to serve in the community. If you have suggestions for community projects or service opportunities for our diploma students, please contact Stephanie at stephaniegagnebin@smsd.org.

IB Current Activities

Students in the North IB Program are continuing an exciting semester of learning and the creating relevant understandings. The courses allow students to experience the rigors of life after high school and give opportunities to develop a growth mindset as well as the grit necessary for success.

Spotlight on:

IB PSYCHOLOGY

IB Chemistry students collaborated with students from Hydrabad, India on various projects including “The atmospheric chemical impacts on food considering hydrogen based-Saturn and nitrogen-based Earth”. They sought to link the theoretical understanding with practical knowledge as they made observations and comparisons and hypothesized why those differences occur. Prior to embarking on these experiences students and their teacher, Larry Pickert, visited chemical engineers at Burns and McDonnell.

IB Admissions Process

Currently there is no admissions process to become an IB Diploma candidate. It is an opt-in program. However, there are a few academic requirements that students must meet due to the IB courses that must be taken:

· Students need to have completed their PE, health, fine arts, and computer competency requirements during their 9th and 10th grade years.

· Students must have completed (at a minimum) Spanish 3, French 3 by the end of their 10th grade year.

· Students must have completed (at a minimum) Algebra 2 by the end of their 10th grade year.

For further information on the IB program, please contact

Jon Durham, IB Coordinator (913) 993-7138 jondurham@smsd.org

Leah Murray, IB Counselor (913) 993-6935 leahmurray@smsd.org

The Shawnee Mission North Annual Black History Program will be held in the SMN auditorium on Thursday, Feb. 28th from 10: 20 Am until 11: 15 AM. If you are able to support our students, it is best to arrive about 10-15 minutes early in order to get proximity seating. Please feel free to invite other family and friends.

We hope to celebrate with you our 17th Annual program!

On February 14, NHS hosted a Valentine’s Pancake Fundraiser to raise money for Unleashed Pet Rescue. Their Valentine’s Day motto was, “Nobody loves you more than your dog!” NHS raised over 100 dollars for Unleashed.

The NJROTC participated in an Inter-Service Drill, Athletic and Academic Meet this past Friday and Saturday in Omaha, NE. Competing against 13 other high schools from Nebraska, Iowa and South Dakota the Indians took home top on honors in all three phases of the competition. Most notably in the drill phase of the competition the Indians were 1st in the Unarmed Events, 1st in the Armed Events and 1st Overall. The breakdown of the competition is provided below:

Armed Exhibition Drill – 1st Place

Unarmed Regulation Drill – 1st Place

Color Guard – 1st Place

New Cadet Drill – 1st Place

Armed Regulation Drill – 2nd Place

Unarmed Exhibition Drill – 3rd Place

As a result of their performance our NJROTC was awarded scholarships for Unarmed Drill Champion $500, Armed Drill Champion $500 and Overall Champion $1,000 ($2,000 total in scholarship money for our seniors)!

The victory improved the Indians record to 52-0 on the year and they have their sights set clearly on the Navy JROTC National Championship in early April! Let’s finish the work!!!”

The breakdown of the Regional Championship is provided below:

UNIT PERSONNEL INSPECTION – 1ST PLACE

COLOR GUARD – 1ST PLACE

ARMED REGULATION DRILL – 1ST PLACE

ARMED EXHIBITION DRILL – 1ST PLACE

UNARMED REGULATION DRILL – 1ST PLACE

UNARMED EXHIBITION DRILL – 1ST PLACE

ACADEMICS – 2ND PLACE

PUSH-UPS – 1ST PLACE

SIT-UPS – 1ST PLACE

16 X 100 SHUTTLE RELAY – 1ST PLACE

8 X 200 OVAL RELAY – 1ST PLACE

The Top 5 Individual finishers in sit-ups, push-ups and academics are recognized during the Awards Ceremony and several Indians distinguished themselves in the areas of Athletics and Academics. In fact, in the Sit-Up competition the Indians took the top 5 spots in the male sit-ups and 4 of the top 5 spots on the female side. Additionally, in Push-Ups the males took 4 of the top 5 spots and the ladies had the 1st and 2nd place finishers. Here is a breakdown of the individual performances:

MALE SIT-UPS

1st Place – Logan Mitchell (296)

2nd Place – Mitchell Cheatham (289)

3rd Place – Julian Cardona (285)

4th Place – Calvin Tran (237)

5th Place – Nguyem Tam (181)

FEMALE SIT-UPS

1ST Place – Eleanor McCarthy (211)

2nd Place – Abigail Serling (199)

4th Place – Ingrid Valle (164)

5th Place – Jolina Justus (144)

MALE PUSH-UPS

1st Place – Nguyen Tam (79)

2nd Place – Aron Ruiz (76)

4th Place – Calvin Tran (73)

5th Place – Julian Cardona (63)

FEMALE PUSH-UPS

1ST Place – Perla Pena (53)

2nd Place – Jolina Justus (50)

ACADEMICS

5th Place – Marcos Briones

The Indians will travel to Omaha, NE on February 15th for a final tune-up before Nationals and an opportunity to defend their 2018 Omaha Invitational Championship. STAY ON THE ATTACK NJROTC AND FINISH STRONG!!

The Shawnee Mission North Dance Team competed their hip hop, jazz, and lyrical dance routines at three local competitions this past month. At Lee’s Summit North High School Regionals, the dance team brought energy and passion to the dance floor and came home two awards, placing 3rd in Division 4 Jazz and 4th in Division 3 Lyrical! The dance team will be hosting a free pre-tryout clinic for current 8th-11th graders on Tuesday, March 5 from 4:40-6:30pm in the SMN AUX gym. Please see the attached flyer for more information.

If you would like to sign up to help with the Breakfast on Broadway event, click here.

See the below documents regarding the Johnson County Too Smart to Start social media campaign & scholarship. Please distribute & post to students and SMN community. Students can apply for the scholarship from the QR code posted in the first document.

HS Seniors are the only students eligible for the $1000.00 scholarships, but there are many other prizes for all high school students the contest runs through the prom season.

It is a FREE community event for all middle and high school kids. See below poster for specific information.

Did you know that physical activity and nutrition work together for better health? Regular physical activity can produce long-term health benefits. People of all ages, shapes, sizes, and abilities can benefit from being physically active. The more physical activity you do, the greater the health benefits. Children and adolescents should do 60 minutes or more of physical activity each day. Most of the 60 minutes should be either moderate- or vigorous intensity aerobic physical activity. For more information, please visit: http://www.choosemyplate.gov/physical-activity.html or http://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/everyone/guidelines/children.html.

Don’t forget – if your child receives free or reduced meals, they are eligible for one breakfast and one lunch per day as part of this benefit. All breakfast and lunch meal choices are available for all students regardless of eligibility status.

The school breakfast menus, lunch menus, and other nutrition information are available on the district’s website at https://www.smsd.org/about/departments/food-service.