The Seahawks Call
Weeks of October 4th and October 11th
Important Dates to Remember:
· October 4 – INTERIMS issued/Teachers sending SignUp Genius for parents to sign up for a parent-teacher conference
· October 8 – 2 hr. ED Dismissal @ noon. Latest time to pick up a student early is 11:30 a.m.
Last day for parents to sign up for a parent-teacher conference.
· October 11– Columbus Day – School Closed for students. Virtual Parent-Teacher Conferences from 8 am - noon.
· October 15 – Support Letters due for nominating Principal Taylor for Washington Post
Principal of the Year
· October 20 – Unity Day – Wear Orange! & Drama Club(in person)auditions from 2:00 – 3:30 pm
· October 27 – Co-Ed Golf Tourney @ White Plains Golf Course
Exciting News - Washington Post Principal of the Year Award Nomination Window is now Open
The Seahawks are nominating Mrs. Taylor for the Washington Post Principal of the Year Award! We think our principal is the best and we want her to win, so we need your help. Please consider writing a letter of support sharing why you feel that Principal Taylor should win this well-deserved award. Letters can include personal anecdotes and/or examples of how her leadership affects the school community as a whole.
All letters must include either a digital or physical signature and can be both printed and/or sent electronically. Please send all electronic letters to the Reading Resource Teacher, Andrea Johnson, at afjohnson@ccboe.com.
We would like to compile all the letters by October 15th, 2021, so please try to send in your letter before that date. Thanks for your support!
Tik Tok Challenges
Over the past couple of weeks, we’ve received several reports from our Building Service staff of students vandalizing our bathrooms. This vandalism includes breaking soap and paper towel dispensers, throwing trash throughout bathroom floors and most recently, pulling out and destroying the air vents. We have learned that these acts are associated with a ridiculous Tik Tok Challenge in which students record themselves destroying school bathrooms and other shared spaces and then post the videos on social media.
Initially, we were replacing these dispensers, but due to students destroying them as soon as we replaced them, we had to take a pause and discuss next steps like instituting scheduled bathroom breaks. Unfortunately, we do not have the resources to keep replacing these items due to reckless student behavior. Please know that there are hand sanitizers all throughout the building and in every classroom for students to sanitize their hands.
It is extremely disheartening to know that any scholar would take pride in vandalizing our school community. We will continue to promote our Somers Pledge to be respectful to myself and others, have integrity, demonstrate self-control so I can excel and exceed all expectations. However, your assistance with ending this social media challenge is appreciated. We are also asking our scholars to assist us in reporting acts of vandalism as we recognize the overwhelming majority of our scholars take pride in their learning community.
Please be advised that any scholar identified as vandalizing school bathrooms will be suspended from school and ordered to pay restitution.
UPCOMING TIK TOK CHALLENGES
October - Smack a staff member on the backside
November - Kiss your friend’s girlfriend at school
December - “Deck the halls and show your B****” in school halls. Thinking this means boobs or butt or some other body extremity.
January - Jab a breast
February - Mess up school signs
March - Make a mess in the courtyard or cafeteria
Please be advised that these upcoming challenges are very serious in nature especially October, November, December, and January and if identified resulting from an investigation will warrant very harsh consequences.
I encourage you to monitor your child’s social media activity, review the Code of Conduct with them and discuss making wise choices and not succumbing to peer pressure.
Thank you in advance for your assistance with putting an end to these TikTok Challenges and helping us to promote a safe and positive learning environment at Somers.
Sincerely,
Principal Taylor
Dress Code Reminders
Midriffs
Ripped Jeans
Hoodies
National Bullying Prevention Awareness Month
PROCEDURES FOR SUBMITTING ATTENDANCE NOTES WHEN YOUR CHILD IS ABSENT
2 hr. Early Dismissal Day Reminders!
To ensure dismissal is not impacted in any way, please do your best to adhere to these times. Considering the busiest times of the day for our front office staff are the first and last hours of the day, it takes time to locate the student, allow them time to go to their locker, and then report to the office.
UPDATED CCPS COVID-19 PROCEDURES
CCPS has updated its protocols for the testing of sick students and staff by a school nurse. Students with a known exposure who want to test out of quarantine after seven days with a negative COVID-19 test must now visit their doctor, use an outside vendor or test through the Charles County Department of Health. The health department offers free testing three times a week. Families may also elect to quarantine their child for 10 days and return to school without testing.
Staff who are exposed outside of school will no longer be allowed to receive a COVID-19 test at school to end a quarantine early. Staff should visit their doctor, use an outside vendor or test through the health department on day seven, or wait until day 10 to return to work without a test.
Rapid tests will only be administered by nurses at their discretion for students or staff who display COVID-19 symptoms. Any student or staff member who pre-screens as potentially positive for COVID-19 will be offered a PCR test.
Staff and students may not return to school or school activities until the results of the test are known. Additionally, individuals who refuse the PCR test after pre -screening as potentially positive will be presumed COVID-19 positive and excluded from school and school activities for ten days. CCPS also updated the COVID-19 prescreening questionnaire.
Early Fall MCAP Testing
.........From the Library
The Somers Library is Open for Business! Students have been enjoying the opportunity to get new books and visit the library again. They have checked out over 1200 books in September. Students may check out up to 3 books at a time and they have them for 3 weeks. Students also continue to have access to eBooks and audio books through their Destiny accounts. In addition, they can use Destiny to check up on the status of any books they have checked out to see when they are due or what they have checked out.
Remind your students to log their reading on Beanstack. This lets them track the minutes they are reading as well as the books they read. And there are fun challenges and badges to earn!
Just a reminder – students are responsible for taking care of their laptops. One thing they can do weekly is to Check for Updates. This is as easy as restarting their laptop once a week. Have them pick a day (I do mine on Fridays) and make it a habit. They can also go into the Software Center and look up Check for Updates.
Congratulations to Ms. H-J who was selected as one of the Media Specialists of the Year!
SCHOOL SUPPORTS
Matthew Newcamp - 6th Grade VP - mnewcamp@ccboe.com
Marlon Walker - 7th Grade VP - mwalker@ccboe.com
Cynthia Panizzi - 8th Grade VP - cpanizzi@ccboe.com
Zachary Ortolano - zortolano@ccboe.com
COUNSELING SUPPORTS
Mike Simms - 6th Grade Counselor - msimms@ccboe.com
John Craddock- 7th Grade Counselor - jcraddock@ccboe.com
Nancy Franklin - 8th Grade Counselor - nfranklin@ccboe.com
INSTRUCTIONAL LEADERSHIP TEAM
Andrea Johnson - Reading Resource Teacher (Reading) - afjohnson@ccboe.com
Jennifer Branham - Instructional Resource Teacher (Math) - jbranham@ccboe.com
Suzanne Johnson - Learning Resource Teacher (Gifted Education and Testing Coordinator) - srjohnson@ccboe.com
Email: somersms@ccboe.com
Website: https://www.ccboe.com/schools/somers/
Location: 300 Willow Lane, La Plata, MD 20646
Phone: 301-934-4663
Twitter: @miltonsomersms