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Message from Mrs. Kunze Don't forget to Fall Back an hour Saturday at midnight - enjoy the extra hour of sleep! Also, don't forget that next Friday, November 11th is a school holiday - Veteran's Day.
Report Cards Went Home Monday
Your child should have brought home a report card this past Monday. The majority of our students are working to the best of their ability while the minority is not. Please speak to your child if their 1st quarter report card was less than acceptable about their responsibility at school and at home to do what they need to do academically. Establish a reward system that targets areas you want your child to improve on - start small, reward often and expect more as they improve. We know how busy parents are and no one should have to work harder than the students themselves, but some students still need parental support/supervision with keeping up with assignments, studying for tests and projects.
Please explain to your child there is still time to improve and pass for the semester. Semester grades are calculated using the following formula...
(1st Qtr numerical grade x .40) + (2nd Qtr numerical grade x .40) + (semester exam x .20) = Semester grade
Example:
Below is the fomula if an F (55) was earned 1st Qtr, a C (70) was earned 2nd Qtr and a D (65) earned on the semester exam.
(55 x .40) + (70 x .40) + (65 x .20) = semester grade
22 + 28 + 13 = 63, which is a D for the semester
Yankee Candle Fundraiser
THANK YOU to all who participated in this fundraiser! Swiss Point earned $9,000 - not too far from our $11,000 goal. We will be purchasing 5 new clicker systems for teachers to use within the next few weeks!
Backpacks With the addition of big lockers in the hallways this year, we have told students they can not carry full-size backpacks to class. We do not want students packing around 15+ pounds during the school day. Plus the backpacks take up a lot of room in classrooms limiting movement. We have told students they can carry a small drawstring backpack or small Vera Bradley purse backpack to carry pencils, pens, highlighters, calculators, notecards, etc - basically classroom supplies that would be difficult to carry. Students can then use their arms to carry their books and folders. We give the students opportunities throughout the day to access their locker, so they are not even carrying 3 books at once. The students are trying to cram their books or folders into the small drawstring bags, causing the bags to tear. PLEASE talk to your child about carrying their books and folders and only putting supplies in their small backpack. The backpack that they are allowed to carry should not even be large enough to carry a book in it. The students are trying to get away with bigger and bigger bags. If students can not follow the rule and only carry a small backpack for supplies, then we will have to change the rule to allow no bags at all. Please help us by talking to your child. PTSO QSP Magazine - EXTREME GAME PARTY! The students who earned the Extreme Game Party for selling QSP Magazines for the PTSO fundraiser celebrated this past Wednesday. Students enjoyed time outside with friends on inflatables with music & snowcones. PTSO QSP Magazine - Limo Ride to lunch Finally, those students who earned the limo ride to lunch for selling magazines will be treated this Tuesday, November 8th. Students will travel in a limo to Brucci's for a pizza lunch from 12:30pm to 2pm. Field trip forms were sent home today and MUST be returned Monday. Drop off reminder! Parents, please do not drop off or pick up children in the back parking lots. It creates a dangerous situation where we have unsupervised children darting out from between buses to get to those lots. Please help us prevent a serious accident and stay in the parent pickup line in the front of the school. Applications for 7th & 8th graders to join National Junior Honor Society are now available on the NJHS board in the main hallway. ALL applications are due by Monday, November 7th. Current members do not have to reapply. The list of new members will be posted on Thursday, November 10th and the Induction Ceremony will be Thursday, November 17th at 7pm. Provide your feedback on 2012-2013 School Calendar
Two drafts (Options 1 and 4) of the 2012-2013 Master School Year Calendar have been placed on the District website (www.stjohns.k12.fl.us) dated 10/27 under "What's New". Parents, staff and community members are invited to review the two drafts and give the Calendar Committee feedback through the link included on the website. Feedback will be accepted through November 13, 2011. Coke Reward Points
Do you drink Coca Cola products. Help us earn double points this month. Click below to learn how.
Click here for Coke Reward flyer
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Daily Rotation for the Week
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Week of November 7th
Monday - Black Day
Tuesday - Silver Day
Wednesday - Black Day- 1pm dismissal
Thursday - Silver Day
Friday - VETERANS DAY HOLIDAY - NO SCHOOL FOR STUDENTS OR TEACHERS!
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Volunteer Information | |
Volunteer Designation
Many volunteers from the elementary schools, whose children are now in 6th grade are very enthusiastic about volunteering at SPMS (and it is appreciated!). SPMS is probably not indicated on the approved volunteer file as a facility where the volunteer would like to donate time and must be added before volunteering. Please email Mrs. Casper at
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PTSO News
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Help Us...Help Our School
JOIN * PTSO Today!!!
PTSO is having a Membership Drive. We will either be giving a "Pizza Party" to the first class that receives 100% participation or to the class with the Highest Participation Rate - whichever comes first. All we ask is that you send in your dues by Friday, November 18th. In December, PTSO will award the winning class a Pizza Party during their lunch hour. We will also give the teacher a $50 Gift Card to Target. So please remember to send in your forms and checks payable to "SPMS PTSO" it ALL goes to our school.
Thank you and GOOD LUCK!!! If you have any questions please feel free to contact Nery DiDeo at nerydideo@comcast.net ]nerydideo@comcast.net Spirit wear orders arriving soon! All spiritwear orders have now been placed and will be
delivered as soon as they arrive. The PTSO also has the following inventory of last year's spiritwear items available: White long sleeve ($10) - Youth Med & Lg Dark blue short sleeve ($5) - Youth Sm & Lg and Adult Sm Pink short sleeve ($-10) - Adult Sm & Med If you wish to purchase one of these items please email Thank you for your support of the PTSO!
Box Top, Campbell Soup & Tyson Label News
It is time to cut labels. Our first contest will begin now and end on 12/1/11. The student who sends in the most labels will win a gift card. Each student who brings in 50 valid labels will receive one Raider Buck. Please make sure to place your labels in a zip lock bag or an envelope with the student's name, grade and homeroom teacher's name listed. Thank you for supporting our school.
2nd Annual Drive Fore Education Golf Tournament
The 2nd Annual Golf Tournament is being held to help 8 NW St. Johns Schools. Each school is asked to get 4 foursomes and Swiss Point only got 1 foursome last year. Please consider this great opportunity to have fun playing golf and at the same time help our children succeed in life.
Saturday, November 5th with a 1:30pm start time
The Champions Club at Julington Creek
$75 per golfer and $300 per foursome.
For more information, please visit Swiss Point's website or register online via the PayPal option.
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SAC News | |
Switzerland Point Middle School
School Advisory Council Meeting
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Room 725, 3:30 pm
Condensed Minutes (visit the SAC page on our website for the complete minutes)
Members in attendance: Mina Bustamante, Kristina Bransford, Kristee Burgess, Lena Ford, Shirley Jones, Lisa Kunze, Megan Miller, Tina Newman, Stacy Pendarvis, and Connie VanWinkle
Members absent: Lori Madrid, Luis Sanchez Ramos, and Christine Sanders (withdrew membership)
Non-voting guests: Bev Hawkins, Linda Martin, Janet Noack, and Emily Piscitello
- 3:36 Call to Order: Kristina Bransford
- 3:36 Good News: Kristina Bransford
- 3:39 Approval of September Minutes: Kristina Bransford
- Vote: Approved
- Minutes approved without change
- 3:40 Finance Report: Megan Miller
- Current Balance: $3,643.00
- Balance equivocates to approximately $3.78 per student.
- 3:41 Approval of School Advisory Council By-Laws: Kristina Bransford
- Vote: Approved
- By-Laws can be found on SPMS SAC website
- 3:42 School Recognition Money Allocations
- Vote: Approved
- Monies approved in accordance with SPMS Faculty vote
- 3:50 Request for Monies to be Spent: Kristina Bransford
- Monies requested total $2,520
- Vote: Approved
- 4:05 Principal Update: Lisa Kunze
- Switzerland Point Middle School is currently an 'A' school under the Florida state school grading system. Under the federal system of No Child Left Behind, every school is required to meet Adequate Yearly Progress in specified sub-group populations. It is important for SPMS stakeholders to understand SPMS goals to move out of Differentiated Accountability status for our students with disabilities. Think-Link testing is used to monitor progress for all SPMS students in math and reading. Students have completed first Think-Link assessment to establish a baseline from which growth from the school year can be compared. Think-Link data is shared with students/parents and is used to guide math/ language arts instruction and practice.
- Fundraiser: Yankee Candle Company fundraiser to raise money for SPMS classroom technology. SPMS has set goal to raise enough money to purchase 6 new CPS clicker sets to be used for formative and summative assessment/data tracking in classrooms. The new clicker sets will cost the school approximately $11,000. Fundraiser runs through October 31st.
- Clothing donations for students in need. Suggestions for assisting some SPMS families in need. Requests for clothing sizes/genders from guidance department so that SPMS families in need can be supported anonymously through SPMS community support.
- 4:45 New Business/Questions and Answers: Kristina Bransford
- Next Meeting November 16th, 3:30pm
- Next meeting agenda to include: Begin review of Needs Assessment Survey.
- 4:45 Adjournment: Kristina Bransford
- Vote: Approved
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Guidance News | | Guidance Counselors
Ellen Dail - 6th grade & 7th grade A-L
Tanya Moseley - 7th grade M-Z & 8th grade
Character Counts! Awards and THUMBS UP Awards
Students who were nominated for Character Counts! for October were treated to a wonderful Moe's lunch (thank you so much to our generous business partner) on Tuesday. Many students of all grades decided to stay in the multipurpose room to eat lunch with their nominated peers. This month our PBS (Positive Behavior Support) committed discussed broadening the scope of our Character Counts! recognition and came up with the THUMBS UP Award. Students who are nominated by their teachers for CC! each month will be encouraged to "Pay It Forward" by nominating a peer who in their opinion, exhibits character and to recognize he/she by filling out a THUMBS UP Award explaining why. We will deliver these THUMBS UP Awards to the students' classroom and announce their name during the announcements. Our first THUMBS UP Awards were written by CC! nominees today and the quality of the message was outstanding! If your son/daughter comes home with a Character Counts! or a THUMBS UP award, please be sure to celebrate their character.
The St Johns County School Counselors' Professional Learning Community discussed Your Defiant Child by Russell A. Barkley, Ph.D. at the last meeting. This book details how to restore a parent's loving relationship with their child while bringing peace to the household. Dr. Barkley and Christine Benton give parents a way to assess defiance in a child through a comprehensive look at all that can impact it. Temperament, environment and parenting style are all discussed in this book to help parents come up with a plan to more effectively and positively tackle defiance. There are 8 steps to follow and to see change parents have to be committed to implementing new strategies over a period of time - there is no quick fix. If you child's negative behavior demands most of your attention, you spend most of your time "managing" your child, you are stressed about your relationship with your child, are running out of ideas or is impacting your marital relationship this may be the book for you! Just remember... there is no quick fix!
Hope For The Holidays
The festive holiday season can be challenging for those experiencing the death of a loved one. They may find themselves torn between the need to grieve and pressure to get into the holiday spirit. It makes no difference whether the death took place last week or several months ago. A loss can be felt more acutely at this time. Hope for the Holidays is available at no charge to the public. If you would like to attend a support group in your area to cope with the grief and restore a sense of hope for the upcoming season, reserve your spot by calling 904-407-6355. There are meetings in Jacksonville ( Nov 14, 19, Dec 3, & 5) and in St. Augustine (Nov 22 & Dec 3rd).
Tutoring List
Is your child in need of extra help? If you would like a copy of tutors in our area please have your child come to the guidance office or email Mrs. Moseley or Mrs. Dail. Tutors work with your child for a fee after school and are available for different subject areas.
Parent Assist and Teacher Class Pages
It is the parent's responsibility to be aware of their child's grades on an ongoing basis by going on the Parent Assist account. If you do not have your password, you must send in a copy of your drivers license and a signed parent waiver (you can download it from our website) with your child to Ms. Miller in Guidance. If you have a question about an assignment, please check your child's planner and/or go to the teacher's class webpage on our website, with your child present, to try to find the answer. If you still have a question then email the teacher.
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Student's Corner | |
SAFETY TIP LINE
Officer Koweski has started an anonymous tip line for our students to report anything they feel school administration should know to keep our school safe. The number is 904-335-8609.
Annual Winter Audition Prep Clinic
December 9th, 2011 5:00pm-9:00pm - BTDT Dance Studio
Registration at the door - Please make checks out to BTHS in the amount of $25.00.
Audition Prep Clinic:
Open to all students in 8th -11th grade
Designed for those considering trying out for the 2012- 2013 season of Dance Team, or for anyone wishing
to improve their dance skills
One on one assistance from present members
Mock audition with immediate feedback
Pizza and drink included in price!
$25.00 per person
*Any 7th grader wishing to join the prep class is encouraged to challenge themselves!*
FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE EMAIL COACH LINDELL
CHASTAN@STJOHNS.K12.FL.US
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Policy Reminders | Switzerland Point Standards
Be Respectful
Be Responsible
Be Safe
School Safety!
Students, remember YOU help us keep Switzerland Point safe. Report any suspicious activity to Dean Hurst or Deputy Kowieski, or use the school tip line at 335-8609
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AthleticsAthletics | |
Road Raiders Congratulates our Top Runners
Last Wednesday our runners competed in the the largest middle school cross country meet in our county. We would like to recognize our top runners for an amazing race. Hailey Weisman, Kathryn Bransford, Lexi Peterson, Matt Nelson, Cameron Wellington, Stain Funk.
SPMS Winterguard
GATOR BOWL TICKETS AVAILABLE FROM THE SPMS WINTERGUARD TEAM for $30/ticket
Please contact any SPMS Winterguard team member or
fourshermans@comcast.net to purchase your tickets TODAY!!
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Lunch Menu
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Traditional lunch is $2.50
Ala carte pricing can be found using the link on the parent page of the SPMS website.
Monday - BRUNCH FOR LUNCH - Breakfast Biscuit OR French Toast Stick with yogurt, potato triangles, sliced peaches, assorted fresh fruit & fruit juices, variety of milk
Tuesday - Asian Glazed Chicken over Rice OR Mini Corndogs, Vegetable Blend, pineapple tidbits, assorted fresh fruit & fruit juices, variety of milk
Wednesday - Max Cheese Sticks with Marinara Dipping Sauce OR Chicken Quesadilla Max, seasoned green beans, cinnamon apples, assorted fresh fruit & fruit juices, variety of milk
Thursday - Chicken & Rice with choice of bread OR Cheese Tortellini with choice of bread, Steamed Broccoli Florets, sliced pears, assorted fresh fruit & fruit juices, variety of milk
Friday - NO SCHOOL - VETERANS DAY!
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3rd Annual Sunset Veterans Celebration
The 3rd Annual Sunset Veterans Celebration will be held November 10, 5:30-8:30 PM, at Veterans Park on Veterans Expressway. There will be a bounce house, military displays, a movie about POWs, and performances by local schools. Hamburgers and hot dogs will be available as well, courtesy of Bartram Trail and 210 Rotary clubs. A special ceremony honoring our veterans will be the highlight of the evening. Please come out to say thank you to those who served to keep us free. We especially welcome all area veterans to attend so that we may honor you.
Camp Composition: Florida Writes!
A camp for 4th through 10th grades will take place at UNF over the course of six Saturdays in January and February 2012 (immediately prior to the FCAT writing exam). Camp Composition: Florida Writes! will be led by local lead area teachers who specialize in writing instruction. These teachers will work with specific writing teams on a variety of topics, including the introduction of weekly prompts and feedback to each individual student. Stress reduction strategies will also be taught to students by an expert. For more information seehttp://www.unf.edu/coehs/camp_comp.html
Homework Assistance/Tutoring
St. Johns Learning would like to offer parents of SPMS a homework assistance option at the lowest possible cost to families. Students may attend any days Monday -Thursday from 2:45 until 5 for an assisted homework session. Tutors will be available to answer questions, provide feedback, check homework for accuracy, and assist students in preparing for tests.
For families with one student, the cost is $250 a month. For families with 2 or more children, the cost is $350 a month for the family.
Students will not receive extensive one-on-one tutoring as they do in our tutorial programs, but tutors will be assisting all students and checking for understanding as well as providing strategies for study skills and test preparation.
The Tutoring Club, St. Johns/Julington Creek
Teachers offer tutoring to students of all ages in all subjects, including SAT/ACT and FCAT prep. and study skills. We also offer homework assistance M-Th 5:30-7:30 PM for the following rates per family:
For one child, $200.00/month
Two children: $250.00/month
Three or more children: $300.00/month
Tutors will be available to assist students with understanding assignments, checking for accuracy, editing, and completeness of assignments as well as studying for tests.
Students will not receive one-on-one intense tutoring or teaching of subject matter during this time, as they would in any of our regular programs. Students must be scheduled for sessions, but can schedule as many per month as desired for the rate quoted. Homework assistance rates will not apply to assistance in algebra or geometry, as that is a separate program with its own rates.
Elizabeth Loeser, B.S. Ed.
Owner/Director
605 State Road 13, Ste. 109 / St. Johns, FL 32259 / (904) 230-2855 / www.tutoringclub.com/stjohnsfl
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