Weekly Spartan Blog: December 8-12, 2014

Spartan PRIDE

Supporting our school community core values.

Vision must precede action.  At Spearfish Middle School, the students and staff have been working together to develop a vision and goals in support of a culture of respect and excellence.  As we know, the middle school years are a short time in a student’s school career.  However, it is a time of tremendous physical, social and emotional growth.  It is our vision to create a culture of respect and excellence; a place where every students is valued, safe and respected.  

Middle school is a time when students deal with the pressure of being accepted by their peers. This acceptance that is so important to middle school students can lead to judgment and disrespect among students over socioeconomic, race, culture, gender, and status on a campus issues.   Because of this need to be accepted students rely heavily on image.   And when image becomes more important than basic principles like kindness, integrity, character, honor, and respect, issues can arise.   

With the support of Spearfish Foundation for Public Education, our school was host to Keith Hawkins and the Day of Understanding. On December 2nd and 3rd, our students participated in small activities and learned about one another, gained an appreciation for differences and recognized the fact that we are more alike than different in the challenges faced, hopes and dreams.

 I would like you to discuss the following three questions with your child:

1. What did you learn from the Day of Understanding Activities?

2. Now what? What activities or strategies do you suggest we use to help us build on the lessons from the Day of Understanding?

3. What will I do to support a culture of respect and excellence at Spearfish Middle School?

 

Spearfish Middle School Weekly Faculty Bulletin December 8-12, 2014

“Empowering all students to succeed in a changing world.”

• Preparedness  • Respect  • Integrity • Determination • Excellence

1)  FLEX Block 3 START/End Dates: December 1-19

2)  School Board Report, Monday, December 8, SMS at 5:30 p.m.

3)  7/8 Choir Concert, 7-8:30 p.m., Monday, December 8 (HS Aud.)

4)  Team Leader Mtg., Tuesday, December 9, 7:30 a.m. (date change from Dec. 2nd) Agenda:  A) Testing Calendar, B) Team Update from each team on SMART Goals Progress C) Grading Norms   D) SLL System of Support E) Other

5)  District Curriculum Council, December 9 at 2:00 p.m. in the District Office

6)  District Technology Meeting, December 9 at 3:45 in the DDN rm.

7)  December Student Birthday Celebration:  Tuesday, December 9th during lunches

8)  Mix it up Lunch:  Wednesday, Dec. 10th (Students will sit with Day of Understanding small groups/families)

9)  7th Grade DARE Graduation, Wednesday, December 10th in HS Auditorium

10) Staff Mtg., Thursday, December 11, 7:30 a.m. (date change from Dec. 4th)

Agenda:  A) Debrief on Day of Understanding  B) Assessment Training Survey   C) Spearfish

School District App  D) AdvancED Eval. Summary

11) Technology Committee Meeting, Thursday, Dec. 11th from noon to 3 p.m. in conf. rm.

12) Newspapers in Education: Pick up your papers on Wednesday morning from the Lounge.

13) Communicate alignment of lesson plans to the curriculum standards on your teacher web pages. -This is tied to the K12 accreditation process.

Make it a great week! Shane

Upcoming Events Below:

Upcoming Activities

Dec 18                                   7/8 Band Concert, 7-8:3

Dec 22 – Jan 2                       No School

Jan 5                                        School Resumes

Jan 8                                       Rainforests and Maya Ruin Assembly, 8:30am – 9:20am in HS Auditorium

Jan 10                                    Saturday Spartan Learning Lab, Sat, January 10, 2015, 8am – 12pm

Jan 5-19                                Optional STAR Reading & Math Winter Testing Window

Jan 19                                     No School, MLK Day & Teacher Professional Development Day

Jan 14                                     P/T Conferences, 3:45-7:00 p.m.

Jan 20                                    6th Grade Band/Choir Concert, 7pm – 8pm in the SHS Auditorium 
Jan 23                                   All School Dance, Fri, January 23, 2015, 6:30pm – 9:30pm in the gym 

Feb 4                                     Early Release 1:00 Professional Development

Feb 16                                      No School, Presidents Day – Teacher Professional Development

Feb 27                                     End of 2nd Trimester

Fear; False Evidence Appearing Real.

-Keith Hawkins