Drop Off/Pick Up

Need a favor......Please, please, please don't drop off or pick up in an area that encourages students to walk between buses. Talked to a bus driver last night that told me some parents were dropping students on the west side of school which caused them to walk between the buses that were pulling up to drop off students. My gut feeling is that the people that need to hear this aren't reading this blog. I'm going to try to get out there more often and see if I can direct the drop off to a safer location (like in the front circle).

Thanks

No Zeros/Saturday School

With the start of school now behind us it's time to start focusing on our one of our student achievement goals of turning in every assignment. Starting this week, any student that has two or more missing assignments on Thursday will be assigned a Saturday School to help them finish the assignment. Saturday School will last from 8:00 am until 10:00 am and depending on the size of the group we'll be either in the cafeteria or the Media Center. Parents are welcomed to come and help their child finish up their assignments. My plan is ask some of our NJHS kids to help us out. If your son or daughter is assigned a Saturday School, please have them to school no later than 8:00. Because of security I will be at the doors to let kids in at 8:00 but will have to lock the doors once we go into the cafeteria/Media Center. Our goal is to have every student turn in every assignment. This is not meant to be a punishment but if a student skips Saturday School then it will turn into a discipline issue. The trick/key is to turn your assignments in on time and then Saturday School doesn't come into play. I'll be explaining this process to our young adults today at lunch.

Doing Nothing.....?????

You ever hear something that you just can't let go? Last night I heard from my wife that heard from someone, that heard from someone, that over heard some parents talking that the bullying at SCMS is out of control and nothing is being done. Really? Out of control? Nothing is being done? Really? Unfortunately I'm pretty sure the ones that need to hear what I'm about to say are not the ones that are reading this Blog. Here are some facts. Bullying and putdowns have been a part of this age student since the stone age. That does not make it right. Let me repeat that....because it's happened in the past, doesn't make it right. I HATE bullies. I deal with teasing on an hourly/daily basis. Most are very minor things, but we are constantly reminding kids of how to act and behave. On some of what we consider more serious, when our student code of conduct comes into play, we don't consult the parent of the student that is being bullied when we hand down the discipline nor do we discuss the discipline with anyone but that student and that student's parent. To say nothing is being done is an absolute lie (can you tell that someone has hit a nerve with me?). I work exxxxxxtremely hard at this part of my job and take pride in our school and our kids. When I hear comments like that are out there it does no one any good. If you have an issue, please, please, please call me or stop in....I'm a pretty nice guy and easy to talk to. You might not agree with how we handle things but I assure you we are not looking the other way and we are working very hard in this area. If anyone brings this up to you, please ask them to stop in and see me.

I feel better...........

DC Parent and Student Survey

I have put two surveys on our Washington DC link that is on our main SCMS webpage. Please take a moment to take the survey if you went on this year's trip. We are always looking for ways to improve our process

HUGE Post DC Thanks

Another GREAT Trip. I've said this many times....if it wasn't such a great trip I'd send someone else. A special thank you to all the chaperones, who without their help this trip would be impossible. In a few days I will be putting a DC Survey on our website that I'd like all of our chaperones to take. The info is intended to help improve the trip. For those parents of our younger students....please, please. please, start planning for this trip. It's truly a memory that lasts a lifetime. I'll be getting info out to our current 7th graders regarding a organizational meeting later this fall.

Saturday Mornings are Meant for Sleep

Goooooood Morning....hopefully you're reading this after a very relaxing and restful night. I'm typing this between bus trips to the airport for our 8th grade DC trip. First group is gone and I'm waiting for the second group to arrive. If you're a parent of a younger student, please, please, please make every effort to get your child on this trip. It is awesome (except for me having to get up at 3:45 am). We'll be having a 7th grade parent meeting later this fall to explain the trip and get students and chaperones signed up. I hear people starting to arrive so I'm off to organize and head to the airport. Enjoy your weekend....I know I will

Wednesday's DC Thoughts

Thanks to everyone that came to the DC meeting last night. Not sure if I mentioned it but this is going to be a GREAT trip. I posted some of my notes under the Washington DC link on our main webpage. If you have any questions between now and 5:00 am Saturday morning, please don't hesitate to call me.

More Parent Survey "Stuff"

My plan is to leave the survey up until early next week then close it out. Once I close it, I'll post the results. So far it seems like a pretty quick and easy way to get some feedback. A monthly survey on various SCMS topics sounds like a good plan. Thanks to everyone for helping out and taking the survey

Parent Survey Thoughts

Just a quick note about the survey that we have on our main page. I hope that this is the first of many. One of the responses a parent made was that it was pretty early to gauge homework/homework time and maybe we should do the survey later in the year. Both excellent points. The question probably should of been worded a bit better....I guess what I was looking for was how much time on average does you child usually spend on homework (taking last year into account).

Thanks to everyone that has taken it and if you haven't, please give it 5 minutes. As I mentioned above....I hope this is the first of many short surveys that will help us do our job better.

Parent Reps Needed

If you've ever wanted to get involved with our district, here's your chance. John Fitzmaurice, principal of Eddy Elementary, heads up the committee that is in need of 2-3 parents to serve on Health and Reproductive Health Committee. The first meeting of the year is at C.O. on October 13th from 2:45-4:00 p.m.

According to Mr. Fitzmaurice it's a good group which discusses K-12 sex education and reviews materials to be referred to the Board of Ed for adoption.

If you are interested please e-mail Mr. Fitzmaurice directly at jfitzmaurice@ecsd.us

Yearly Magazine Fundraiser

Once again SCMS is having our Magazine Sale. We've tried to simplify things this year. Simply click on the link below to buy or renew your magazine subscriptions at up to 85% off newsstand prices. It's fast and your child will receive full credit for your selections. 40% of every sale goes to our school!http://www.qsp.com/profile/zfvz?Origin=CCL&extTrackID=LaunchEmail
In addition, you can send emails to friends and family for their support - they'll also save off newsstand prices! Simply click on the link below:http://www.qsp.com/profile/zfvz?Origin=CCL&extTrackID=LaunchEmail
This a great fundraiser for us every year. As always, thank you for your support!

Trying Something New

In our continuing effort to improve, I've put together a very short survey that I hope will prove successful and lead to more surveys. On our SCMS main webpage you'll see a link that says "September Parent Survey" It's on the right side about half way down. Please take a minute to take the survey. As the bar in education continues to rise, the importance of us working as a team is becoming more and more essential. In order for that to happen, we need feedback. I hope this proves to be a successful and easy tool to help accomplish that.

Thanks and please help spread the word

First Week......Done!

Great first week. We should have most of the rules, classroom procedures and "newness" out of the way. Next week is going to be a busy, busy week. We really start to focus in on our mission of student achievement. Our No Zero policy will kick in with lunchtime homework help followed by Saturday School for those that are falling behind. We have our Open House Tuesday at 7:00 pm followed by our Washington DC meeting at 8:00. Hope to see everyone there.

Hope everyone enjoys their weekend.

My Goals....

I have many goals but the two that jump to the top of the first page is Student Achievement and our focus on No Bullying. I'd like to spend just a few seconds giving my thoughts on bullying. I hate bully's. It's unfortunate that many kids at this age go through a stage that they feel the need to bring themselves up by putting someone else down. It is a daily goal of mine to deal with educating our students that this is not how young adults act. What has complicated our job (yours as parents too) is technology. Facebook, Myspace and texting make saying hurtful things way too easy. It is my goal to really hammer that phase of bullying this year. One of the best tools we have is through education and awareness. Please take a second to check out this website. It has to do with text slang. Odds are if you or I picked up our child's cell phone and saw a bunch of jumbled up letters we'd have no idea what it meant. This isn't meant to scare you....we've got great kids...but as a parent (or a principal) you can never have enough knowledge.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/08/26/kids.drugs.text/index.html?iref=obinsite

First Impressions

Day one....done! Whew....what a whirlwind. Hats off to everyone for making this day a success....and in everyone I mean students, parents, teachers, custodians, office staff, lunch ladies, cafeteria workers, parapros and bus drivers (and anyone else I happened to miss). It was definitely a team effort. As far as my first impressions of the hand SCMS has been dealt this year, I'm very impressed. The kids....I mean young adults,....were very respectful and attentive during my 30 minute talk in the gym. Most of them were very friendly, made eye contact and would have a conversation with me (which isn't always easy when you're in middles school and are talking to the principal who happens to be 6'7").

It's been a good day. Thanks for having great kids.

Short Term Memory Test

Every fist day is filled with new "stuff". Locker combs, classes, class rules and my annual class assembly to welcome them back, go over some school rules and set some expectations. When you get a chance in the next few days ask your son/daughter what they remember about my talk. Here are some highlights. Our No Zero policy and the consequences of not doing homework. Dress code (always a highlight of my talk), behavior, put downs/bullying...especially the texting/facebook/cyber bullying, cell phones in the school and setting short term goals. If they got most of that from my talk then mission accomplished. Any support/reinforcement of those thoughts you can give at home would be greatly appreciated. It's going to be a great year.

SCMS is a Peanut Free School

It is unbelievable how many peanut allergies we have.....really. A few years ago we would designate certain classrooms to be peanut free but it's gotten to the point that we just made the whole building peanut free....sort of. This applies to all hallways and classrooms. The lunch room we will still allow PB and J sandwiches (for us dads that don't know how to make any other type of lunch) and other peanut products. During lunch we will have certain tables that are designated as peanut free tables for those students that are allergic to peanuts. If you have any questions please don't hesitate to call.

Congrats to Future Poets

Bettina Lee, a current 7th grader, was selected out of thousands of entries in a contest of young poets as being one of the Top Ten poets in the contest at her grade level. Her entry will be included in an anthology along with many other entries. Bettina will be receiving a $50 savings bond and a complimentary copy of the book. A special thank you to Mrs. Mullins for organizing this and congratulations to a number of other members of her class that will also have their poems included in the anthology.