SMS Parent Nation

Next week’s final schedule will be as follows:

Wednesday, May 26 – 7^th period

Thursday, May 27 – Periods 1, 3, 5

Friday, May 28  -Periods 2, 4, 6,

Student will be released at 11:30 on the half day

Hour Bell Schedule Until Finals

8^th Grade Awards

The annual 8^th grade awards ceremony is a wonderful event to honor students before moving on to high school.  This event will be held in the Birdville High School Auditorium and we encourage families to be a part of the celebration.  The ceremony is Monday, May 17 at 6:00 p.m. and will last approximately one and half hours. 

This year a catered dinner will be hosted immediately following the awards ceremony.  Applebee’s Restaurant in North Richland Hills will be catering a spaghetti dinner and tickets must be pre-purchased by Wednesday, May 12.  Dinner tickets are $5.00 per person and can be purchased through Mrs. Hale’s office.   Please look for the order form that went home with the students this earlier this week. 

For further information, contact Gayle Hale at 817.547.5011 or email her at Gayle.Hale@birdvilleschools.net.

The deadline for photos for the 8^th grade award slide show has been extended until Sunday, May 2.  The pictures can be a baby photo, school photo, sport photo with up to 3 photos per student.  Please make sure the student is identified in each photo.  Please email the pictures to ancy.maurer@att.net.

 We still have a need for liter cokes, cakes, and cookies for Activity Night tomorrow (4:00-6:00).  Please send these items to Lisa Hunt in the front office.

Buddy Picture Day will be Tuesday, May 4 through P.E. classes.  Information regarding this will be sent home with your child.

If you will be able to help with this Activity Night, please e-mail paigewolk@gmail.com  as soon as possible. Thank you in advance for your dedication to our children!

Health Clinic Announcements

A video on puberty and personal hygiene will be presented to 6^th grade students on Friday, April 23rd. “Puberty, The Great Adventure for Boys and Girls” is a video presentation developed for middle school students.  Each video is presented by a narrator and has middle and high school students telling about their personal experiences with puberty, and how they have dealt with their body changes. The video gives mater-of-fact, supportive explanations of male and female physical changes that occur during puberty.

This program meets the state mandated TEKS (Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills) requirement for 6^th graders.  The video program was selected by a committee of middle school nurses, district staff, and parents and has been reviewed and approved by the Health Advisory Committee for BISD.  The program will be presented to boys and girls in separate sessions.  Parents may preview the video by making appointment with the school nurse. You can reach Becky Sobol, RN at (817) 547-5012 or rebecca.sobol@birdvilleschools.net.

ACTIVITY NIGHT SOS

The Final Activity Night for this SMS school year is April 30th from 4 – 6pm.  We need at least 50 adult volunteers to make this work, please e-mail paigewolk@gmail.com  if you will be able to commit 2 hours of your time. It is a fun, supervised, a school event, and a great way for you to get to know your kids peers and their teachers as well as get involved and have fun!  We need parents/grandparents to help with games, food, ticket sales and kid supervision. We also need donations of 2 Liter Soft Drinks and Store Bought Cakes/cookies.

If you will be able to help with the carnival type fun night – please e-mail paigewolk@gmail.com as soon as possible.

Thank you in advance for your dedication to our children!

Sincerely, Paige Wolk (SMS Activity Night Coordinator)

Tennis Try-Outs for 2010-2011 School Year

2010-2011  7^th and 8^th grade Middle School Tennis tryouts will be held April 22^nd at 4pm at the BHS tennis courts.  You must be at tryouts if you want to participate next year.

Quick Look at Academic Dates

Friday, April 16^th      End of the 5^th Six Weeks

Friday, April 23  Report Cards Go Home

Tuesday, April 27^th     TAKS Math for grades 6 and 7

Wednesday, April 28^th     TAKS Reading for grades 6 and 7

Thursday, April 29^th     TAKS Science for grade 8

Friday, April 30^th      TAKS Social Studies for grade 8

Friday, May 7^th      End of the three week period

Tuesday, May 18^th     TAKS Math retest for grade 8 & EOC Algebra Test Grade 8

Wednesday, May 19^th     TAKS Reading retest for grade 8 & EOC Algebra Test Grade 8

Wed. – Friday, May 26^th-28^th  Final Exams

PTA Meeting and Birdville High School Transition

There will be an SMS PTA meeting on Thursday, April 8 at 6:00 pm.  BHS Assistant Principal Tim Waldmann will be speaking on the transition to high school.  All are invited! 

I really want to encourage 8^th grade parents to attend.  Mr. Waldmann is a former coach at Birdville High, Middle School Crisis Counselor, and Assistant Principal at Smithfield.  He has a wealth of information to assist you.

2010-2011 Gymnastics Try-Outs

GIRLS:

Sat. April 24, 2010

10:15am- 11am- Smithfield MS & Watauga MS

Location: Shannon Center Front Gym (will sign in here)

BOYS:

Wed. April 28, 2010

4pm- All Middle Schools

Location: Shannon Center Gym

Run For Sarah

On July 14, 2004, Sarah Friend, a beautiful girl just three weeks shy of her 13^th birthday set off to NRH20.  Tragically she collapsed climbing the stairs of a water coaster and was not resuscitated.  In the dark hours that followed, the cause of her untimely death was Cardiac Arrest due to an unknown heart disease Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (HCM) – a thickening of the heart muscle or enlarged heart.  When someone suffers a cardiac arrest and their heart goes into ventricular fibrillation, the only life saving remedy is an AED (automatic external defibrillator). Her death was a devastating loss to her family, friends and community.  One way her family and friends have chosen to keep Sarah’s spirit alive is through the “Run For Sarah 5K and Kid’s Fun Run”.  The fifth annual run will be held on Saturday, May 22 and will benefit the Sarah Friend Heart Foundation.  The event will begin at 8AM at Birdville F.A.A.C. (registration and check-in are from 6:30 to 7:30am). The early entry fee (prior to May 5) is $15 for adults and $12 for students. Entry forms are available from the school office. For more information, visit the website.  www.runforsarah.com

SMS Students will be receiving sign up forms in P.E. and Athletics in the coming weeks.  SMS has received several AED machines as result of this event.  Please support this!

Picture Day

Monday, March 29^th, all students will have their picture made during their PE or athletic class.  The proofs for the pictures will be sent home, with a price list, approximately two weeks later.   If you like the proofs, you may purchase the package of your choice.  There is no obligation to buy anything.

Progress Reports

Progress reports will go home Wednesday, March 31^st.

Middle School Tennis Tryouts

The Middle School tryouts will be held at BHS tennis courts on April 22^nd at 4:00 PM.  Please have your child in athletic attire, tennis shoes, and a tennis racquet.  They will last approximately an hour.

6^th Grade Vaccination Information

Due to the new state immunization requirements, many of our 6^th grade students will need 1 or more immunizations before registering for 7^th grade in August. The school nurses have been busy reviewing all 6^th grade shot records.

If, according to our records, your student needs 1 or more immunizations, your student will receive a letter during RRRR on Friday, March 26.  If your student does not need an immunization, you will not receive a letter.

To help you meet these new immunization requirements, Smithfield Middle School nurses and the Tarrant County Heath Department are teaming up to offer a low-cost immunization clinic at Smithfield Middle School on April 9^th during regular school hours. In order for your student to receive their immunizations at school, a parent or guardian must come into the clinic during regular school hours before April 2, 2010.  The nurses will assist you in completing the consent forms and you will need to pay for the immunizations at that time. The cost is $14 for one immunization and $20 for two or more. We accept cash or check or a Medicaid letter.

Without the required immunizations, your child will not be allowed to register for school in August.

If you have questions, please contact the Nurse Becky or Nurse Tia at extension 817.547.5012.

8^th Grade Vaccination Information

All 9^th graders must be up to date on their Tetanus vaccines. Many of our current 8^th graders will require a tetanus booster before registering for the 9^th grade in August. The school nurses have been busy reviewing all 8^th grade shot records.

If, according to our records, your student needs a tetanus booster, your student will receive a letter in RRRR this week. If your student does not need a booster, you will not receive a letter.

To help you meet these immunization requirements, Smithfield Middle School nurses and the Tarrant County Heath Department are teaming up to offer a low-cost immunization clinic at Smithfield Middle School on April 9^th during regular school hours. In order for your student to receive his/her immunization at school, a parent or guardian must come into the clinic during regular school hours before April 2, 2010.  The nurses will assist you in completing the consent forms and you will need to pay for the immunizations at that time. The cost is $14 for one immunization and $20 for two or more. We accept cash or check or Medicaid letter.

Without the required tetanus booster, your child will not be allowed to register for 9^th grade  in August.

If you have questions, please contact the Nurse Becky or Nurse Tia at extension 817.547.5012.

Today’s tennis and track events have been cancelled due to rain.  At this time they have not been rescheduled.  We will notify you if and when they are rescheduled.

Due to the weather, today’s 7^th grade track meet has been moved to Thursday.  On Thursday, both the 7^th and 8^th grade boys and girls will compete at the HEB Complex.  The meets will consist of running events only and will begin at 4:00pm.

 There will be no after school activities at SMS today.  Tonight’s basketball tournament games have been delayed and will be rescheduled for another date.  Please check the district and campus web-sites for status changes.

Semper Fi