Shuswap Middle School

Dear Parents & Students,

A passionate group of volunteers have worked hard to rally our community in a bid to win the 2019 Kraft Heinz Project Play.  These efforts have been rewarded and the Larch Hills Nordic Society Trail Lighting Project was recently named on TSN as one of four National Finalists for a chance to win $250,000 towards the project.
Voting takes place between 9:00am on Friday, October 18 and 9:00pm on Sunday, October 20.

We hope you might consider following the link below to vote in support of the Larch Hills nomination bid.  You can vote as many times as you would like!

https://www.kraftheinzprojectplay.com/

Spring Rolls from Hanoi 36 Restaurant have been added to the cafe on Wednesdays.

MONDAY – Panago Pizza (Cheese, Ham & Pineapple or Pepperoni) $2 a slice

TUESDAY – Quesadillas or Mac & Cheese $3, & Cookie $1

WEDNESDAY – Chicken Caesar Salads from Panago or Spring Rolls from Hanoi 36 Restaurant $5 each

THUR – Panago Baked Chicken & wedges $5

FRI – Panago Pizza (Cheese, Ham & Pineapple or Pepperoni) $2 a slice

We hope you all enjoyed your Thanksgiving weekend.  We are thankful to work at such a wonderful school with a fabulous staff, fantastic students and great parents!  Please see below for a quick look at the week ahead.

Monday, October 14th

• Happy Thanksgiving!

Tuesday, October 15th

• Open Gym 7:00 am
• Library open before school and after school (ongoing)
• Library open for grade 6&7 students at lunch
• Art room open at 7:30 am and at lunch for project and sketchbook work
• Sewing room open at lunch
• Indigenous girls’ group at lunch in Indigenous Ed room
• Magic Club in room 124 at lunch
• Leadership meeting in mezzanine at lunch
• Pinterest Club for grade 8s at lunch in room 121
• Grade 8 Boys’ volleyball at home 5:00-7:00 pm
• Grade 7/8 Intramural volleyball at lunch
• Grade 7 boys and girls volleyball 2:30-4:00

Wednesday, October 16th

• Library open for grade 8 students at lunch
• Library open before school and after school
• Grade 8 volleyball 7:00-8:10 am
• Grade 7/8 Intramural volleyball at lunch
• Indigenous boys’ group at lunch in Indigenous Ed room
• Grade 8 Cross Country Team to Larch Hills (leaving at 2:20)
• Grade 6 boys and girls volleyball 2:30-4:00
• Grade 8 boys volleyball 5:30-7:00
• Grade 7/8 boys and girls rugby 2:30-4:30

Thursday, October 17th

• Art room open at 7:30 am and at lunch for project and sketchbook work
• Library open before school and after school
• Grade 8 volleyball 7:00-8:10 am
• Sewing room open at lunch
• Pinterest Club for grade 8s at lunch in room 121
• Chess club at lunch in the library (all grades welcome)
• GSA in room 214 at lunch
• Grade 6 open gym volleyball at lunch
• Grade 7 boys and girls volleyball 2:30-4:00
• Grade 6 boys and girls volleyball 2:30-4:00
• Grade 8 rugby team to Kelowna (2:00)
• Open study block in room 122

Friday, October 18th

• Open gym 7:00 am
• Library open before school and after school
• Grade 6 Immunizations
• Yellow Team to Gardom Lake
• Grade 7/8 Intramural volleyball at lunch
• Magic Club in room 124 at lunch
• Library is open at lunch (grade 6/7)

Dear families of grade 7 students,

There has been some confusion around the letter sent home by the BC Teachers’ Federation regarding the Foundation Skills Assessments (FSAs) that are written each year by our grade 7s.  In SD83, we use this information generated by the FSAs to allocate additional resources to literacy and numeracy program to address specific areas of concern revealed by this assessment. 

Though recently distributed letters from the BC Teachers’ Federation were sent home asking parents to excuse their children from writing the FSA exam, we understand that Ministry of Education guidelines allow for the exclusion of students under the following conditions:

• Family emergency
• Lengthy illness
• Other extenuating circumstances

Mrs. Woodhurst, Mr. Matheson and Ms. Major have contacted all families who have submitted forms to date, and in our conversations with these families, the majority of parents felt they were signing a school-generated letter.  Of the 45 letters signed by parents, only six students are exempted for extenuating circumstances, lengthy illness or family emergency at this time.  All other parents agreed that their students would write this mandatory provincial assessment.

At SMS, our teachers will be beginning to administer the FSA exams on Thursday, Oct. 10th (the process of completing the full exam is spaced out at the teacher’s discretion over a number of days).  We are unable to accept letters beyond Thursday at 8:00am and we would be happy to discuss your concerns or questions prior to this deadline.  Please feel free to give us a call at the office.