 | | | Suffield Middle School | April 2014 | | 350 Mountain Road | Suffield, CT 06078 | 860-668-3820 | https://www.suffield.org | | |  | | | | | | | | Upcoming Events: BOE Meeting Tuesday, April 1st
6:30 p.m. - 9:30 p.m.
SMS Media Center Autism Awareness - Wear Blue Wednesday, April 2nd Gymnastics Exhibition Wednesday, April 9th
6:00 p.m.
Suffield Middle School Gym Partnering With Parents - 21st Century Skills Wednesday, April 9th
6:30 p.m.
Suffield High School No School April 14th - April 18th
April Vacation BOE Meeting Tuesday, April 22nd
6:30 p.m. - 9:30 p.m.
SHS Media Center 7th Grade Luau Friday, April 25th
7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
Suffield Middle School Student Council - Grade 6 Social Friday, April 25th
7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
Suffield Middle School Gym
2013-2014 School Calendar 2014 - 2015 District Calendar School Lunch Menu Bring your own Technology STUDENT SUCCESS PLAN TRIFOLD FORM INTRAMURAL CALENDAR UPDATE as of 2-12-14 College for Kids at Westfield State University March Curriculum Newsletter North Central Community Collaborative Support Groups Partnering With Parents - 21st Century Skills - Wednesday, April 9, 2014 Summer Camps and Recreational Activities for Children with Special Needs | |  A Message from the Principal Dear Parents/Guardians, It is hard to fathom, but we are nearing the end of the third quarter and are entering the home stretch to the end of the school year. As we approach the end of the year, there is scheduling for next year and the other duties that go along with maintaining and running a school smoothly for our students. As the snow melts and the temperatures warm, we look to continue to guide all of our children along a path of growth geared to improving them as citizens and students. In the coming months, there will be specific events as well as enrichment activities tied to the curriculum and geared to enhance our students understanding and take their learning of subject matter beyond the classroom. The 8th grade will be viewing the play a “Midsummer Night’s Dream” and will participate in a day long workshop with the actors and actresses to gain a deeper understanding as well as learn what goes into creating such a production. The 7th grade as part of their poetry unit will be visited by a rap poet Khalim Kelly a graduate of Trinity College and now an adjunct professor. He will perform for each grade seven team and then will participate in a two hour workshop with  each team. The 6th grade will, as part of their folklore and legends unit, be visiting the Bushnell to see Beauty and the Beast. These activities are funded by our PTAC, an organization I encourage you to become involved with. They do great things for our school. The PTAC along with our student council have a host of events planned for students as we approach the end of the year. These include our annual Sock Hop, May 2, 2014. The 8th grade band playing at a Rock Cats game in May. The 7th grade Luau, April 21, 2014, and activities geared toward the end of the year celebration of our 8th grade class.  Many of our students will also be participating in our annual gymnastics show on April 9, 2014. This is a showcase of student achievement in gymnastics and provides the opportunity for all participating to demonstrate the skills they have attained to both parents and peers. This show is always a highlight and culmination of much hard work by both staff and students throughout the end of winter.
As we enter April, I am reminded that each year students in our community service clubs help spread the word about a condition known as Autism. April is National Autism Awareness Month. The 7th Annual  World Autism Awareness Day is April 2, 2014. The goal of the Autism Society is to “highlight the growing need for concern and awareness about autism.” Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a range of complex neurodevelopment disorders, characterized by social impairments, communication difficulties, and patterns of behavior. Although ASD varies significantly in character and severity, it occurs in all ethnic and socioeconomic groups and affects every age group. Experts estimate that 1 out of 88 children age 8 will have an ASD (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, March 30, 2012). At all the Suffield Public Schools we will be doing our part to raise awareness by wearing BLUE on April 2nd. Students involved with Suffield Middle School’s community service group, SOURCE (Students with Opportunities for Understanding, Responsibility, Community and Excellence), have hung posters to encourage all Suffield Middle School students and staff to wear blue on April 2nd. In addition, the SOURCE students will hang blue ribbons which will proudly be displayed for the month of April to help remind everyone to celebrate Autism Awareness month. For more information visit the Autism Speaks website at www.autismspeaks.org. At SMS, we extend our awareness and sensitivity to the wide range of abilities, disabilities, learning differences, and diversity of our school community. Recently, I have received an email from a thankful parent regarding our efforts to support his daughter. I was so moved by his words I asked if I could reprint potions as part of this newsletter and an example of the “narrative” that has become and hopefully continue to reflect Suffield Middle School’s beliefs and commitment to all children. | | | | Dear Principal Warrington,
This is probably the happiest "Dear John" letter I will ever write! I wanted to give you an update from Lilly's debut sale of "LillyPops: The Sweetest Way to Help Lick Epilepsy," which occurred several weeks ago at the production of The Little Mermaid. This was the celebratory culmination of countless hours of quiet, behind-the-scenes dedication; of time, energy, personal resources and endless, creative heart and soul, provided by Lilly's teachers and Para team members. In less than 60 days, this mission-based vision was embraced and brought to fruition by a very talented group of selfless and passionate educators, along with Lilly, her mom, and some very special classmates, all who helped buy the ingredients and materials and assisted in making and packaging these unique confectionery treats...
…Lilly's journey through childhood has been a curious blessing, filled with endless mountains she has been forced to climb due to these unexplained, ubiquitous hiccups in her brain, yet filled with even more incredible joy, thanks to those who have so selflessly chosen to climb those mountains with her. There are no words in the English language to adequately convey the amount of gratitude I have, for my wife's boundless love and patience, for every teacher who has walked with Lilly on her path, and for God's grace in every one of her smiles. But I write today to say that my gratitude is and will always be profound, genuine and abiding. To you, Superintendent Baldwin, and Vice Principal Kydd, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for approving this initiative. To every teacher, classmate and parent who purchased a LillyPop, I thank you as well and wish you to know that Epilepsy is nothing to fear, but certainly something to conquer and you've done your part in this good fight. With these sweet thoughts in mind, I humbly implore everyone to take 5 minutes out of your busy day to visit the Epilepsy Foundation's website (www.epilepsyct.com) to learn more. And keep your eyes open for the next LillyPop adventure, coming to a school function soon! Clearly when parents and school personnel partner effectively together, great things can happen with individuals, groups, and a community a large.  There is much more to come and happening currently. In March, we will be wrapping up our spirit month which has been highlighted by challenges between the grades. This has produced a high level of involvement and excitement amongst our student body and faculty. 70’s day was a particular hit. Also due to weather related cancellations our student/faculty basketball game organized by the PTAC was moved to Suffield High School on March 14, 2014 and was a resounding success and fit well in our spirit month.
Our after school clubs continue to meet including our gaming club which has become very popular. Upcoming this Spring is the 8th grade challenge, a weekly event where staff faces off against 8th graders in volleyball, flag football, and other athletic events for fun. Also intramural golf is up-coming this spring. Suffield Middle School continues to be an exciting place for our students to learn and grow in a nurturing developmentally appropriate environment. We hope you will become involved and join us on this journey of educating our children. As we welcome the warmer days of April, let us all take the opportunity to recognize our collective hard work, commitment, and dedication to the success of all of our children. May we take the time to share our efforts, celebrate our accomplishments, learn from our mistakes, and appreciate approximations of the success we strive for all our students and your children. | | Sixth Grade | | | 6th grade is having a great month of March; between awards, Spirit Month, and academic happenings – we’ve been busy. We started with our term 2 awards. Awards for the white team were given to Shaeralyn Burke - outstanding citizenship, Paige Anderson - outstanding citizenship, Gianna Carestia - outstanding citizenship, Ethan Lambert- outstanding citizenship, Aidan Miller - outstanding citizenship, and Fletcher Seymour. Awards for the blue team, were given to Ryan Gaffney - outstanding citizenship, Lizzy McCoy - outstanding citizenship, Remington Ferrari - outstanding citizenship, Evan Lorenz - outstanding effort, Claudia Carey - outstanding effort, and Solveig Lindeland - outstanding effort. Then we marched into spirit month with the “Spirit of Giving”. The students were generous in their participation as we strove to replenish the Visiting Nurse of Suffield’s food bank. It was a huge success. Sprint month is continuing and the students are thoroughly enjoying each and every Friday. In academics- math just finished up their station work. The students had an opportunity to share their board and jeopardy games with their peers during Advisory. Language arts is working on argumentative writing and analyzing propaganda. Science is starting a weather and climate unit (maybe they can conjure up some spring!!). World cultures is studying Ancient Rome. Together students and teachers are building momentum to carry us through term 4 with a strong finish. | | Seventh Grade | | | The seventh grade blue team continues to have an advisory challenge each month. This month's advisory challenge is 1 vs 100; a trivia-based challenge. Each quarter we recognize students with exemplary citizenship. Our quarter 3 award recipients are Amanda Litvak, Mya Watroba, Gabby Zeller, Ricky Ramirez, Nate Cyr, and Ian Gray. In the next couple weeks, we will have "Mountain Day;" an exciting, surprise team-building day. The seventh grade white team has been busy through the winter months with several different activities for parents, teachers, and students. Our team hosted our morning coffee in February, which gave students and parents an opportunity to meet casually with teachers over breakfast. We find this to be an excellent activity in order to keep lines of communication between home and school clear. The team also had our Outstanding Citizen Lunch for 2nd quarter where we honor students whose citizenship stands out throughout the marking period. Another citizen lunch is planned for early April for quarter 3 recipients. The white team also recently concluded a series of advisory challenges where students needed to work together to compete in some type of contest whether it be building the tallest balloon tower, trivia, or mask-making. We also had several members of our team--both students and teachers--compete in the Student/Faculty Basketball Game on March 14th, which was a great success and saw a great turnout. | | Eighth Grade | | | Recently we have had former student and published author Dean Ravenoke speak with our entire 8th grade students on his journey as a writer and an author. Students in grade 8 will also attend STEM workshop at the aerospace museum as part of their study of newton’s law of motion and in preparation for their design, construction and testing of rockers. Integrated into their design is a capsule that world protect the rocket’s “eggernaut” fun damage upon landing. Students in U.S. History classes will be engaged in a “Power Grab” simulation designed to expand their understanding and appreciation of the causes of World War I. | | The Little Mermaid, Jr - Extravaganza that Hit all the High Notes! | | |   The SMS Drama Club would like to thank the more than 900 family and friends who became “Part of our World” by attending the two evening performances of the musical production The Little Mermaid, Jr. This year, more than 80 students in grades 6-8 worked together on stage and behind the scenes for nearly 3 months. In addition to the usual challenges of memorizing lines, learning catchy tunes, coordinating dance steps, finding props, sewing costumes, painting set pieces, creating programs and advertising, this winter provided the extra obstacles of snow, and more snow, and more snow!
While this caused many cancelled rehearsals and delayed the performances a week, the students never wavered in their commitment or lost their enthusiasm! Their outstanding efforts resulted in an extravaganza that managed to hit all the high notes! | | Unified Theatre - Spotlight on Ability | | | Suffield Middle School is performing a spring production this year with the program Unified Theatre whose goal is to bring theatre to everyone. “The concept is simple: let teens lead, let creativity rule, and put the Spotlight on Ability.” This means the production is directed by student leaders including 8th grader Joe Gleason, 7th Graders, Dominic Colangelo, Matt LoVoi, and Madison Zielinski, and 6th grader Dailend Willingham. These students will lead about 70 participants in writing their own play revolving around “Fairy Tale Disasters” that allows each student a chance to write their own part and to spotlight his or her own unique abilities. The performance will be May 21, 2014 at 6:45 pm. Hope to see you there! | | Upcoming Athletic Opportunities
| | | SMS TRACK AND FIELD | | | Coaches: Mrs. Killam, Mr. Dobi, Mrs. Casinghino, and Mr. Hershon
Sign-ups will begin March 31st - We hope to form our team by April 9th
Students must have a physical on file in Nurse Richard's Office (physicals are valid for 13 months) First practice is Monday, April 21st 2:30 p.m.- 4:00 p.m. ALL athletes will meet in the gymnasium for an information meeting and a short outdoor practice. WEAR ATHLETIC CLOTHING. Practices will continue to be held on Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday through May 30. Detailed information packets will be available from the coaches on March 26th. We have several meets scheduled and athletes that qualify will compete in the Middle School Track and Field Championship Meet on Saturday, May 31ST! (All team members are welcome to be spectators at this exciting event.) ALL IT TAKES IS ALL YOU'VE GOT! | | | UPCOMING INTRAMURALS | | | Golf will begin on Wednesday, April 23rd and run every Wednesday until May 21st. There is a nominal fee for this program. Students will need transportation to and from Agawam Municipal Golf Course in Feeding Hills, MA. If you are interested in this program, pick up a permission slip on the intramural bulletin board outside the gym or see Mrs. Casinghino. Girl’s and Boy’s Tennis will start on Thursday, April 24th and run every Thursday until May 15th. Beach Volleyball will start on Monday May 5th and run on 5/5, 5/12, and 5/19. If you are interested in these program, pick up a permission slip on the intramural bulletin board outside the gym or see Mrs. Casinghino. Late Bus is available on Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday. | Gymnastics intramurals is off to a great start!
| | | We currently have sixth, seventh, and eighth grade participants who are actively engaged in creating routines to be performed in a community performance on Wednesday, April 9th at 6:00 p.m. and a school wide performance on Thursday April 10th . Gymnasts will be performing on the Floor Exercise, Vault, Pommel Horse, High Bar, Uneven Parallel Bars, and Balance Beam. The performance is free of charge and open to all ages! We hope to see you on April 9th. | | Suffield Middle School Guidance | | | Greetings from the SMS guidance department! As we thankfully head into the spring season after a long cold winter, we are reminded about all of the fun and exciting events that occur during the last quarter of every school year. We continue to implement the developmental guidance initiatives in the three domains: academic, personal/social and career. All students have developed their individualized SSPs (Student Success Plans) which can be accessed by all students and families via the SMS guidance home page. The guidance section of the SMS web page lists specific information with regard to 8th – 9th grade course planning for grade 9. By accessing the Suffield Middle School guidance homepage, parents and students can reference the timeline for upcoming important dates with regard to the grade 9 course selection process. All student request files have been completed and the high school counselors will be meeting 1:1 with their assigned student case load in May to finalize each individual grade 9 schedule. We continue to work with the advisory classes in order to discuss the importance of positive relationships and friendships. This continued initiative directly relates to the districts emphasis on school climate while fostering and promoting a positive school environment for all of our students and their families. The guidance interns will be working with our 6th graders during the next few weeks. Specifically, Justine Meyer, one of our interns, will be teaching a developmental lesson to all sixth grade students on verbal and nonverbal communication. This lesson falls into the social/emotional component of the American School Counseling Association (ASCA) model which emphasizes personal connectedness and responsibility. We also look forward to our yearly 5th grade step up day and the incoming grade 5 parent orientation evening program. We will have more information to follow in April. As always, we have an open door policy and we welcome any questions, comments or feedback you may have. Best regards,
Tom Kadamus & Tracy Scatolini | | Here at Suffield Middle we’re breaking through the winter blues. March has been a wonderful month of celebration! Student Council has sponsored Spirit Month once again. This year our end of the week grade vs grade challenges have been quite exciting! | | | MARCH 3rd - Food Drive | | MARCH 4th - 7th - Grade Vs. Grade Challenge | | | | Starting with a ‘Spring into Spirit Month Food Drive’, students and staff at SMS donated over 1,100 non-perishable items to the Emergency Aid Association of Suffield. The timing of our donation couldn’t have been better for the EAA. The Feinstein Foundation will donate money to the EEA in part because of our large donation!! Thank you to the SMS students for your support of our Spirit Month Food Drive! March 3rd Food Drive Results:
1st - 8th grade: 98.96%
2nd - 6th grade: 84.8%
3rd - 7th grade: 32.41% | | During the week of March 4th students aggressively sabotaged each other during our annual Grade vs. Grade Change Challenge. By donating bills to other grades, students were able to deduct points from that grade’s total. Any coin donation added points to the grade’s total. With a tough fight, grade 6 won the challenge. Suffield Middle School will be donating the $1,300 raised to several charities. | | | | | | | | MARCH 7th - SCHOOL COLOR DAY | | | On March 7, students sported blue and white outfits to show their Suffield pride. Most of the students participated in this Spirit Month challenge. The 8th grade took this challenge with just about 90% of the grade participating. 1st - 8th Grade: 87.96% | 2nd - 6th Grade: 75.00% | 3rd - 7th Grade: 73.3% | | | 
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| | | | MARCH 14th - BACK IN THE DAY | | | Again, the 8TH Grade proved to be tough to beat and won the Back in the Day challenge on March 14TH. Sixth grade came in a very close second by donning their 1970’s attire! 1st - 8th Grade: 60.94% | 2nd - 6th Grade: 60.49% | 3rd - 7th Grade: 27.96% | | |  | | | | MARCH 21st - FASHION DISASTER | | | Fashion Disaster was the theme for March 21ST - Students and staff really got into wearing mis-matching and wacky clothes! Grade six pulled through with the highest percentage of students dressing and wound up defeating the 8THgrade by more than 8%! With this win the 6TH grade is leading the Spirit Month contest by a mere .37% 1st - 6th Grade: 76.47% | 2nd - 8th Grade: 68.06% | 3rd - 7th Grade: 50.00% | | | Upcoming : MARCH 27th - TWIN DAY | | | Show your spirit by dressing the same as a friend IN YOUR FIRST PERIOD CLASS!
(You can have more than one twin.) | Who will win the Movie and Make Your Own Sundae Party??? That will be determined on Thursday, March 27th. | | |  | | Suffield Middle School PTAC | | |  PTAC hosted a Student/Faculty Basketball Game Night on Friday, March 14th. The SMS Girls and Boys Basketball Team, SMS Faculty, and Administration played very hard. There were raffles, door prizes, contests and food. The SMS Dance Team, Pep Band, and Quest DJ team provided music and entertainment.
Please register your Stop & Shop, Big Y, Shaw’s, Price Chopper and Target Red Card for their education programs and remember to designate Suffield Middle School as your school. You must register annually for us to receive donations from these organizations. | | | | Visit the PTAC Website for additional information. | | | | Suffield Public Schools
350 Mountain Road, Suffield, CT 06078
Phone: 860-668-3800
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