Dear Parents and Guardians,
Isn’t it great to see the joy children show around Valentine’s Day. Students may be seen at school with bright smiles as they carry in the valentines they are ready to share with fellow students and their teachers. This simple action makes me reflect upon the Heart of Christ. Jesus poured and continues to pour out His heart for us. He loves us and calls us to be in relationship with Him, giving and receiving. See, through the actions of children giving and receiving with others, we can see a model of the Heart of Christ in relationship with each of us. God bless the little Children for Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”
Be kind and rewind over this extended weekend. (Yes, a reference to those of us old enough to remember BlockBuster and their movie tapes.) Let’s be kind and rewind by thinking about one to three people we can extend kindness to this weekend, or thank them for being kind to us.
Internet Safety Presentation – Save the Date!
We are very pleased to announce that on February 23, SMSA will be hosting special live/in-person presentations focused on Internet safety. Mr. Eric Szatkowski shall present to all MS school students during the school day and will provide a special adult only presentation to parents for all grade levels at 6:00pm on that evening in Baker Gym. Topics include the latest on potential dangers of social networking sites and apps, decoy apps, as well as disturbing trends of sexting, cyber bullying, and webcam exploitation.
Childcare will be provided! Due to the sensitivity of the material that will be covered during the parent presentation, he asks that it is adults ONLY. SMSA therefore, will be providing childcare for children 3 and up (no diapers). We are very excited to have Eric at SMSA as he is a dynamic speaker with a wealth of knowledge in keeping our children safe online.
Please register by Wednesday, February 16th if you will be attending so we can get an idea of the number of people attending and children in childcare. Click here to register.
For more information on Eric, please click here.
If you have any questions contact:
Mrs. Cauley, K-4 Counselor: manderson@smsacademy.org
Mrs. Dengel, MS Counselor: sdengel@smsacademy.org
Parental/guardian responsibilities regarding Goguardian and how SMSA uses GoGuardian
SMSA asks that students use their school managed Google accounts and school managed devices for educational purposes within the boundaries of SMSA.
When a student is off campus, parents are responsible for supervising internet access and usage. We encourage you to discuss and follow through with rules for appropriate internet usage with your child, and to reinforce lessons of digital citizenship and safety with him or her.
GoGuardian at SMSA is a safety service tool that performs the following four outcomes:
- Helps protect students against harmful and inappropriate online material
- Helps students stay “scholarly” and more focused when learning online
- Helps assess students’ progress towards class assignments
- Facilitates communication between teachers and students during class time
Thank you for your continued partnership with SMSA. Together we create a path for tomorrow’s children to achieve amazing dreams.
God Bless,
Steven Kelnhofer
Elementary Principal, SMSA
Standard Based Grading
Please select the following six links to see the box set of SBG at SMSA.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kC85kS-z_Mk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tecnwN4dXLU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7ejwOMhkAg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7jww2J7RJs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQO1AVjoMJ0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1jIyS7wso0