Dear Parents and Guardians,

As the second quarter has come to a completion, you may find an electronic report card on Skyward on Friday, January 29, 2022.  To view the report card, please log into Skyward, select your child and scroll down to “Portfolio”.  Select the report you would like to view or print.  It’s that easy.  Please contact the South Hall office if you need support.  Early Childhood and Kindergarten will receive their first report card in a hard copy form.   

Our second set of Parent/Teacher/Student Conferences are just around the corner.   The conferences are scheduled for Wednesday, February 10th, from 4:00 to 6:30 p.m. This set of conferences are either recommended by the teacher or may be scheduled by the parent/guardian if they wish to conference with a teacher.  It is not required to have a conference for the spring conferences.  The Skyward conference scheduler will be open to elementary parents on Wednesday, February 2, 2022.  More information on how to schedule through Skyward will be in next week’s eLedger.  Thank you for your partnership.  

Catholic Schools Week

Welcome to Catholic Schools Week beginning January 30, 2022.  Please join us at Holy Family Mass at 10:00 a.m. to kick off the celebration week. Please see the following link to see all the exciting events included in celebrating Catholic Schools.

Eighth Grade Graduation

It is awesome to see the eighth grade class approaching the apex of the first part of their educational journey.  The eighth graders will be moving forward with a receipt from elementary school and middle school years and get ready to venture into high school.

An elementary kindergarten through eighth grade school Mass and graduation ceremony to honor our eighth graders will be held on Wednesday, June 8, 2022 at 9:00 a.m. at Holy Family. 

The eighth grade graduation Mass and ceremony will be for eighth graders that includes eighth grader’s families and the school community of kindergarten through eighth grade students.  This will allow us to celebrate the accomplishments of being student leaders within the SMSA school community.  It will allow younger students one last chance to look upon what they aspire to become in the years ahead of them at SMSA.  Thank you eighth graders for being a special class of students that we all can celebrate.  Thank you for making us proud of what you have become and what we see for your future. 

Internet Safety Presentation – Save the Date!

We are very pleased to announce that on Wednesday, February 23rd, SMSA will be hosting a special live/in-person presentation focused on internet safety.  Mr. Eric Szatkowski will present to all 6-8 grade students during the school day and will provide a special adult only presentation to parents at 6:00 p.m. that evening in Baker Gym.  

More information will be coming in the near future. 

SMSA Adopts GoGuardian Beacon 

This school year, SMSA has adopted GoGuardian Beacon services as part of our school’s broader suicide prevention program.

GoGuardian Beacon is important to our school community because suicide is now one of the most pressing issues facing youth; in fact, 18.8 percent of high school students in 2019 reported having seriously considered attempting suicide over the past 12 months, according to the Center of Disease Control. CDC, 2019 Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS) (2019). Additionally, GoGuardian Beacon may help SMSA intervene even when students have difficulty asking adults for help. Nine out of ten teens (90%) who report symptoms of depression say they have gone online for information on mental health issues  – Digital Health Practices, Social Media Use, and Mental Well-Being Among Teens and Young Adults in the U.S. (2018).

GoGuardian products are used in over 8,500 schools and 5,000 districts in the US, supporting over 23 million students.  Soon, SMSA parents will be receiving more details about how to engage with GoGuardian.  In the meantime, parents are urged to view the short 3minute introduction to GoGuardian Beacon found at this link GoGuardian Beacon Demo

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

skelnhofer@smsacademy.org

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

January 24th – January 28th: Grade  2 – Grade 8 (MAP testing) 

January 30th – February 4th: Catholic Schools Week 

June 8, 2022: 8th grade graduation at Holy Family Church 9:00 a.m. Mass

Interested in participating in the co-op wrestling program? 

Click here for more information.

SMSA is excited to announce we are participating in the fifth annual Many Gifts, One Nation: A Day of Giving, beginning Tuesday, February 1, 2022 at 11:00 a.m. (CST) and continuing through 11:00 a.m. (CST) on Wednesday, February 2nd. We are again pleased to announce that when we reach our “Day of Giving” goal of raising $10,000, we will be giving away a 100% tuition credit to one lucky SMSA student.

That’s right! 100% tuition credit for the 2022/2023 academic year will be awarded to one lucky SMSA student when we reach our $10,000 goal!

 For every $100 donation made to our Many Gifts, One Nation: A Day of Giving campaign, your name will be entered for a chance to win, or gift, a 100% tuition credit for the 2022/2023 SMSA academic year. Donations must be made on our online giving site to qualify. 

Watch your email for more information.

To view full tuition credit rules, please click here.

Tired of flowers and chocolates? The SMSA Music Department is doing their annual Singing Telegrams fundraiser! 

The high school vocal jazz members, dressed in formal attire, will surprise that special recipient and serenade them in song. There is a video option as well. 

Visit, smsacademy.org/telegram, to reserve yours today!

Eric Szatkowski is a former FBI agent who specialized in Internet Crimes Against Children.  He will be presenting to Middle and High School Students during the day and in the evening is providing a special presentation to Pk – 12 Parents/Guardians.  

Due to the sensitivity of the material that he will be covering during the parent presentation, he asks that it is Adults Only.  We 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    

Mrs. McCarthy, HS Counselor: tmccarthy@smsacademy.org

This week’s Principal’s Pen awards goes to:

Blake Shannon – 3rd grade: For always showing the core value of respect.  He is always respecting his teachers, following directions, and ready for what is next.

Easton Garlow-Nummerdor – 3rd grade: For showing community and faith on a constant basis. He is always willing to help, show support, and spread his faith, love, and kindness to others. 

Diego Robles – 3rd grade: For his leadership with following directions, always being prepared for class, showing others by example to be ready, following rules, listening to the teacher and being ready to learn. 

Lily Mae LeLuzerne – 4th grade: For being a great member of the classroom community.  She is always willing to help and support any of her classmates. 

Aubrey Schneider – 4th grade: For working hard.  She is kind toward her classmates and willing to help out when asked. 

Drake Dreher – 4th grade: For being very respectful of his teachers and classmates.  He cares for others and helps out when needed. 

Rudy Vanden Avond – 4th grade: For being very respectful and conscientious.  He cares about others and is humble. 

Mara Nachreiner – 5th grade: For always trying her best and never being afraid to take risks in class discussions. 

Holly Gaertig – 5th grade: For always working hard and being an awesome team partner.  She is always respectful to adults and others. 

Kendal Kozelek – 5th grade: For having a positive attitude and always wearing a smile.  She is polite and kind, respectful, and gracious. 

Christian Ramirez – 5th grade: For being an enthusiastic learner and sacrificing his candy that he wins to others.  

Kaden Olig – 5th grade: For demonstrating the core value of community by showing kindness to all students.  The value of responsibility by taking school seriously and always giving.  The core value of leadership by always doing what is right and 100% leads by example.

The elementary Ledgerfest parent committee is excited to be collecting funds to put together themed class auction packages again this year for the Ledgerfest silent auction. These class auction packages are fast becoming our highest bid on items!

To make an online donation towards your child(s) class package, click here.  Once you enter a donation amount and click next, please fill in your child’s name and grade level (if you are donating for more than one child, please list each name and grade level along with the amount for each child).

If you prefer, you may send cash or check (payable to Andrea Nuss) in an envelope marked: ES Ledgerfest/Kristin Zitlow. Please also indicate your child’s grade level on the envelope.

Any questions? Contact Kristin at kzitlow@smsacademy.org or 920-322-8006

Thank you and stay tuned for more details on the class package themes and how to register for the event and/or auction. Ledgerfest – Luck of the Ledger – March 19, 2022.

None at this time.

No news at this time.

Thank you to all of the families that contributed to the SMSA staff gathering.  The original plan was to have the party on Monday, January 17.  Due to the rise in covid cases and to help prevent further spread, the gathering will be postponed until further notice.

If you are interested in helping with our Parent Connectors Group, please contact Andrea Nuss, alnuss@charter.net.  We appreciate the support of our SMSA Families!