Dear Parents and Guardians,

Welcome to the Second Quarter of the SMSA school year.  First grade through eighth grade parents will be receiving electronic first quarter report cards for their child(ren) on Friday, November 12, 2021 in Skyward.  On November 12th, Skyward will reopen and parents/guardians will be able to view and sign their child’s report card.  To view the report card please log into Skyward.  Select your child.  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 January.  

Brought to us yearly by the eighth grader students, teachers and volunteers, is the SMSA Elves R Us program.  Please click on the following link to learn more about Elves R Us and how SMSA families can encounter this wonderful opportunity.  Elves R Us

Morning drop off is going well.  Thank you for tucking phones away and going slow as you travel through the morning drop off process in the south lot.  Please drop your child(ren) off in the south lot by either pulling off into the Hug and Go lane, or parking in the parking lot and then getting out of the vehicle.  Please do not stop in the middle of the driving lane next to the Hug and Go lane to let your child(ren) out near the playground entrance.  This is unsafe and holds up the process of other drivers.  We ask all drivers who are parking in the middle lot to remember our strategy of parking in the and using the three lanes in the south lot how they are intended to be used.  The large yellow arrows on the ground indicate the direction traffic is intended to flow to keep everyone safe.  

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

Standards Based Grading

The objective of the video series is to educate parents in short videos to unpack Standard Based Grading.  The series intends to deliver an education and mindshift to understand Standards Based Grading, why Standards Based Grading is best practice, and how Standards Based Grading functions with the parent and teacher supporting the student’s journey.

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

Friday, November 12th – Report cards are available for Parents to view online through Skyward.

The High School Placement Test for 8th grade students will be held on Saturday, December 4th, from 8:30 am to 12:00 PM. The test will be administered at SMSA. If you have any questions, please contact Kelly Mueller at kmueller@smsacademy.org. We look forward to seeing the Class of 2026! Thank you!

Save the Date for LedgerExpress on Sunday, December 5th. Kick off the holiday season with a fun family event all around the holidays!! More information to come!

Tuesday, December 14th at 6:30 pm to 7:30 pm in Hutter Gym

Wednesday, December 15th at 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. in Hutter gym

The Principal’s Pen is an opportunity for teachers to recognize students who consistently demonstrate The Ledger Way with a focus on faith, learning, respect for leadership, community and responsibility.  The students chosen will attend a special breakfast with Mr. K and Mr. Fisher, receives a certificate with a brief sentence on how they followed The Ledger Way, and a principal’s pen.

Vera Petrie – Grade 4: Vera is always working hard.  She puts forth her best effort at all times.  Vera is also a good role model.

Lilia Redig – Grade 5: Lilia demonstrates respect by wearing a mask so a friend doesn’t feel odd. She demonstrates Faith by talking to her teacher about her faith and giving examples of prayer.  She demonstrates Responsibility by doing a great job on virtual learning, always ready and cooperating. 

Olivia Reitmeier – Grade 4: Olivia demonstrates Leadership by helping others when they need it and helps out even when not asked. 

Aiden Rector – Grade 5:  Aiden gives his best effort in everything he does, from class conversations to his own personal work.  He shows respect to both his teachers and his classmates.  Finally, he shows his faith through his active participation in religion class and wanting to be an alter server. 

Kendal Kozelek – Grade 5: Kendal always comes to school ready to learn and shows respect to all her classmates.

Ben Mathos – Grade 4:  Ben shows outstanding leadership! He’s always willing to help others and is someone students can look up to and follow. 

Click here to read the November updates.

As a reminder, please only sell and/or purchase the BLUE and WHITE BMR tickets for the Friday, January 14, 2022 drawing. Please throw away any pink tickets that you may still have.

We appreciate your support in selling and/or purchasing the new blue and white tickets and returning them to school on or before Friday, January 14, 2022. Your participation is vital to the success of this fundraiser and reaching our goal of raising $100,000 for our school. We cannot wait to pull the $20,000 winning ticket on Friday, January 14, 2022 at noon.

Please contact Kristin Zitlow at kzitlow@smsacademy.org or 920-322-8006 with any questions.

WIN A $5,000 LANDS’ END SCHOOL STARBOARD SCHOLARSHIP

The Lands’ End School Starboard Scholarship acknowledges and rewards students who display exceptional leadership skills. Up to five scholarships will be awarded to eligible Preferred School students in grades 8‑12. Please see full eligibility guidelines. The Lands’ End School Starboard Scholarship Program was established to assist middle and high school students, currently in grades 8-12, who are enrolled at a Lands’ End Preferred School in the U.S. (SMSA Preferred School Number: 900157314)

2021-2022 Application now available. Applications will be accepted now through December 15, 2021 or until 1,000 applications have been received.

https://www.landsend.com/starboard-scholarship/

No news at this time.

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!