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Colleen Murley, Principal
FEBRUARY 2017
Tina Board, Assistant Principal
SIMMONS MIDDLE SCHOOL
1300 S. 3RD ST.
ABERDEEN, SD 57401
PHONE 605-725-7900 FAX 605-725-7999
www.aberdeen.k12.sd.us
simmonsmiddleschoolwikispaces.com
UPCOMING DATES
Feb. 3
3rd quarter midterm
Feb. 3
SMS Social 3:15-5:15 pm
Feb. 10
NO SCHOOL—Staff
Development Day
Feb. 13
PTA 6:30 pm
Feb. 13
Parent Night for 8th graders & parents at CHS 7 pm
Feb. 18
CHS Show Choir Invite
Feb. 20
NO SCHOOL - President’s
Day
Feb. 21
8th Grade NAEP testing
Feb. 24
SMS Play at HMS theater
7:00 pm
Feb. 25
SMS Play at HMS theater
6:00 pm
SMS SOCIAL
The SMS Student Senate is hosting a
spring social on February 3rd from 3:15 5:15. The cost of a ticket will be $3. Students will purchase their tickets in homeroom the morning of the social. PTA will
be selling pizza slices for $1.50. Pop and
water will also be sold.
Feb. 24-25 Middle School All State
Orchestra in Pierre
Mar. 2
Spring Pictures
YOUTH POWER
Youth Power members are still able to
turn in 2 yards of fleece for a YP point. If
you purchase fleece and make a blanket,
that is worth 2 points. This activity will
continue until the end of February.
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SIMMONS MIDDLE SCHOOL
PEP BAND NIGHT
The 8th Grade Band will be combining with Holgate’s 8th graders and performing before
and at halftime of the CHS Varsity Basketball game on Tuesday, February 21.
ALL STATE BAND
Congratulations to Jessemy Sharp for being selected to the 2016 South Dakota Middle
School All State Jazz Band, which will be held in Yankton, SD on Feb. 4. In addition,
Jessemy Sharp and Ashlyn Bishop were both selected to the 2017 South Dakota Middle School All State Band. The grand concert for that will be at 3:00 PM on Saturday,
March 4 in the Huron High School Theatre.
PARENT NIGHT AT CHS FOR
9th GRADE PRE-REGISTRATION
An informational meeting for 8thgrade parents will
take place Monday evening, February 13, at the
CHS theater beginning at 7:00 p.m. CHS teachers
will be available for questions concerning 9th grade
registration.
NESD Middle School Orchestra Festival
Tuesday, March 21
Orchestra students should report to the Johnson Fine
Arts Center on the campus of NSU at
8:30am. Students will rehearse with the festival orchestras from 9:00-5:00 with snacks and lunch provided. The grand finale concert is at 5:30. The public is invited to attend this concert free of charge.
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SIMMONS MIDDLE SCHOOL
ORCHESTRA
The following students were selected
to be a part of the SDMEA Middle
School All State Orchestra. This is an
auditioned group where the top 32 violin students are chosen from the entire state. We applaud their hard
work, and they are excited to perform
at a concert in Pierre on February 25.
Back Row (L-R) Maggie Adams, Melina Frank, Sabrina Francom
Front Row (L-R) Masyn Schutter, Hannah Rovang
PTA NOTES
Social
The PTA will be selling pizza and pop/water at the social again. We will also have a Valentines Basket Raffle. Students will be able to purchase tickets for the raffle during the social
for 50 cents. Items in the Valentine's Basket include movie tickets, pop, popcorn, and a
popcorn bucket that can be refilled at the movie theater.
Conferences
Also, we are asking PTA parents to donate fruit, bottled water, cookies, and/or bars for
Parent/Teacher conferences. They may bring the items to school on Thursday, March 10.
(These items will be offered as goody bags available for teachers during conferences).
Receipts & Boxtops
Please rememeber to continue collecting and sending in Ken's and Kessler's receipts with
your student. Youth Power members may earn a YP point for turning in 25 boxtops to
the office as well as earning points for their homeroom.
The next PTA meeting is February 13 @ 6:30 in the school library.
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SIMMONS MIDDLE SCHOOL
SMS LIBRARY WEBPAGE
The library at Simmons Middle School provides students with a library webpage that contains
many sources of information that students can use for their research projects. On the library
webpage, students can access several online educational databases and the World Book Encyclopedia. These are a wonderful solution to the problem of safe Internet use by students. When
a student uses the databases, they have access to thousands of magazines, journals, newspapers,
encyclopedias, pamphlets, books, photographs & images, and maps. Students can use these
databases at school, at home, or any place where they can access the Internet.
It would be handy to have your children bookmark our SMS Library webpage as a favorite under Favorites on the Internet. Also, please encourage them to research from our library webpage and to use the databases for their research projects.
To access the library webpage from home, go to the Aberdeen School District website—
http://www.aberdeen.k12.sd.us/
--click on Schools on the top left side of the page
--Click on Simmons Middle School
--Click on Library in the blue box on the left side of the page
You will need passwords to access the Databases—Online Resources sections from home.
The passwords are provided below.
EBSCO: User ID—sms
Password—eagles
All the other online resources, World Book Online Encyclopedias, and the South Dakota
State Library resources have the same bar code and password.
Bar Code—21583000074997
Password--simmons
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SIMMONS MIDDLE SCHOOL
SOUTH DAKOTA SMARTER BALANCED ASSESSMENT
MARCH 22-APRIL 11, 2016
All students in grades 6th, 7th, and 8th will take the Smarter Balanced Assessment
in English Language Arts and Mathematics with the exception of qualifying students
with disabilities, who will take the Alternate Assessment.. The 8th graders will also
be taking a Science test.
6th Grade-March 22-27
7th Grade-March 28-31
8th Grade-April 4-11
 Please help your child by making sure he/she is in school, well-rested and wellfed during the testing days.
 Please try to avoid scheduling appointments, vacations, etc. during the testing
days if at all possible.
 If you have any questions, please call Heather Aldentaler, SMS Counselor, at
725-7914 or e-mail at [email protected]
SMS PLAY
We tried to explain, but you just didn’t listen – don’t
be in a play! The cast and crew of Simmons Middle
School are pleased to present 18 More Reasons Not
To Be in a Play by Alan Haehnel. From posture obsessed aunts to overripe zucchini, this play keeps the
audience guessing just what scenario will be
next. Production dates are Friday, February 24th at
7pm and Saturday, February 25th at 6pm. Both performances will be held in the theater at Holgate Middle School. Admission for the performances is $2.00
for adults and $1.00 for students.
Page
SIMMONS MIDDLE SCHOOL
TAKING FLEECE
UNTIL END OF
FEBRUARY NOW!!
Still taking Humane
Society
donations...put
donation in the box
by room 207 with
your name and
grade
(can do this 1x per
year also)
BOX TOPS can earn
you Youth Power
points! Bring in 25
boxtops to the
office and you will
get 1 YP point.
Members can do
this 1x per school
year!
27
26
7-8:30pm
Roller Skating at
Skate Away
20
NO
School
19
28
Attend CHS
BBB at 7pm
21
14
22
15
7pm Fri
24
17
Attend CHS
Wrestling 7pm
10
SOCIAL @sms
3:15-5:15
3
FRI
6pm Sat
25
18
11
4
SAT
Attend the SMS play at HMS.
Write a persuasive paragraph telling favorite part or character!
23
16
13
8
12
7
9
THU
6
WED
5
TUE
2
MON
Fleece due by end of1
February! Up to 4 points total
SUN
February 2017
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SIMMONS MIDDLE SCHOOL