Surfside Shark Bites
Dr. Sue Harrell, Principal “Anchored in Excellence"
October 2014
FROM THE PRINCIPAL’S PEN~
Fall is in the air! As the temperature outside begins to cool down, we want to get “fired up” for lots of learning experiences and activities. Football and volleyball are in full swing, and 7th grade science students are gearing up for their environmental studies during Bay Day. This week, our JS2S student ambassadors participated in training, and an elite group of young scientists explored CrystalRiver; another group of 8th grade students just returned from an excursion to Mission San Luis Rey as a part of their US History experience. SGA recently held elections, clubs are gearing up for service projects, and academic teams are already practicing for upcoming competitions. Whew! What a myriad of opportunities your children have to be involved and energized at school….
SCHOOL ADVISORY COUNCIL~
School Advisory Council will meet on Monday, October 20, this month due to the Fall Break holiday. We thrilled to have had so many requests to join during Open House and look forward to seeing many of you for this meeting. We will meet at 3:45 p.m. in the MediaCenter. Come join us!
6TH GRADE HEALTH SCREENINGS~
The Health Department will be on campus Tuesday, October 14th, to screen 6th graders. This is a public health service and includes vision, height, weight, etc., and scoliosis—general items only. Student nurses and volunteers will assist health department nurses in this project.
DRESS CODE~
As the weather cools down, please remember to check the dress code for items students can wear to school. (It is printed in the Student Handbook, pp. 5-6.) Students may wear sweatshirts or hoodies in our school colors: black, white or turquoise. They must be plain, solid colors with no emblems or writing (unless school approved through clubs, etc.). Sweaters are allowed but only in solid school colors. Students may wear any kind of jacket or coat to school, but these may not be worn in classrooms. ONLY those items listed in the dress code may be worn to school, which means students may not adapt the dress code.
Surfside t-shirts and hoodies have been ordered and will be on sale in the front office in the next couple of weeks. (T-shirts cost $10.00, long sleeved t-shirts are $15.00 and hoodies are $30.00.)
PICTURE RE-TAKES for YEARBOOKS~ Picture Retake Day will be Tuesday, October 28th. Retakes are for students who missed Picture Day in September or are unhappy with the pictures they purchased. These pictures are for the yearbook, so students should dress in their best school-approved uniform clothing. More information will be sent home closer to picture day.
YEARBOOK ONLINE SALE ~
Yearbooks are on sale at Jostens.comfor the discounted price of $37 untilOctober 31st. Students can also add their name or icons to the cover online only. Yearbooks are also for sale for $40 in Ms. Land's room by cash or check made payable to Surfside. Reserve your copy today, before the price goes up!
YEARBOOK RECOGNITION ADS~
Parents wishing to honor and congratulate their student may purchase ads in the back of the 2014-2015 yearbook. Please contact Ms. Land yearbook staff member for details. The deadline for all ad sales isOctober 31st. Hurry, we will run out of space!
LEO CLUB~
Leo club is starting the year off with a bang. The students have chosen to volunteer as Buddies again this year for the Miracle League at FrankBrownPark. See the attached schedule for game dates and times. We are also teaming up with Team Rachel at the Buddy Walk this year. The LEO Club continues to collect old eye glasses to be re-purposed for those in need and coke tabs for the Ronald McDonald House. We are also collecting tabs from soda cans for the Ronald McDonald house. We were able to take last year’s tabs, over 7lbs, and make a donation while members of our own Surfside Family where there over this past summer.
MATH COUNTS~
Surfside’s Mathletes – forty-eight 6th, 7th and 8th graders to be exact - will be participating in a school sponsored MATHCOUNTS competition on October 31. (Beware!) Our theme this year is PI—RATES. We plan to “SHOW OFF” our math abilities and ‘HAVE FUN” at the same time. Mrs. Spires is putting out a warning that you better watch out for her 6th graders. They have the math ability to do some “extraordinary bewitching” things this year.
Mrs. Spires and Mrs. Cerney
Mathlete Coaches
CIVICS PROGRESS MONITORING~
All 7th Grade Civics students will have a progress monitoring test betweenOct. 20-23. This test is designed to help both students and teachers assess how well students have learned the required benchmarks for the 1st quarter of Civics instruction. Teachers will analyze the test results and remediate all students who did not reach mastery of the benchmarks. If parents have further questions please contact your child's Civics teacher.
GUIDANCE DEPARTMENT~
“Is the FCAT gone?” “What is the new test?” “What tests will my child take this year?”
One of the biggest changes for the 2014-15 school year is the standardized testing. Florida students in grades 3-11 will participate in the new Florida Standards Assessment (FSA) in the areas of Math and Language Arts. All students will receive instruction in Math and Language Arts based on these new standards. Due to this change in instruction, the FCAT 2.0 Math and Reading assessments will no longer be appropriate. The new FSA will be given in the spring of 2015. It will be more rigorous than FCAT 2.0 and will include more than just multiple-choice questions.
Florida students in grades 6-8 will also participate in the new computer based FSA writing assessment. This computer based assessment replaces FCAT Writes. Florida students enrolled in Algebra 1, Geometry and Civics will participate in the End of Course exam (EOC) for that course. The results of the EOC will be 30% of their final course grade. Florida students in 8thgrade will also participate in the FCAT 2.0 Science assessment, which will be based on the continuation of the Florida Next Generation State Standards.
For more information regarding the FSA, log on to Parent Portal for a link to a middle school parent information sheet. The state of Florida also has a new website designed for educators, parents and students to use for information and practice tests. If you have any questions about what assessments your student will take this coming spring, please call the Guidance Department.
ENGLISH DEPARTMENT
Several English teachers at Surfside will be escorting their students to the Language Arts Show "Encore" at the MarinaCivicCenter onNovember 21st. This show will include some great classics such as "The Tell Tale Heart", "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow", "The Monkey's Paw", "The Necklace" and "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County". The cost to attend will be approximately $21. If you would like to chaperone or for more details, please contact Kathleen Baha .
THANK YOU FROM TEAM RACHEL
The Silent Auction for Team Rachel held during our Open House turned out to be a fantastic event for all. We had over 100 area businesses or folks contribute items or services to the auction. Many of you were able to win bids for unique items at a bargain price! We raised $4000 for Team Rachel during this wonderful evening. We express sincere thanks to the following businesses and contributors to Team Rachel: Ann Marie's Massage, Peaches to Beaches, Hobrau Garden, Blue Heron, Oyster and the Pearl Uncle Ernie's, June Bug Quilting, J. Michael's, Longhorn Steak House, First Watch, Dave and Busters, Granny Cantrell's, Dusty's Oyster Bar, Charlie Coram's Place, Ooh La La, Margaritaville, Deadeye Dicks, Auto Zone, Sonny's Bar-B-Q, J.Michael's, Triple J's, Marina Cantina, Mayer Electric, Hunt's Oyster Bar, Boar's Head, Angelo's Steak Pit, Rock Pile, Andrea Surber Photography, WonderWorks, Framed Picture Outlet, Julie's Dance Studio, Mr. Surf's, CVS, G.Miles Interiors, Florida Linen, Shorehouse Furniture, Eden Salon and Spa, Blue Top Waffle House, Mermaids by the Sea, Tana Plyer Paint Class, Liz and Jane, Brian Combs Architect, Ryan Ivy Paintings, Hy's Toggery, Hammerhead Fred's, Sharky's Jenny Gilliam Photography
We are continuing to collect donations for Team Rachel up until October 9th. The Buddy Walk will be taking place at PierPark on October 18th starting at 8:30am. For more information regarding the Buddy Walk, please log onto
Starting with the 2014-2015 school year, Bay District School Board is requiring parents to sign up to use Parent Portal. This is how a parent will access their student’s information on grades, assignments, attendance, homework, e-mailing teachers and receive progress reports and report cards. Parent Portal is also where you will put in any emergency contact information (i.e. persons authorized to pick up your child and emergency phone numbers). This is the only resource the school has in order to contact you if there is an emergency. The Guidance Department is not able to make any changes to your contact information. ANY CHANGES IN CONTACT INFORMATION MUST BE DONE BY THE PARENT VIA PARENT PORTAL IMMEDIATELY.
Parent Portal is an excellent communication tool between you and your student’s teachers. If you need to contact a teacher regarding behavior, makeup work, fieldtrips,and homework during an absence you can do so via Parent Portal. Another excellent communication tool is the REMIND system. This system allows the teacher to send a group text or email to parents regarding any homework, upcoming tests, fieldtrips, etc. Not all teachers have the capability to use this system, so email your student’s teachers via Parent Portal and ask if they are currently using the REMIND system.
PARENT PORTALPARENT PORTALPARENT PORTAL
MONTH of OCTOBERSunday / Monday / Tuesday / Wednesday / Thursday / Friday / Saturday
1 Football:
@ Jinks
Volleyball:
@ BP / 2 / 3
Favorite Team Shirt - $1 / 4
5 / 6
Bay Day
(7th Science) / 7
Bay Day
(7th Science) / 8 “Neon day” ($2- ACS)
Bay Day
(7th Science) / 9
Bay Day
(7th Science) / 10 No School!
(Fall Break) / 11
12 / 13 No School!
(Fall Break) / 14 6th grade Health Screen / 15 Volleyball
(District Tournament) / 16 / 17 Volleyball:
(Teacher vs Students) / 18
Team Rachel Buddy Walk!
(PierPark)
19 / 20 Civics Progress Monitoring / 21 Civics Progress Monitoring / 22 “Pink Day”
($2 – ACS)
Pep Rally (8:30am)
Civics Progress Monitoring / 23 Civics
Progress Monitoring
End of 1st 9 weeks / 24 / 25
26 / 27 / 28 Yearbook Picture Retake
BETA Club installation
(6pm) / 29 / 30 Chorus
7 – 8pm
“Swan Song” / 31“Orange Day” ($1 ASPIRE)
Report Cards to Parents
1