Author: Crilley, Judith

SHALER AREA MIDDLE SCHOOL
DAILY ANNOUNCEMENTS
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2021		
DAY 5

SAMS PTO Presents – Among US – SAMS Virtual Game Night, Friday, February 26^th – 7-8pm
Miss hanging out with your friends. Join us to relax and just hang out with SAMS friends to play Among Us. Log into Google Meet and we will divide into breakout rooms to play. One person in each group will be asked to begin a game and share the code with their breakout room.

If you wish to choose your group. ONE person in your group should complete the attached Google Form BEFORE the game time and include the entire group. We will air for 8-10 kids in a room so if your requested group is smaller than that, we may fill in the open spots with kids that do not make a request.  For guidelines and Google Meet login information see the attached form.

Information for 8^th Grade Students and Parents regarding 9^th Grade Scheduling

Dear Parents/Guardians and Students,
The High School Counseling Office will be holding a virtual evening event for students and families to learn more about scheduling for 9^th grade at the high school.  Please join us by clicking on the link below.  There will be a slide/video presentation; it may be best to use the video meeting option if possible.  The course selection sheet is attached for your convenience.  Current 8^th Graders will schedule on 3/17-3/18/2021, more information to follow. 
 
March 2, 2021/ 6PM-7PM
Meeting ID
meet.google.com/ezi-kujb-jhh
Phone Numbers
(‪US)‪+1 508-694-3529
PIN: ‪394 397 040#
 
A copy of the SAHS Course Description Book is on the High School website under Academics or by following the link:
https://www.sasd.k12.pa.us/CourseDescriptions1.aspx
Counseling Office Google Classroom Code (All students should be certain they are signed up for this Google Classroom): 3fjqdug
 
If you have any additional questions, please email your assigned High School Counselor:
 
Mrs. Miller: students A-E millermb@sasd.k12.pa.us 
Miss Yanoff: students F-K  yanoffm@sasd.k12.pa.us 
Mrs. Hunt: Students L-Q hunts@sasd.k12.pa.us 
Mr. Anselmino: students R-Z anselminom@sasd.k12.pa.us  

Clubs
Photography Club:   
Photography club will meet at 2:50 Wednesday, March 3rd.  Pick up your lens if you have not done so.

Yearbook Club:
Attention to Cohort C students, we would like to feature more of you in the yearbook.  Please feel free to submit a photo of yourself to Mrs. Hlad at hladc@shaler.us. You can even include your pets if you like!

SAMS Homework Club:
The SAMS Homework Club will meet LIVE and VIRTUALLY on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 3:00 – 4:00. Students may also meet virtually on Tuesdays and Thursdays via Google Meet from 4:30 – 5:30. Homework Club Google Classroom Page hymk5j3.
 
SPORTS:

Volleyball:
Attention all 7th and 8th grade boys...all boys interested in playing volleyball this spring, there will open gyms from 3 until 6pm Monday thru Thursday next week.  Come out and join our team...no experience necessary. All players interested can check out the Google Page: 2021 SAMS Boys Volleyball Code: coinduh for forms, information and highlight videos.  
Google Page for more information and highlights of the Varsity team.  

Track
The Google Classroom code is emj4byb. Middle School Track Practice  by Cohort Practices will be held at the middle school unless otherwise directed. The first official start date is Monday, March 8th. Practices will run from 3:00-4:40 p.m. with the expectation that rides will be available to pick athletes up on time promptly. Please see the attached link for more information: 
https://docs.google.com/document/d/164hc20DJZIhX8D5K49CJ3bk54rPBXbPZdbMfnqf_frI/edit?usp=sharing  If you have any questions, please see Ms. Webb, Mr. Bacco, Mr. Hellinger, Mrs. McDaniel or Mr. McAdams.

Baseball:
Anyone interested in trying out for the Middle School Baseball team needs to sign up for the google classroom page. The code is bfscoro.  All information will be on the page for the upcoming tryouts which will start March 8^th.

Fastpitch Softball
Fastpitch softball will have practice every Monday and Thursday from 5:15 to 7:00 pm at the Middle School. If you have any questions, please contact Mr. Sorce at asorce@wpjwa.com.

Girls’ Lacrosse:
Hey! Are you busy this spring?  Are you looking to play a spring sport? The Middle School Girls’ Lacrosse team is looking for new 7th and 8th grade girls to join them this season.  Do not worry if you do not know much about lacrosse.  We will teach you how to play.  Anyone interested can talk to Mrs. Vaughn or send an email to saglaboosters@yahoo.com. We look forward to seeing you on the field this spring!

SAMS MASK SALE:
If you are interested in purchasing an original SAMS mask, designed by SAMS student, Paige Peterson, please check out our store here https://mask21.itemorder.com/sale.  All proceeds will be donated to North Hills Community Outreach.
Information from the  School Counseling Department:
The school Counseling department is helping you to start your morning with a brief moment of breath awareness and reflection after the morning announcements around 7:45am---  If interested in learning more about the benefits of these moments, consider watching this you tube video!!
How Mindfulness empowers us!!  
And you can find more videos by visiting Kristi Coleman’s you tube channel and google classroom page -code is z3gjahy …
 
On March 3^rd at 6PM ---Mark your calendars for an upcoming Event to Manage Stress—…
A virtual community event to provide resources to students and families to help them identify and deal with the increased stressors of living during a pandemic.
Broadcast live on https://www.youtube.com/c/SATVArchives

Health and Safety of Students during Hybrid Instruction 
We want to ensure the health and safety of our students and staff.  It is important to communicate with your SAMS school nurse, Mrs. Erdlen, if any of the following apply: 
•	Your child or any member of your household tests positive for COVID-19. 
•	Your child has been in close contact with a confirmed or presumed positive COVID-19 case. 
•	Your child is currently quarantined or isolated due to a recent exposure outside of school or due to travel. 
•	You plan to travel outside of Pennsylvania for any reason. 
Mrs. Erdlen can be reached at 412-492-1200 x8-2510, erdlenc@sasd.k12.pa.us, or by submitting your information using this link: https://forms.gle/VjPAtvLKKZMBVKu3A 
Please plan to remain virtual until you talk with Mrs. Erdlen. 

Virtual Learning: 
Remote 
Please know that you may make a request to move from hybrid to remote at any time.   
  
Students who are remote may only request a change from remote to hybrid at the 9-weeks changes. Requests will be accepted for review April 1-7; however, approval will only be granted based on both safety and need. 
  
Requests for any change other than the student's current placement must be made in writing to Dr. Stennett - 8th grade (stennette@sasd.k12.pa.us) or Dr. Howard - 7th grade (howards@sasd.k12.pa.us). 

Tech Problems:
Student Tech Issues:  If you have an issue with your device please come to the Main Office to report the problem or use the School Dude ticket system for any issues you are experiencing with your own devices so we can coordinate. 
https://sites.google.com/shaler.us/publiceducationportal/home/tech-support
Work Permits:
WORK PERMITS can be obtained by going to the Shaler Area High School, 381 Wible Run Road, Pittsburgh, PA 15209.  Please contact Mrs. Betty Wesolek at 412-492-1200 x8-1501 or wesolekb@sasd.k12.pa.us.
Attendance During Virtual Learning
School Board policy 204 Attendance requires that the parent submit an excuse in writing. http://www.sasd.k12.pa.us/boardpolicies/204.pdf. All excuses and doctor’s notes can be emailed to: buzzellij@sasd.k12.pa.us
It is important to note that students are encouraged to notify their teachers if they are going to miss a class. However, policy 204 states that the written excuse must come from the parent for tardy, early dismissal, half, or full day absences.
Shaler Area Middle School teachers take period by period attendance. The attendance portal no longer exists. Students must participate in remote learning for each period, beginning with homeroom. A teacher will mark the student absent if they are not participating. If there is a question about a specific period, please email the teacher directly. If a student missed 6 or more periods in a day, they will be marked “I” illegal absence and will require a written parent email.
If a student has a doctor’s appointment, parents are welcome to email us with doctor’s notes or information that the student was absent from (for example: from 9am to 12:00pm) so that attendance can be marked correctly. If a student needs an early dismissal (for example: at 1:45pm and not returning), parents should email us that information.