Remember that Tuesday, October 19 is Schimelpfenig MS school photo retake day!

Unity Day, started by PACER’s National Bullying Prevention Center in October 2011, is the signature event of National Bullying Prevention Month. This is a day when we can come together in one giant, ORANGE message of hope and support. The call to action is simple: wear and share the color orange. This vibrant statement becomes a conversation starter, showing support for students who have been bullied and for bullying prevention.

Anyone who doesn't update by the end of this week (October 22nd) will no longer receive the newsletter

Don't forget to update your parent and student information on our SMS PTA website to stay connected with us! 

This will ensure that you receive our eNews newsletters, special eBlasts and other important PTA news during this school year.

This day aims to raise awareness around mental health matters, communicate the importance of destigmatizing mental health, and rally communities in advocating for a world with mental health education and support for all. This year, the World Mental Health Federation calls attention to the barriers in accessing mental health systems and support in an unequal world.  Learn more and discover tools, resources and more by visiting the campaign toolkits developed by the World Mental Health Federation and the World Health Organization.

• Listen to National PTA's Notes latest from the Backpack podcast:  What is Social Emotional Learning, Anyway? What life skills does your child need to thrive? There’s a lot of learning happening in schools that goes beyond academics. Karen Van Ausdal talks about what Social and Emotional Learning looks like, why it’s important and how families can help. Listen now.

• October is LGBTQ+ History Month.  National PTA believes that schools should be a safe, supportive and respectful environment for all students.  PTAs believe that every child deserves to go to school excited to learn—without the fear of bullying, violence or discrimination.  To read more and find out how you can become an advocate for LGBTQ youth in our community, click here:  LGBTQ Community Inclusivity in PTA - Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

• October is National Arts and Humanities Month.  Encourage your student to enter the National PTA Reflections program.  (See information below about how to participate in our SMS PTA Reflections program.)

Dear Parents, Guardians, and Caregivers,

Recently there have been a number of worrisome headlines about social media, such as illegal and dangerous ‘challenges’ that have resulted in the destruction of school property by students. 

We all want our teens to use common courtesy whether they're online or offline. 

On behalf of our PTA, we are sharing two resources that we hope will help you and the youth in your household to have a positive, open dialogue about these current events and issues.

Have The Smart Talk. 

This is a free online tool from National PTA that guides kids and caregivers through a conversation together about social media, technology, apps, etc., and helps families set (or revisit) household rules. 

Note: The Smart Talk originally was designed for kids getting their first device, so older teens may feel the tool is not for them, but the actual content is great for kids of any age. Give it a try if you are feeling unsure how to have this conversation, or feel unsure about what topics to address – or simply use it as inspiration for an offline talk with your teen.

Check out the TikTok Guide for Parents. 

This downloadable guide (PDF file) covers a lot of ground about how TikTok works, how to use the safety features and privacy settings, step-by-step instructions on how to report inappropriate content in the app, and more. 

October is National Bullying Prevention Month, and we know kids can experience a lot of social pressures that feel amplified by our increasingly digital lives. It can be hard to know how to broach these topics with our kids, so we hope these two resources help make it a little easier.

We are hearing of offline teen dares being suggested as future ‘TikTok challenges’ and want to be clear: dangerous challenges and illegal behavior are not allowed on our platform and will be removed. While we do not currently see evidence of these supposed 'challenges' on our platform, our safety teams have and will continue to work tirelessly to enforce our Community Guidelines and remove violative content, including content promoting 'devious licks'. We expect teens to use common courtesy whether they're online or offline.

TikTok is committed to reaching parents and guardians by supporting messages on the importance of ongoing conversations with teens about being good citizens online and offline, as we are doing through our collaboration with National PTA. We want to make you aware of the TikTok Guide for Parents we created with National PTA, as it contains critical information about the parental controls available to families on TikTok as well as digital safety information.

Last month, President Anna King and Executive Director Nathan R. Monell submitted a letter to education committees in Congress urging robust funding for school infrastructure in the reconciliation bill. The House Education and Labor Committee finished marking up its portion of the bill Sept. 10, investing:

• $82 billion in Public School Infrastructure

• $35 billion in Child Hunger Prevention Programs
• $450 billion to promote Affordable Child Care

PTA members advocating for these issues helped advance this legislation.  The reconciliation bill still needs to clear hurdles in both the House and Senate, and National PTA will continue to give updates as they become available. To be the first to know, sign up to receive action alerts!

Join SMS PTA and help us to earn the Early Bird Achievement Award -- 100% of our total membership last year by September 30th!  

Our goal:  600 members, one more than our total of 599 last year.  Click Here to Join!

We currently have 517 members; we need 83 more to reach our goal of 600.  Parents, Students, Grandparents and other Community Members can join to support Schimelpfenig PTA.  

Thank you in advance for your support!

1. Donate to the PTA online!

Your generous TAX-DEDUCTIBLE donation will fund programs, social events, and classroom materials for students as well as SMS staff wish list items.  

We thank you in advance for your contributions!

Please visit here to donate online!

2. You just keep shopping – let these stores do the donating for you!

Visit our Fundraising Page here for more information.

Link your Kroger or Tom Thumb rewards cards to Schimelpfenig to help our school raise money. The stores will donate a percentage back to the school help show their support for the local communities.

• Kroger Community Rewards Program
• Tom Thumb Good Neighbor Program  
• Office Depot
• Box Tops
• Amazon Smile – Same products and prices as Amazon.  Their foundation matches a percentage of your purchases to donate to nonprofits like our school!  So easy and you are helping by shopping.

3. World Wear Project – Clean out your clutter of old toys, kitchen items, unused towels and bedding and of course CLOTHES!  Bring them up to the BIG BLUE Bin located in the west parking lot.