RALLY DAY is Monday, February 22, 2021. Save the Date!
- Sign up to attend Rally Day at Texas PTA HERE
- Download the app BAND to get up-to-date information and the live stream. More information, including webinars about important advocacy issues for the 87th Leg. Session, https://www.txpta.org/rally-day
- For the 87th Texas Legislative Session. The Michael & Susan Dell Center for Healthy Living is hosting a legislative bill tracker that identifies legislative actions relevant to research taking place at the Center. The 2021 legislative tracker is segmented into general categories: early childhood education, food policy, school/after-school care, tobacco/e-cigarettes, and more. The tracker is updated regularly with new bills as they are filed and the status of each bill as the session progresses.
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2021 11:00 am - 2:00 pm
A Free Virtual Event for Plano Families!
Click here to see the flyer!
Preschool – Elementary – Middle School – High School Discover programs of interest and resources for ALL students, especially gifted and special needs students.
“Meet & Greet” with exhibitors via video conference to learn about camps, therapies, and resources to help your child's learning and development.
The Exhibitor Catalog and Meet & Greet video conference links will become live on February 6. For more information, visit the website at http://www.planopta.org/SummerExpo
This week, February 1-5, is National School Counseling Week.
Thank you to our wonderful counselors for all that you do!
To "meet" our counselors -- Shealine Burks, Michelle Klena, and John Schlosser -- click HERE!
If you missed our recent Cyber Security Program but would like to learn more about internet safety, you're in luck!
February 9th is international Safer Internet Day, and National PTA is hosting an entire week of digital safety experiences from February 8-12, 2021 to help PTAs and families create a safer, kinder, and more inclusive online community together. For further information and to register for family-friendly online workshops, go to: Safer Internet Day - Events | National PTA
On Tuesday, January 26th, we had a Special General Assembly Meeting to vote on extending the term of office of executive board members. Due to the difficulties of COVID-19, Texas PTA has approved a one-time extension of the term of office by one year in the same position with membership approval. Our membership voted to approve this extension, meaning that we will not need to elect a Nominating Board or have an election at our April General Assembly Meeting this year.
Therefore, your Schimelpfenig PTA Board for 2021-2022 is:
President: Michele Rohleder
1st VP Programs: Nupoor Dave
2nd VP Membership: Karen Gournay
3rd VP Volunteers: Stephanie Vaughn
5th VP Communications: Colleen Tiller
Secretary: Brenda Dunn
If you are interested in being part of the Schimelpfenig MS PTA Board next year, either in an Executive Board position or a Committee Chair position, please contact me at president@smspta.org.
At our PTA General Assembly meeting on Thursday, January 21st, we heard the following reports and presentations:
- We currently have 577 PTA members. We have earned the following Texas PTA Awards: Head Start (comeback - August), Early Bird (September), Snappy Increase (October), 3 Year High (November), Shining Star (December). We are working toward Golden Apple (all staff are PTA members), Student Membership, and MARS (Men Are Really Super) Awards
- Please keep filling the World Wear Bin in the Schimelpfenig parking lot, sync your Kroger card with our school, and use our Amazon Smile account when you make purchases on Amazon: PTA Texas Congress Schimelpfenig Middle School PTA
- The SMS PTA website has a new Programs tab, with links to various Parent Ed, Reflections, and SAGE programs from PISD, TX PTA, National PTA and other sources.
- Dr. Perry discussed the school population of 855 enrollment with 495 (58%) currently F2F, the Time Capsule reveal video and 25-year time capsule being planned by STUCO, and a Pep Rally planned for the Friday before Spring Break.
- Dawn Daley, our school nurse, discussed CDC and Collin County Health Department guidelines regarding Covid-19, discussed her role in tracking and reporting cases that affect Schimelpfenig, and encouraged parents to contact her if there are any questions about student health and/or quarantine rules.
- Michelle Klena, 7th grade counselor, discussed Mental Health aspects of Covid-19, the role our counselors have with reaching out and checking on students, and mentioned the many Family Resources links available on the Meet Your Counselors web page.
Please Note: visit our website at smspta.org, go to School Office, and click on Counseling and School Nurse in the drop down menu to find resources mentioned herein.
Michele Rohleder
Upcoming Events:
Any events listed are not associated with PISD or PTA, but provided with the intent to help parents.
FOR MORE EVENTS, CLICK HERE!
We had our first program of the year 2021 on Cyber Security awareness. It was presented by – Zac Abraham, Security Manager, on January 19th 6pm.
It was a successful show with 30 parents and children.
If you have additional questions please feel free to reach out to the SMS VP Programs, programs@smspta.org.
References
Please join the National PTA on its YouTube channel for the 2021 Virtual Student Arts Showcase on January 26th at 7 p.m. EST, honoring the 200+ national awardees from the 2019-2020 Reflections program, showcasing works based on the theme: Look Within. Please RSVP for this virtual event at: 2021 Reflections Showcase RSVP Page (informz.net)
Be the Light Youth Association (BTL) is holding an Online Public Speaking and Debate Spring Workshop for 4th-10th graders. The workshop will be held on Sundays every week, starting from January 31st to May 9th, and new students will receive 15% off their registration fee! Over the past 3 years, BTL has hosted classes for 700+ students taught by nationally-recognized instructors, including two National and State champions. They’re excited to help students of all experience levels become confident, eloquent speakers this Spring, and 100% of proceeds will be donated to help underserved children. To register or learn more, visit bethelightyouth.org.
Please join us for a Virtual PTA General Assembly Meeting & Coffee with Dr. Perry!
Thursday, January 21st at 9:00 a.m.
Please sign up in advance for the meeting on our website at smspta.org. Meeting details and login information will be sent out on Wednesday, January 20th. A meeting recap will be included in our PTA Newsletter the Thursday following the meeting.
Upcoming Events:
Siblings of Children with Disabilities Learning Lab.
Coffee and Chat Children's Mental Health Overview.
Creative Parenting. January 20th, 10AM CST. Free. This workshop will highlight some of the unique challenges that go into parenting a child with a disability and guide parents to consider some “creative parenting” techniques. We will provide an opportunity for parents to consider their unique situation, then share and hear creative ideas from other parents.
Stress management and resiliency. January 28th, 10AM CST. This workshop helps parents understand the importance of managing their stress and building their resilience to stress. We will teach parents how to identify stressors and the main sources of their stress. We will discuss ways to deal with stress and improve resiliency, and then will teach parents some relaxation techniques that they can use to reduce their stress levels.
Any events listed are not associated with PISD or PTA, but provided with the intent to help parents.
FOR MORE EVENTS, CLICK HERE!
Welcome back to Schimelpfenig for the start of the second semester of the 2020-2021 academic year!
Special greetings to all the students who are in virtual or face to face!
Special welcome to students new to Schimelpfenig and some who have returned Face-to-Face for the first time this week. It's a big building but it's full of friendly faces willing and able to help with any questions you might have.
Hope you all have a great semester!
This month, we have two important PTA Events coming up:
- Our Virtual Information Security Program for parents and students, postponed from December, will now be on Tuesday, January 19 at 6:00 p.m.
- Our next Virtual PTA General Assembly Meeting & Coffee with Dr. Perry will take place on Thursday, January 21 at 9:00 a.m.
Further details on both events, including advance signups, will be sent out next week.
In addition, the 87th Texas Legislative Session begins on Tuesday, January 12th. Public education issues and funding will be topics of importance. See documents HERE for Texas PTA and PISD Legislative Priorities.
Michele Rohleder
SMS PTA President
