6th Grade
Welcome to the 2019-2020 School Year!
Dear 6th Grade Parents,
Welcome to the 2019-2020 school year! We hope you all had a great summer with your families. We are excited to serve as your HSA 6th Grade Coordination Team. (If this is your first middle school experience, HSA stands for “Home School Association”, and is basically the PTA for middle school. And we are kind of like class captains, but for all the classes in the grade.)
There will be many HSA-sponsored school-wide activities this year, including the Ice Cream Social on 9/12/19 (6-7:30pm in the back parking lot), Back to School Night and the Book Fair on 9/19/19 (reminder – it’s a half day as well!), the 6th Grade Monster Bash in the fall, Oktoberfest, a 6th Grade dance, enrichment assemblies, and end-of-year Field Days.
Stay tuned for more updates. Please make sure you have signed up for the HSA email list (click below under “Email Blasts”), as we will send grade-specific emails throughout the year.
We hope that you are as excited as we are about the upcoming school year. We look forward to collaborating with all of you on creating memorable and enriching activities at SOMS for all of our 6th graders.
There will be multiple opportunities for you to lend a hand, so please be prepared to participate when and as you can. We look forward to working with you!
Sincerely,
Your 6th Grade Coordinators
Rhea Beck – rheakalabeck@gmail.com
Jamie Ebright – jleighland@yahoo.com
Leslie Kerner – lesliekerner@gmail.com
School Hours and Drop-Off
School Hours are from 8:15 AM to 3:05 PM. From 3:05 PM to 3:15 PM, students can conference with teachers.
Students must arrive at school no later than 8:15 AM.
At Drop Off 6th graders go to the back of building
6th Grade FAQs
Click for answers to 6th Grade FAQs!
Parent/Teacher Communication Steps
Please follow these steps of communication in middle school in this order if a problem should arise. By going through this process, we foster independence in your child as well as keep an open line of communication. Middle school differs from elementary school in that the students have multiple teachers and those teachers have around 100 students each. We designed these steps to best address the concerns of parents within our school system.
1. Follow PowerSchool and Google Classroom for information on grades/assignments.
2. For information on PowerSchool, access the PowerSchool Parent Portal Help link on the district website. You can find it here: https://www.somsd.k12.nj.us/district/information-technology/parentportalhelp/ (or by clicking Quick Links > Parents > PowerSchool Parent Portal Help).
3. Email your teacher if you have a question. (Contact information should have been distributed at back to school night).
4. Phone conversations can be arranged after an email or in place of a meeting if a common time cannot be found.
5. Team/teacher meetings (all teachers may not be able to be present due to schedules). Team leader emails are: Ms. Abella (Team A) labella@somsd.k12.nj.us, Ms. Grant (Team B) dgrant@somsd.k12.nj.us or Ms. Keegan (Team C) lkeegan@somsd.k12.nj.us
Helping your child at home
Structure time: homework, reading and bedtime.
Set aside a homework spot. This should be equipped with everything your child needs to complete work (see supply lists).
Homework Drop Spot for papers that need to be checked or signed. This is a common spot where your child leaves papers to be signed or reviewed. You then can address that later in the evening and replace it in the drop spot for your child to pick up in the morning and bring back to school.
Use the electronic resources available (Google CLassroom, PowerSchool, Science and Library websites) and monitor the computer use. You child should be in your view while using your computer. There are many distractions on the internet and we need to help teach them how to navigate it safely.
Encourage independence. If there is a problem in the class or with the content, please encourage your child to see the teacher first. The success of conquering something on their own will go a long way.
Check PowerSchool with your child. This allows them to “self-assess” and will be a valuable trait in their future.
