COUGAR News2-18-21
Eighth Grade Parents: The counseling department at Freeburg Community High School wishes to inform the parents of current 8th graders within the district of an upcoming event for them and their children. The annual 8th grade parent night has been scheduled for Monday, February 22 at 6 PM. This meeting, which is traditionally held in person, will be held virtually this year with links being available through both Zoom and Google Meets. These links for this event will be published by the local feeder grade schools and will also come home with the current 8th grade class in a blue folder soon. In case you do not see them via either of those mediums, the login links are: Zoom- https://us04web.zoom.us/j/72757870134?pwd=VmNiR1A4M3NNbEc3WDJGSTJlMGJ0Zz09 or Google Meets - meet.google.com/pbu-gnpx-ejk. You can also call into the Google Meet link with the following number, 573-621-2528. The event will last no longer than an hour and will share a great deal of information that will hopefully make your child's transition to high school easier. Topics to be covered are the registration process, graduation requirements, guidance course recommendations, course selection and offerings, 9th grade medical requirements, available clubs and interscholastic athletic programs while also offering the opportunity to ask questions through the chat feature. If you have any questions prior to the meeting, feel free to reach out to John Young, freshman/sophomore counselor at young@fchs77.org and we are looking forward to working with the FCHS Class of 2025. 2-15-21 School is cancelled Tuesday and Wednesday, February 16th & 17th, due to current & anticipated weather and road conditions. There will be no remote learning or after school activities. Enjoy the snow days! We hope to see you Thursday! 2-5-21 Hello Smithton Families, It is once again time for the American Heart Association's Kids Heart Challenge! This will be our 19th year raising money for the American Heart Association. We will be participating in this event from February 8-26th. Donations for this year's event will be collected ONLINE ONLY. Directions on how to sign up and participate online are LINKED BELOW. At this time, we will not be holding events during PE class like we have in the past. We are hoping that we can hold an event later in the school year! AHA FLIER 
1-27-21
Smithton Families, In partnership with the National Inventors Hall of Fame© (NIHF), Smithton Elementary School is pleased to offer the nationally acclaimed Camp Invention© program to children entering grades 1st through 6th. This exciting, weeklong summer adventure provides lessons that explore connections between science, technology, engineering, and innovation. Children rotate through several hands-on activities each day while using teamwork, creative thinking, and problem-solving skills to invent unique solutions to real-world challenges. Camp will be June 7-11, 2021 with 4th grade teacher Sasha Courtney serving as director of the all-new 2021 program, Recharge! Fuel the imagination of your future world-changer with our innovative and FUN hands-on STEM experience - now with in-person OR at-home options available! Register today with peace of mind and the flexibility to change your preference later. Plus, your child will love what's in store this year! Read more about our new 2021 program lineup below: CONFIDENCE Campers find their own unique voice and discover sound waves in action through reverse engineering, then market their extraordinary inventions with friends as creative entrepreneurs. PERSISTENCE In this high-energy adventure, kids build and test a launching device to overcome challenges while exploring fun physics concepts like trajectory and velocity. CREATIVITY Kids experiment with circuits and energy to create a robotic, solar-powered cricket inspired by biomimicry, then use empathy and creative problem solving to build fun-filled custom habitats. PROBLEM SOLVING Children learn how to adapt as they design and prototype a nature-inspired morphing vehicle to submerge, soar or sprint in Super Road Rally! Camp Invention's activities give participants the opportunity to explore, create and build confidence as they bring their biggest ideas to life. Local educators facilitate the program and enthusiastic high school students serve as Leadership Interns, ensuring that one staff member is in place for every eight children. NEW this year!! ALL Campers can take advantage of our BIGGEST Discount EVER! What great news!! All campers, new and returning, can now register for $40 off! This BIG discount expires on 3/31/21. Please help us spread the word! To register online click HERE or call 800-968-4332 to secure your child's spot today! If you have any questions please feel free to email Sasha Courtney at scourtney@sccsd130.com or call 618-233-6863 ext. 153. Above is a short video of this year's program, Recharge! We hope to see you in June! 1-25-21 Parents, now that you have had the weekend to look at your students' grade level plans for what both IN PERSON and FULL REMOTE learning look like, please take this survey to make a choice for each of your children! Please fill out survey by this Wednesday, 1/27 at 8pm! Please only 1 form per family. RETURN TO LEARNING SURVEY 1-22-21 Smithton Parents, please click above on the heading "Main" and click on "Covid-19 Learning" to gather information on your students' grade level & special classes plans for returning to school. 1-19-21 Welcome back to our Hybrid schedule Smithton Students! We are so happy to be with you in person again! 12-18-20 Merry Christmas from all of us to all of you! 12-2-2020
The Smithton School Board of Education is in the midst of hiring a permanent superintendent to start the 2021-2022 school year. We are looking for input from Smithton parents, staff and the community. Please fill out the survey, via the below link, by Monday, December 7th. Superintendent Survey Link 11-13-2020 
School Reopening Plan Updated 9-10-2020 9-10-2020 Smithton Families, I hope that you are doing well considering all of the trials and difficulties that we have all had to face. I am hoping that this news will lighten your spirits and serve as a glimmer of hope. After consulting with the ST. Clair County Health Dept. and the St. Clair ROE, as well as reviewing the Covid cases in our area, we would like to share our plan of returning our students to in-school learning using the hybrid schedule. We are all very excited to have students back in the building but it will take a bit of time for our teachers to transition from full remote to the hybrid plan. I have included the dates and grade levels for returning to a hybrid plan. *Please note that there is one change to our original hybrid plan. Instead of Wednesday being a full remote day, Fridays will be our full remote day. By moving the remote day from the middle of the week to the end of the week, students will have a more consistent flow of attendance. Our teachers felt very strong that this would work out extremely well for their students. Please pay special attention below to the days that our A and B groups will be in attendance. If this poses a problem in your planning, give us a call and we will do our best to accommodate your needs. September, 21 – Students in grades K-3 will begin the A/B group plan. Students in the A group will attend school on Mondays and Wednesdays, while students in the B group will attend on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Fridays will be used for a remote learning day for all students. Teachers will push out assignments and be available to meet via Google in the morning. Students will attend a full day of school on their group’s days. September 28 – Students in grades 4-8 will begin their A/B groups plan. The students will follow their schedule for either the A group or B group, attending full days of school. Considerations for Parents When Considering In-Person versus Remote Our teachers will be working very hard with our in-person students throughout each day, Monday-Thursday. They cannot be expected to spend their evenings teaching the remote students. We will have our support staff and RTi teachers checking in with our remote students to provide support, but the level of teacher time spent making videos will be much smaller than in our full remote state. All parents are being offered the in-person learning, so if a parent does choose to keep their child home, we want to make sure that those parents are aware that the intense instruction that they are currently receiving will look different. Teachers will still be sending lessons to their students but the continuous meetings with the students throughout the day is not possible. Our teachers have gone over and above to provide detailed instruction and videos to explain their expectations and lessons. They simply will not have enough time in the day to do two full time teaching positions. We are allowing students to make the switch to in person learning if they had previously opted for remote even when our students return. Please consider having your child attend the in-person instruction if possible so they can get the most out of each day. We all know that there is no replacement for in-person learning. A few reminders: If your child is experiencing any of the Covid symptoms, please keep them at home, even if they are the slightest of symptoms such as a cough, sore throat or runny nose. Students will need to return with their devices, Chromebook or iPad, and some of their school supplies. Lunches will be served but we will continue to deliver to those who are not in attendance that particular day. One hot lunch choice and one cold lunch choice will be offered to those students who attend in person learning. Cold lunches will be delivered to students during their off days. Masks are required to be worn in the building at all times, although students will be taking breaks from wearing masks during the day by going outside for a few minutes throughout the day. We all need a break from masks occasionally. Students will go into the cafeteria for lunch but we will practice social distancing to our best ability. More information and details will be shared next week. We are just so excited to share this incredible news with you at this time. Have a wonderful evening! Mrs. Norton, Principal 8-13-2020
Welcome Back to School (Remote) As we all know, this is not the way that we had expected to begin our school year. Even though we are beginning in a fully remote situation, I can assure you that our teachers have been working diligently to upgrade their virtual programming along with adding new strategies and increased opportunities for students to meet face to face virtually. The work that is taking place highlights the amazing technological minds of our staff. The expansion of high-level technology is sure to please you and your child. Our teachers began reaching out to their students this week and are receiving wonderful feedback. Teachers are equipped with web cams for going live with students and/or video taping lessons in order to provide step by step instruction throughout the lessons. How will my child obtain their school device? Next week, Monday, August 17, a parent of a student in grades 6-8 may come to the school and pick up their textbooks and Chromebook in the gym. Tables will be arranged in the gym by grade level with the student’s name on their device and books. Pick up is from 9:00 – 2:00. If you cannot make it on the designated day, you may come on whatever day is convenient after Monday, August 17. Tuesday, August 18, parent of student in grades 3-5, may come to school to pick up their Chromebook and textbooks in the gym from 9:00 – 2:00. Tables will be labeled with their teacher’s name and grade level. If you do not know your child’s teacher, please check on teacherease. Their teacher’s name will be listed. We cannot guarantee that the 3-5 grade items will be in the gym on Monday, August 17. Their designated day is the 18th. Wednesday, August 19, parents with a 2nd grade student may come to school to pick up your child’s iPad, binder of paper copies of assignments, and books. Any parent who do not attend the K-1 Meet the Teacher Night on August 18, may also come on this day to pick up their device, binder, and books. Meet the Teacher Night - August 18 We are asking that only one parent and the student in grades kindergarten and first grade, as well as any new families to our district attend on this night. Due to the need to maintain a low number of people in the building, we are asking that student’s whose last name begins with A-K arrive at 5:30 and go to your child’s classroom. If you have more than one child, we understand the need to move to other classrooms as well. Students whose last name begins with the letters L-Z will begin at approximately 6:30, please wait in your cars until we have cleared the building of our first group and make an announcement over the outside intercom. We will call the next group as soon as we are ready. Please refrain from entering the building until we have called you and cleared the first group out. Kindergarten and first grade students will receive their iPad, binder of paper assignments and other additional information on this night. Parents will receive step by step instruction as to how to use the Seesaw app. This app will allow you to have direct communication with your child’s teacher as well as serve as a means to deliver instruction and assignments. Your child will be able to share his/her work on this app as well. Teachers will be giving detailed directions on how to take advantage of all the wonderful features of the Seesaw app. You will not want to miss this! If you cannot make the Meet the Teacher Night, your child’s device and materials will be placed in the gym on their teacher’s table. *MASKS ARE REQUIRED WHEN ATTENDING “MEET THE TEACHER NIGHT” AND WHEN DEVICES ARE PICKED UP. How will instruction be delivered to my child? Kindergarten and first grade teachers have created binders that will have all of your child’s work in paper form. The binders will be labeled with your child’s name and stored in crates in the front foyer through the time of remote instruction, which is always unlocked. The kindergarten teachers will be providing paper work for the students on Monday, Wednesday, and Fridays each week. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, students will be provided work virtually. First grade students will have paper/pencil work on Monday-Thursday, along with digital instruction. The teachers will have a combination of live and recorded instruction. Both kindergarten and first grade students will receive their iPad, binder of paper assignments, and additional materials on Meet the Teacher Night, Tuesday, August 18. Your child is welcome to bring his/her backpack to help transport the materials home. Who doesn’t want to show off their new backpack! Their plans include a rotation of binders for the week. Parents will return the completed work in the binder and place it in the teacher’s crate in the foyer, while picking up the next week’s binder of assignments in paper form. Each teacher will provide you with the schedule of return/pick up days. As we all know, it is impossible to practice letter and number writing without the proper materials. We have you covered! Kindergarten and first grade teachers will be available for questions or concerns via Seesaw or email. They will do their best to respond as soon as possible, but they do have families of their own and will be working to do their best during their off times as well. Second Grade - Teachers will be providing each student with their own iPad, binder of paper assignments, and other additional materials and books. They will be available for pick up in the gym on Wednesday, August 19. The binders that these teachers are providing will NOT be required to be return weekly. Students will complete the work, take a picture of their work and send it to the teacher through the Seesaw app. These binders will provide a paper copy of the activities that will be demonstrated remotely. These teachers will also be providing live and pre-recorded lessons and instruction. As always, our teachers will be available for questions through either Seesaw or email. Third Grade – Teachers will be providing their students with a Chromebook, a binder of supplemental materials such as practice writing sheets, and various books and materials. They will be utilizing Google Classroom for posting all assignments, where lessons and links to videos and materials will be available. Teachers will meet virtually with their students daily. Fourth Grade - Teachers will be providing their students with a Chromebook, a binder of materials, and various materials and books. The fourth-grade teachers have devised a schedule for the student binders to be picked up and returned throughout the remote learning implementation. Crates will be placed in the foyer for the parent’s convenience. Students will complete the work assigned both digitally or through paper form. A parent may pick up the device and all materials on their pick-up day, Tuesday, August 18 in the gym. Fourth grade will be utilizing Google Classroom for assignments and instruction. Fifth Grade – Teachers will be providing instruction through Google Classroom or email on the Chromebooks. Any paper copies needed for the next 4 weeks will be provided with Chromebooks during your child’s pickup date. They will meet daily with their students via video chat to answer questions and for further instruction as needed. If students or parents have questions outside of school hours, teachers will respond to the best of their ability that same evening or the following day. There are many fun online activities planned for their students. The Chromebooks and other supplies will be available for pickup on Tuesday, August 18. Sixth Grade - Teachers will utilize Google Classroom to push out lessons and instructional videos. The students will be able to type in their answers and submit it back to the teacher. A digital notebook will be available for math containing notes, assignments, and videos. Each teacher will have a letter explaining how their classroom will function, but all necessary components will be digital. Teachers will be available for questions and online meetings from 8:30 – 12:30. They can also be received through email, which they will check throughout the day and evening. They may not always be readily available at night, but they will do their best to respond in a reasonable amount of time. Seventh and Eighth Grade - The seventh and eighth grade teachers have already sent a letter to their students/parents explaining their procedures and expectations. If a student chooses, he/she can follow their course schedule, which can be found on teacherease, and see a live or pre-recorded video of the teacher providing instruction for the day’s lessons. The lessons will all be available through video, allowing the student to do the assignment at whatever time works for them. Should they have questions or need assistance, the teachers are available through email or the scheduled time during the day. Teachers are happy to meet students on a one to one basis as well, if they would need further help with their assignment. Specialty Teachers – Art, PE and technology will be providing lessons as well. Students in grades K-2 will receive lessons and activities through the Seesaw app. Students in grades 3-8 will receive lessons and activities through Google Classroom. Your child will enjoy these fun and engaging lessons. We will NOT be offering band, chorus, or general music at this time. Assignments, Grades, and Accountability Unlike during the spring months when we had to make a quick transition to remote learning and students were not held accountable for turning in all of their work, students will be expected to participate and complete all assignments. Grades will be given and students will be held accountable for turning in work in a timely manner. Most of our teachers are making the weeks’ worth of lessons available at the beginning of each week, therefore students will have the entire week to complete their work. Grades will be reflective of whether assignments are returned and completed. Thank you once again for your patience and understanding during these unprecedented times. Vicki Norton, Principal Aloha, 8th grade!
Virtual Graduation
Please enjoy this virtual ceremony. Congratulations to all of the Smithton CCSD 130 graduates!!! A huge thanks to Mrs. Gaubatz for creating this video!!! Accessing the Building
We are required to screen visitors needing to access the building. Visitors answering yes to any COVID-19 questions will not be able to access the building. We apologize for any inconvenience. 
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Student of the Month
The Smithton School Student of the Month for February 2, 2021 is Alexis Geluck. Alexis was chosen for this award by the faculty and administration of the school. The award was presented to Alexis for displaying a good work ethic, outstanding character, and good behavior. Alexis also shows respect, leadership, willingness to help her peers, and kindness to others. Alexis will receive a plaque and a gift card from the school. Alexis is the daughter of Shawna and Mark Geluck. Her hobbies are volleyball, reading, hiking and biking. Her plans for the future are to go into the medical field and become a surgeon. Alexis's favorite quote is "I don't expect you to win, but I expect you to try." 
CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT
Our SchoolOur Community
The Village of Smithton received the 2013 Governor's Hometown Award. This award recognizes promotion of a healthful & supportive environment & a high quality of life.
Visit the Smithton Chamber of Commerce website by clicking here. 
Bullying Prevention
Join us in supporting a safe environment for students and staff and help us take proactive steps to prevent bullying. Smithton School is committed to a continuous improvement process that helps support both academic success and emotional health. Resources and Smithton's policy on bullying can be found by clicking here.
Featured SchoolWORLD CLASS ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE
A new "championship" banner was unveiled on during a school-wide assembly. This sign now hangs in the gymnasium to honor the amazing achievements by the entire Smithton Community last school year! Go Cougars!!! 
STATE ASSESSMENT SCORES
After the statewide release of Illinois test scores in ELA, Math, and Science, we are very proud to announce that our students were at the top of all districts in St. Clair County in ELA, Math, and Science!!! Congratulations to our entire Smithton Community! This is truly a team effort! WE ARE A SMALL SCHOOL WITH BIG DREAMS! Click on the image below to watch our video!
WE LOVE OUR SCHOOL!
Smithton School has been honored as the Illinois DO THE RIGHT THING School of the Year three times!!! 
High School
After graduation from Smithton School at the end of eighth grade, students continuing their public school education attend Freeburg High School, an excellent comprehensive 9-12 school offering students rich academics and extensive extracurricular activities.
Inclement WeatherDuring inclement weather, the district administration may elect to cancel school for the safety and security of students and staff. In the event that school is cancelled, parents will be notified using the SCHOOLREACH automated phone system. Additionally, school closure information will be made available on the district's website as well as the following media outlets: KMOX Radio, KTVI FOX Channel 2, KMOV CBS Channel 4, KSDK NBC Channel 5, KDNL ABC Channel 30.
Education Commitment
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