Spotsylvania Middle School 8801 Courthouse Road

Spotsylvania, VA 22553

540-582-6341

Principal: Mr. Lane Byrd

Assistant Principal: Mr. Scott Wilson

Instructional Coordinator: Mrs. Margaret Newman

Administrative Intern: Mr. Bart Nave

Secretary: Mrs. Theresa Watts

Bookkeeper: Mrs. Vanessa Burnette

Nurse: Ms. Staci Chipiwalt

www.spotsylvania.k12.va.us/sms/index.htm

THE BULLDOG BANNER

Hello Bulldog Parents and Students,

Happy New Year to all! February is quickly on its way. We have now already completed the first half of the 2019-20

school year, and a new DECADE is upon us. A big “thank you” goes out to all Bulldog students, staff, and parents for

your efforts to make the first semester a huge success.

We have many accomplishments from the first half of the school year to celebrate. We appreciate all of the effort &

determination on display in our classrooms daily. Students continue to earn BARK cards for their respectful, responsible,

and productive actions here at SMS, and various rewards are given to winners in our weekly drawings. Parents and

students are reminded that Homework (HW) Club at SMS meets regularly on Thursdays from 3:00 to 4:00. HW Club is

open to all students. Students who bring a signed permission slip can stay after school for HW Club (on most Thursdays)

during the school year for extra support from our staff.

Our Bulldog musicians, as always, provided some outstanding performances back in November & December during their

winter concerts. In athletics, the SMS volleyball team was undefeated in the regular season, finished 12-0, and won the

county championship. Way to go, bulldogs! We now look forward to the boys’ basketball and wrestling seasons. In

December, our drama department also concluded months of hard work by many of our students with two fabulous

presentations of our SMS musical, “Music Man, Jr.” It is exciting to see our Bulldogs making great contributions inside

and outside of the classroom.

The PTO continues to provide invaluable support for our students and staff at SMS. Through their efforts, we are able to

provide many incentives as well as several fun events for our students during the school year. Our Honor Roll Breakfasts

for the first semester were held last week on the morning of January 17. Our PTO also provides support at events like the

Veteran’s Day Assembly, our school Spelling Bee, and Parent/Teacher Conference Nights. We do have a couple of PTO

events coming up soon - Bulldog Bingo on Friday, February 28, at 7:00 p.m., AND our Student-Faculty Basketball

Game on Friday, March 27, at 3:00 p.m. Mark your calendars and look for more information on both of these events

coming soon. These PTO events are lots of fun for the entire family, and we hope that you can make plans to attend.

Our PTO most recently provided financial support to help bring Doug Reavis, professional speaker & author, to our

school on January 14th to share with our students his message of “Silent Strength” and the importance of kindness. Doug

shared impactful personal experiences to encourage everyone to be kind to others with their words and with their actions.

Finally, the SCA Valentine’s Day dance for all grades is coming up on Friday, February 7, from 3-5 p.m. We hope that

many students will be in attendance.

I look forward to more success stories in the second half of this school year. Be sure to engage your student in

conversations at home about their experiences at SMS, and encourage them to get involved. GO BULLDOGS!!!

Lane Byrd

Principal

2020

SPOTSYLVANIA MIDDLE SCHOOL

HONOR ROLL FOR THE SECOND NINE WEEKS

*Denotes All A’s

6th Grade

Rylee Affeldt

*Zoe Ahl

*Ronald Alton

Melissa Arellano

*Jemario Arthur

Jordan Asiedu

Trenton Averell

Sophie Ayala Diaz

Judith Bahena

*Alexis Barber

*Kevin Bautista

Madison Beales

*Taylor Belling

Jarrett Brito

Lamar Bryant Jr.

*Finius Burkett

*Brendan Butler

*Sinaya Butler

Ruben Campa-Coronado

*Amery Carpenter

*Samuel Carryer

Adrian Castro Zavala

Sara Chicas-Garcia

Conor Clarke

Joseph Clegg

*Ian Cochran

Joseph Colby-Correa

Charles Condiff, Jr.

Mason Crawford

*Marvin Crenshaw, II

Jan Cruz Gonzalez

Carter Davis

Shalaya Davis

Sophia Defrancisco

Hannah De Sir

*Madison Dunavant

*Jordyn Duncan

*Joshua Dunn

*Cora Durbin

*Shane Dwyer

Gordon Dykes

*Jillian Elkins

*Saeed Elqudsi

Mohammad Emran

*Evelyn Farley

*Carina Fetea

*Caleb Fisher

Landon Foskey

*Jaiden Gagnon

Owen Gardner

*Gregory Garecht

Rachel Gentry

*Jessica Giang

*Westin Giessman

Amber Goeddey

Jayden Green

Danica Haney

Noah Hart

*Isabella Hawkins

Lily Henson

*Luke Henson

*Elizabeth Hersom

Addison Hewson

*Robert Hickox, Jr.

Teajah Hill

Mariah Hills

*Kailey Hoisington

Isabel Hopkins

Lauren Houck

*Kolton Howard

Desirae Howe

Ethan Hughes

Corey Jeter

Jacob Johnson

*Molly Johnson

Nathan Johnson

*Skylar Johnson

Jayden Jones

*Kiana Jordan

*Aubrey Kelly

Israel Kelly

Madeleine Kelly

O'Livia Kenney

*Alexander Kourouklis

Grayson Larch

Grayson Laserna

Devyn Lewis

Kaitlyn Madigan

Matthew Maradiaga Lanza

Mason Marchetti

*Airyana Maze

Abigail McFadden

*Marcelo McFarland

*Allison Meyer

Gabrielle Meyer

*Aaliyah Mickels

*Michael Mickels

Henry Mitchell

Richard Molina Vega

Amya Moore

Kayla Morin

Ella Nardini

Laney Neal

*Amelia Nunez

Heather-Montclaire Pack

Zade Palmer

Victoria Pantoja

*Brooklynn Parks

Clayton Payne

*Alicia Perkins

Tierra Pierce

*Brennan Plato

Colton Poole

E V Powers, III

*Allison Provo

Cameron Puller

Chelsea Quaye

*Mohie Rahaman

Rey Ramirez

Andrej Randjelovic

Janaya Raynor

Jordyn Raynor

*Alondra Reyes

*Zackary Rigmaiden

*Emma Roberson

*Rachael Romano

Natasha Ruiz-Rivera

*Ian Salyers

Emmah Sebero

*David Seong

*Thomas Slater

Jordyn Smith

Jayden Snoke

*Avery Steis

Jacie Strawser

Adley Strider

*Morgan Sullivan

*Andrew Sung

Emily Tessier

Rocco Thelen

*Lilian Thompson

Hailey Thurston

Gabriel Tobar

Alexander Trotter

*Kurgan Van Theemsche

*Ethan Velez

*Katie Wallace

December Weight

Jacob West

Morighan Whitfield

Donavan Williams

*Brooklynn Wilson

Julia Zinck

7th Grade Deontae Ackers

Khaeli Adach

*Ammon Adduru

*Jamison Aiken

Natalie Allison

Samir Almudhafer

Rayden Arens

*Christopher Argueta

Sonja Asiedu

*Emma Ayers

*Aidan Bair

Greta Banks

Caleb Barber

Shayla Battle

Siena Baxter

Madison Bean

Andrejs Benford

Lexie Betts

Seven Bonilla

*Jasmine Britos

*Indya Brooks

*Jeremiah Brown

Parker Brown

Xavier Brown

*Molly Buckingham

Cedric Byers Jr.

Fabrizzio Cantu

Gabriel Carpenter

Caroline Carter

Luke Catlett

Antonio Chapa

*Jeffery Chen

Calvin Clayton

*Maximilian Cole

Dylan Concepcion

*Alexis Cook

*Samantha Cook

Kevin Cool. Jr.

Ella Cox

Kaden Cox

Elijah Cruz

*Hannah Daily

Brody Davies

Meredith Davis

Madison Delay

Astrid Denbo

Reyna-Ava Doh

*Johanne Donfack

*Jordane Donfack

*Kaya Dougherty

*Hannah Duggins

*Sarah Dwyer

Arianna Earley

*Kaelyn Eggleston

Kamari Ellis-Chambers

Laila Epperson

Khairi Finkley

*Sydney Fleming

Iszabella Flores

*Charis Flowers

*Adrianna Foxx

Rebekah Fraser

Cameron Fredo

Johanah Gagliardo

Drew Gardner

*Kelsea Gough

Kennedi Graham

Joshua Greenberg

Reagan Halpin

Elizabeth Harding

Sylvia Hardy

Sean Harrison

Ryland Heflin

*Reagan Holloran

*Zoie Hooks

Alexander Hopkins

*Teos Jackson

Nicole Jenkinson Harris

*Sydney Johnson

*Aaron Jones

SPOTSYLVANIA MIDDLE SCHOOL

HONOR ROLL FOR THE SECOND NINE WEEKS

*Denotes All A’s

Kelsey Jones

Madelyn Juarez Franco

Hannah King

Garrett LaFrance

*Caroline Lainhoff

Anna Lam

*Madelynn Lawson

Krystiana Lee

Armani Lee

Camden Leitch

Rylie Levasseur

Kiyah Lewis

Charles Lewis

Shane Maddox

*Kaitlyn Malie

*Luke Marlowe

Jacob Martineau

*Chloe McCullough

*Marissa McFadden

Jasmine McNeely

Emily Miles

*Kelli Miller

*Lukas Miller

Dinita Misidor

*Jayda Moffatt

Ava Morello

Thiathylia Morton

*Tyler Mosher

Robert Natee

*Brystal Newman

*Payton Newman

Antonio Nunez

*Addison Orlando

Valery Ortiz-Merida

Hudson Ostrander

Christine-LaShay Pack

*Juhi Pathak

Isabella Peasley

Kennedy Pendleton

*Landon Perdue

Sebastian Perez

*Carsyn Perry

Austin Pool

*Iyanna Preston

Lilianna Quillen

Brayden Race

Christopher Reyes-Palma

*Maraiya Richards

Bodhisatva Rigmaiden

Ezekiel Ro

Micah Robinson

*Alexandria Rochford

Nathan Rodriguez

Laci Rodriguez

*Sophia Rodriguez

Audrey Rogers

Carmela Romano

Carsyn Rose

Christopher Salazar

Aleida Salguero Monroy

*Shannon Sanchez

Tristan Sankey

Yazmin Santos

Drew Sherwood

*Blaire Shick

*Aminata Sillah

Daniel Smith

Madeline Smith

Zoe Smith

Caroline Stapleton

Ella Stevens

Aleczander Talevich

*Emma Thompson

Daniel Vazquez

*Juliana Velez Haselhorst

Kayla Villamizar

Claire Wagner

*Madison Wallace

Brady Walsh

Catherine Walton

*Kendal Watts

*Megan Weinhold

*Jasmine White

Jaden Wickens

*Alisia Williams

*Kemarra Wright

*Juliana Yaafi

James Yothers

8th Grade

Corey Ahl

*Mahum Aiesha

*Charles Aiken

Adam Alhinty

Ilena Andaluz

Chaniyah Anderson

Yvonne Ankah

Li Li Avery

Jarek Bahena

William Bartram

Asani Baylor

Olivia Bean

Jillian Bennett

*Megan Blake

*Shelby Brewer

*Nyla Brown

Xavier Brown

Hayden Bryner

Grace Burdan

*Brady Butler

Julia Bywaters

Aleksandra Carpenter

Jasmine Chapnkem

*Leah Chong

Jackson Clark

Samya Clemons

Sebastian Congdon

Landyn Courtney

Loren Cox

Torin Craig

Aden Curry

Lourdes Davis

*Lawrence DiBella, IV

*Rylee Dolan

Pierson Dunavant

Emma Duncan

*Aiden Eckenrode

Madison Elrod

*Connor Fitzpatrick

*Carter Frezza

Caroline Frost

Taylor Frye

*John Garecht

*Aniya Gee

Jayceon Giron

Madison Gowing

Mycah Graves

Jacob Greene

Sophie Hamako

Ethan Hardy

Sienna Hardy

Payton Hendrick

*Lauren Hieber

Thanhcat Ho

Kendall Hoisington

Brianna Hollandsworth

Emily Hoskins

Eleanor Hrcka

Will Hurd

Gina Huynh

Diego Iglesias-Bernier

Madelynn Jaca

*Sawyer Johnston

Amanda Jones

*Nicolas Jones

*Zulfiqar Juda

Natalie Kau

*Frederick Klein

Damian Kooistra

*Djamilatou Koura-Bodji

*Jackson Kourouklis

Toby Lavoy

James Lavoy

Savannah Mahan

James Merideth

Konner Mickle

*Mona Milani

Dominic Morello

*Aliyah Naziri

*Carter Nguyen

James Ohlsson

*Connor Olson

*Ishaan Patel

Mia Pietrandrea

Carmen Pope

Joshua Prouty

*Kiley Raulerson

Reagan Reamy

Diaja Reeves

Liam Riggan

Stephen Roberts

Alexander Romanov

*Jeffrey Ruiz

Justin Sandy

Carlos Santos

Alexis Shumway

Katherine Sides

*Emily Simmons

Madison Sinden

*Camryne Slepko

*Lilliana Smith

Carolyn Spruill

*Meredith Stapleton

Tanner Stempin

Bailey Stimpsom

*Joshua Texidor Ocasio

*Arabella Thelen

*Ayden Thomson

*Allison Thrift

Sydney Tolliver

Lytron Tolson

*Canyon Valencia

*Bayleigh Valentine

*Jasmine Vega

Aidan Venable

Savannah Wayman

Chandler Wright

Charlotte Young

GO

BU

LL

DO

GS

!

January 20th - Holiday

No school for Teachers

& Students

January 28th - Rising Freshman Orientation

6-8pm; located at each High School

February 6th & 7th - Interim Reports sent home

February 7th - SCA Valentines Dance

3-5 pm

February 12th - Parent/Teacher Conference, 4-6pm

February 17th - Teacher Planning & Development

(no students)

February 28th - Bulldog Bingo

March 13th - End of 9-Week Marking Period

March 16th - March 20th - Spring Break- Holiday for

Teachers & Students

March 26th - Report Cards Issued

March 27th - Student-Faculty Basketball Game

3-5:00pm

March 30th-April 3rd - Spring Book Fair

April 1st & 2nd - Spring Pictures

April 16th - Interim Report Issued

April 10th - April 13th - Holiday for Teachers &

Students

April 22nd - Parent/Teacher Conference

May 20th-22nd - Early Release for students

(11:45 am dismissal)

May 22nd—Last Day for Students & Teachers

**Report cards will be mailed **

Inclement weather days will be made up in the following order: Day 1-8 Not made up Day 9 February 17 Day 10 April 10 Day 11 Extend two early release days to full days

Cost: $30.00 **$35.00 after February 28th**

See Mrs. Belcastro in the library

Yearbooks may be ordered online. Additional options are

also available online to customize the yearbooks.

Order now!

http://jostensyearbooks.com

CITIZENSHIP AWARD

The Spotsylvania Middle School Citizenship Award is given to students whose contributions to our

SMS community are recognized through positive attitudes and genuine support of their fellow students. These

students have shown themselves to be respectful, responsible, and productive.

The following students were recognized with PTO Citizenship Awards for October and November:

October November

Aelah Suwinski - 6th grade Avery Steis - 6th Grade

Dominic Velez - 6th Grade Rocco Thelen - 6th Grade

Steven Bonilla - 7th Grade Hannah Duggins - 7th Grade

Meredith Davis - 7th Grade Roderick Riley - 7th Grade

Xavier Brown - 8th Grade Diaja Reeves - 8th Grade

Michelle Pendleton - 8th Grade Roger Thurston - 8th Grade

Please bring them marked with the

homeroom teachers name on the envelope.

The top homeroom will be rewarded each semester.

Thank you and good luck!

Congratulations to Ms. O’Dell,

Mrs. Meyer and Ms. Steckler’s HR classes!!!

SMS Homework Club

Homework Club is held each Thursday after school until 4:00 p.m. Students have the opportunity to work on their homework with support from SMS teachers and peer tutors, overseen by the teachers. Students must have a signed permission slip each Wednesday to stay after school. Students are dismissed and must be picked up from the main en-trance of the school at 4:00 p.m.

The SMS Library is in need of parent volunteers to help us during our Spring Book Fair. Volunteers have the option of working mornings or afternoons. If you would like to help at the book fair, please call or email Mrs. Belcastro, library secretary.

By the time you get this newsletter, all of the 7th graders a

research project with attention of ethical and responsible use

of information. The 7th graders researched a career after do-

ing a career questionnaire with the Counseling Office. The 6th graders will begin researching a person this

week. Some of their people are famous, others are obscure;

but all have made notable contributions in some way to

human knowledge or well-being. Ask your child who they

are researching. They may be able to tell you some fascinat-

ing facts.

The BOGO book fair will take place March 30-April 3. We

can always use parent helpers, especially during homeroom/

Bulldog Block from 7:45-8:25. Please email Mrs. Belcastro if

you are able and willing to help.

IT’S A LIbrAry THING

BOGO

BOOK FAIR

March 30th-April 3rd

January 25 Snow Date - Middle School All-District Band Auditions - AGW MS

February 6,7 All-District Chorus Event – Brooke Point High School, Stafford

February 14,15 Middle School All-District Band Event – Brooke Point High School

March 3-6 Middle School Band Assessment - Massaponax High School

March 3-6 District Orchestra Assessment – Mountain View High School, Stafford

March 7 11 am – 4 pm Culture a la Carte - Courtland High School

March 10,11 All Day District Chorus Assessment (Middle School) - Spotsylvania Middle School

April 22 5 - 7 pm SMS Bulldog Expo

April 29 7:00 pm SMS Orchestra Spring Concert

May 6, 7 4 - 9 pm Solo & Ensemble Festival (Band & Orchestra) – Stafford High School

May 6 7:00 pm SMS Band Spring Concert

May 8 9 am - 7 pm Kings Dominion Festival (8th grade Band, Chorus & Orchestra)

May 12 Massaponax HS Mini Band Camp

May 13 7:00 pm SMS Chorus Spring Concert

TBD Courtland HS Mini Band Camp

TBD Spotsylvania HS Mini Band Camp at SHS

BULLDOG BASKETBALL TEAM

2019/2020

BULLDOG ATHLETICS

SPRING SPORTS tryouts

Boys Soccer Girls Softball Track and Field

Tryouts for Spring sports start Monday, March 9th. Students must have a physical form and online concussion

training on file before they are allowed to try out. Pick up your form today in the front office or download from our

school website. Please see Mr. Race if you have any questions.

BULLDOG WRESTLING TEAM

Torin Craig

Christian Esquivel

Michael Gifford

Joshua Hartsfield

Devon Hawes

Israel Kelly

Konner Mickel

Peyton Mullins

Gregory Newton

Joshua Prouty

Isaiah Ro

Carlos Santos

Amir Savage

Coach: David Highlander

Khaeli Adach

Parker Brown

Ezekial Canul

Conor Clark

Alex Criego

Aiden DeGraef

Charlie Gallimore

Martin Herrera

Sean James

Alexander Kane

Emma Lashley

James Lavoy

Toby Lavoy

Shawn Lillis

Luke Marlowe

James Meredith

Gabrielle Meyer

Anthony Moore

Reagan Reamy

Chris Reed

Liam Riggin

Landon Sexton

Samantha Wojciechowski

Coach: Kevin Race

The Debate Team had their first Tournament November 9th at Battlefield Middle. Spotsy Middle teams

had 6 teams finish in the top ten and took home first place for the team score! Spotsy had two teams of

Fred Klein and Charlie Aiken and Meredith Stapleton and Emily Simmons finishing with first place tro-

phies! The team of Elizabeth Harding and Emma Thompson finished 4th overall. Spotsy Middle did an

incredible job!

CANNED FOOD DRIVE

Our annual Helping Hands Giving Cans food drive was a big success. SCA and NJHS delivered the

donated items to the Spotsylvania Emergency Concerns Association (SECA) in time for the holi-

days. Ms. Steckler’s class won a donut breakfast for bringing in the most cans (over 200!). A big

shout out to her class and thank you to everyone who contributed.

6th Grade

Zoe Ahl, Kevin Bautista, Jillian

Elkins, Alexis Evans

*Grade Level Winner

7th Grade

Dylan Concepcion, Ryland Heflin,

Daniel Smith

8th Grade

Connor Fitzpatrick, Aniya Gee,

Nicolas Jones. Fred Klein, Jaspeth

Meyer

Congratulations to following students who were selected to participate in the

SMS Spelling BEE:

Congratulations to all on a job well done!

SCA is hosting a Valentine's Dance Friday, February 7th

3-5pm Tickets - $3.00

It is for all students (6th-8th). Tickets will be sold Monday-Thursday the week of the dance during lunch shifts.

And our School Champion is…… Aniya Gee

PTO NEWS

Hello Bulldog Parents!!

What an amazing start to the school year! It's hard to believe how many events we have already

tackled with the help of so many dedicated volunteers.

Our 2019 Fall Fundraiser event was better than ever! I know we say that every year – but truly,

the results get better every time. THANK YOU! Students who sold enough items earned great

rewards, like a Limo Lunch to Golden Corral (ooh…Chocolate Fountain!), and a huge Glow

Party where Mr. Byrd was SLIMED!!

The PTO Community Spaghetti Dinner was a great success. We had many students show up

with their families to enjoy the food, family photos, and performances from our talented school

musicians! A special Thanks goes to the NJHS students for serving in the kitchen and helping

throughout the night.

New Spirit Wear styles were introduced this year including a long sleeve shirt in white, and a

new short sleeve blue design. And as always, SMS hoodies are a huge hit. The Bulldog

students look great. Spirit wear is always for sale, and is a great way to show your Bulldog

pride at school and in the community. Remember that every Friday is Bulldog Spirit Day!

If you would like to get more involved, but have a hard time coming in to volunteer, our Hospi-

tality Committee is always looking for people to donate food items for teacher appreciation,

special staff luncheons/thank-you breakfasts, and for Conference Night Dinners. We appreciate

any help we can get - contact us!

Get those Bingo dobbers ready...Bulldog Bingo is just around the bend in the new year. Look

for information coming home soon!

Be sure to check us out on Facebook for all the latest news and upcoming event information.

Our Facebook site is: Spotsylvania Middle School PTO.

Thank you again for all your support this year! It is wonderful to have so many parents and staff

working together to make a wonderful learning environment for our students and teachers.

SMS families are truly the best!

~ The SMS PTO

spotsypto@gmail.com