Sylvan Hills Middle School

REMINDER! 🎓 PCSSD puts AVID in Action ✨. At College Station Elementary, teachers brought college to our classrooms — sharing campus stories, degree opportunities, and real advice from their alma maters 🏫. Tomorrow, join the fun: wear a college or career shirt to school. 👕 #PCSSDproud #ServeAll #AVID #CollegeReady

📰 This Week at SHMS 🐻
Our latest newsletter is ready! Take a look to see what’s coming up, important reminders, and all the happenings this week.

Let’s make it a great week, Bears! 💙🤍

📢 Just a reminder, Parent-Teacher Conferences are TOMORROW, Monday, September 22, from 12–6!

This is a wonderful time to:
✅ Walk the halls and visit your student’s classrooms
✅ Sit down with teachers to talk about progress, strengths, and next steps
✅ Celebrate all the hard work your student has been putting in

We want this to feel welcoming and stress-free. Come and go at your own pace, and stop in to see as many teachers as you’d like. 💙🐻

If you can’t make it tomorrow, that’s okay—we’re always here to support you. Just reach out, and we’ll make sure to connect in a way that works best for you.

Your partnership makes such a difference, and we’re excited to see you at SHMS! ✨

Join us in wishing Ms. Kendrick, our wonderful SHMS bookkeeper, a very Happy Birthday! 🥳 We appreciate all you do for us—hope your day is full of joy and laughter and maybe a little cake too! ! 💙 Your SHMS Family

📰 This Week at SHMS 🐻
Our latest newsletter is ready! Take a look to see what’s coming up, important reminders, and all the happenings this week.

Let’s make it a great week, Bears! 💙🤍

🎉🎂 Happy Birthday, Officer Askew! 🎂🎉

Today we celebrate one of the coolest officers around! We hope your day is full of laughter, good vibes, and maybe a little Cowboys magic 🏈✨. Thanks for keeping our school safe and always bringing a smile to everyone’s day.

💙, Your SHMS Family

We are proud to celebrate Chef Appreciation Week, a time to honor the chefs who bring passion, creativity, and care to every meal they prepare for our students. At PCSSD, we have a pair of chefs who transform food into celebration, comfort, connection, and community – Chartwells' Executive Chef King Joseph and Chef Sarah Montgomery, who prepare meals in our cafés & caterings for district staff; help train our kitchen staffs; conduct in-café programs with our students; and so much more. Thank you, Chef King & Chef Sarah, for all you do for the students of PCSSD!

Tomorrow, PCSSD students and staff—let’s turn the hallways into a runway of college and career readiness! Every shirt you wear tells your story of where you've been or where you want to be.
🎓 Rock your favorite college tee
💼 Suit up in your dream-job attire
📸 Snap a pic & tag us

What is AVID?
PCSSD is implementing AVID in every grade level at all elementary, middle and high schools across the district. Our AVID teams are eagerly promoting this system which increases student engagement, promotes classroom collaboration and activates deeper levels of learning in their classrooms with practical, immediately useful tools and instructional strategies. Teachers who participate in AVID professional learning begin to shift their beliefs about teaching and learning, allowing them to cultivate a growth mindset both for themselves and their students.

AVID Mission Statement

AVID’s mission is to close the opportunity gap by preparing all students for college and career readiness and success in a global society.

AVID for Elementary Schools

Putting future leaders on an early path to success in school

AVID Elementary engages young learners and provides them with the critical skills to become confident, independent thinkers who have a thirst for learning. Teachers use AVID strategies to provide students with:

• Proven ways to succeed in school

• Writing to learn, Inquiry, Collaboration, Organization and Reading to learn

• Note-taking and time management skills

• Best ways to work together inside and outside of the classroom

AVID for Secondary Schools

Moving future leaders toward college success and beyond

AVID’s teaching strategies and curriculum build positive teacher-student relationships to ensure student success schoolwide. AVID Elective students:

• Proven ways to succeed in school

• Enroll in advanced courses (AP®)

• Receive academic instruction and tutorial support

• Strengthen their writing skills

• Improve study and organization skills

• Gain “college knowledge”

• Visit colleges and explore careers

The AVID Advantage

• Reduces variation in classroom instruction.

• Leverages grit and determination of students.

• Emphasizes rigorous coursework, relevance of instruction and relationships.

• Raises expectations of educators, students and their families.

• Re-energizes the staff on campus and in the district.

🚀 Our incredible volunteers gave over 10,000 hours of their time to students last school year, and they’re ready to level up for 2025-2026!

📚 Today, ladies from the UAPB Alumni Association kicked off a monthly Book Club with our third graders at College Station and Harris Elementaries. Kids also had a friend scavenger hunt where they had to get signatures from the other school's scholars.

💖 Want in on the fun? Become a PCSSD volunteer and help spark young minds. Sign up here: https://securevolunteer.com/Pulaski-County-Special-School-District/home

🔒 Safety first: Anyone who wishes to volunteer at a PCSSD school must first complete a volunteer application. This includes a background check conducted online at no cost to the volunteer.
#PCSSDproud #ServeAll #CSESonFire #PantherProud #BetterTogether

📰 This Week at SHMS 🐻
Our latest newsletter is ready! Take a look to see what’s coming up, important reminders, and all the happenings this week.

Let’s make it a great week, Bears! 💙🤍