Edison Echo

Office: 605-367-7643

Website: https://www.ems.sf.k12.sd.us/o/ems

Email: SFSDEdisonOffice@k12.sd.us

Counseling Center: 605-367-8331

Fax: 605-367-8457

Edison is now on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram

Facebook: @WeAreTheCats

Twitter: @EdisonCats

Instagram: @sfsdedisoncats

Newsletter Date:

May, 2025

Volume 3, Issue 38

Ms. Erin - Reception

Ms. Rebecca - Attendance

Ms. Jenny - Lead Clerical

You can email us @ sfsdedisonattendance@k12.sd.us.

Student Check In/Out Procedure- You do NOT need to walk your student in to school to check them in if they are late or returning from an appointment. When a student is checking OUT we do need to see the adult that is picking them up in the office. If you are unable to come inside, call the office and we will have a staff member walk your student out to their ride to verify who is picking them up.

Infinite Campus Absence Reporting Information

The Parent Portal can ONLY be used for FULL DAY absences!

Any partial days must be completed via email (sfsdedisonattendance@k12.sd.us) or calling

(605-367-7643).

Please call or email the office if you have any questions.

605-367-7643

sfsdedisonoffice@k12.sd.us

Dear Edison Middle School Families,

It’s hard to believe we’ve reached the end of another school year—the months have flown by! As we reflect on the year, I want to take a moment to thank you for your partnership, support, and trust. Together, we’ve created a strong, caring school community that our students can thrive in.

Congratulations to our students and staff for the tremendous effort they put into state testing this spring. We know how much energy and focus it takes, and we’re proud of the hard work and growth we’ve seen across the board. It was a joy to celebrate our students' progress this week with a well-deserved pizza party!

To our 8th grade students—congratulations on completing your middle school journey! We’re incredibly proud of the young people you’ve become and are confident you’ll do great things in high school and beyond. We can’t wait to celebrate you with our Edison 8th Grade Party tradition on the final day of school!

As we wrap up, I want to wish all of our families a relaxing, joyful summer. Please mark your calendars for our return in August—dates are included in the newsletter! Until then, enjoy time with family, recharge, and know we look forward to welcoming everyone back for another great year in August.

Sincerely,

Amber Blume, Principal

Click on the button below for the Superintendent Column

May 13th - 5th grade Visits MS

May 14th - 8th grade Poetry Slam - 9:30 - 12"pm

May 14th - DRILL DAY

May 15th - Student of the month breakfast - 8:00am

May 15th - Athletics Information Night - 7:00pm

May 12-16th - STAMP TESTING

May 19-21- MS Semester Tests (HS courses)

May 21st - Last Day Of School!!!!!

Hello, Edison families!

It's the end of the year, we did it! In lieu of everything going on and being so busy, the board has decided to skip this month's meeting. If you have questions about anything, please reach out at edisonsiouxfalls@gmail.com.

One thing we do want to address is our officers who have terms ending; Bobbi Clayton, Co-President and Julie Kirschenmann, Secretary. These roles are simple and fun! Being involved in the PTO is a great way to be more involved in your child's education. It truly doesn't take up that much of your time and is so rewarding knowing we're taking care of the teachers and staff that care for our kids every day! Please reach out if this sounds like something that may interest you. We would love to answer any questions you have!

Team 6-3 Historian of the Month (Marzo)

Periodo 1: Reghan Dahler

Periodo 2: Marcus Page

Periodo 5: Zoe Brownie

Periodo 7: Norah Hill

Periodo 8: Zamaria Latimer

Meal Account Refund/Transfer/Donation Request Form

All balances at the close of the school year will remain in the child(ren)'s account and be accessible to the student at the beginning of the following school year.

For graduating seniors or students transferring out of the district, remaining funds may be transferred to a sibling, refunded, or donated to a household struggling to pay for school meals.

Below is the link to get a refund or donate.

Mollie Weflen - ALL 6th grade

Phil Biteler – ALL 7th grade

Emma Nelsen – ALL 8th grade

Carly King - counseling registrar

Parent Survival Tips for Middle School Transition

For children going into middle school, there are many anxieties, apprehensions and fears to deal with and overcome. Middle schools are larger than elementary schools, the school work is harder, there are more classes and more teachers- all with different expectations and personalities. If you have a child who is entering middle school for the first time, know that it is normal for your child to express concern.
1. Don't be too anxious about your child going to middle school. Talk about the middle school experience in a positive way. Your enthusiasm and support can help make this BIG change in your child's school life a positive one.
2. Help your child develop an organizational strategy. Design a study space and set a consistent study time. Buy your child the necessary folders and binders to stay organized. With your child, go through their binder and materials to do a weekly clean-up. Discuss what the next day is going to look like, as well as the following week.
3. Utilize Edison MS academic Resources. You can access Canvas to check daily assignments and upcoming important dates. Regularly checking infinite campus is a great way to monitor grades, attendance, and progress. There are many other links to important information and updates.
4. Talk about social skills. Talk about traits that make a good friend. Discuss how words and actions can affect other people. Practice skills needed for difficult social situations.
5. Openly communicate with your child. Keep the lines of communication open between your child and school staff. Be informed, listen, and talk to your child.
6. Get involved as a parent. Attend parent-teacher nights, open houses, PTO meetings and/or other events where you can connect with your child's teachers and the school.
7. Encourage your child to get involved in school activities! Have them join a musical ensemble, club, or other extra-curricular activity and attend after-school events.
8. Help your child to be his or her own advocate. Encourage your child to discuss problems and solutions with teachers on their own, but be ready to help as needed.
9. Have your child take advantage of opportunities to tour the building. Attend elementary visit day, running start, WEB orientation, and CATapult day!

There are some upcoming dates available for Edison 8th graders to learn more about college & career exploration at local universities. Check out the QR code for more information and to sign up!

Connections students start high school prepared and earn a half credit toward graduation. The program is packed with ideas, strategies, people, and new experiences that will help prepare students for a great first day and a successful first year of high school. Connections students review important reading, math, and study strategies. They also learn problem-solving techniques and organizational ideas that make the transition to high school less stressful. Connections students also participate in activities that increase confidence, create relationships, and familiarize them with how high school works so that they are ready for high school. After Connections they will be able to assist other freshmen in the transition to high school as well.

Use the QR code to sign up!

Link for connections: http://www.tinyurl.com/ConnectionsSFSD

All library items and fines are due by Friday May 9! Students who have overdue books and/or outstanding fines may miss out on fun final day activities! Please return all items and pay any fines by May 9.

Summer Reading Bingo

If your child is entering 6th, 7th or 8th grade in the fall:

All Sioux Falls middle school libraries are doing A SUMMER READING BINGO PROGRAM. A copy of the Edison BINGO card is included in the newsletter, and a printed version will be available to students during the last week of school. There will also be copies available in the office all summer.

Prizes for participation in the summer BINGO challenge will be awarded next fall. Students may not begin marking the BINGO card until Thursday, May 22. Please remember that free digital books are available for downloading at any time from the Edison Library and can be used on the BINGO card.

To access these digital books and digital audiobooks, have your student go to Class Link and choose SORA or use the app on your device.

Since October, students have had the opportunity to read books from a list created by the South Dakota Teen Choice Book Award committee. Students could then submit a rating for each book. All submissions went to the state committee to determine the winning book in South Dakota. The first place book this year is a graphic novel titled Frizzy by Claribel Ortega.

Big Kahuna

Congratulations Sunshine Fodness!

Sunshine was the randomly selected Edison grand prize winner (The Big Kahuna) for the South Dakota Teen Choice Book Award contest! Sunshine, along with several other Edison students, read and rated at least one of the twelve books nominated for this statewide award. She and a friend got to go out to lunch in the middle of the school day AND go to Barnes and Noble, where Sunshine was given a gift card to spend. Thank you to all students that read and rated the SDTC Books this year!

Public Library

Please encourage your child to read regularly over the summer and visit the Siouxland libraries often. They offer several free classes in addition to all the items they have available for check out. To find out more, go to www.siouxlandlib.org.

Happy reading!

Edison Students and Families,

Soccer and Track are winding down with only a few matches and meets left this school year. We would like to take this opportunity to thank all of the Eidson Families for your support throughout the school year at events and for sacrificing family time so they can be student-athletes! We appreciate you all!

6th and 7th Grade Families: We will have our Middle School Sports Information Night on Thursday, May 15th @ 7:00 PM in the Edison Middle School Gymnasium! We will go over how to create a family account on Bound, how to register your athlete for sports, how to navigate Bound effectively, and SFSD Middle School Sport Expectations! You won’t want to miss it, especially if you feel like you aren’t very tech-savvy! Mr. Robel will be leading it and available to help you with any questions you might have!

Please check our Edison Middle School Bound Website for our remaining practice schedule and game schedule under the Programs tab and then either the Practice or Events tabs! We have updated several practice times due to moving Track Meets and matches around. Please check to make sure your athlete brings their uniform that day!

Please note: practices will not be updated on the RSchool calendar the way that they have been in the past!

We will be holding all of our Edison Community Members to the following standards during our events:

ATHLETIC CORE VALUES

These are the values that we are trying to align ourselves with at EMS Athletics. Please promote these with your athletes as much as you can!

Compete - Edison Athletes will always try their best

Attitude - Edison Athletes are positive with their words and actions

Teamwork - Edison Athletes will work together to reach a common goal

Selflessness - Edison Athletes put the team before themselves

SPECTATORS

• Please cheer for our Edison Athletes!

• Please sit in your designated areas on the bleachers and help us keep the athletes in their sections. It makes supervision much easier when we have families in the family section and students in the student section. During soccer games, this is anywhere off the BLUE turf and not on the same side as the athletes. During track meets, this is in the grandstands under the announcer.

• Please do not comment on the officiating in the games. There will be good calls and there will be bad calls, but the officials are doing their best!

• If you are going to drive your student home from an event instead of picking them up at Edison afterward, you must have a signed Parent Transportation Release Form turned in the DAY BEFORE the event! If they do not, it is a Class 2 Activities Violation and the athlete will be suspended from the next game/match/meet.

• FOOTBALL PLAYERS must ride the bus to and from all events. This is a change from last year!

Once again, Edison is excited to have you and your athletes a part of Edison Athletics! We look forward to seeing you at all the Winter Events!!

As always, Go Cats!

Summer 2025 Residential Camps (Registration Opens in the Spring):

• GenCyber High School Camp is June 8th – 13th
• Girls in CybHER Security Camp is June 16th – 20th
• Camp Cyber for Middle School Boys is June 22nd – 25th
• Cyber Espionage Camp for High School Students is June 23rd – 25th

Reminder that we will be offering the Project Based Learning Summer Institute on Mon, July 28 - Thurs, July 31 (8:00 am - 1:30 pm) each day at Jefferson High School. This is a great opportunity to learn how to create a project your students will enjoy. If you are looking for renewal hours or affordable graduate credit this is a fantastic opportunity to gain either! Now that we are closer to summer it is time to think about enriching our own professional development.

Participants will leave with a standards-rich, collaborative project that will engage students in rigorous, relevant learning. The PBL Summer Institute is open to all teachers and administrators grades K – 12. Come think, struggle, learn (and have FUN!) with the PBL Academy staff and grow your project facilitation skills. Registration information is linked below. As stated above, you may take this district approved course for continuing education units or for graduate credit through the University of South Dakota.

USD Course Codes:

ELED 592 UE2 56104 PBL Summer Institute – Introduction and Application – 25SU

https://aceware.usd.edu/wconnect/CourseStatus.awp?&course=25SU-56104

SEED 592 UE2 56105 PBL Summer Institute – Introduction and Application – 25SU

https://aceware.usd.edu/wconnect/CourseStatus.awp?&course=25SU-56105

Hello SFSD Families –

The Sioux Falls School District remains committed to helping you and your student(s) feel connected to your current and all future schools. As part of this commitment, the four high schools have recently started sending out a monthly Futures newsletter to families K-12. This informative e-newsletter will keep you up to date on your future home attendance high school's upcoming athletics and fine arts events, camps, K-8 student opportunities, and ways to get involved. Whether you are a future Cavalier, Patriot, Rough Rider, or Warrior, we want you to feel part of the family now!

Example of what the Futures newsletter looks like depending on your home attendance school:

YOU CAN SCAN ANY RECEIPT FROM PLACES LIKE TARGET, WALMART, HY-VEE, SAMS, COSTCO, ETC. AND IT WILL TELL YOU IF YOU HAVE ANY BOX TOPS ITEMS!!!

Email: SFSDEdisonOffice@k12.sd.us
Website: https://www.ems.sf.k12.sd.us/o/ems
Location: 2101 South West Avenue, Sioux Falls, SD, USA
Phone: 605-367-7643
Facebook: facebook.com/WeAreTheCats
Twitter: @EdisonCats