Sunridge Middle School Registration - Aug 14 from 7:30-1 pm and 2-7 pm
All incoming 6-8th graders need to register for the 2025-26 school year.
All incoming 6-8th graders need to register for the 2025-26 school year.
Recent Parent-Teacher Conferences were a whole new experience at Sunridge Middle School in early March. The two evenings on March 7th and 9th were created to be part conference, part school open house, and part student showcase.
Parents could still make appointments to meet with their student’s teachers, and those meetings occurred in the classroom setting. In addition, multiple interactive activities were set up in other classrooms – parents and their students could experience a virtual Escape Room on computers in math class, and microscopes were set up in science. SMS counselors had prepared presentations about what they have been working on with students, including Character Strong, a curriculum that impacts engagement, belonging, and student well-being. These presentations were set up for the entire conference evenings.
For the showcase part, there were performances by Sunridge band, orchestra and choir groups, as well as completed student projects in the Wood Shop that parents and students could view.
Sunridge also fed those who attended conferences with a free baked potato bar each night.
“Ensuring that students and parents feel welcome in our building is always a priority at Sunridge,” said Principal Piper Kelm. “While the interaction and information between teachers and parents are important at Parent-Teacher conferences, we felt it was a good opportunity to connect with our families and show them what students have been learning.”
Join us at Sunridge Middle School for our 6th grade Spring Instrumental and Choir Concert. The concert will be held Friday March 24th at 10am in the gym.
Our Spring Instrumental Concert will be held on Thursday March 23rd at 7pm in the Common of Sunridge Middle School. Join us!
Join us on Tuesday March 21st at Sunridge Middle School for our 7th and 8th grade Spring Choir Concert. The concert will be held in the Commons at 7pm.
School leaders at Sunridge Middle School are trying a new concept this school year to get feedback from their most important stakeholders – their students. The Principals’ Advisory Council is a group of students from all three grades at the school who meet with Principal Piper Kelm and Assistant Principal Jared Tesch.
School counselors selected the students who participate. They were intentional about choosing students who represent the wide variety of students who attend SMS in order to get many different points of view.
The Principals’ Advisory Council meets twice a month during lunchtime – one meeting per month is with each grade level, and one is with all three grade levels. Kelm and Tesch ask the students what’s going well at SMS and what could be improved. “What we really want from them is input on the culture and climate of our school, how they feel when they are here,” Principal Kelm said.
The meeting with all the participants – about 27 6th, 7th and 8th graders – is scheduled for about one and a half hours. They start with an icebreaker and then discuss topics. Kelm said in addition to getting school feedback, the Council also is starting to help build relationships between students in different grades, which she hopes makes them more willing to share their thoughts.
Kelm said as the group dives into their work during the second half of this school year, they will write some tasks and goals on large pieces of paper and start to cross them off as they accomplish them, hopefully eventually hanging them up in The Commons to share will all SMS students.
If the Principals’ Advisory Council continues next school year, some of the same students could participate. “We really want this group to serve as a diverse representation of students at SMS with an opportunity for student’s voice,” Kelm said.
Please join us for our spring parent/teacher conferences and Sunridge Showcase!!
Come and experience what our amazing students have been learning this year.
March 7th from 4:00 – 8:00 and
March 9th from 4:15 – 8:00
Parent/teacher conferences
15 minute conferences will be scheduled from 4:00 – 6:30 but can be scheduled until 7:45 if needed.
SMS Showcase
Demonstrations of student work in:
Happening from 6:30 – 8:00 both nights
Coming soon: A schedule of the demonstrations of student work.
The staff at Sunridge Middle School are always looking for ways to motivate students to grow academically while having a little fun along the way.
Earlier this fall, about 40 students at Sunridge Middle School went on a field trip to learn about fish management in eastern Oregon. The students are enrolled in the Fisheries and Wildlife elective class taught by Science Teacher Matt Baty.
The class traveled to Three Mile Falls Dam on the Umatilla River, near Umatilla. The students were able to tour the facility and watch the fall spawning process. According to Baty, while in the fish trap, they viewed Chinook and Coho salmon as well as steelhead coming in. Staff at the dam, including Clinton Case, explained how the trap works and guided the class through the experience. “The students got to see and touch some of the biggest fish I’ve ever seen come out of the Umatilla River,” Baty said.
The students then explored the spawning part of the facility, where the staff was spawning Coho salmon and checking for any diseases. Baty said it was great because the students got front-row seats to the entire process, and everyone at the facility came by to talk with the students about the why of what they were doing.
During the last part of the tour, the group saw the runs that hold the salmon and how that operates. “The entire tour was great, and I plan on a spring tour at either this dam or McNary Dam for semester two during the Chinook run,” Baty said.
Please join us for our Sunridge Middle School Holiday concerts.
There probably isn’t anything cuter than a group of kindergartners in handmade turkey hats.