Welcome to the 2024-2025 school year! We would like to reintroduce ourselves and let you know a little bit about our role within the SOMS HSA. We are Leslie Kerner, Shana Lenochan and Ava Martin and as your SOMS HSA 7th Grade Coordination Team, we will oversee the planning of 7th grade events for the upcoming school year.
 

As a reminder, the HSA (Home/School Association) is the middle school’s version of the PTA. Our role is to work with the 7th Grade Team Leaders to help plan events, assist with field trips, send communications, and answer your questions (or at least know where to direct you!). 

The fun events that we are working on for the 7th graders like the winter dance and spring pool party will come to life with your support. There will be numerous ways for you to participate, whether it be through volunteering your time, donating goods/services, or providing financial support via the HSA’s school-wide fundraising activities. 

Our contact information is:

We will also be collaborating with our amazing 7th grade team leaders to ensure that the students have everything they need inside and out of the classrooms. Schedules are now available on PowerSchool, so you can determine your child’s team by identifying which team leader is on their schedule.

Get Connected with the SOMS Community

To stay updated on all 7th grade events, as well as helpful SOMS and district information, please sign up for the HSA email list. This will ensure that you receive the school-wide weekly e-Blast AND grade-specific emails from us throughout the year. The link to sign up is:  tinyurl.com/SOMSNewsSignUp. You can also find 7th grade specific updates on the HSA website at 7th Grade News.

Join the SOMS Social Media groups to stay up to date.

SOMS HSA Facebook Page 

SOMS Families Facebook Group 

SOMS Instagram 

General SOMS / District Reminders

• The district PowerSchool web address has changed to https://somsd.powerschool.com. Please update your bookmarks. You can also access the link under Quick Links on the district website. The Phone / Mobile apps will not be impacted.
• If you haven’t completed your district forms yet, you can do so on PowerSchool. Simply log on and go to “Forms” on the left navigation bar.
• The lunch payment system has transitioned from MyPaymentsPlus to PaySchools Central. Your balance should have transferred over, and you can register for the new system at https://payschoolscentral.com/. (Have your child(ren)’s 5-digit student ID ready when you attempt to register them.)
• If your child is going to be absent, you need to contact the school, not just their homeroom teacher. You can also do this in two ways:
• Through PowerSchool by clicking “Student Absence Notification” under Attendance on the “Forms” page; or
• By calling (973) 378-2772, and selecting option 3(the attendance line).

Stay tuned for updates on our upcoming events and meetings. We are excited to get to know each of you and work together to make this school year truly memorable. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to any of us. We’re happy to help in any way we can!

Sincerely,

Leslie, Shana, and Ava