Sumner-Fredericksburg Middle School

8th Grade Science students at SFMS learned all about home energy use and conservation. A big "Thank You!" to Black Hills Energy for supplying us with educational booklets and practical home energy saving materials.

SFMS is showing their team pride today for Homecoming!

SFMS is super excited for Homecoming next week! 🐾 Our students and staff showed their Cougar spirit by decorating their doors, and now it’s time for a fun competition. Help us pick the best 7th and 8th grade door by “liking” your favorite! Voting is open until Thursday, October 2. Go Cougars!

SFMS is super excited for Homecoming next week! 🐾 Our students and staff showed their Cougar spirit by decorating their doors, and now it’s time for a fun competition. Help us pick the best 5th and 6th grade door by “liking” your favorite! Voting is open until Thursday, October 2. Go Cougars!

5th grade agricultural studies students learned all about composting! Did you know composting is nature's way of recycling, turning organic waste into valuable, nutrient-rich soil? Our students discovered this firsthand by picking out some red worms from the compost. They learned that these incredible worms can eat twice their body weight in a single day! Any fruit or vegetable can be composted, giving our leftovers a new life.

Our 5th graders recently had an amazing time at the Norman Borlaug Fall Inspire Day in Cresco, learning about the powerful legacy of a true world hero. Norman Borlaug, an Iowan native and Nobel Peace Prize winner, is known as the "Father of the Green Revolution" for developing high-yield, disease-resistant crops that saved over a billion people from starvation. This trip showed our students how Borlaug's work continues to impact the world, from learning about sustainable agriculture, to exploring the many uses of crops at the Iowa Corn Biofuels Mobile Education Trailer. A very meaningful part of the day was when they packaged food for children in Tanzania, directly connecting their efforts to Borlaug's mission to combat global hunger. His life is a powerful inspiration, showing our students that through science and a commitment to serving humanity, they can make a significant difference in the lives of others. What an amazing experience!

Our 5th graders are mastering rectangular prisms and volume with a fun, hands-on activity! Students are paired up, building prisms with 12 cubes and then communicating dimensions like length, width, height, layers, rows, and columns to their partners, who must reconstruct the prism without seeing it. This engaging activity boosts their understanding of three-dimensional geometry and communication skills, with the final step being a comparison to see if they built identical prisms.

The rainy day on Wednesday made a great day for the 6th grade students to read a book of their choice by flashlight! Students had a great time reading in this cozy setting!

5th grade agricultural students discovered that agriculture is about more than just food. We explored the world of agricultural byproducts—the "leftovers" from farming that are turned into valuable products we use every day! Students played a game of charades where one drew out the byproduct, then the rest of the group had to guess what it was. After they correctly guessed it, they had to figure out which agricultural product it came from.

MS Volleyball Familes,
We will only be playing in one gym for today's (9/18) game against Turkey Valley. 7th grade will play first at 4:15 followed by 8th grade at approximatly 5:15. If you have any questions please reach out. We appologize for any inconvenience this change may cause.

S-F Middle School

5th grade agricultural studies students had a fun, hands-on lesson on Monday learning about soil health from the NRCS. Students observed how water interacts with healthy soil (bread) and unhealthy soil (flour). The healthy soil has microbes in it that has created pore space and acts likes a sponge when it is rained on. Whereas the unhealthy soil has very few microbes and no pore space, causing the rain to pond and create mud (or in the case of the flour, make a paste). They also saw how when 100% cotton clothes are buried in soil, decomposers such as bacteria and fungi break down the cotton, which is known as nutrient recycling. The faster and more complete the decomposition, the more active and healthy the soil is.

The first week of middle school strength and conditioning is off to a great start! 💪 It’s always exciting to see the energy, camaraderie, and teamwork this program brings. At this age, strength training helps build a strong foundation, improves coordination, and plays a key role in injury prevention by strengthening muscles and joints. Starting these healthy habits early sets the stage for a lifelong commitment to wellness and an active lifestyle. We can’t wait to see their growth this year!

6th Grade students were able to enjoy the beautiful weather this morning during their homeroom nature walk. Students had to complete a nature scavenger hunt while using the Fredericksburg Trail.

Attention parents of current 5th and 6th grade students. Tonight we will hold the initial Washington D.C. trip meeting. The trip is scheduled for June 7-10, 2027. If you are unable to attend, please attend by the zoom link provided below for more information. If you sign up tonight, you will receive the highest possible discount for the cost of the trip!

https://us05web.zoom.us/j/83279499495?pwd=n4oH4MDTDooByHZqslSpS1OX7aY2ir.1

Reminder to middle school families, today, Aug 19th is Open House Night from 4-7 p.m. Come check out schedules, classrooms and your students can put their things in their lockers. There will be a sports meeting at 5 p.m. in the multi gym. Our new superintendent, Mr. Cunningham, will be the guest speaker for the sport meeting. Lastly, 5th and 6th grade families, there will be an informational meeting about the 2027 Washington DC trip at 6 p.m. in the multi gym.

Attention 5th & 6th Grade Families!
Mrs. Maher and Mrs. Haught are excited to announce the 2027 Washington, D.C. Trip and would love to share the details with you!

Where: SFMS Multi-Purpose Room
When: Tuesday, August 19 • 6:00 PM

Come learn about this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity — including trip details and financial options to help make it happen.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Middle School baseball only: today's cancelled game at Oelwein will be made up tomorrow, June 25. Same start time, bus will leaves MS at 8:30 and the HS at 8:45. Softball make up date has not been determined at this time.

Middle School softball and baseball games at Oelwein for today, June 24 are cancelled. There will be 9:00 am practice today.