Sterling Middle School

Sterling Middle School

 

Sterling Spotlight Parent News

Volume 20: Information for the Week of  January 19-23, 2026

 
Onward Logo

Looking at the Week Ahead to See What Is Happening:

Sunday, January 18, 2026:

    • Happy Birthday Mrs. Wood! Enjoy your special day!

 

Monday, January 19, 2026:

    • No School- Martin Luther King Jr Birthday

    • Happy Birthday Ms. Bergey! Enjoy your special day!

 

Tuesday, January 20, 2026: 

      • 7 Mindsets- Unit 5: Attitude of Gratitude- 5.2 Be More Grateful

      • 11:05-1:00 Horizons during lunch with 6th and 7th grade.

      • 2:45-4:45 Varsity ONLY Cheer Practice

      • 2:45-4:15 JV Boys' Basketball Practice; 4:15-6:00 Varsity Boys' Basketball              Practice

 

Wednesday, January 21, 2026: 

      • 7 Mindsets- Unit 5: Attitude of Gratitude- 5.2 Be More Grateful

      • 11:05-1:00 Speech and Debate during Lunches- room 135 Community Room

       • 2:30-4:00 Speech and Debate Practice in the Community Room- Room 135

      • 3:45- Boys' Basketball Game HOME vs Liberty- JV game starts at 3:45, the

        Varsity game will follow- 8th Grade Blackout Night- Recognition Night

        

Thursday, January 22, 2026: 

      • 7 Mindsets- Unit 5: Attitude of Gratitude- 5.2 Be More Grateful

      • 2:45-4:45 JV ONLY Cheer Practice

      • 2:45-4:15 JV Boys' Basketball Practice; 4:15-6:00 Varsity Boys' Basketball              Practice

 

Friday, January 23, 2026:

    • 7 Mindsets- Unit 5: Attitude of Gratitude- 5.2 Be More Grateful

    • 8:15-11:00 RCA House Games

    • 2:45-4:00 Future Teacher Club Meeting with Ms. Mullen in room 116 

    • 2:45-4:15 JV Boys' Basketball Practice; 4:15-6:00 Varsity Boys' Basketball              Practice

 

Saturday, January 24, 2026: 

    • Happy Birthday Mr. Wiewel! Have a great day!

Ron Clark- The 55 Essential Rules Connected to our 7 Mindsets Unit: Attitude of Gratitude

Rule #9: Always say thank you when given something.

Rule #11: Surprise others by performing random acts of kindness.

Rule #15: Do not ask for a reward.

Rule #25: Greet visitors and make them feel welcome.

 

Dental Sealants Coming to Sterling on Thursday, February 5th. Students should have brought home hard paper copies of these documents on Friday.

 

Information for Parents about School Links:

School Links is a tool that gives you access to the bigger picture of your students’ future. As a guardian, you will have the opportunity to join your student in their career and college exploration process and have conversations with them about their future. You will have access to School Links through your account. Please ensure you have an email address on file in Skyward. We look forward to getting started and helping you help your student! 

School Links allows you to:  

View the results of your student’s career interest, strength, and mindset assessments to learn more about their interests and what careers might be right for them 

See what colleges and careers your student has favorited and set as goals 

Check your personalized dashboard for upcoming events, as well as important reminders and to-dos for your student 

Complete your own research on colleges, careers, and more to help you have informed conversations with your students. 

Compare college costs and explore expected financial aid, scholarships, and out-of-pocket expenses

Review your student’s course plans

 

We are starting early to prepare our students for the IAR and ISA State Testing that will start in March:

Beginning the week of March 2nd, our 5th-8th grade students will take the Illinois Assessment of Readiness (IAR). This state assessment measures students’ progress in English Language Arts and Math, helping us understand their growth and areas for improvement. At the end of March, our 5th and 8th graders will be taking the ISA Science state assessment.

While testing can sometimes feel overwhelming and seem like a lot for our students, we want to ensure our children feel confident and prepared so we will start focusing on practice tests in January and incorporating important test taking strategies into our daily instruction for the next several months to be sure our students are prepared. We want to encourage our students and build their self-confidence to perform their best on these tests.

In order for everyone to be set up for success we need our students here every day at school, focusing, and working to their potential so we can continue to help them grow academically and be prepared. This week we will start putting students into small groups so that we can target grade level standards that students may need additional support with so that we can get students to a proficient level.

We need our kids at school on time every day!

January Lunch Menu:

oct lunch

BOYS' BASKETBALL SCHEDULE:

save the date

Upcoming Dates:

•  January 19, 2026- No School ML King Jr Day- all district schools and offices are closed

•  January 21, 2026- 8th Grade Blackout Recognition Night before the Varsity Game starts

•  January 23, 2026- RCA Battle of the Houses- students may wear their house colors and be out of                  uniform

•  January 26, 2026- Board of Education Meeting at 6:30 PM

contact us

Principal, Mrs. Lynn Lane

lynn.lane@psd150.org

Assistant Principal, Ms. Katie Malahy

katherine.malahy@psd150.org

If you have any general academic, attendance, athletic, or other student concerns, please contact the school at 309-672-6557 or at sterling@psd150.org. Parents, please continue to check your email, our Sterling website and/or our Facebook for important announcements.