Twin Peaks Middle School
Weekly RAM Newsletter
From the desk of Principal Mills
Happy Sunday Ram Families,
Thank you to all of our parents and students who attended our first-ever virtual Back to School Night this past Wednesday! It was great to see so many of you visiting your students' Zoom classrooms and getting to see what virtual learning looks and feels like. Please make sure to reach out and contact your student's teachers if you had follow-up questions about their class or virtual learning.
The PUSD School Board met this past Thursday and voted to continue with the reopening of elementary schools starting October 1st. Secondary schools have been asked to present a potential timeline for reopening to the Board by their October 15th meeting. Twin Peaks will continue to explore possible reopening options that can be found by clicking THIS LINK. If you have questions or concerns you would like our Reopening Task Force to consider, please submit them HERE.
I hope that you will be able to attend our Admin & Counseling Coffee Talk event on October 7th where we will discuss our reopening plan and address questions that you have - details can be found below. As we continue with this reopening work, please remember that there is no one decision that works for every student and family; there are multiple perspectives and strong opinions on all sides of this discussion. Please continue to partner with us as we find ways to implement the directives from our School Board and provide our students with the safest return to in-person learning possible.
With Gratitude,
Steve Mills
Proud Principal
Twin Peaks Middle School
Coffee Talk with the TPMS Admin & Counseling Teams
October 7th: 11:30am (English), EL Parent Meeting at 5:30pm
November 18th: 11:30am (English), 5:00pm (Spanish)
January 27th: 11:30am (English), 5:00pm (Spanish)
Information on how to attend and submit questions will be posted on the TPMS website HERE.
Picture Day Photos Are In!
If you would like to order photos from Lifetouch, please contact their customer service department or use their new chat feature to get your access code. Once you have an access code you can use that to view photos online. The Customer Service number is: (800) 736-4753 and the website is mylifetouch.com.
Parent Education Workshops
New Parenting LGBTQIAP2 + Children - ALL Grades. Participate in a conversation focused on parenting and caregiving on Monday, October 12th from 6:30-8:00pm via Zoom. Click here for all the details!
Preparing Positively for Puberty --TK-8th Grade. Activities that can promote a positive and practical attitude toward this important life stage will be discussed on Monday, October 26th from 6:30-8pm via Zoom. Click here for more details!
Wellness Wednesday with the Counselors
Come hang out with the counselors to learn more about self-care, ways to de-stress, connect with other students, or just say hi! If you’re interested, please ask your RAM teacher for the Zoom Link. We look forward to seeing you there! Remember, this takes place every Wednesday!
Grade Level Google Classrooms
TPMS ASB has created Google Classrooms for each grade level at Twin Peaks so students can have a place to socialize and interact, as well as one central hub for all events and activities online. By tonight, your student should have been manually added into the appropriate grade level classroom. In order to access their online community, students can visit [classroom.google.com]classroom.google.com and click “Accept” to join the class. If your student is not added to a classroom, please contact Ms. Keller at kokeller@powayusd.com to get that fixed! **Please note that the Grade Level Google Classrooms are completely optional and for socialization purposes only. Students will not have any assignments or curriculum based instruction in Google Classroom.
Tuesday Lunch with the Principal
TPMS Tech Support Website
Good news! A few of our older leadership students on campus have spent the last week working to put together an online resource for students and families to help navigate some of the more complicated tasks associated with Virtual Learning. Students have recorded videos to demonstrate from a student perspective how to use a variety of tech tools that will hopefully help students feel more confident completing their assignments online. Bookmark this website and take a look around to see if any of these videos might help you or your student be more successful! https://sites.google.com/powayusd.com/tpmstech
RAM Time!
TPMS Library is Now Open for Curbside Pickup & Dropoff
TPMS Spirit Wear - Order by 10/9!
Hey Ram Families! Looking to show off your TPMS PRIDE? Our online spirit store is officially open. CLICK HERE to view our selection of spirit wear products and place your order today! The online store will close on October 9th, so make sure to get your orders in ASAP!
ASES Offering Virtual After School Program
Important Update for the Virtual ASES Program: Please email our school’s ASES Supervisor Margo Selelnsky at mselensky@powayusd.com prior to joining the Zoom meeting to receive activity & schedule information and to select which club(s) you would like to participate in. Please see the attached flyer for more information.
PTSA Reflections Art Program
"I Matter Because..." is the theme for this year! The theme was submitted by a California student 2 years ago and selected by the National PTA. All students are invited to participate and submit original artwork in one of six areas: Dance Choreography, Literature, Photography, Film Production, Music Composition, Visual Arts. The submission deadline is October 20th, so start thinking about your project. This year's program will be completely virtual due to COVID-19. Please see our website for more information. http://www.tpmsptsa.org/reflections/
Technology Assistance
SCHOOL QUICK LINKS!
- Virtual Learning School Schedule can be found HERE.
- School Calendar with even/odd days can be found HERE.
- Twin Peaks PTSA Information can be found HERE.
- TPMS Foundation information can be found HERE.
Students - in case you missed these, here's the links to a few resources for you:
- First Day of School - Welcome Back Video
- 6th Grade Welcome video
- How to Login into Canvas video
- TPMS Virtual Learning Expectations
- Top 10 List of things to do to be ready to start the school year
PUSD Launches The Parent Academy - Technology Assistance Portal
Parent Academy is the one-stop shop where parents can come to see and learn about the different types of educational technology tools that teachers are using with students in the district. These resources will make it simpler and easier for parents to understand what teachers use to engage students in meaningful ways in a virtual environment that highlights student collaboration. Click HERE to visit the site!
PARENT FORUM: How to Support Your Student in the Virtual Classroom
We look forward to having Dr. Sweetland and Dr. Stohlberg back in the second semester for a follow-up session as we transition back to in-person learning at Twin Peaks!
YEARBOOK SALES
Don't worry - if you missed the Yearbook tent at Registration, you can still order your Yearbook for this school year!! Click HERE to access the Twin Peaks MS Yearbook website and purchase your yearbook today!!
8th Grade East Coast Trip
Greetings 8th Grade Families!
As many of you know, every year we partner with Apple Tours to offer students an optional annual east coast trip to Washington, DC, Gettysburg, Philadelphia and New York for the Twin Peaks 8th grade students. We are optimistic that by June, 2021 we will be able to continue that tradition. For now, we would like everyone interested in attending the 2021 Twin Peaks East Coast Trip to simply “hold the date” on their calendars. Please block off Saturday evening, June 19 thru Friday night, June 25 on your calendars so that you do not have scheduling conflicts later.
Based on news reporting, we are optimistic that by February, 2021 (and hopefully sooner), we will be able to make the determination of safe travel and have all interested families sign up at that time. I will send another update out to all families by approximately early December. I know we are all looking forward to normalcy and hopefully this trip is one of the many things we are able to get back to!
Please remember that this is not an officially sponsored PUSD field trip. If you have any questions, please email kokeller@powayusd.com. Thank you!!
UPCOMING EVENTS:
October 7th: Admin & Counseling Coffee Talk, 11:30am
October 7th: EL Parent Meeting, 5:30pm
October 8th: Racial Equity Community Forum with PHS, 6:00pm
October 15th: TPMS PTSA Meeting, 6:00pm
October 15th: PUSD School Board Mtg., 6:00pm
Shop Amazon through TPMS Foundation
Twin Peaks Middle School
Email: chamilton@powayusd.com
Website: http://tpms.powayusd.com/index.html
Phone: 858.748.5131
Twitter: @TwinPeaksRams