• From Mrs. Watsabaugh: Eighth grader Connor Schalnat makes the world’s best Chocolate Cream Pie!!!! He promised to bake Mrs. Watsabaugh a chocolate cream pie right before school was closed in March 2020. She was joking around with him last week about him still owing her a pie and he baked her a pie and it was amazing.

• From Ms. Delman: Shout out to FHMS 6th Graders for all finishing their first quarter of middle school!

• From Principal Cleaves: We had a successful first round of SBA testing at FHMS! Thank you to all students for demonstrating positivity and prep with their tech. We appreciate parents/families/caregivers' support with bedtimes and breakfasts. Thank you for demonstrating PRIDE with testing this fall!

SAM 8 club volunteer David Higgins reported on Saturday, October 23, his club had 14 students and two parents participate in the first build and fly session of the 2021-22 school year. Five of the students were returnees from the 2019-20 build and fly sessions. The new students built and flew simple catapult gliders and slip-together rubber-powered models.They had a mass launch contest with the catapult gliders and Hannah had the best launching technique and the longest flying glider.

The nine new students will want to return for their next build and fly session because they are going to be building and flying the Mountain Lion Mk. III rubber powered model, which is capable of 1 minute flight times indoors. See the photo below. It can also be flown outdoors on warm, calm, and dry sunny days provided the tissue paper is waterproofed with a light coat of clear Krylon. The five returning students will have more than a dozen different intermediate to advanced kits to choose from for the next session.

The club's next build and fly session will be held on Saturday, November 20 from 12:00 PM to 4:00 PM. Students did not have to attend the first session to participate in this one. Please bring $10 with you to the gym.

Congratulations to Benjamin Clark, trombone; Grace Harrington, viola; Ori Hosokai, flute; Bianca Maier, alto saxophonel Zachary Olsen, baritone voice; and Sophia Vanderheiden, clarinet.

These students were selected, by audition, to perform in the Washington Junior All-State Band, Choir, and Orchestra. They will go to Yakima on February 19th to perform at the Washington Music Educators convention. Getting to play in these elite ensembles is a true honor. Ms. Kirkman, Mr. Maier, and Mr. Richards are very proud of our outstanding musicians!

Lake Washington School District is following current guidance from the Washington State Department of Health for students who are symptomatic. If your student is having any COVID-like symptoms, please contact the school so that we can provide guidance on when they can return to school.

At Finn Hill, all students are part of a "house" within our school. These houses help us to create community and a sense of belonging for students. Check in with your student to find out which house they belong to!

We are always looking for students who are exhibiting a PRIDE characteristic (positivity, respect, integrity, determination, empathy). Students earn PRIDE tickets for demonstrating a characteristic anywhere in the school. The tickets are counted and added towards their House points, but also are entered into a drawing during our Friday announcements. Winning students are announced and receive a prize. We are so proud of students who are working hard to make Finn Hill a better place!

First Place: Amistad

Second Place: Isibindi

Third Place: Reveur

Fourth Place: Altruismo

First quarter ended on Friday, November 5. This marks the halfway point of first semester. Teachers have a week after Friday to finish entering grades for the quarter which will then be available online to families on November 15 through Skyward Family Access. Please have your student go into Skyward and look together with him/her/them for any assignments that are missing. Encourage him/her/them to get them completed and turned in to their teachers in time to be included in quarter grades. Not all missing assignments will be able to be turned in. Please communicate with your student’s teacher to determine which assignments will still be accepted. We want students' first quarter grades to reflect what students know and are able to do for the standards for each of their classes.

First quarter grades represent a moment in time and are, in effect, a formalized progress report. In many cases, the quarter ends while students are in the middle of a unit or perhaps working on a major assignment. It is important that students continue with the classwork with which they are currently engaged as a major due date might be occurring later in the month. Ultimately, it is only the semester grade that is represented on a student’s middle school transcript (and additionally their high school transcript in the case of high school level courses such as World Language, Algebra, and Geometry). The quarter grade is a reflection of how a student is progressing thus far this semester and can serve as an indicator of whether current work habits and learning approaches should be maintained or whether the student should seek assistance in finding other ways to engage in his/her/their learning that can be more productive and lead to greater success.

Families, please note that sixth-grade electives are semester-long courses this year rather than quarterly, as previously advertised. Unfortunately, due to student numbers and staff availability, we aren’t able to run the sixth-grade electives as outlined in the course catalog. Normally, sixth graders would get four different mini-courses as an electives sampler, but this year, sixth graders will have only two of the four, which were randomly selected for fairness, and each class will last the full semester.

• Make-up SBA testing dates

November 9

• PTSA General Membership Meeting, 7:00-9:00 pm, online

• No School-Veterans Day

November 12

• Panorama Survey given during Falcon Time FT

November 15

• Panorama Survey (Make Up)
• LWSD Board of Education Meeting, 7:00 pm, online

• Boys Regional Soccer: KaMS @ FHMS at JHS
• LWSD-LWPTSA Special Education Group Meeting

• Girls Badminton: FHMS @ RHMS

• Boys V/JV Soccer: KaMS @ FHMS at JHS

• Boys V/JV Soccer: Bye
• Girls Badminton: FHMS @ EMS

• Boys Regional Soccer: EMS @ FHMS at JHS

• Half Day, 8:35-11:35 am

• Thanksgiving Break

December 1

• Girls Badminton: KaMS @ FHMS

• Boys V/JV Soccer: FHMS @ EMS at RHS

December 2

• Boys Regional Soccer: FHMS @ KiMS at LWHS
• ASB Social (more information to come)

December 6

• Girls Badminton: Bye

• Boys V/JV Soccer: FHMS @ RHMS at LWHS

• Boys Regional Soccer: FHMS @ KaMS at JHS

December 8

• Girls Badminton: FHMS @ KiMS

• Boys V/JV Soccer: KaMS @ KiMS at LWHS

• Boys Regional Soccer: EMS @ FHMS at JHS

December 13

• Girls Badminton: RHMS @ FHMS

• Boys V/JV Soccer: KaMS @ FHMS at JHS

• Girls Badminton (Varsity Only): FHMS @ KaMS

• Boys V/JV Soccer: FHMS vs KiMS, EHS Stadium, 4:40 pm
• Boys V/JV Soccer: KiMS vs FHMS, EHS Field 3, 4:40 pm
• Boys V/JV Soccer: KaMS vs FHMS, EHS Stadium, 5:20 pm
• Boys V/JV Soccer: FHMS vs KaMS, EHS Field 3, 5:20 pm

We had only one incident of vandalism this past week (see the photo below). Thank you to everyone who had conversations with their students about taking care of our school.

Here's where we are right now. We will keep you updated as we work with the district to repair closed facilities as soon as possible.

Temporarily Closed Restrooms: Pod 2 Girls, Pod 3 Girls, Gym Girls (waiting for repairs)

All other restrooms are open