Welcome Back T-Birds
September 2022
T-BIRD FAMILY...
Hello Ford Families,
I am so excited to welcome our newest and returning T-Birds to a new year at Ford Middle School! The team at Ford is ready to support our students as they continue to add to the long history of excellence in academics, the arts, and athletics at Ford. Last school year students, families, and staff experienced a series of both highs and lows as we returned to fulltime in person learning. With many of the challenges of last school year now behind us, I am confident that we are poised for a year filled with academic and social success for ALL students.
This school year, the team at Ford will continue to support the socioemotional needs of our students. To this end, we have dedicated Advisory time daily to support schoolwide climate and culture initiatives. With that being said, our staff will continue the process of increasing academic rigor. This process began last school year and will continue during this school year. Like you, we have high standards for ourselves and our students.
We look forward to partnering with you around your student’s success this school year. Please read through this newsletter, as it contains important information, and please reach out with any questions.
GO T-BIRDS!
Heather Renner
Principal Ford Middle School
Back to School Flamingle
There will be food, activities and prizes! We are SO EXCITED to have a night of fun with our Ford Families.
Remember that students must come with a parent or guardian to participate.
Thursday, Sep 15, 2022, 05:30 PM
1602 104th Street East, Tacoma, WA, USA
MEET OUR FLOCK!
Get to know our Principal Mrs. Heather Renner
Meet our new Assistant Principal Mr. Shay McElvain
This is Mr. McElvain's second year at Ford. Last year he served as our Dean of Students.
He is originally from Centralia, WA, but now lives closer to Ford. He has been married for 12 years and has three boys with a fourth on the way! He is a UW Alum with a bachelor's degree in Spanish. El habla español.He likes to be active, play/coach sports, read and spend time with family.
Meet our new Assistant Principal Mrs. Jennifer Ryle
Mrs. Ryle is entering her 15th year as an educator. While new to Ford and Washington, Mrs. Ryle has taught in Colorado, Alaska, Georgia, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania. During her travels, Mrs. Ryle has hiked in Denali and Yellowstone National Parks, visited Washington DC, and swam in the Gulf of Mexico. As a mother of two boys, she can usually be found at sporting events or volunteering within the Army community.
Counseling Corner
Meet the school counselors!
Welcome to the 2022-2023 school year! Great news! There have been no changes in our counseling team and we are excited to see you all this year! At Ford, counselors loop with their grade level, so 7th and 8th graders, you have the same counselors, and our new 6th graders have the same counselor for all 3 years!
Meet our counseling team!
6th grade - Breanne Selland bselland@fpschools.org, National Board Certified, PhD candidate, 9 years as a school counselor
7th grade - Susie Sarachman ssarachman@fpschools.org, National Board Certified, 20th year as a middle school counselor
8th grade - Matt Shouse mshouse@fpschools.org, 20 year as a Ford Middle school counselor
Restorative Counselor - Mark Robuck mrobuck@fpschools.org, 11 years as a school counselor
FALL SPORTS ARE HERE!!!
Fall sports (football, cross country, girls fastpitch, boys soccer) begin on August 31st, the second day of school. Please make sure your student-athletes have registered on Final Forms, completed a physical and purchased an ASB before their first game. A registration button is below to direct you to the website.
On September 8th, there will be a short parent/guardian meeting for all Fall sports in the cafeteria from 5:00-5:30. Please come and meet the coaches, get an overview of the season, and find out ways you can help volunteer with the teams.