Community Newsletter
Denny International Middle School | Jan. 5, 2024
LETTER FROM THE PRINCIPAL
Dear Dolphin Families,
Happy New Year and welcome to 2024! As we return from Winter Break, it is an opportunity to refresh and renew our goals and expectations for ourselves, our students, and our school community.
To renew and reboot as a school community we are reviewing and revamping our schoolwide expectations through mini lessons in advisory to launch some new systems. For more details please read below. We are focused on psychological and physical safety for each and every person in our Dolphin community. We will continue to collaborate with students, staff, and families on learning and growing to master our schoolwide expectations in order to strengthen community, enhance sense of belonging, and increase learning.
Along with this refresh of school culture, we are very fortunate to be selected for City Year's MLK Jr. Day of Service. The work that they have planned for our building is astounding and you can join in! There is a link to the refresh plan as well as a link to register and serve yourself below.
Another transition that begins to occur at this time of year is thinking about next year. One important key factor to this is school budget. With our current tight budgets that will be even more restrictive next year, we need your help. The Family Income Survey is incredibly important and helps our school receive state and federal funds. If you have not completed a survey for your family this school year, if you would please take the couple minutes that the survey takes and complete that as soon as possible because the cut off date to determine if we will get additional funding is January 26th. More information and the link to the survey is below.
As I transitioned from 2023 to 2024, I took some time to reflect on the bright parts of the past year. I am extremely grateful for the dedication, resilience, compassion, and hard work of the students, staff, and families in our Dolphin community. Thank you for your support and partnership.
Warmly,
Mary Ingraham
IMPORTANT DATES
- 1-6-24 9:30 Girl's Varsity Basketball Game at Franklin High School
- 1-6-24 11:00 Boy's Varsity Basketball Game at Franklin High School
- 1-15-24 MLK Jr. Day of Service with City Year at Denny
- 1-15-24 MLK Jr. Day No School
- 2-1-24 PTSA Virtual Meeting on Zoom at 7:00 pm
All Families Need to Do this By January 26 -- it is critical for our school!
Why is this Survey Important?
The Family Income Survey provides your student’s school with a way to collect household income information. This information is important because it helps your school receive federal and state funding (Learning Assistance Program, teacher incentives, etc.).
The form is simple to fill out and confidential. The information will only be used to help your school receive funding from state and federal programs.
In addition to healthy and nutritious meals, the Family Income Survey helps to fund programs such as:
- Before and after school enrichment programs
- School counselors
- Health and wellness services
- Resources for classrooms and teachers
Please complete and submit this form. Families with multiple students will only complete this form once. Regardless of income level, families with students at Denny International should complete the Family Income Survey.
City Year MLK Day of Service at DIMS!!
City Year Seattle/King County honors the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. by serving in community at one of our partner schools. This year on Monday, January 15, 2024, our day of service will bring together alumni, donors, community members, and corporate partners as we revitalize Denny International Middle School. Volunteers will have the opportunity to paint murals, improve campus landscaping, and clean the school for students, faculty, and staff. We believe MLK Day is a “day on,” so come join through service!
Sexual Health Education in Science Classes
Our science classes will be teaching Sexual Health Education (SHE) during the month of January and February. The teachers will be sending a family letter home with your student with information for you to reach out with questions, preview the materials, and opt out of part or all of the lessons. I have included the specific dates that each grade level will be teaching SHE below as well as the link to Seattle Public School's Sexual Health Education website for your reference.
Dine Out on Tuesday (1-9-24) at Proletariat and Fundraise for DIMS through PTSA
Who: YOU
What: Dine out at Proletariat Pizza!
Where: 9622-A 16th Ave SW, Seattle, WA 98106 (206) 432-9765
When: Next Tuesday January 9th starting at 4:00 pm to close.
Why: This is a fundraiser to support DIMS PTSA (Denny International Middle School Parent Teacher Association) with our goal of helping as many folks in our community as possible.
How: You can dine in, call in or order online to enjoy their delicious pizza, a variety of salads, local craft brews and if you have not tried their desserts yet, their Tiramisu & ice cream are as famous as their pizza!! Please mention Denny PTSA when ordering so we can share in the proceeds for this fun occasion.
Join DIMS PTSA
The PTSA is doing a ton of amazing things, use the link below to get involved and become a part of it.
The next meeting will be on February 1, 2024 at 7:00 virtually on Zoom https://zoom.us/j/95559484589?pwd=MlZCdTNSYzd4c0Y4d005SWpidmk0Zz09
Message from Music Department for 2nd Semester
Good morning and Happy new year!
Our department wanted to go over a couple of things for music classes to keep in mind for 2nd semester.
- Since music classes are year-long music classes, if students want to switch out of music classes mid-year they need: written parent permission, notify the music teacher-return materials, pay fees before switching out of a class.
- For choir new students are welcome to join at the semester. For Band and Orchestra, for 2nd semester new students should only be added to the class if they have met with the teacher so we are aware of their level. We generally cannot take on students with little or no prior experience mid year. We don’t have coaches to get them caught up. Unless a new student is willing to work extra on their own it usually better that they join next September.
Thank you for your help. Let us know if you have any questions,
Music Department
Joey Roberts, Band
Jorge Morales, Orchestra
Kathryn Lenoue, Choir
School Athletics: Basketball
Boys Basketball
Here are a few updates as our season gets under way. I understand there was a little confusion due to the break and not having school on Monday, so this should help clear up a few questions. I am Michael Anderson, our school’s Athletic Coordinator, and I support our excellent coaches, Isiah Hall (Varsity) and Robert Chandler (JV+JVC). First of all, I’d like to say we’re very excited with our turnout this year. I know all our scholars are excited to play and we can’t wait to get them on the court.
Now sadly, there has been a negative development from Seattle Public Schools this year. As you may have heard, in previous years Denny has fielded a Varsity, JV, and JVC team to ensure all players get game time. Unfortunately, Seattle Public Schools has cut all JVC teams and games from official programming.
Needless to say, we were very disappointed with this. Our coaches have decided to take it on themselves to ensure everyone will have a chance to participate. To that end, we are unusually adding a Wednesday for our JVC players to scrimmage against each other and we are connecting with other schools to see about setting up intramural matches. Also, teams are fluid, an excellent JVC player can potentially rise up to Varsity if they put in the time and effort at practice. If your child is unsure about what team they are currently on, please encourage them to check with their coaches, but with some exceptions the teams are based on grade level at the moment. Most 6th graders are on JVC, most 7th graders are on JV, and most 8th graders are on Varsity.
Our JVC Scrimmages will take an extra couple weeks to set up as officially the JV+JVC season starts games a little later, we will know a for sure date on Monday. Please also note that there will be no afterschool buses home on Wednesdays.
A few scholars have been asking about cuts on our teams. As of right now, no one has been cut from any Denny team this year. To be eligible to play, all scholars must have turned in all their paperwork. We do not cut based on ability or skill.
If you need to reach out to us you can email me here or contact our coaches at :
Isiah Hall: ithall@seattleschools.org and (206) 495-7545
Robert Chandler: rachandler@seattleschools.org and (206) 739-1901
Girls Basketball
I’d like to welcome all you to our Denny Girls Basketball season! We are excited to see so many players join this year and are looking forward to a great year. I am our Athletic Coordinator, Michael Anderson, and I support Coach Stephen Boney (Varsity) and Coach Darren Wilson (JV) teach our outstanding scholars. I’ve had some of our girls asking me from the first day of school when we would start basketball and I’m glad we are finally here.
This year we are planning on having both Varsity and JV teams . As of right now, most 8th graders are on Varsity and most 7th and 6th graders are on JV, though this may change over the coming weeks. Please remember teams are fluid and players who are showing their effort in practice can be moved up to Varsity. Both groups will practice twice a week and have games on Saturdays. JV games will start shortly after Varsity games in the season.
If you need to reach out to us you can email me here or contact our coaches at :
Varsity Coach Stephen Boney: smboney@seattleschools.org and (206) 423-1523
JV Coach Darren Wilson: dawilson@seattleschools.org and (425) 516-3258
Player Eligibility and Ethics
We will however remove players from our teams for extreme cases such as racism, homophobia, bullying, or refusing to follow a coach’s directions. If your child is cut, you will hear directly from me, an administrator, or their coach, preferably all three.
Our athletes are also expect to maintain their grades to a reasonable standard. They are allowed no E grades and must be above a 2.0 GPA. If they don’t reach that level, they will not be cut, but instead we will expect them to fix the grade and will be benched in games until they have done so. If your child needs to miss practice to work on their grades we absolutely endorse this, as long as they inform their coaches beforehand; above all, communication is everything. Grades are checked and players are informed on Monday and they will have until Friday to either fix their grade or receive a note from their teachers. Students who are suspended are automatically benched for the week they receive it.
Transportation
And finally, here is the next few upcoming games for our teams. We are requesting buses, but the district is suffering with a driver shortage and we cannot promise they will be available, we’ll have to let players know on a week by week basis. I’m only sending the first three games as they may be changed as other schools adjust their numbers, we’ll send a longer list soon.
Our weekly practice schedule looks like this:
Monday – ALL BOYS
Tuesday – ALL JV + JVC (Boys and Girls)
Wednesday – JVC Scrimmages (Starting soon, times to be determined. Currently only boys due to JVC being cut. If girls numbers grow we will add this too)
Thursday – All GIRLS
Friday – ALL VARSITY (Boys and Girls)
All practices except Wednesday will be 3:00 PM to 4:30 PM in either the Denny gym or we will walk our scholars over to a Chief Sealth Gym.
This Saturday, January 6th is the first games for both girl's and boy's basketball.
- Varsity Girls: 1/6/24 9:30 am at Franklin High School: Meany Home, Denny Away
- Varsity Boys: 1/6/24 11:00 am at Franklin High School: McClure Home, Denny Away
Thank you for all your patience as we get started this year, we really appreciate your support!
Go Dolphins!
Michael Anderson
Athletic Coordinator, Girls Soccer & Volleyball Coach
Denny International Middle School
Refresh, Restart, Re-teach, Revitalize Schoolwide Expectations and Processes
For the start of 2nd Semester we are launching some new systems to further recognize our amazing scholars' contributions to our community and maximizing instructional time for all scholars by being out of the hallways and in class on time with little interruption to instruction. Below describes the systems that we are currently teaching and re-teaching to launch on February 1st for 2nd Semester.
DENNY DINERO
- Arriving on time to class and ready to go
- Exemplifying the Denny way by being ready, responsible, and respectful
- Students can use Denny Dinero to purchase items from the Student Store or put them in their grade level mailbox for a weekly drawing and prize selection
SNACK DROP
At the bell teachers will take attendance and will report to the office on designated Snack Drop days that their students were all there on time. The Admin Team will bring a Snack Cart to the class for students to celebrate their good work.
TARDY SWEEP
- During the morning announcements it will be announced that there will be a tardy sweep at some point during the day.
- At the bell, admin will collect students who did not make it to class on time and will give them a slip to join a lunch time circle where they will be able to eat and plan action steps to ensure that they get to class on time.
LUNCH COMPETITIONS
- We will hold a series of consistent competitions between grade level lunches. Like least trash left on tables.
- At the end of the week the grade level that wins the competition will get a reward from Lunch Lady Doree (like fresh baked cookies)
3 HALL PASSES PER QUARTER & CLASS
- In every class for 3rd quarter teachers will handout 3 hall passes to each student.
- This is in response to feedback we heard from families at our Family Forum regarding concerns that their scholars had about bathrooms not being used for there purpose.
- The hall pass is turned in to leave the classroom to get water, use the bathroom, etc. to keep students accountable, track the overall school patterns of out-of-class time, and to encourage student to take care of their needs during non-instructional time.
- Please rest assured, if a student needs to use the bathroom but does not have a pass the teacher will still let them go. Are focus is to collect information to ensure that we are maximizing instructional times for students while concurrently ensuring that their personal needs are being met.
- If your scholar has a specific need or situation, please reach out to their advisory teacher so that they can work with you and your scholar to develop an alternative plan. The advisory teacher will communicate this plan to all the scholar’s teachers.
RESOURCES & INFORMATION
New School-based Health Center Service Provider: Neighborcare Health
To learn more about Neighborcare Health and school-based health center services for the 2023-2024 school year, or to pre-register your student for services, view the Denny International Middle School page on the Neighborcare Health website.
Sistema Escolar, Villa Comunitaria, & Seattle Public Schools: Workshop this Week on Bullying!
Talleres Familias / Family Workshops 2023-2024
Sistema Escolar, Villa Comunitaria and Seattle Public Schools are excited to once again host monthly workshops for families in Spanish. The list of dates and topics are below. Reminders and informational flyers will be shared in advance of each meeting also. Meetings will be on Zoom and are no cost to families.
Financial Aid (Filling out Information & Support)
Thursday, January 25th 6 – 7:30pm
- WASFA and FAFSA fill out night.
Special Education
Thursday, February 8th 6 – 7:30pm
- Process for Special Ed qualification
- Guidance Team
- Evaluation
- IEP
- 504
- Prior Written Notification
Elementary – 5th to 6th Grade Transition
Thursday, March 21st 6pm – 7:30pm
- Brain development of pre-teens and how to navigate the emotional, physical, and academic changes.
- Main Changes from Elementary to Middle.
- How Middle School Works
Middle School – 8th to 9th Grade Transition
Thursday, April 4th 6pm – 7:30pm
- Main Changes
- How High School Works.
- How to prepare academically to succeed in HS and to work toward post HS education.
Homework Help at The Seattle Public Library
We can help students succeed in school. Our trained Homework Help tutors can assist with school assignments, provide reading support and skill-building activities at select Library locations.
Students in Seattle can also get free virtual tutoring from Tutor.com with a Library card or a Library Link number - www.spl.org/VirtualTutoring
Broadview Branch (12755 Greenwood Ave. N.): Tuesdays & 4 - 7:30 p.m. & Wednesdays 3 - 5 p.m.
Columbia Branch (4721 Rainier Ave. S.): Mondays 4 - 5:45 p.m. & Tuesdays 4 - 7 p.m.
Douglass-Truth Branch (2300 E. Yesler Way): Tuesdays & Wednesdays 4 - 7 p.m.
High Point Branch (3411 S.W. Raymond St.): Tuesdays 4 - 7:30 p.m. & Wednesdays 4 - 6 p.m.
Lake City Branch (12501 28th Ave. N.E ): Tuesdays, Wednesdays & Thursdays 4:30 - 7:30 p.m.
New Holly Branch (7058 32nd. Ave. S.): Thursdays 4:30 - 7:30 p.m.
Northgate Branch (10548 Fifth Ave. N.E.): Mondays 3:30 - 5:30 p.m., Tuesdays 4 - 7:30 p.m., & Wednesdays 3:30 - 5:30 p.m.
Rainier Beach Branch (9125 Rainier Ave. S.): Mondays 4 - 5:45 p.m. & Wednesday 4:30 - 6:30 p.m.
South Park Branch (8604 Eighth Ave. S.): Mondays & Wednesdays 3:30 - 5:30 p.m.
Programs at Seattle Library: High Point Branch
Homework Help | The Seattle Public Library (spl.org)
Get help with your homework in-person at the High Point Branch from trained volunteers. Free for K-12 students. Snacks provided!
Tuesdays 4:00-7:30 p.m.
Wednesdays 4:00-6:00 p.m.
Family Story Time @ High Point Branch, Saturday, 10:30 - 11am - Event Calendar | The Seattle Public Library (spl.org)
At story time, kids ages 0-5 and their families can enjoy stories, songs, and fun learning activities. Saturdays @ 10:30 a.m. September 23rd – December 9th.