We had a great turnout Thursday morning for Donuts with Grownups! It was fun to see our greater community connecting with one another in one space. I want to thank our kitchen staff for providing the donuts, PTO for organizing the event, and of course Mr. Bletscher and his jazz band in providing the entertainment.

Port Susan Middle School staff is committed to the communication and support of our students. I wanted to share with students & families the framework that the educational system in our district uses throughout the year to support the teaching & learning that takes place. Students may see administration in their classrooms often with clipboards. We do this on a regular basis to provide feedback. Teachers asking questions, supporting engagement with strategies and structure, discipline specific ways of thinking, expanding on ideas (the "why" behind the learning), and providing scaffolds to support the development of targeted concepts are all important in our work together. The 5D framework aligns directly to our AAP goals and the work we are doing together to support the learning of all students.

Students brought home our fundraiser information on Friday. This has been organized by our PTO and is the first fundraiser since 2019 when we raised enough to install water filling stations in our building. One project they are currently working towards is a reader board with reminders and information for our students, staff & families. We want to thank our PTO for their support!

In addition to the paperwork provided, the fundraiser link is live....

ripcitypopcorn.com/portsusan

This past week students completed a district survey during advisory. This survey is to provide us feedback with student connections and their thoughts towards working through challenges. We will take this survey information and continue our work in our Monday lessons. So far, we have shared messages around kindness and the way we treat others. We will continue to do this and move into the way we view ourselves and regulate our emotions. Being able to identify how one is feeling allows the communication to work through difficult situations and persevere when faced with a challenge. This work will begin in the next couple of weeks.

Throughout the year, our students have the opportunity to join clubs as they become available. Sign ups and additional information can be found on grade level classrooms or by reaching out to the teacher. If a student joins a club, please arrange transportation home (no transportation provided for after school activities).

Boys Basketball will be the first part of season two. Practices will begin on October 19. You can sign up on-line following the link, or by getting a packet from the office. Girls Volleyball, the second part of season 2 will start on November 30th.

We are at the midpoint of our first quarter together, teachers have been sending home emails to parents regarding support for their student around expectations as needed. The partnership with families is always important and I encourage parents to reach out with questions as they come up as well (teacher emails listed at the bottom of this update).

A reminder that Skyward is a great tool to check grades weekly for students and parents. Not only is this available through the online website, but there is also a Skyward App available for all phones. If you go to your App store and search "Skyward", it can be downloaded onto your phone for quick access. If you need your parent username/password, please reach out to our office at 360.629.1360

Week of 10/17 through 10/21

*Square Dance week through Fitness/Health/Computers -- this is not open to all students throughout the day. It will be during these classes as well as opened up during lunch free time (depending on square dance instructor).

Monday:

Regular Schedule

Advisory HIB Lesson/Posters

Tuesday:

Regular Schedule

Academic Focus Advisory

XC Finals @ NWMS

Wednesday:

Red Wednesday

*Spirt Day* Wear Orange for Unity (see below)

Thursday:

Regular Schedule

Academic Focus Advisory

Friday:

Non-Student Day (NO School)

Future Dates

October 28th: Picture Retakes

October 31st: Spirit day/Dance (TBA)

November 2-4: Fall Conferences (No late start/early release)

November 4: Last day of Quarter 1

Student Calendar HERE

Linked below are previous communications. Please continue to reach out with any questions you have. You can email me directly (calmanza@stanwood.wednet.edu) or call our office at 360.629.1360

August 21st

August 28th

September 4th

September 11th

September 18th

September 25th

October 2nd

October 9th

The community resource center (CRC) has partnered with the Center for Justice Social Work (CJSW) and will begin offering a youth MH program at the CRC starting this month. It "aims to provide age appropriate mental health education and facilitate a supportive community for middle and high schoolers." The program will be on Tuesday (Middle Schoolers) and Thursdays (High Schoolers). Transportation to CRC is available from Port Susan Middle School. Please contact Amy Hart (ahart@stanwood.wednet.edu), Student Support Advocate, for more information.

This year, the Stanwood-Camano School District will form a Capital Facilities Advisory Committee (CFAC). This team’s purpose is to affirm that public schools belong to the entire community, and funding for capital improvements is generated through voter-approved bond measures. Also included in the team’s work are recommendations for how families are assigned to particular schools based on where families reside, school capacity, and immediate and projected enrollment.

Community members play a key role in developing our long-term capital facilities plan and providing input on facility use to ensure the community's values and priorities are accurately represented.

If you are interested in joining this committee, or would like to know more, please complete this form.

The Career & Technical Education (CTE) Program is looking for business and industry leaders to serve as part of the Stanwood-Camano School District Career and Technical Education (CTE) advisory committee(s). These committees advise, assist and provide support and advocacy for quality CTE programs. Advisory committee members are business and industry volunteers representing occupational areas that have feeder programs taught in our public schools. Members have the opportunity to learn more about the CTE program and instructors are able to increase their understanding of the job market, employers' needs, and community opportunities.
CTE advisory committees:

• Provide information to update, modify, expand, and improve the quality of programs
• Support and strengthen the partnerships between business, labor, the community, and education
• Work with students and educators to support real-world experiences and applications
• Make recommendations that strengthen and expand the CTE curriculum, and provide assistance in implementing these recommendations
• Identify and validate academic and occupational competencies, determine priorities, and review and evaluate programs
• Communicate long-term goals and objectives of the CTE programs to students, parents/guardians, employers, and the community

Click Here to learn more.
If you are interested in joining our CTE Advisory Committees, please Click Here to sign up.

Dear Families,

Our school district is fortunate to have access to Operation School Bell ®, a program offered by

the Assitance Leagues of Everett ® for students who are in need of new clothes. To qualify for

assistance, a child must be enrolled full time and qualify for the free or reduced lunch program.

The process only takes a few minutes to get started and involves basic information.

In order to participate in this program, it is important that you complete the necessary forms for

EACH child. You can make a copy of the form if you need more, or you can reach out to your

child’s school and request additional copies.

There are options this year for how you would like to receive your clothing. You can choose to

have a volunteer shop for you child and a bag of clothing will be delivered to your child’s school

OR there will be a designated day (undetermined at this time) where your child, with your

permission, will travel with district staff to the facility in Everett to shop for their own clothing

items.

This program is for all SCSD students in preschool through 8 th grade. High school students

participate in a portion of Operation School Bell called “Teen Retail.” Please contact Azra

Grudic, Student Support Advocate, if you have a HS student in need of clothing:

agrudic@stanwood.wednet.edu

Please note that each child can only attend Operation School Bell ® ONCE each school year

(through either the Stanwood-Camano School District or another program such as ECEAP).

To participate in Operation School Bell® your student can pick up a packet from the front office

staff at any time, or you can contact Amy Hart, Student Support Advocate to get the paperwork:

ahart@stanwood.wednet.edu or 360-965-8249.

Thank you,

Amy Hart

Student Support Advocate

Stanwood-Camano School District

Cherae Almanza, Principal calmanza@stanwood.wednet.edu

Crysty Auckland, Assistant Principal/Athletic Director cauckland@stanwood.wednet.edu

Teacher Emails

Dave Austin (6-8 Fitness & 6 Leadership) daustin@stanwood.wednet.edu

Jonathan Bletscher (6-8 Band) jbletscher@stanwood.wednet.edu

Joan Campbell (6-7 Math) jcampbell@stanwood.wednet.edu

Tamara Pedersen (6-7 Math) tpedersen@stanwood.wednet.edu

Lori Stunz (7 ELA & 6-8 Art) lstunz@stanwood.wednet.edu

Grace Gale (6 Science & 6-8 STEM/Robotics) GGale@stanwood.wednet.edu

Sub for Grace Gale is Jeffrey Trammell jtrammell2@stanwood.wednet.edu

Chelsea Hanson (6-8 ELA/Humanities) CHanson@stanwood.wednet.edu

Nate Hanson (6-8 Computers/Digital Effects) nhanson@stanwood.wednet.edu

Audrie Harrington (6/7 ELA & 7/8 Leadership) aharrington@stanwood.wednet.edu

Joshua Keaton (7/8 History) jkeaton@stanwood.wednet.edu

Seth Hills (6 Social Studies) shills@stanwood.wednet.edu

Lori Johnson (6-8 Assist) ljohnson@stanwood.wednet.edu

Wade Johnson (7/8 Science) wjohnson@stanwood.wednet.edu

Rebecca Klein (6/7 Science) rklein@stanwood.wednet.edu

Meghan Lawrence (6-8 PBS) mlawrence@stanwood.wednet.edu

Ellianna Martin (6-8 Math) emartin@stanwood.wednet.edu>,

Daniel Mccrumb (6 Math/Science & 7/8 Outdoor Ed) DMccrumb@stanwood.wednet.edu

Sarah Oldow (6 ELA/Social Studies) soldow@stanwood.wednet.edu

Catherine Perry (6-8 EL) cperry@stanwood.wednet.edu

Tracy Riley (6-8 ELA) TRiley@stanwood.wednet.edu

Kelcie Rocha (7/8 Math) krocha@stanwood.wednet.edu

Brad Rochon (7/8 Science) brochon@stanwood.wednet.edu

Connie Schmidt (6-8 Health) cschmidt@stanwood.wednet.edu

Sheri Schroeder (8 History & ELA) sleeschroeder@stanwood.wednet.edu

Kym Shoemaker (7/8 Math) kshoemaker@stanwood.wednet.edu

Crystal Titus (6-8 Fitness) ctitus@stanwood.wednet.edu

Kayte White (8 ELA & 6 Cultures) kwhite@stanwood.wednet.edu

Julia Zurcher (7 History & 7/8 Home Ec) jzurcher@stanwood.wednet.edu

Office Support

Jayde Piggot (6 Counselor) jpiggott@stanwood.wednet.edu

Keli Niegemann (7/8 Counselor) kniegemann@stanwood.wednet.edu

Emily Bowne (School Psychologist) ebowne@stanwood.wednet.edu

Kandyce Hansen (Speech Language Pathologist) khansen@stanwood.wednet.edu

Sara Harlan (Librarian) sharlan@stanwood.wednet.edu

Amy Hart (Student Support Advocate) ahart@stanwood.wednet.edu

Taylor Little (Mental Health Therapist) tlittle@stanwood.wednet.edu

The Stanwood-Camano School District does not discriminate in employment, programs, or activities on the basis of sex, race, creed, religion, color, national origin, age, veteran or military status, sexual orientation, gender expression or identity, disability, or the use of a trained dog guide or service animal and provides equal access to the Boy Scouts and other designated youth groups. Inquiries regarding compliance and/or grievance procedures may be directed to the District's Title IX/Affirmative Action Officer and Civil Rights Compliance Coordinator, Maurene Stanton (mstanton@stanwood.wednet.edu), or the Section 504/American Disabilities Act Coordinator, Robert Hascall (rhascall@stanwood.wednet.edu) Stanwood-Camano School District, 26920 Pioneer Hwy, Stanwood, WA 98292. Telephone: (360) 629-1200.