I want to start by thanking our families and staff for the time and energy that was put in this week in all areas. We started with energy this week with costumes and a full day of learning and finished off the week with conversations of support for our students and families through conferences.

Throughout the year, our teachers are available daily for any questions, concerns, and updates regarding the education of students. Our families are always welcome to email or set up an appointment throughout the year, so please reach out.

We had a fun-filled week with our first after school activity and basketball games. It was great to see our students interacting and having a good time.

This week, we talked with students about strategies they could use to regulate their emotions when stressful situations arise. Throughout the year, we all experience difficult mornings and/or things that happen out of our control. Our goal is to provide safety and structure in the learning environment, but even with that, we still have stressors. In the classroom, this could be a difficult problem or a large project. We introduced the "unstuck protocol" that is posted in classrooms throughout our building. Taking a deep breath and reflecting on what they do know or what they can control can be a good strategy to work through challenges.

I want to share a tool to communicate between school and home. All students have access to a blue homework folder to keep their "To-Do List". If you feel this would be a good system for your student, please encourage them to share this with you as we begin our 2nd quarter together.

Girls' Volleyball will begin on Wednesday, November 30th. There will be 4 teams: 7th Grade JV, 8th Grade JV, 7th Grade V, and 8th Grade Varsity. Tryouts will be Nov 30-December 2 from 2:30-4pm. Once teams are decided, there will be rotating practice times to give teams more space in the gym. Coaches will be sharing their practice times with their team.

The match schedule is found here. This is a live document and will be updated as things change or if we are able to secure a bus for transportation.

IMPORTANT DOCUMENTS:

Athletic Registration: An Athletic Registration Form must be completed either online or by hard copy prior to turning out for practice. This includes emergency contact information, insurance and the Athletic Code.

Sports Physical: All athletes must have a current sports physical (good for 2yrs) turned into the office BEFORE turning out.

ASB Card/Pay to Participate: Each participant must purchase an Associated Student Body card and Pay to Participate fee before the first contest. The ASB card is $20, Pay to Participate is $50 per sport ($100 maximum per year; Free/Reduced options for those who qualify).

Transportation: In the event that we cannot get a bus to out-of district competitions (due to bus driver shortage), we will have district vans. However, seating is limited, so the Stanwood/Camano School District is allowing families to arrange transportation to and from competitions when this occurs. These families will agree to provide their own transportation to and from away competitions and understand that the district assumes no liability/responsibility for the athletes during the transportation times. The waiver will need to be signed and returned to your athletic director prior to your first out-of-district event. *Hard copies of the waiver can be picked up in the office or from your athlete's coach Parent Transportation Waiver for Middle School Sports

We offer "Power Hour" to help support students with their academics, homework, and organization twice a week. Students will be able to attend Wednesday and/or Thursday. There will be a teacher during this time available to support their learning.

We have multiple opportunities for students to be involved in clubs at PSMS. Take a look at what is going on throughout the week! For additional information, please take a look at grade level google classrooms.

Dungeons & Dragons: Mondays 2:40 - 4pm

Art Club: Mondays 2:15 - 3:45pm

Chances: Every other Tuesday 2:30 - 3:30pm

Chess Club: Tuesdays 2:15 - 3:45pm

Power Hour: Wednesday & Thursday 2:20 - 3:20pm

Lunch Group: Thursdays during lunch break

Video Club: Fridays during lunch & after school 2:30 - 3:30pm

Stitching Club (Full): Wednesdays 2:20 - 3:30pm

From Leadership: For our Veterans Day assembly this year we would like to put together a video. If you would like to share any Veterans that you have in your family we will try and recognize them. You could also make a short video clip answering - what does Veterans Day mean to you? and email it to Mrs. Harrington at aharrington@stanwood.wednet.edu

As the weather forecasts indicate, we may see cold weather this winter. I wanted to share with you how we make the determination to delay or close schools due to ice, snow, flooding, etc.

• Safety first! We consider the safety of our children on buses, our student drivers, families driving and walking to school, and the safety of our staff, especially our bus drivers.

• We monitor weather patterns using multiple methods 24/7. In particular, we use a tool called Accuweather that is specifically designed to support school districts in looking ahead at weather patterns.

• When there is a concern about school starting on time, our staff begins driving the roads throughout the district as early as 2 a.m. We take photos, check road conditions, monitor traffic, look for hazards, etc. We typically drive the roads multiple times in the early morning to determine if conditions are improving, worsening, or staying the same.

• We strive to decide about the school day by 5 a.m. Once the decision is made, we begin communicating with families and staff. We communicate through:

  • Autodialer (via School Messenger)

  • Email (via School Messenger)

  • Website

  • Flash Alert

Predicting the weather is a challenge, and our primary goal is to ensure that the roads are safe, our campuses are easy to navigate, and the weather does not impede a safe school day. Find the 2022-23 snow routes HERE.

Monday:

Regular Schedule

Advisory Quarter 1 Reflection

*New Quarter - 6th grade exploratory rotates

Tuesday:

Regular Schedule

Academic Focus Advisory

Basketball @ Stanwood Middle

Wednesday:

White Wednesday

Thursday:

Regular Schedule

Advisory - Veterans Day Assembly (gym)

Basketball @ Mt. Baker Middle

Friday:

NO School - Veterans Day

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

October 16th

October 23rd

October 30th

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.