Two teams from Perkiomen Valley Middle School West participated in the 24th annual Montgomery County Intermediate Unit Reading Olympics competition on March 1st, 2023 held via Zoom, again, this year. MCIU Reading Olympics is a countywide reading event that encourages students to increase the quality and quantity of books they read for enjoyment. The Reading Olympics Program is based upon the belief that good reading habits form the foundation for a productive and successful life. This program is currently active in schools in Berks, Bucks, Carbon, Chester, Delaware, Lancaster, Lehigh, and Montgomery Counties.

This year's event featured nearly thirty teams from sixteen middle schools in Montgomery County. The teams of sixth-, seventh-, and eighth-grade students read a combined total of forty-six books since the beginning of the school year and answered questions about them during the competition. Our students designed their team logo, which was printed on t-shirts by PV Ink, the high school's student-led printing club. This year's participants were The Best of West team members Alexis Alderfer, Addison Drace, Harika Nandipati, Srividya Karra, Brennan Sibel, Lucy Parlatore, and Grady Roecker. Colin Arnold, Olivia Gerhart, Emilie Knee, Rithwik Kuttikkatt, Niniola Oladiran, Sannidhi Satrusalya, and Jackson Skonier participated as The READING OLYMPIANS team. Congratulations to our amazing bibliophiles! We are PV-proud!

As part of the district’s annual assessment schedule, all secondary students participate in STAR Reading assessments and students enrolled in grades 6-8, Algebra I, Geometry, Algebra II, and Math Concepts participate in STAR Math assessments. These assessments are administered three times per school year, with the second of the three assessment periods concluding the end of this past month. The assessments assist teachers and administrators in making instructional decisions to best meet the needs of each student.

It is our goal to inform parents/guardians of their child’s results on these assessments. STAR score reports will be coming home with your students today. If your child did not receive their scores today they will receive their scores on Monday of next week. We encourage you to review the results with your child. The reports are for your records and do not need to be returned to school. Thank You.

Join Us For An Evening of

Learning, Laughter, Movie Magic, andFun!

Thursday, March 9, 2023, 6:00pm-8:00pm

Perkiomen Valley Middle School East

5 Tammanund Circle, Collegeville, PA

Note: All students must be accompanied by a parent or guardian

Tickets not required. All are welcome!

To assist us in planning for this event, we ask that you indicate your

interest using the link below. This will help us ensure

appropriate staffing and materials!

We are grateful to the parents who attended our Middle School Principal Roundtable last Wednesday Night. After you review the presentation as well as the research reports; please provide us with your feedback through this survey.

https://forms.gle/MPxuxWfDYYSWyFZo6

Middle level administration is considering the following changes.

• Wearing ID Badges throughout the day.

• Blocking all Chromebook apps and extensions unless pre-approved by the District Office to prevent students from getting around our filter with a 3rd party extension.

• All backpacks are placed in student lockers to limit what students carry throughout the day.

• All cell phones to be placed in lockers throughout the day.

PV West Home & School Spring Spirit Wear Sale is now OPEN!

Orders must be placed by March 19th. Delivery of items will be approximately 3 weeks after the sale closes.

A portion of each sale benefits the West Home & School.

Link to sale: https://pvwest23.itemorder.com/shop/home/

Please contact Jodi Lieb (jodilieb@verizon.net) with any questions.

If you would like to volunteer at any events that Home and School may have in the Spring, please email pvmswesths@gmail.com

Mark your calendars! 8th Graders at PV East and West will be traveling to Washington, DC on Monday, May 15th. This will be an extended day, departing 6:15 AM and returning by 8:45PM on coach buses. We will be looking for some interested parents to chaperone. Parent chaperones will need to have all of their clearances. More information regarding cost, itinerary, as well as sign up will be coming in the near future.

Homework Club takes place next Tuesday and Thursday afternoon from 2:30 - 3:45pm in the West library. Homework Club will provide a quiet, comfortable, and supportive setting for students to complete school work and become better organized. Students will receive assistance and support when needed. School resources will also be provided for all students in attendance. There is no sign-up required. If students are attending they can report directly to the Library after school on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

• 4:00pm Departure (outside main office) - Monday through Thursday
• 5:00pm Departure (outside gym entrance) - Monday through Thursday

For each day students intend to take either the 4:00pm or 5:30pm activity bus, they are asked to inform the school district and bus company for routing purposes using the electronic form provided. The form links are below and also available to students via the PV LaunchPad - Classlink. Students must submit their information each morning by 10:00 am if they intend to ride the afternoon activity bus that day.

• MSW - https://forms.gle/xGSV1Ry1euTJTQsx8

PV Power Packs is a weekend food program for students experiencing food insecurity. Bags of food, including 2 breakfast items, 2 lunch items, 2 snacks, and 2 fruits, are sent home with students prior to every weekend. There is no financial information required to participate in this program and students pick up their bags from their counselor or designated person every week.

Sign up for your child(ren) to receive a Power Packs bag by filling out this form: 2022-23 Power Packs or by emailing PowerPacks@pvsd.org.

Learn more about Power Packs at https://www.pvsd.org/families/pv-power-packs/ and follow us on Facebook @PVPowerPacks.

IMPORTANT DATES FOR SPRING SPORTS

Spring sports registration must occur by FEBRUARY 21.

First day of Middle School Sports is MARCH 13.

If the spring sports season will be the first sport of participation at PV this school year: Registration for spring sports must occur by February 21. This can be done at http://www.planeths.com. In addition to registering, student-athletes must have a PIAA physical examination done by a doctor and the proper paperwork completed by the doctor. In order to count for the 2023 school year, the physical must occur June 1, 2022 or later. The form is found on www.planeths.com when you register.

If the spring sports season is your second or third sport season this school year: Complete section 8 Spring Recertification at http://www.planeths.com by February 21. If there has been a change to your health history or an injury since completing your last physical, an additional section 9 form is required as well. This does require a clearance from a doctor.

Parents of 6th grade students, please know that you are required to submit a physical form for your child during this school year. In addition, if your child receives any immunizations, please submit those as well. Prior to the start of 7th grade, your child will need to receive the Tdap and Meningitis vaccinations, so now is a good time to get those immunizations!

Parents of 7th grade students are required to submit a dental form for your child.

The school physician and the school dentist will be at Middle School West in the Spring of 2023, and your child will be seen by them if the proper form is not handed in prior.

We are a collaboration of community leaders, clinicians, students, school district representatives, and families who believe that having meaningful, inclusive conversations about substance use and addiction will support individuals and their families in their efforts to develop healthy coping skills and access support whenever there is a need. Learn more about us. See the link below for a number of programs that Be a Part of the Conversation offers.

If your child will be absent or missing any class time, please send an email (from the email you have listed in our new SIS system) to:

MSWAttendance@pvsd.org

This will count as your call-out AND parent excuse. Please indicate in your email the date of absence, student’s grade and the reason for the absence. An absence is considered unexcused when the child’s school has not received an email or written parent note providing an acceptable reason for the absence, within a 3-day period.

You may also call our attendance line at: 1 (484) 977-7210, option 1. If you do this, you would still need to submit an email with the above information in order for it to be excused.

Any medical notes or Dr.'s notes should be placed in the Attendance Box, right outside the Guidance Department.

If you have any questions at all, please contact Lori Tropea at ltropea@pvsd.org or you may call her at x3540.

Parents/Guardians put money in their student(s) accounts electronically in SchoolCafe or by sending cash or checks in with their students. For more information about SchoolCafe please go to https://www.pvsd.org/departments/food-service/school-cafe-information/. If you are sending funds in with your students, please note the students’ names and account number on the envelope and ask them to give the envelope to their cashier in the cafeteria.

Upon entering the serving area, students make their selections and enter their 6 digit Student ID number on the pin pad or scanner. Our staff will be happy to help them become more comfortable with the system.

988 has been designated as the new three-digit dialing code that will route callers to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (now known as the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline), and is now active across the United States.

When people call, text, or chat 988, they will be connected to trained counselors that are part of the existing Lifeline network. These trained counselors will listen, understand how their problems are affecting them, provide support, and connect them to resources if necessary. Please see below for more information.

The previous Lifeline phone number (1-800-273-8255) will always remain available to people in emotional distress or suicidal crisis.

Want to find out what’s going on in the PV Community? Visit here for flyers about upcoming events in and around our area!

To submit an event for posting, please send a PDF version of your flyer to webmaster@pvsd.org for review.

Please note that Community Bulletin Board items may contain links to websites of organizations outside Perkiomen Valley School District. Items are posted to this bulletin board as a free service to the community, and should not be interpreted as being sponsored or endorsed by the district.

Monday March 6th - PVSD Board Work Session; Education & Finance Committees @ 7pm in PVHS Library

Tuesday March 7th - PVSD Wellness Committee Meeting @ 3:45pm in PVHS Library; Homework Club @ 2:30pm in LGI 123; PVSD Community Conversation - Safety & Security @ 7pm in Evergreen Elementary Cafetorium

Thursday March 9th - Homework Club @ 2:30pm in LGI 123; K-8 Family Night @ 6pm at PVMS East

Friday March 10th - Author Jordan Sonnenblick visit to West; Willy Wonka Jr. performance at 7pm in West Auditorium

Saturday March 11th - Willy Wonka Jr. performance at 6pm in West Auditorium

Sunday March 12th - Willy Wonka Jr. performance at 2pm in West Auditorium

For more details on the 22/23 school year go to the 22/23 Instructional Calendar