Port Susan Middle School
Student & Family Update 01/30/2022
Semester 2 Begins
Thank you for your continued support throughout this school year. As always, please reach out with any questions &/or concerns.
Opportunities for Students
Third Season Sports
Third season's start date has changed to Monday February 7th. Google Sign-ups are available on Grade-level Google Classrooms. Girls Basketball is for 7th and 8th graders, Wrestling is Girls and Boys grades 6th, 7th, and 8th. In order to register for the season, please use this link: Girls Basketball and Wrestling Registration Form (Third Season)
Our office will need to have a hard copy of your athlete's physical as well as the emergency authorization form. If you have these on file from one of the first sports seasons, we do not need another copy.
As we enter this third sports season, you may be aware that the district continues to struggle with transportation. When we are not able to schedule a bus, we use vans and parents to help transport students to their away contests. If you are able to drive your athlete to away games/matches, please fill out this form: Parent Transportation Waiver for Middle School Sports.
Finally, both basketball and wrestling are considered high-risk sports. Updated Requirements effective immediately: To support in-person learning and to maximize limited COVID testing supplies for symptomatic students and staff as well as close contacts participating in Test-to-Stay or returning from quarantine, DOH is changing the testing frequency for high-contact sports.
Schools/districts will now be required to:
Test athletes in high-contact sports the day of competition only and exclude those who test positive. Testing of asymptomatic athletes three times a week is no longer required. By way of reminder, a student-athlete does not need to test if they have tested positive and recovered from COVID in the last 90 days.
Ensure universal masking of all athletes during all practices/training for these high-risk sports.
Coaches, trainers, and staff will not be required to be tested but MUST wear masks in all practices/training AND competitions.
Please provide your consent online by using this google form: Consent Form for Rapid COVID-19 Antigen Test
Week of January 31st through February 4th
Monday:
Regular Schedule
Advisory - Lesson
Tuesday:
Regular Schedule
Advisory - Homework Support
Wednesday:
WHITE Wednesday Schedule
Thursday:
Regular Schedule
Advisory - Homework Support
Friday:
Regular Schedule
Advisory - Homework Support
Red/White Schedule
Thank you for all you do!
Cherae Almanza, Principal
Crysty Auckland, Assistant Principal
Our commitment
At PSMS, high quality teaching and learning means that we are a community of learners including both students and staff. Teachers provide routine and structures along with the belief that ALL students have the ability to learn.
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
Garry Carlson (6-7 Math) gcarlson@stanwood.wednet.edu
Charlene Franck (7 ELA & 6-8 Art) CFranck@stanwood.wednet.edu
Grace Gale (6 Science & 6-8 STEM/Robotics) GGale@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
Deborah Hepper (6/7 Social Studies/History) DHepper@stanwood.wednet.edu
Seth Hills (6/8 History) 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
Crysty Auckland (Athletic Director/Assistant Principal) cauckland@stanwood.wednet.edu
Cherae Almanza (Principal) calmanza@stanwood.wednet.edu
District Information
Highly Capable Program - Parent Nomination
Nominations for the Highly Capable Program will reopen on February 3, 2022. This would be for placement in the 2022-23 school year. You can find more information about the SCSD Highly Capable Program here.
The Stanwood-Camano School District's Highly Capable Program serves students in grades K-12 who perform or show potential for performing at significantly advanced academic levels when compared to others of their age, experiences, or environments.
Please consider making a nomination if you believe that your students is performing significantly above grade level in reading and/or math and possesses the following learning characteristics:
- Capacity to learn with unusual depth of understanding;
- Capacity to retain what has been learned and to transfer to new situations;
- Capacity and willingness to deal with increasing levels of complexity;
- Capacity to make unusual connections among ideas and concepts;
- Capacity for learning at an accelerated rate;
- Capacity for intense concentration and/or focus.
If you wish to nominate your student please read and retain the description of the Identification Procedures from the materials packet. These forms will be available online or at your student’s school office.
Complete and return the Nomination for Highly Capable Services form to:
Stanwood Camano School District
Highly Capable Program
26920 Pioneer Highway
Stanwood WA 98292
The District Selection Committee will screen all nominations. If your child is eligible for assessment, the Highly Capable Program Coordinator will contact you to obtain your consent for assessment.
District Logo Contest for Students 6-12th Grade
Students in grades 6-12 are invited to participate in a special contest to create a new logo for the Stanwood-Camano School District.
We are excited to have a new graphic created by one of our own that represents our students, staff, families, and community.
What are we looking for?
We are seeking a new logo that reflects our unique district, highlighting Stanwood and Camano Island, its people, and its geography.
What makes a good logo?
A good logo should be:
Simple
Memorable
Timeless
Versatile
Appropriate
When designing, imagine how your logo might look in different sizes and colors, even in black and white. (A circular format often works best.)
Where will people see the new logo?
Stanwood-Camano school district will use the new logo on the district website, social media announcements, district letterhead, and publications. In other words, people will see it everywhere!
What colors should be used?
Our high school’s traditional colors are red, white, and gray. Please consider any or all of these in your color palette to create your logo design. You are also welcome to create a new color palette as well.
Who decides which logo is selected?
Groups of teachers and administrators will join a committee to narrow the entries down to a smaller number. There will be a vote to see which design our community prefers before making a final decision.
What happens if my logo is selected?
Here is the exciting part! You will have the opportunity to work with the creative design team at Madak, a market agency in Stanwood, to refine and complete the design.
How should I begin?
View examples of school district logos in our area. Here are some school districts you may want to consider searching for: Stanwood Camano School District, Arlington Public Schools, Bellingham Public Schools, Everett Public Schools, Oak Harbor Public Schools, and Mukilteo School District.
Get creative! Choose how you will showcase your design. Here are some possible ideas: paper, poster board, colored pencils, markers, or paint, Google Drawings, Canva, or Adobe Creative Cloud.
What is the submission process?
Paper and poster board:
Submit to Craig Degginger, Director of Communications, Stanwood-Camano School District, 26920 Pioneer Highway, Stanwood, WA 98292. Attach your first and last name to your design.
Digital designs:
Email to scsdinfo@stanwood.wednet.edu.
All submissions are due February 28th, 2022.
We look forward to seeing all of your creative logo designs! For more information, visit https://www.stanwood.wednet.edu/news/logo_design_contest
Craig Degginger
Stanwood Camano School District
Director of Communications
Levy Information
The District is proposing a four-year replacement Capital Projects and Technology Levy on the February 8, 2022 ballot to replace an expiring levy. The proposed local school tax is expected to decrease from current levels. Levies require a simple majority for approval.
The Capital Projects and Technology (Cap/Tech) levy covers two areas:
• Facility improvements and updates that are beyond a general repair or regular maintenance but fall short of bond-level funding needs.
• Instructional technology and related staffing, professional development and technology infrastructure.
Approximately 50 percent of the funds is expected to be used for long-term facility needs, such as:
• New roof at Cedarhome Elementary;
• Replacement fire sprinkler lines at Utsalady and Elger Bay Elementary Schools;
• Portable maintenance at Port Susan, including new roofs, paint and siding repair;
• Upgraded public address systems at Stanwood Middle and Stanwood Elementary Schools;
• Various projects to improve student safety, such as fencing and sidewalks.
Approximately 50 percent of the funds is expected to upgrade technology used for student learning at all schools. Projects include:
• Replacing aging classroom computers, chromebooks and software licenses;
• Maintaining infrastructure that supports technology for student learning, for example, servers, wifi and network;
• Provide for staffing to maintain and operate district technology.
What has SCSD accomplished with local funds?
• Increased the number of computer labs, mobile labs and student-accessible technology at each school;
• Increased the curricular tools and online educational resources;
• Provided professional development and technical support to staff that impacts teaching and learning;
• Replaced fire alarm systems at Cedarhome, Twin City and Stanwood Elementary;
• Playground safety improvements at Cedarhome, Elger Bay and Utsalady Elementary;
• Renovation and roof replacement for the SHS Transition Program facility;
• Seismic upgrades for Stanwood Middle School.
Please remember to vote by February 8
Snohomish and Island Counties conduct all elections through mail-in ballots. The ballots for the February 8, 2022 election must be postmarked (mailing is free) or placed in a ballot drop site by 8 p.m. on Tuesday, February 8, 2022. Ballot drop boxes are located near the Stanwood Library, 9701 271st St. NW and on Camano Island at 121 N. East Camano Drive.