Saturday, March 26 at Shuksan Middle School, 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.

Appointments & walk ups available. Sign up online.

A $25 gift card will be provided to all individuals who get vaccinated at this event, courtesy of the Bellingham Public Schools Foundation.

Pete Lupo is a 6th grade CORE (Social Studies and Language Arts) teacher, and has been at Kulshan for 12 years. An area that Pete thinks deeply about within his classroom is creating an environment that is both intellectually and socially safe for learning. This is a hallmark of culturally responsive teaching. At Kulshan, like many schools across our country, will often see the arrival of students from other countries who are becoming multilingual learners. They may be fluent in another language and developing a second or third language at our school.

When a student arrived into Mr. Lupo's Tbird class, a student asked if the new student spoke English, Mr. Lupo talked to the class about how the student's home language is Spanish and so the student is in the process of learning English. After answering questions and having a conversation about how to create a sense of belonging for someone new to our community, Mr. Lupo's class came together and decided that they would all embark on their own language learning journey. Whether it was learning a new language of their interest or learning the native language of the new student in their classroom so they could communicate, students began learning using Duolingo. When interviewing a student in Lupo's class, they remarked "we wanted to go through the process of learning a new language, so [one of our new students] didn't feel alone". The student continued, "by learning multiple languages together, it ensures that no one feels left out". Further, Mr. Lupo also took additional steps to include his new student by providing translated versions of his lessons so that all kids can access the instructional content. Another benefit to all students is that they see the connections between their native language, English, and the Spanish translation within the lesson, supporting all types of language development in the classroom setting.

In short, the kids in Mr. Lupo's class are living out our value of kindness to ensure that new students feel welcomed and supported. Much of this is due to Mr. Lupo's leadership, modeling how to make changes in own practice to provide educational access to all and spending time to talk with kids about how to ensure that every student feel a sense of belonging. These moments in Mr. Lupo’s TBird time recognize the differences among people, that they are a source of strength, and we all benefit from taking time to acknowledge them.

Questions to ask your kids:

• Have you been new to a group of people, a class, or a school? What did you feel during that experience? What would you have appreciated?
• When you notice someone is new to a group, what are the actions we can take to ensure they have a sense of belonging?
• How do you support others in their learning within our Kulshan community?

Our Kulshan PE teachers will be sharing out the Human Growth and Development and HIV lessons that we will be teaching this Spring. Washington State requires HIV/AIDS prevention education for all students, and families are often curious about the materials and information that will be shared with students. Our PE teachers teach specific lessons which can be previewed here. As always, families may opt their child out of these Human Growth and Development & HIV/AIDS lessons. Please let your child's PE teacher know in writing if that is your choice. Thank you!

Meagan Dawson, Principal

Kevin Terpstra, Assistant Principal

Aaron Tiger, Counselor

Michelle Strobel, Counselor

Tatiana Samora, Registrar Я говорю на русском языке.

Jeneen Durand, Attendance Secretary

Elsa Powell, Family Liaison Hablo español.

Family Handbook in English

Family Handbook in Spanish

Kulshan Middle School 1250 Kenoyer Drive Bellingham, WA 98229 360-676-4886