Last week was a fun week for students & staff. Coming together as a community to show our school spirit also provided us a chance to share our similarities, showcase our creativity, and celebrate the joy of being together!

Next week is an unusual week with two non-student days. Thursday, November 11th we recognize the men and women who have served in the Armed Forces as we celebrate Veterans Day. To all in our Tumwater community who have served, please accept our gratitude for your service.

Friday, November 12th is the Quarter 1 Grading Day during which teachers will assess student work and enter grades summarizing student progress so far. For most TMS classes, the 9 week grade is a progress report at the halfway point of the semester. The progress report is intended as a way for students and families to monitor student progress and plan for the remainder of the semester. For semester-long classes, only the semester grade issued in February is reflected on the student transcript. After the grading day, you will be able to access the progress reports in TeacherVue/StudentVue report card tab. If you have questions about the marks in a specific class, please ask your child, check ParentVue gradebook, and/or contact your child's teacher. All teacher email addresses are firstname_lastname@beaverton.k12.or.us

It is difficult to believe that it has been nine weeks since we opened our doors. I appreciate how students, staff, and families have successfully worked together to make a successful return to everyday, in person learning while also building a new school community. Thank you for your willingness to partner with TMS to support your child as we learn and grow together.

Warmly,

Jill O'Neill

Thurs., Nov. 4th - Picture Retake Day

Tues., Nov. 9th

- 8th Grade Pre-ACT Test

- 5th Grade Family Open House (virtual), 6:30 - 7:30 pm

Thurs., Nov. 11th - Veterans' Day, School Closed

Fri., Nov. 12th - Grading Day, No school for students

Be sure to check the calendar on ParentSquare and our school website (scroll to the bottom of the home page) for the school all school events.

The Beaverton School District will be offering weekly, take-home tests to screen for COVID-19. The tests are free to families. This will become available to Tumwater students on November 19th.

We will continue to enroll students in the program next week, but they may not be able to participate in the first week of testing. The next enrollment period will be November 8 - December 3.

For additional information, please review the packet your child brought home and visit the BSD COVID-19 Protocol Information webpage and open the "COVID-19 Testing" tab under Frequently Asked Questions.

Picture Retake Day is Thursday, November 4th. Retake Day is for students who were absent or not yet enrolled on Picture Day. It is also for students who purchased a picture package but wish to exchange it for a new picture and for students who wish to purchase a picture package for the first time. Picture order forms are available in the student information center by the main office and online here. Dorian will email portrait packages directly home.

Currently 6th Grade is leading the competition with 315 points, 8th grade is in 2nd place with 277 points, but 7th grade isn't far behind with 265 points. Students will have the chance to win points all year long through school spirit events.

Below are some highlights of Spirit Week - check out our Instagram for more fun pictures!

This year's STEM Fair will be virtual. The purpose of the fair is to share ideas and appreciation for the effort individuals, partners, and teams spend using science, technology, engineering, and math to create new opportunities, and offer solutions that enrich people's lives. Learn more about how to participate in this year's Science & Engineering Fair here.

The Science Bowl Competition will be held on January 29, 2022. It is a fast-paced competition where teams compete to answer questions in Biology, Chemistry, Earth and Space Science, Energy, Mathematics, and Physics. A team includes 5 players (only 4 players play at a time with 1 sub).

Tryouts involve taking an online qualifying test made of Science Bowl questions from previous competitions. The qualifying test will be available on Wednesday, Nov. 10 from 7-7:30 pm. Five people will be selected for the team, which will practice via Zoom, on Wednesdays from 7-7:30 pm with Advisory Susan Duncan. If you are interested in trying out for the Science Bowl Competition, register here so a link to the qualifying test will be emailed to you.

• Wear bright reflective clothing when walking or rolling.
• Don’t assume people driving will see you.
• Make eye contact before crossing in front of vehicles.
• Be alert! Keep eyes and ears open, especially while crossing the street.
• Cyclists should make sure to have lights and wear helmets – it is the law.
• Driving or biking? Use extra caution and slowdown in the dark and rain.
• And remember, do not text and drive!

Our challenge to drivers this month is to "Use the U!" Our drop off area is marked by yellow paint on the curbs. It begins just after the crosswalk and continues all the way around the U-shaped driveway until it loops back to the crosswalk. Drivers who pull as far forward as possible help to clear the backup on the street and intersection. Students can be dropped off or picked up anywhere along the U.

To help keep traffic moving, please do not drop off or pick up your child in the zone marked with a red curb before the crosswalk. Also, note that during arrival and dismissal, there are no left turns permitted before the crosswalk. This area is marked with an orange cone - do not drive around it into oncoming traffic.

Drivers are asked to follow our Safe Routes to School plans and only drop students off and pick them up in the parking lot. Congestion on 118th and the parking lot driveway are being made worse by cars picking up or dropping off students near the school, but not in the safety zone designated. U-turns on 118th are presenting a hazard to our students and other drivers. Keep in mind that some of our students are only one year away from getting their driver's permits. When it comes to following the rules of the road, our actions speak much louder than our words. Thank you for keeping our community safe and modeling safe driving for our future drivers.

The TMS PTO is proud to announce a new method to stay informed on PTO news: our blog subscription! Head to www.tumwaterpto.org and scroll down for the "Subscribe" section. Community members can enter their name & email address to be added to our distribution list. Once you have confirmed your subscription, our latest blog updates will land in your inbox on the day they post. This is an optional method for those parents wanting the current updates as soon as possible.

PLEASE KNOW: We value your privacy and your inbox. You will only receive one blog email a day, regardless of how many times we post. Your middle schooler may not share, but we sure will!

Dear BSD Families,

We understand that it can be challenging to access current information regarding your child’s schooling in your own language. We do our best to send out messages about important updates, especially during these challenging times. However, you can access the BSD website — and specifically, our return-to-school page — at any time. Below, we’ve included a link that will take you to our website, where you’ll find it already translated into your language. Please know, the translation is generated by Google Translate. It’s not perfect, but we do hope it’s helpful.

If you need additional assistance, please contact our Multilingual Department at 503-356-3755.

View the BSD website in Arabic قم بزيارة الموقع الإلكتروني للقطاع التعليمي لمدارس بيفرتون باللغة العربية

View the BSD website in Chinese 请浏览中文版的BSD网站

View the BSD website Japanese BSDウェブサイトを日本語で見る

View the BSD website in Korean. 한국어로 된 BSD 웹사이트를 보십시오.

View the BSD website in Russian Посмотрите веб-сайт школьного округа Бивертон на русском

View the BSD website in Somali Ka fiiri bogga BSD ee ku qoran af-Soomaali

View the BSD website in Spanish Vea la página web del Distrito Escolar de Beaverton en español

View the BSD website in Vietnamese. Xem trang mạng BSD bằng tiếng Việt