PTMS Weekly Parent Newsletter

May 8-18 - Floral Formal Spring Dance Tickets on sale before/after school and during break/lunch - this Parent Permission Slip and Student ID are required to purchase the $10 ticket

May 15 - Single Period Day

May 15 - Spring STAR Reading Testing in English Classes

May 18 - Floral Formal Spring Dance - 5:00-7:00 p.m. - Quad

May 18-19 - Spring STAR Math Testing in Math Classes

Wolfpack families,

What a wonderful week it has been. On behalf of our entire staff, we want to say thank you to you and to our PTSA for the kindness, care and certainly amazing amount of food we have been provided all week long! The educators on our campus have one thing in common - we all show up every day because we care for kids. This begins with Mr. John, our campus security, who keeps students safe as they use the crosswalk, extends to our office staff who every day supports students and parents with so many different issues, and includes our custodial team led by Mr. Lamarr Devers who keeps our facility looking impeccable. Certainly our teachers, counselors and instructional assistants play a vital role in the success of our students and show care and compassion for your students each and every day. We do this because we love students, because we had some great educators along the way, or because we want to be the teacher that we needed when we were younger. While our "why" may differ, the intention is the same - give students what they need to be their best selves. To have students and parents show kindness and gratitude this week means a lot, so please know that we say "thank you" to you. We love Pacific Trails, we love what we do, and we are grateful to have amazing parents and community members like you who support our work.

Thank you so much to Tracy Acers & Melissa Ladendorf for planning and implementing the week. Their tireless effort brought great smiles and joy to our entire staff! Thank you to the families who contributed and to our entire PTSA who have supported this week's efforts. Remember if you wish to get involved, please join our PTSA. There are so many ways to support and we always love parental involvement at Pacific Trails Middle School.

As we prepare for the final weeks, there is a lot of information we want you to have. This includes Chromebook returns, Promotion information and more. I know that we often get bombarded with emails from so many places, but please take time to read the information we are sharing so that you can best prepare for the final weeks of school.

Finally, to all of the mothers, stepmothers, grandmothers, aunts and beautifully powerful and inspirational women who support our students, thank you! I wish you a relaxing Mother's Day, and hope you know how appreciated you are.

Have a wonderful weekend and see you Monday.

In gratitude,

Scott

STAR Testing

This year, all students will participate in the Renaissance Star Reading and Star Math academic universal screening tests to measure student’s learning and growth over the school year. The STAR tests help our schools and teachers evaluate student performance and progress over time in order to provide the necessary student support.

STAR Reading and STAR Math are both short (30 minutes), low stakes, computer adaptive, academic assessments. STAR assessments help teachers better understand what students know and can do in the areas of reading and math. As a student takes the test, the software selects items based on the student’s responses. If the student answers correctly, the next item will be more difficult. If the student answers incorrectly, the next item will be less difficult. By adjusting the difficulty of the items based on a student's responses, the assessment is an accurate way to help teachers identify what skills students are ready to learn. Teachers use this information to guide their instruction.

Scores will be posted by the district in Aeries once they are available.

Spring STAR Testing Dates

• STAR Reading: Monday, May 15th, in English classes

• STAR Math: Thursday, May 18th or Friday, May 19th, in Math classes

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

Kathryn Freeman

kathryn.freeman@sduhsd.net

Summer School and transportation applications are due next Friday, May 19th! The 4th Quarter D/F notification grades are available to view in Aeries. Please check your student’s grades in your Aeries parent portal. If you see that your student is earning a D or F grade in either math or English, we encourage you to enroll your student in summer school. If your student ends the semester with a passing grade, we can drop them from the summer school class. If you need more information about summer school and/or an application, please visit the SDUHSD Summer School page. Please be sure to return your student’s summer school application by Friday, May 19th, 2023 to the counseling office or to ptcourseselection@sduhsd.net.

Yesterday (May 11th) was the ADL’s official No Place For Hate day and it also coincided with PTMS once again achieving accreditation as a No Place For Hate School! To celebrate, our student-led committee enjoyed a lunch party this week in the Wellness Center and were awarded certificates for their commitment and hard work. Thank you to our student leaders for this great achievement in helping to make our campus a safer, more inclusive space.

If you were not able to attend the district wide College and Career Night, all sessions were recorded and can be accessed at the link below. The event was a great success, and provided important college and career planning information for all students in SDUHSD!

• All breakout session recordings and presentations

Lisa Curry, Counselor (A-Ne) lisa.curry@sduhsd.net

Carsen Murt, Counselor (Ng-Z and EL Students) carsen.murt@sduhsd.net

Samantha Eels-Taylor, Student Support Facilitator samantha.eelstaylor@sduhsd.net

Please remind your students to bring a refillable water bottle to school every day! Having water bottles with them will keep them hydrated, reduce the time they have to stand in drink lines, and increase instruction time!

There are many, many items that have landed in our Lost & Found bins and MUST be purged! This week and next Monday through Wednesday, these items will be out on the blocks of the front patio (where students are dropped-off and/or picked-up). Please take a moment to look through them and if you find your missing item, please claim it.

All unclaimed items still there by Wednesday afternoon will be donated to charity.

Wednesday, May 31st, is 8th Grade Promotion beginning at 10:30 a.m. in the quad. Click here for the bell schedule for that day.

Here are some important details:

- May 31st is a REGULAR SCHOOL DAY. Eighth graders are expected to arrive and attend their morning classes as usual then be escorted to the quad with the rest of their Homeroom class to the quad for Promotion. Students not in their morning classes will be considered truant unless a parent has contacted Attendance (PTAttendance@sduhsdnet) to excuse them.

- What should my student wear? It's a special occasion! Make it special by dressing for it. But please leave the tuxedos and ball gowns at home.

- If parents wish to take their promoting 8th grader home immediately following Promotion, their absence from the afternoon classes must be cleared by completing this form. You can also complete this form by using the QR code above and to the right. You can do it right now if you already know you are taking your 8th grader home after Promotion. You do not have to wait until Promotion Day to complete the form or let Attendance know. This form DOES let Attendance know. Otherwise, 8th graders will be expected to attend their afternoon classes after Promotion. Eighth graders not in their afternoon classes and who have not been cleared by a parent will be marked truant.

- Parking. There is limited space in the staff parking lot here at PTMS, but you are also welcome to park over in the CCA parking lot. DO NOT PARK IN THE CIRCULAR DRIVEWAY. If you require Handicap Parking, we will have a few parking spots coned off in the PTMS parking lot for people who reserve a Handicap Parking Spot. To reserve a Handicap Parking Spot, please click here.

- There will be no seating, so if you wish to sit, please plan on bringing your own (beach chair, blanket, etc.). There will be limited seating for disabled persons and we ask that only the disabled person be seated there, not the whole family.

- Parents will be permitted into the quad for Promotion no earlier than 10:00 a.m. Promotion begins at 10:30 a.m. and will last 45 minutes to an hour.

- Parents requiring ASL Accommodation, please contact Lisa Graciano@sduhsd.net as soon as possible.

- June 1st and 2nd are REGULAR SCHOOL DAYS. June 1st is a Single Period Day and June 2nd is a Minimum Day. Please see this bell schedule for bell times.

- June 1st is our 8th Grade Knott's Berry Farm Good Citizenship Trip. Eighth graders not going to Knott's are expected to attend classes as usual. Please contact the PTAttendance@sduhsd.net if your student will be absent.

- June 2nd is the Last Day of School. It is a Minimum Day (see bell schedule here). Eighth graders will receive their Promotion Certifications on this day.

- Can I get a Promotion Yard Sign? Yes. Yard signs are now being sold on our Spirit Wear Webstore. Orders placed after May 26th, however, may not reach you by the last day of school, so order soon!

This year we are collecting both 7th and 8th grade Chromebooks, in preparation for all of our students getting brand new Chromebooks in August.

8th-grade collection (through English classes):

Thursday, 5/25 (periods 1,3,5)

Friday, 5/26 (periods 2,4,6)

7th-grade collection (through math classes):

Tuesday, 5/30 (single period day)

Thursday, 6/1 (single period day)

Important information:

• Chromebook check-in takes time - each student must check in with a staff member in the Learning Commons to make sure that everything works.

• Chromebooks must be in working order (any repairs will be diagnosed by the IT department and a bill will be sent home) - See Chromebook repairs and insurance information

• Chromebooks must be turned in with stylus and charger. If your student has lost a stylus or charger, a bill will be sent home over the summer (stylus is $25 and charger is $28)

• Chromebooks should be free of all non-district stickers and sticker residue, and the student's first and last name should be clearly visible on their name label. (There will be fees for Chromebooks turned in with stickers/residue/graffiti.)

PARENT VOLUNTEERS NEEDED

We need two (2) parents per period to help manage lines in the Learning Commons during Chromebook Collection. If you are interested, please click here to sign-up. Feel free to sign-up for more than one slot if you wish. Thank you in advance for helping out. Don't forget to check-in at the office (have your ID ready) before going to the Learning Commons to help out.

Yearbooks will be distributed to 8th graders during their 5th period classes on Thursday, May 25th.

Yearbooks will be distributed to 7th graders during their Homeroom classes on Friday, May 26th.

IF there are any unsold Yearbooks AFTER all pre-orders have been distributed, they will be on sale for $50 on a first-come, first-served basis beginning after school is out on Friday.

Eighth grade students are invited to join us for a Yearbook Signing Party after school on Thursday, May 25th, from 2:45 - 3:45 pm.

The last Academic Power Hour of the school year is scheduled for Thursday, May 25th.

Every Wednesday, during Homeroom, the PTMS ASB/Leadership class presents the Weekly Wolfpack Howl Student Announcements.

You can check it out on the Students tab of our website and click the link entitled "Student Announcements" for a running post of each week's announcements.

Our last dance of the school year, the Spring Floral Formal, is being held on Thursday, May 18, from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. in the quad. Ticket sales begin on Monday, May 8, and will end on Thursday, May 18, at 3:15 p.m. Tickets will not be sold at the door.

Tickets cost $10 each and students must have this signed parent permission/contract and physical student ID card to buy a ticket. Tickets can be purchased from Vetha in the front office before/after school, during break/lunch, or at the ASB tables during lunch only. If your student has lost their ID card, a new one can be purchased with Vetha in the front office for $5.00. Student ID card is required to get into the dance.

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED - we have various shifts and station assistant needs for the dance. If you are interested in helping out, please click here.

Please follow us on Instagram to see what your student is up to during PE class.

The Garden Club planted a lot of ploinater and sensory plants in the last bed and is ready to apply for the Monarch Waystation Certification which will be filled out next week. With four beds planted and a working irrigation system in place, we guarantee that the plants will survive over the summer break when there is no rain and students are not present to take care of them.

The Garden Club is planning on sending/delivering thank you cards to all individuals and organizations who assisted them in this amazing project. It has been a fulfilling, educational, and fun project.

Missing school=missing out! Attendance matters!

Run and taught by students of Envision Conservatory for the Humanities, the summer program Humanicamp runs from June 12 - 16 (I) and June 19 - 23 (II). It fosters rising 6th to 9th graders' growing creativity and critical thinking in two one-week sessions of activity-based fun!

For information and to register, please click here.

CCA iGEM is holding a STEM Camp this summer for middle schoolers! Learn biology, chemistry, synthetic biology and gene editing, and forensics at a high-school level. Each day has advanced educational content and fun labs to reinforce the students' learning. Please email ccaigem2023@gmail.com or visit ccaigemcamp.com with any questions!

- PTMS Webstore - the PTMS store for PE clothes

- PTMS Spirit Wear/Gear

- PTMS Student Safety Vehicle Permit - please turn in to the office.

- PTMS Yearbook.

- Boys & Girls Club

- San Dieguito Boys & Girls Club - click the link to the left for 2022-23 athletic schedules.

- SDUHSD - The SDUHSD is currently recruiting to staff permanent and substitute classified positions (e.g. Instructional Assistant, Nutrition Services, Custodian, Secretarial/Clerical). Part-time and full-time positions are available. Substitutes can set their own availability. To view a list of openings and to apply, please click https://www.edjoin.org/sandieguito or you can call Susan Gray at 760 753-6491 x5543.

Email: vetha.pierce@sduhsd.net
Website: pt.sduhsd.net
Location: 5975 Village Center Loop Road, San Diego, CA, USA
Phone: 858.509.1000
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pacifictrailsmiddleschool