The Cougar Pounce
staying connected @ShuksanMS
Announcements :: Week of January 17
Monday, 1/18. No School. MLK Day
Wednesday, 1/20. Food Box and Book Pick Up. 4-5:30pm.
Tuesday, 1/26 and Wednesday 1/27. 7:00pm. Virtual Family Info Night.
Tuesday, 2/2. No School. Semester Break.
Wednesday, 2/3. Semester #2 Begins.
Thursday, 2/4. New MS Schedule starts. (see below for details)
January 17, 2021
Shuksan Families,
We have two important announcements:
One: School is closed on Monday and we're invited to consider Martin Luther King Jr.'s work and legacy. The website Facing History reminds us that, "Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is officially recognized as 'a day on, not a day off,' encouraging all of us to participate in service to make our world a more just and equal place."
DoSomething.org provides youth (and their families) with simple and actionable steps to take for social change. From making a mask for your family to "disrupting racism in your community," students can connect with and extend Dr. King's work. Additionally, Shuksan staff are participating in "ongoing reflection on race in our teaching and schools." We are committed to the success of all of our learners.
Two: Students' schedules change effective Thursday, Feb 4. Students will begin a new school schedule on 2/4/21. The key changes your student will experience are:
- End times. Classes end at 2:25 rather than 12:35. All students will be expected to attend school from 9:15am - 2:25pm (M, T, Th, F).
- Wednesdays will stay the same with students participating in homeroom.
- Longer Core academic classes. Math, science, social studies, language arts are extended to 75 minutes from 40.
- Built-in Time for independent work and practice within class time with opportunity for teacher support, rather than grouped in the afternoon.
Why make this change? Specifically, we saw the need to create longer class periods so that students could engage in independent work and practice right after lessons, as opposed to waiting for the afternoon for practice. We also wanted to create more flexibility for teachers with how they might use longer time blocks, and we wanted to create a schedule that would work for both remote learning and, as conditions allow, in-person learning.
To connect with families and answer any questions, we will host a virtual Family Info Night on January 26 (7pm) and January 27 (7pm for Spanish speaking families).
Please join us to discuss the schedule change and answer any questions or contact us at any time via email or phone.
Sincerely,
Matt Whitten
SMS Principal
Book PIck Up
Libby
@theLibrary Website
Ms. Cowan, Counselor
Ms. Besson, Counselor
SMS Counseling Team
Ms. Besson and Ms. Cowan are excited to connect with you and to support families and students in a variety of ways.
- Questions: schedule, community resources, or just want to chat, please contact Ms. Besson at (360) 746-4132 and Ms. Cowan at (360) 303-2818.
- Zoom counseling with students! Let us or your Homeroom Teacher know you'd like to do weekly check ins.
- Counseling referrals for Compass Counseling. Please contact us and we will walk you through a referral packet to get counseling started.
Emails:
Shuksan Middle School
Vice-Principal, Allison Chryst (Hancock)
Dean of Students, Nichole Lockhart
Email: matthew.whitten@bellinghamschools.org
Website: https://shuksan.bellinghamschools.org/
Location: 2717 Alderwood Avenue, Bellingham, WA, USA
Phone: (360) 676-6454
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shuksanmiddleschool/