The Triton Tribune - Parent Edition
Be Kind ~ Be Awesome ~ Make The Right Choices
Volume 2 ~ Issue 26~ February 16, 2021
Amazing Triton Families,
"Perseverance and spirit have done wonders in all ages." George Washington
Happy Presidents' Day and Happy Valentines Day!
It is not often that these two days coexist in one weekend. Now that they have, I hope that all of you enjoyed celebrating both love for your significant other and family as well as love for our country. While we can all agree that Valentines' Day have become commercialized, President George Washington's birthday was actually part of three federal holidays that were moved to three separate Mondays as a result of the Uniform Monday Holiday Bill passed by Congress in 1968. This was done to provide workers with more three-day holidays throughout the year. In 1971, Presidents' Day became the accepted name as retailers used this three-day weekend to promote retail sales.
Although celebrating Valentine's Day and Presidents' Day has somewhat become hackneyed to many, I hope that you and I continue to enthusiastically celebrate these significant moments in our lives and in our nation's history. For the Finley family, this weekend was about celebrating love by having a Finley Family Valentine's Date as well as watching Cecily Tyson in Miss Jane Pittman as Devon and I continue to teach our children to learn and honor their African-American heritage. Both of these family times reified our love for each other as well as our love and appreciation for all African-Americans who withstood unspeakable trials to ensure a better future for the next generation of African-Americans like my husband and my children.
As this special four-day weekend ends, let's not contribute to the banality of these holidays or succumb to their commercialization; rather, let's continue to be intentional in showing our love for each other and our country.
Please read the newsletter in its entirety as there are a lot of information regarding upcoming events.
Let's have an awesome week!
Mrs. Finley
Important Information for the Academic Celebration
Semester 1 Academic Honor Celebration
Parents, although the celebration for Semester 1 Academic Honors is a bit late, we are very excited that we received permission to hold this important celebration - a better option than receiving the certificates in the mail. This drive-through celebration is for Semester 1 NOT Semester 2. There were many of you who were emailing me questions so I will take the time to answer them here.How Do You Become a Member of the Principal Honor List?
Students are placed in the Principal Honor List when they receive a GPA of 3.75 or higher at each progress report and each semester grade report. This is equivalent to five (5) As and one (1) B or all six (6) As; plus or minus are not calculated into the GPA. In all, 549 students made the Principal Honor List at the end of Semester 1. Is it possible for students who did not receive recognition for Progress Reports 1 and 2 and be recognized at the Semester? Yes, if their final grades reflect the above criteria, they will be placed in the Principal Honor List. Is it possible for students who received this honor for both progress reports to not be recognized at semester's end? Yes, if grades decrease between the last progress report and the next, it is possible that same students will not get placed on the subsequent Principal Honor List.
How Do You Receive the Most Improved Student Honor for Semester 1?
At the end of each semester, teachers are asked to nominate up to two (2) students. In all, we have 51 students who will be recognized. Some students were nominated by multiple teachers.
The academic celebration will occur first between 9:00am - 11:00am. Eight graders will be recognized on Thursday, February 18. They will also get their spirit shirts at the same time so that they do not have to come twice.
If families have students being recognized at both grade levels, please choose the day to come so that you will be making one trip only.
Students will be given an excuse not to turn into their teachers via submission in Jupiter Grades or Google Classroom so that you will not be marked absent.
Important Information about the Spirit Distribution
EVERY STUDENT, REGARDLESS OF GRADES, WILL RECEIVE A SPIRIT SHIRT.
Every year, ASB approves funding to design a shirt and purchased for all Tritons. This is typically distributed at the end of Quarter 1 when we have our first schoolwide assembly. Due to the pandemic and the lack of funds from sales, we had to wait until we were approved to spend last year's funds for this purchase. Once our spending down was approved, ASB designed the shirt and it was sent for printing. The shirts arrived in December just in time for us to end the semester with distributing the shirts; however, with the spike in COVID cases, we were not given permission to hold a drive-through distribution as it was not considered essential. On February 5, the district gave permission to all schools to hold drive-through events again. We are taking advantage of this window of clearance and distributing the shirts to all students.
Please know that I have given all teachers the option to host an asynchronous day in the event they want to come and meet their students from an appropriate social distance. We are expecting about 20 teachers who want to be there in addition to the counselors and administration. If your children's teachers plan to attend, they will be informing you Tuesday and Wednesday that their classes will be asynchronous as they will be part of the drive-though distribution.
If your children and you are attending, they will receive an excuse not which they will have to upload via Jupiter Grades or Google Classroom to clear their attendance.
Please check the image below to see when you are scheduled to pick up your shirts. If you are not able to come on your scheduled day, please contact Mr. Nafarrete at mendel.nafarrete@sweetwaterschools.org or Ms. Gray at sophia.gray@sweetwaterschools.org.
One the of the most important choices that students will make is their elective classes. At ELM, we offer several: ASB (separate application) Band, Choir, Ukelele, Orchestra, Strings, Filipino 3/4 (8th graders only), Spanish for Spanish Speakers, Spanish for Non-Native, Art, Computer Science, Student Aide (in-person and for 8th graders only). These will presented to students after which they will given a course selection form.
To recognize the different electives, please watch the video below.
If you have any questions, please contact your counselor.
Purple Pride Announcement
This video is brought to you by ELM's Purple Pride Club. We want to promote awareness and acceptance of the LGBTQ community and ALL people. Please contact Cindy.Reynoso@sweetwaterschools.org or Andrea.Arroyo@sweetwaterschools.org if you'd like to know more about the club. Thanks for watching!
Eastlake Middle School
Email: easter.finley@sweetwaterschools.org
Website: elm.sweetwaterschools.org
Location: 900 Duncan Ranch Road, Chula Vista, CA, USA
Phone: 619.591.4000
Twitter: @erfinleysd