PTMS Weekly Parent Newsletter
January 12, 2024
Coming Up
January 15 - Martin Luther King, Jr. Birthday Holiday - NO SCHOOL
January 16-19 - Normal Block Days
January 16-March 16 - Residency Verification for ALL CURRENT STUDENTS
January 17 - Therapy Dogs in the Wellness Center - 11:45-1:00 p.m.
Message from the Principal
Wolfpack families,
Happy 2024! I hope that your winter break was restful and relaxing. It has been so wonderful welcoming the students back and catching up with them. We actually started our week as a staff on Monday and Tuesday, both preparing for semester two and engaging in professional development. During part of our PD day on Tuesday, we examined data. Our staff looked at the California School Dashboard that you can access here. While we know we can always improve and constantly reflect on our practices and systems, we are quite proud of our success that the dashboard reflects. I encourage you to take a look when you have a moment. We looked at results from student surveys as well. Based on selected questions from the California Healthy Kids Survey, students took the same survey in October and December and we were able to look at the results. This includes information about sleep patterns, school connectedness, percentage of students who have at least one trusted adult on campus, and how optimistic they feel about their future. I am happy to share that the results were very positive, and our staff looked at how our systems and practices influence these results.
When students returned on Wednesday, there were many hugs, smiling faces and high fives that they exchanged. Throughout the week, the students have been catching up and connecting with one another. I can really tell they missed not seeing their friends over the three week break.
Now that we have begun semester two, I want to give you a head's up that the winter and spring will go very quickly, and before we know it, our 8th graders will be celebrating at Promotion. Please continue to encourage your student to focus on good learning habits, healthy routines, balance between school and social, and reflecting on their own learning.
Finally, a reminder that we do not have school next Monday in celebration of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. We will reconvene on Tuesday with our regular block schedule beginning school at 8:10 am. In the spirit of Dr. King, I will close with one of my favorite quotes by him: "The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character - that is the goal of true education."
Have a wonderful weekend and I look forward to seeing the students on Tuesday.
In gratitude,
Scott Wild
Principal
From the Counseling Office
We want to welcome our Wolves back for second semester and hope everyone had a great Winter Break! As a reminder, the new semester means a fresh start for grades. If you find that your student is needing extra support, we encourage them to attend Academic Power Hour. Academic Power Hour is now being held Monday through Wednesday in the Learning Commons from 2:50-3:50 p.m.
Final First-Semester Grades can be viewed in the Aeries Parent Portal on Thursday, January 18, 2024. To access semester grades, click on the "Grades" tab located under the student's name. Click on "Grades," then click on "Report Card History".
Operation School Bell is a program hosted by The Assistance League of Rancho San Dieguito. The goal is to help children thrive and succeed in school by providing new school clothing for those that might have need. This year they are providing students in need with a Target gift card to purchase new school clothing. Please email your counselor and let them know if this is something you as a student or your child as a parent could utilize.
On January 16 and 17, the Counseling Department will meet with our 8th grade Wolves for a presentation titled “Preparing for your High School Launch”. This presentation will cover important topics such as graduation requirements, the high school selection process and how students can best prepare for high school. We will also use Thrively to help students revisit their strengths and interests and see how they align with the CTE offerings at each high school. We will be posting the presentation in students' history Google Classrooms and will also link the presentation in next week's newsletter.
Therapy Dogs. Once again, we will be joined by the therapy dogs in our Wellness Center on Wednesday, January 17th. We are very grateful for our partnership with “Love on a Leash” who visit us once a month. Our students really enjoy being able to pet the animals as a way to de-stress.
Free Mental Health Webinar Series for parents and caregivers will be offered by the SDCOE and Rady’s each month until May. Please see this flyer for more information.
Lisa Curry, Counselor (A-Ma) lisa.curry@sduhsd.net
Carsen Anderson, Counselor (Mc-Z and ML Students) carsen.anderson@sduhsd.net
Samantha Eels-Taylor, Student Support Facilitator samantha.eelstaylor@sduhsd.net
Is Your Student Going to a Private School Next School Year?
If you and your student are thinking of applying to a Private School for next year. Please fill out the link below for each school.
1st Semester grade Transcripts will not be ready until January 2024.
Mental Health & Wellness
Mental Health & Wellness Resources for Students, Staff, and School Community.
Click on the QR code to discover your PTMS Support Staff.
Free Mental Health Webinar Series
Suicide Prevention QPR Training
Operation School Bell
The Assistance League of Rancho San Dieguito has a program called Operation School Bell. The goal is to help children thrive and succeed in school by providing new school clothing for those that might have need. This year they are providing students in need with a Target gift card to purchase new school clothing.
Please email your counselor and let them know if this is something your child could utilize.
From the Attendance Office
~ Let's make improved school attendance our New Year's Resolution!
ASB and Student Announcements
You can check them out on the Students tab of our website under "Student Announcements" for a running post of each week's student announcements.
Department News
From the PE Department
Please follow us on Instagram to see what your student is up to during PE class.
Learning Commons News
Please click here to see everything that the Learning Commons has been up to so far this year.
From Yearbook
Clubs
~ Club activity will be posted here throughout the year. To get a list of all Clubs currently active, please check the Activities page on our website.
Multilingual Learner Corner
The next PTMS ELAC meeting for multilingual learner families will provide information about the High School Selection Process. The meeting is Tuesday, January 23, from 6:00-8:00 p.m. at the Carmel Valley Middle School Learning Commons (3800 Mykonos Ln, San Diego, CA 92130).
Special Education Sessions and Events
For a list of Special Education Informational Sessions and Family Events, please click here.
For meetings, trainings, workshops, and more from the North Coastal Consortium for Special Education, please click here.
Fentanyl Awareness Presentation @ TPHS
San Dieguito Academy Parent Information Night
Other Important Items
- Boys & Girls Club - Seasonal sports information/registration.
- PTMS Live Calendar of Campus Events and 2023-24 Instructional Calendar.
- PTMS Spirit Wear/Gear - PTMS Spirit Wear and accessories for the whole family!
- PTMS Student Vehicle Permit - Register your bike/e-bike/scooter/skateboard with PTMS. Complete this form and turn in to the office.
- PTMS Webstore - PE clothes/Limited Series Clothing
- PTMS Webstore - Spirit Wear
- PTMS Yearbook. - Order today!
- San Dieguito Alliance for a Drug-Free Youth - complete the Parent Pledge here.
- San Dieguito Boys & Girls Club - click the link to the left for 2023-24 athletic schedules.
- SDUHSD - Employment Opportunities. 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.
This newsletter has also been posted to our website under "Parent Communications."
Deadline to submit articles for publication is Thursdays.