Port Susan Middle School
Student & Family Update 10.09.22
Good morning!
Port Susan Middle School staff is committed to the communication and support of our students. Last week, our building leadership team worked on a strategy that we will relate to all frameworks throughout the school year. When students feel "stuck" in a learning task or a situation with a peer, using the process below will be beneficial. This next week, we will walk through an activity and be able to try it out as adults first at our staff meeting Wednesday. From there, we will begin sharing the strategies departments are using and training all staff in the understanding of what students are being asked to use for consistency/support. This work will continue as our professional development throughout our time together this year.
Student Engagement
Advisory/Social Emotional Lesson
Student Involvement (All grades)
Season 2 (Part 1): Boys Basketball
Donuts with Grown-Ups
*Reminder: Parent Communication & Skyward
We are at the midpoint of our first quarter together, teachers have been sending home emails to parents regarding support for their student around expectations as needed. The partnership with families is always important and I encourage parents to reach out with questions as they come up as well (teacher emails listed at the bottom of this update).
A reminder that Skyward is a great tool to check grades weekly for students and parents. Not only is this available through the online website, but there is also a Skyward App available for all phones. If you go to your App store and search "Skyward", it can be downloaded onto your phone for quick access. If you need your parent username/password, please reach out to our office at 360.629.1360
Week of 10/10 through 10/14
Regular Schedule
Counselor Meeting 8 a.m.
Panorama Student Survey Advisory
Tuesday:
Regular Schedule
Academic Focus Advisory
Soccer @ LaVenture
Wednesday:
Regular Wednesday Schedule
Soccer vs N. Whidbey
Thursday:
**Donuts w/Grown-Ups** (Information Below)
Regular Schedule
Academic Focus Advisory
XC @ Skagit College
Soccer @ SMS
Friday:
Regular Schedule
Academic Focus Advisory
Future Dates
October 17-20th: Square Dancing Week (Fitness Classes)
October 19th: Unity Day (information below)
October 21st: Teacher in-service (No School)
October 28th: Picture Retakes
October 31st: Spirit day/Dance (TBA)
November 2-4: Fall Conferences (No late start/early release)
November 4: Last day of Quarter 1
Linked below are previous communications. Please continue to reach out with any questions you have. You can email me directly (calmanza@stanwood.wednet.edu) or call our office at 360.629.1360
District Information
Panorama Survey
Dear Families,
We thank you and your family for being our valued partners as we work together to educate the children in our district. As you may already be aware, building our social-emotional learning skills is an important goal for our school this year. Over the next several weeks, students and teachers will participate in several exercises to better understand these concepts and to reflect on how they perceive these skills in themselves.
We will be asking for your child to reflect on their own mindsets and approaches to learning via an online survey they will be completing at school. The survey shouldn’t take more than 20-30 minutes to complete.
The survey content will ask students to self-reflect on self management, grit, self efficacy, effort, learning strategies and emotional regulation.
We are asking that all of our students participate in the surveys, as their responses will provide invaluable insights into their experiences and how we can improve and adapt our district to their needs. If a student doesn’t feel like they have enough information to answer a question, they will be able to skip the item altogether. The responses to these surveys will be completely confidential.
If you have any questions about the SEL survey , please don’t hesitate to contact Kelly Parsons at (360) 629-1246 kparsons@stanwood.wednet.edu
Community Facilities Advisory Committee Invitation
This year, the Stanwood-Camano School District will form a Capital Facilities Advisory Committee (CFAC). This team’s purpose is to affirm that public schools belong to the entire community, and funding for capital improvements is generated through voter-approved bond measures. Also included in the team’s work are recommendations for how families are assigned to particular schools based on where families reside, school capacity, and immediate and projected enrollment.
Community members play a key role in developing our long-term capital facilities plan and providing input on facility use to ensure the community's values and priorities are accurately represented.
If you are interested in joining this committee, or would like to know more, please complete this form.
Career & Technical Education
The Career & Technical Education (CTE) Program is looking for business and industry leaders to serve as part of the Stanwood-Camano School District Career and Technical Education (CTE) advisory committee(s). These committees advise, assist and provide support and advocacy for quality CTE programs. Advisory committee members are business and industry volunteers representing occupational areas that have feeder programs taught in our public schools. Members have the opportunity to learn more about the CTE program and instructors are able to increase their understanding of the job market, employers' needs, and community opportunities.
CTE advisory committees:
- Provide information to update, modify, expand, and improve the quality of programs
- Support and strengthen the partnerships between business, labor, the community, and education
- Work with students and educators to support real-world experiences and applications
- Make recommendations that strengthen and expand the CTE curriculum, and provide assistance in implementing these recommendations
- Identify and validate academic and occupational competencies, determine priorities, and review and evaluate programs
- Communicate long-term goals and objectives of the CTE programs to students, parents/guardians, employers, and the community
Click Here to learn more.
If you are interested in joining our CTE Advisory Committees, please Click Here to sign up.
Operation School Bell
Dear Families,
Our school district is fortunate to have access to Operation School Bell ®, a program offered by
the Assitance Leagues of Everett ® for students who are in need of new clothes. To qualify for
assistance, a child must be enrolled full time and qualify for the free or reduced lunch program.
The process only takes a few minutes to get started and involves basic information.
In order to participate in this program, it is important that you complete the necessary forms for
EACH child. You can make a copy of the form if you need more, or you can reach out to your
child’s school and request additional copies.
There are options this year for how you would like to receive your clothing. You can choose to
have a volunteer shop for you child and a bag of clothing will be delivered to your child’s school
OR there will be a designated day (undetermined at this time) where your child, with your
permission, will travel with district staff to the facility in Everett to shop for their own clothing
items.
This program is for all SCSD students in preschool through 8 th grade. High school students
participate in a portion of Operation School Bell called “Teen Retail.” Please contact Azra
Grudic, Student Support Advocate, if you have a HS student in need of clothing:
Please note that each child can only attend Operation School Bell ® ONCE each school year
(through either the Stanwood-Camano School District or another program such as ECEAP).
To participate in Operation School Bell® your student can pick up a packet from the front office
staff at any time, or you can contact Amy Hart, Student Support Advocate to get the paperwork:
ahart@stanwood.wednet.edu or 360-965-8249.
Thank you,
Amy Hart
Student Support Advocate
Stanwood-Camano School District
Thank you!
Cherae Almanza, Principal calmanza@stanwood.wednet.edu
Crysty Auckland, Assistant Principal/Athletic Director cauckland@stanwood.wednet.edu
Teacher Emails
Dave Austin (6-8 Fitness & 6 Leadership) daustin@stanwood.wednet.edu
Jonathan Bletscher (6-8 Band) jbletscher@stanwood.wednet.edu
Joan Campbell (6-7 Math) jcampbell@stanwood.wednet.edu
Tamara Pedersen (6-7 Math) tpedersen@stanwood.wednet.edu
Lori Stunz (7 ELA & 6-8 Art) lstunz@stanwood.wednet.edu
Grace Gale (6 Science & 6-8 STEM/Robotics) GGale@stanwood.wednet.edu
Sub for Grace Gale is Jeffrey Trammell jtrammell2@stanwood.wednet.edu
Chelsea Hanson (6-8 ELA/Humanities) CHanson@stanwood.wednet.edu
Nate Hanson (6-8 Computers/Digital Effects) nhanson@stanwood.wednet.edu
Audrie Harrington (6/7 ELA & 7/8 Leadership) aharrington@stanwood.wednet.edu
Joshua Keaton (7/8 History) jkeaton@stanwood.wednet.edu
Seth Hills (6 Social Studies) shills@stanwood.wednet.edu
Selena Wyman (guest teacher for Seth Hills) swyman@stanwood.wednet.edu
Lori Johnson (6-8 Assist) ljohnson@stanwood.wednet.edu
Wade Johnson (7/8 Science) wjohnson@stanwood.wednet.edu
Rebecca Klein (6/7 Science) rklein@stanwood.wednet.edu
Meghan Lawrence (6-8 PBS) mlawrence@stanwood.wednet.edu
Ellianna Martin (6-8 Math) emartin@stanwood.wednet.edu>,
Daniel Mccrumb (6 Math/Science & 7/8 Outdoor Ed) DMccrumb@stanwood.wednet.edu
Sarah Oldow (6 ELA/Social Studies) soldow@stanwood.wednet.edu
Catherine Perry (6-8 EL) cperry@stanwood.wednet.edu
Tracy Riley (6-8 ELA) TRiley@stanwood.wednet.edu
Kelcie Rocha (7/8 Math) krocha@stanwood.wednet.edu
Brad Rochon (7/8 Science) brochon@stanwood.wednet.edu
Connie Schmidt (6-8 Health) cschmidt@stanwood.wednet.edu
Sheri Schroeder (8 History & ELA) sleeschroeder@stanwood.wednet.edu
Kym Shoemaker (7/8 Math) kshoemaker@stanwood.wednet.edu
Crystal Titus (6-8 Fitness) ctitus@stanwood.wednet.edu
Kayte White (8 ELA & 6 Cultures) kwhite@stanwood.wednet.edu
Julia Zurcher (7 History & 7/8 Home Ec) jzurcher@stanwood.wednet.edu
Office Support
Jayde Piggot (6 Counselor) jpiggott@stanwood.wednet.edu
Keli Niegemann (7/8 Counselor) kniegemann@stanwood.wednet.edu
Emily Bowne (School Psychologist) ebowne@stanwood.wednet.edu
Kandyce Hansen (Speech Language Pathologist) khansen@stanwood.wednet.edu
Sara Harlan (Librarian) sharlan@stanwood.wednet.edu
Amy Hart (Student Support Advocate) ahart@stanwood.wednet.edu
Taylor Little (Mental Health Therapist) tlittle@stanwood.wednet.edu
The Stanwood-Camano School District does not discriminate in employment, programs, or activities on the basis of sex, race, creed, religion, color, national origin, age, veteran or military status, sexual orientation, gender expression or identity, disability, or the use of a trained dog guide or service animal and provides equal access to the Boy Scouts and other designated youth groups. Inquiries regarding compliance and/or grievance procedures may be directed to the District's Title IX/Affirmative Action Officer and Civil Rights Compliance Coordinator, Maurene Stanton (mstanton@stanwood.wednet.edu), or the Section 504/American Disabilities Act Coordinator, Robert Hascall (rhascall@stanwood.wednet.edu) Stanwood-Camano School District, 26920 Pioneer Hwy, Stanwood, WA 98292. Telephone: (360) 629-1200.