PTMS Weekly Parent Newsletter
April 28, 2023
Coming Up
May 2-5 - CAASPP Math Testing in Math Classes
May 1 - Single Period Day
May 4 - Heritage Night - 5:30-7:30 p.m. in the gym
May 8 - Late Start Day
May 10 - CoVitality Survey - Part 2 - during Homeroom
May 12 - Trailblazer Awards - 12:05 p.m.
Principal's Message
PTMS Families,
Happy Friday....the finish line is close! As someone who enjoys running, this feels like the final few miles of a race. It's a mix of fatigue coupled with the expected joy of reaching the goal of "crossing the finish line." I remember running the Carlsbad Half Marathon in January, and during the latter half of the race, I was wearing a big smile as I peered toward the ocean, feeling grateful for being in the moment. I reflected on the many training runs I went on, having a healthy diet, and mentally preparing myself for a strong finish. I crossed the line with my new friend Jason I ran with for the final five miles, legs tired, body weary, to the cheers of my wife and children yelling "go dad!"
Our students are in a similar spot at Pacific Trails. There is some fatigue in the students (and staff) - and rightfully so - they have worked really hard this year and put forth a lot of effort. And that hard work is paying off. Students are better writers, thinkers, analyzers, and are doing a much better job keeping our campus clean. I see this at a collective level, and certainly have seen massive progress with individual students. It is pretty great to pause, recognize and celebrate. I hope that your child sees this in themselves, because as Principal I see it and couldn't be more proud.
Let's keep cheering our students on, encouraging them to work hard, to finish the race, and become the best version of themselves. The finish line is close!
Have a wonderful weekend and see you Monday,
Scott
Assistant Principal's Message
CAASPP Testing
This year students will be participating in the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP). Next week students will take the Smarter Balanced Summative Assessments mathematics. Additional information can be found by clicking on the link HERE.
PTMS Testing Schedule:
Smarter Balanced Summative Assessments for Math in Math classes (May 2-5)
Students will be able to use wireless headphones but they have to be linked to their chromebook before they start testing, otherwise students should bring their own wired headphones or earbuds if they have them.
If you have questions please email Assistant Principal Freeman (kathryn.freeman@sduhsd.net) or Lisa Graciano (lisa.graciano@sduhsd.net).
Message from the Counselors
May is recognized as Mental Health Matters Month. According to the National Alliance on Mental Health, seventeen percent of young people ages 6-17 experience a mental health condition. This is a great time to remind our Wolves to take care of their mental health and to check in with them about any concerns that you might have. Working together, we can end the stigma around mental health issues that impacts so many of our teens and tweens.
At PTMS, there will be various activities to support student mental health throughout the month of May. Therapy Dogs are visiting the Wellness Center once again on May 3rd. A Coping Skills workshop in our Wellness Center with our Counselors and Student Support Facilitator will be held on May 1st during Homeroom, so please encourage your child to sign up in the counseling office for this. We will also be taking part in the San Diego Kindness Relay - being kind to ourselves and each other. See this flyer for more information.
SDUHSD Summer School information has been sent home via email if a student was recommended to attend based on English and math grades. If you would like your student to attend, please complete this application and return it to ptcourseselection@sduhsd.net by May 19. If your student needs transportation, please complete the Student and Parent section of the Optional Summer Bus Application and return with the summer school application.
Our No Place For Hate committee was hard at work this week adding the final touches to a Home Room lesson on “Being an Upstander”. Next week our wolves will take part in our last NPFH lesson, after which we will hear if we have, again, earned accreditation as a No Place For Hate school. During our meeting, our committee also made “positive affirmation” posters to place around the campus for next week’s Kindness Relay.
As previously mentioned, this week we welcomed Dr. Matt Bellace who gave interesting and entertaining presentations during Homeroom on positive mental health and avoiding substance abuse. It was a wonderful way to deliver an important message to our students and we are very grateful to our PTSA who helped to fund this visit.
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
8th Grade Promotion - May 31 - 10:30 a.m.
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 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.
Looking for Student Speakers for 8th Grade Promotion
Attn: 8th grade students - If you would like to give a speech during the 2023 8th Grade Promotion Ceremony, now is your chance. Please carefully read the guidelines. Then, use this Google Form to submit your speech. Submissions are due May 1.
Heritage Night - May 4 - 5:30-7:30 p.m.
On Thursday, May 4th, PTMS is proud to present Heritage Night!
Heritage Night will feature community-run booths representing different cultures/countries, performances from the Community of Cultural Music, dance, poems, athletic demonstrations, etc. There will be opportunities to win prizes and food trucks will be here if you want to purchase dinner.
If you would like to host a booth or be one of our performers, please click on this link for more information.
If you would like to sign-up to host a booth, perform, or volunteer to help out with set-up/clean-up, please click here to sign-up.
If you have questions, please direct them to PTSA President Amy Wilson at President@PacificTrailsMSPTSA.org, or ASB Advisor Ellen Main at Ellen.Main@sduhsd.net.
ASB and Student Announcements
Click here to see the latest version.
You can also check out the Students tab on our website and click the link entitled "Student Announcements" for a running post of each week's announcements.
Congratulations to the PTMS Math League!
We have good news to share. Four of our Wolves - Rohan Mallick, Kai Yi, Xiaoran(Tiger) Han and Evelyn Kim - flew to participate in the Berkeley mini Math Tournament held on April 15, 2023 and our PTMS team got the first position in overall performance beating many of the Bay Area teams! Each of the four kids got certificates with Distinguished Honorable Mention from the BmMT organizers along with their medals.
Congratulations, Wolves!
Knott's Berry Farm Trip - June 1, 2023 - PARENT VOLUNTEERS NEEDED
Knott’s new policy requires one adult (18 or older) chaperone for every ten students. If we do not get enough chaperones, we cannot have a trip this year. Parent volunteers will be given one complimentary chaperone ticket to enter the park. Unfortunately, we have limited availability for parents to ride the buses. Chaperones driving themselves to the park will incur the cost of gas, mileage, and parking ($25 per vehicle). If you are interested and available to volunteer for this event, please complete this google form. Thank you in advance for making this 8th-grade trip possible for our students!
Date: Thursday, June 1st
Time: 7:00 am to 7:30 pm (depending on traffic)
From the PE Department
Please follow us on Instagram to see what your student is up to during PE class.
If you have any extra tape measures or used tennis balls that you don't need at the house anymore the PE department can use them for our Track and Field Unit. Thank you!
Play It Safe Self-Defense Course during PE Classes
In order for our 8th graders to participate in the Play it Safe Self-Defense Course during Monday's PE classes in May, you must fill out this waiver form.
Gardening Club
Planted a lot of pollinators donated by Master Gardner Jennifer Wu: lupin, cassia tree, poppy, lantana, borrego and a few other varieties. Edible beds added German camomile, artichoke.
Pollinator beds added five narrow leaf milkweed and one tropical milk weed.
Harvested arugula, radish and mustard leaves.
Bed 4 was weeded!
Girl Scouts and the Environment
This week, Girl Scout Troop 4524 donated 27 books about the environment to the Learning Commons at Pacific Trails Middle School. The girl scout troop is made up of Alethia, Anita, Jennie, Jessie, Kate, Kira, and Maggie, who are all students at PTMS (see group picture below). The funds for the books were raised by selling Girl Scout cookies and through fundraising efforts in collaboration with SoCal Martial Hearts and Youth Care Club for a charity sale event. Our main focus as Girl Scouts has always been to spread awareness about protecting our planet. Additionally, April is Earth Month, which is another motivation for the donation. We sincerely hope that the books we donated will help students at Pacific Trails learn more about the environment and inspire them to take measures to protect our Earth.
Staff Appreciation - PTMS Staff ROCKS!
The PTMS PTSA has plans to make this year’s Staff Appreciation Week a special week for our amazing staff.
The theme is The PTMS Staff Rocks for the week of May 8. We have plans to have special food and treats each day of the week.
We’d love your help showing the staff that they ROCK. If you'd like to help out, please click here.
We would love to give each staff member a gift card for a lunch out as well as some other snack type treats.
Use this link to help support our staff. Donations are due with Vetha in the PTMS office by May 2.
Thank you!!!
PTMS PTSA
From Attendance
You're almost at the finish line! Keep showing up and finish the race!
2022-23 CAEA San Diego County K-8 Student Art Exhibit
"Please be sure to take your family to the Carmel Valley Public Library to enjoy student artwork on view! Student artists from all over San Diego County are on display, including 8 works of art by our very own PTMS Art students."
Order Your Yearbook Now
We only have 15 copies of the yearbook that are still available to order! Please make sure to order your student's PTMS 2023 Yearbook before we sell out. CLICK HERE to order today!
PTSA Membership
The PTMS Parent, Teacher & Student Association (PTSA) welcomes you to the 2022-2023 school year! As PTMS enters its seventh year, the PTSA continues to grow, supporting the families and staff by sponsoring a multitude of enriching activities and programs. We kindly ask for your support to continue this work.
The PTSA Membership fee is just $60 for two adults and one student. Please sign up here.
Volunteers Are Needed for the "Glow The Night Away" dance on February 16th. If you are interested, please click here to sign up.
Would You Like to Serve on the PTSA Executive Board for the 2023-24 School Year?
The Pacific Trails PTSA needs to fill the position of Treasurer for the 2023-2024 school year. This position requires more time than other positions but is required to keep our PTSA at Pacific Trails.
We are looking for someone excited to join our PTSA and help manage the funds used to facilitate many of the fun and important programs for students, their families and teachers. Our current Treasurer will provide all of the training and support you need to ensure your success.
If that is you or someone you know, please contact Uzma Kahn Qazi at: parliamentarian@pacifictrailsmsptsa.org
CCA's Humanicamp Summer Camp
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's iGEM Summer STEM Camp
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!
Student Safety Vehicle Permit
Other
- PTMS Webstore - the PTMS store for PE clothes
- 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.