PTMS Weekly Parent Newsletter
March 10, 2023
Coming Up
January 17-March 17 - Residency Verification for all CURRENT SDUHSD students (except 12th graders)
February 13-March 17 - Independent Study Physical Education (ISPE)
March 13-17 - Wellness Week - see the schedule of events here.
March 13 - Late Start Day
March 13 - Pi Day
March 20 - Single Period Day
March 21 - General PTSA Meeting/Principal's Coffee - 8:45 a.m. - Learning Commons
March 23 - School Site Council Meeting - 2:45 p.m. - M102
Principal's Message
Happy Friday Wolfpack Families,
What an absolutely full and wonderful week this has been. Let's begin by celebrating some of our student groups and their success. Our band and orchestra had success at their competition in Irvine last Friday; our Science Olympiad represented well on Saturday at Miramar College; and we had numerous winners in the National Geography Day regional competition who will advance to the state level next month. I have listed all of these great accomplishments below. Congratulations to our students, and thank you to the staff, parents, and volunteers who support them. It truly takes a village!
Band & Orchestra:
Orchestra - Gold rating
8th grade band - Gold rating
7th grade band - Silver rating
Outstanding Musician awarded to Chloe Chiu (orchestra), Casey Phan (8th grade band) & Steven Chen (7th grade band)
Science Olympiad:
3rd place overall including three 1st place winners in individual competitions
National Geography Day Competition:
Lina Hellberg & Catherine Hassanein - The Apollo Missions: Flying Through Frontiers
Jacob Lawrence & Sophia Hu - The Euro: The World's Largest Monetary Changeover
Ethan Leem - Project Mercury: The Power of a Country at the Risk of Their Pride
Campus was busy as usual this week. Monday, our counselors Mrs. Curry and Ms. Murt met with all of our 7th graders to discuss class selections for 8th grade next year. In our continued efforts to keep our students safe, we held a bi-annual lockdown drill and this time did it during break time. Our students did really well getting to a safe space. Monday also included a visit from UCSD's SPARK program, a group of college students who worked with our STEM classes.
In classrooms this week, we continue to highlight influential women in celebration of Women's History Month. It gives all of our students the chance to see individuals, both past and current, who can serve as role models. Speaking of the past, some of our 8th grade history students embarked on the "Oregon Trail", an experience I certainly recall as a kid. Some of our 7th graders, in their study of West Africa, had a chance to experience West African styles of dance today.
Our 8th grade science classes slowed things way down as they wrap up their Forces & Motion unit by having student teams design an object that moves as slow as possible. Students came up with some really creative and clever designs as they considered principles of physics.
Finally, I will end by celebrating our Classified Employee of the Year, Ms. Vetha Pierce. If you've been into our offices, you have had the pleasure of meeting Vetha. She wears so many hats on our campus and really ensures that our campus runs smoothly. We are so grateful to have her, and she is very deserving of this award. Please congratulate her when you next see her.
Have a wonderful weekend and we will see you Monday,
Scott Wild
Principal
Assistant Principal's Message
CAASPP/CAST Testing
This year students will be participating in the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP). All students will take the Smarter Balanced Summative Assessments for English language arts/literacy and mathematics. In addition, eighth grade students will take the California Science Test (CAST). Additional information can be found by clicking on the link HERE.
PTMS Testing Schedule:
California Science Test (CAST) in 8th Grade Science classes (April 11-14)
Smarter Balanced Summative Assessments for ELA in English classes (April 18-21)
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
Course selection for current 7th graders is happening now! On Monday March 6, our counseling team met with all 7th grade students through World History classes for an 8th Grade Course Selection presentation to explain this process. Please be sure you (along with your child) have completed BOTH the online course selection in Aeries AND have returned the 8th Grade Course Selection Contract by Monday March 13 by either submitting it in the counseling office or via email to ptcourseselection@sduhsd.net. Paper copies were distributed to students; however if you need another copy, you can use the electronic version linked here and on our website. Please refer to the 8th Grade Course Selection Process link on the Registration Page of the PTMS website for more information.
PTMS Wellness Week begins this Monday, March 13th. We have lots of exciting visitors lined up including Torrey Pines PALs students leading a homeroom lesson, DJ Eric, our very own Rock Band, Love on a Leash therapy dogs and much more. It should be a fun and enjoyable week for all. We will begin the week by celebrating Pi Day (one day early because of the convenient single period schedule) and our Math department has planned various crafts and mental challenges during Math class. Click here for the week’s schedule of events!
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
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.
From Attendance
Good attendance habits are like having a pot of gold in your future.
Does your student have your phone number memorized? What if your student lost their phone? Would they be able to call you? You have no idea how many kids have lost or forgotten their phones and need to see someone in the office to look up their parents' contact information. It makes us worry what would happen they were out (say, at the Highlands) and school was closed and they couldn't come to the office to get your number. Parents, your homework this weekend is to have your student memorize your phone number.
Lost and Found
National History Day Contest
Five Wolves have advanced through the Regional National History Day Competition and will represent San Diego in the State National History Day Contest next month:
The Apollo Missions: Flying Through Frontiers ~ Lina Hellberg and Catherine Hassanein
The Euro: The World's Largest Monetary Changeover ~ Jacob Lawrence and Sophia Hu
Project Mercury: The Power of a Country at the Risk of Their Pride ~ Ethan Leem
PTMS Mathcounts Advances to State
A 4-person team (Rohan Mallick, Kai Yi, Tiger Han, and Art Huang) and two individual Wolves (Evelyn Kim and David Liu) will travel to California Baptist University for the Mathcounts State competition on Saturday, March 18th. Go, Wolves!
PTMS Science Olympiad Advances to State
Congratulations, Wolves, for placing 3rd in the San Diego regionals and having three teams among the top 11 among the 76 teams that participated in the San Diego regionals.
Congratulations, too, to all the individual medal winners.
PTMS SCIOLY believes in an inclusive program, where we strive to give every student who wants to participate an opportunity to learn, and to support our students who want to compete. We believe this has been achieved this season.
Thank you to our parents and high school volunteers who have spent incredible amounts of time and effort to gather resources, conduct classes and prepare our students for the competitions. Thanks to principal Scott Wild, assistant principal Kathryn Freeman, Vetha and PTMS staff for their continuing support of the PTMS SCIOLY program.
We hope that the 7th grade students return to the PTMS SCIOLY program for 2023-2024 season, and that our 8th grade students return as High School student volunteers.
From the PE Department
Please follow us on Instagram to see what your student is up to during PE class.
Pi Day - March 13th - Volunteers Needed!
For this year's Pi Day celebration, we will be needing parent volunteers to help make a successful and fun day for the students. You can sign up for your child's math period, however, if you can stay longer please sign up for more slots.
To sign-up as a Volunteer, please click here.
For any questions, please contact our VP of Programs Claire: vpprograms@pacifictrailsmsptsa.org
Residency Verification for CURRENT 7th through 11th Grade SDUHSD Students
The submission window is between January 27th and March 17th for parents of CURRENT SDUHSD students in grades 7 through 11 to provide the required documents for Residency Verification for the 2023-24 school year.
The following THREE documents are required:
1. The 2-page 2023-24 Annual Residency Verification Affidavit.
2. A copy of your recent SDGE bill.
3. A copy of another service bill (Cable, Water, etc.) as described on the Affidavit in the "Category 2" box in the middle of the page.
Submission is done through your Aeries Parent Portal. Here is a tutorial on how to do it.
If you are unable to submit your documents via your Aeries Parent Portal, please feel free to submit paper copies or scanned copies to Vetha in the front office.
If you have more than one CURRENT SDUHSD student, you will list each of those students on the Affidavit and submit it to Vetha in the front office who will clear each student at each school.
** Please do not list your INCOMING current 6th grade student on this form. You will need to include an independent Residency Verification at the time you enroll your 6th grader for 7th grade later on. **
Deadline to submit your documents is March 17th. Course Selection at all schools for the 2023-24 school year will be compromised for those students who do not have the Residency Verification documents uploaded/turned in.
Independent Study Physical Education (ISPE)
The window to apply for ISPE for the 2023-24 school year is February 13 through March 17, 2023.
Learn how to apply at this link.
There will be two VIRTUAL Parent Q&A Sessions: one on February 7th at 5:00 p.m. and the other one on February 22 at 5:00 p.m. You can find the meeting link in the application link above.
Notification of ISPE approval status from the District will be between March 27th and April 14th.
If you have questions, please contact ispe@sduhsd.net.
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
#EnviroArt Contest
Please click here for information on how to submit art to the #EnviroArt Contest for the Enviro-Art: 2023 AAP Youth Climate Art Exhibition. Admissions are being accepted through April 22, 2023.
And for 8th graders that are going to TPHS and are looking for more information about which math classes to sign-up for, please click here for details.
Order Your Yearbook Now
Student Safety Vehicle Permit
CCA and TPHS Parent Information Nights
Click here for information on TPHS and CCA Parent Information Nights.
Job Opportunities - Bilingual Parent/Community Liaisons
San Dieguito UHSD has three openings for part-time Bilingual Parent/Community Liaisons, two positions are bilingual Spanish, and one is bilingual Mandarin. A Liaison facilitates communication with families on the behalf of the schools and district to create and maintain a partnership between home and school and create a greater understanding of educational procedures, issues, and concerns. For more information on locations, work hours, and to apply, please go to: https://www.edjoin.org/Home/DistrictJobPosting/1702214.
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.
