Panther Post

• December 19th-30th: WINTER BREAK
• January 2nd: No School
• January 3rd: Two hour late start
• January 11th: Early Release 2:10pm
• January 16th: No School (Martin Luther King Jr. Day)
• January 25th: Early Release 2:10pm
• January 30th: No School (Semester Break)

Hello wonderful Panther Lake families and community,

Winter Break is officially here! We hope you take time to rest, recharge, and reconnect! These two weeks are much needed for our scholars. They have been working so hard.

To support your scholar's return in January, please continue working with your scholar on reading and math through their iReady MyPath lessons and their online bookshelf. We want to be sure our scholars are truly prepared for the next grade level by ensuring scholars reach proficiency in each grade level learning standard. CLICK HERE to learn more about Common Core Standards and how these impact your scholar's educational career.

• MATH: Scholars will be engaging in their grade level benchmark testing upon return from winter break. Your scholar can access their custom and individual learning through their iReady MyPath lessons. These lessons are specifically designed to meet your scholar's math needs. You can support your scholar with these lessons as they are self-guided and interactive. Please ensure your scholar is working through these lessons everyday for at least 30 minutes with a 90% or higher passing rate.
• READING: Scholars will also be taking their grade level benchmark test in reading via iReady upon return. Their custom reading lessons are through iReady MyPath. Again, please ensure they are working through these lessons for at least 30 minutes everyday. Supporting your scholars with this work will ensure your scholar is prepared for the end of the first semester when we return form winter break. In addition to this, I will be providing a special principal party for the top 10 scholars who read the most (minutes and books). Track your scholar's reading through their reading log or noting it in a notebook. Ensure your scholar understands what they read! You can turn this into your scholar's teacher or email their log to me directly!
• SOCIAL EMOTIONAL: Scholars will re-engage with our Positive Behavior Intervention System lessons upon return. They will be re-learning safe, kind, and responsible school expectations. We will also be reviewing our habits we have learned thus far. Habit 1- Be Proactive and Habit 2- Begin with the end in Mind. Please ensure your scholar continues practicing stepping away from problems and situations and practicing self-regulation strategies (breathing and calming techniques). CLICK HERE for YouTube videos to support your scholar at home!
• SCHOOL HEALTH AND SAFETY: At school, we do not allow energy drinks or soda. If your scholar is bringing a snack or lunch, please ensure your scholar has water or juice (or similar) rather than caffeinated beverages. We also want to ensure our scholars are not eating candy throughout the day. We also would appreciate your partnership on bathroom etiquette. We are continuing to see urine and fecal matter on the floor, walls, and even ceilings of our 3rd and 4th/5th grade bathrooms. To keep our school healthy and safe, ensure your scholar understands how to keep themselves cleaned up. Please continue speaking with your scholar about staying on campus and listening to adult directions! We will be enforcing our zero tolerance rule regarding hands on and eloping (leaving class without permission). We will expect families to join us in school to support your scholar with these expectations if they are not responding to our redirection, reteach, or resets.

Don't forget- The first day back to school is a two hour late start. Scholars' arrival to school will be at 10:50am with a school start time of 11:10.

We hope you have a wonderful winter break!

Thank you for your continued support!

In partnership,

Tabatha Ritch

(Principal)

tritch@fwps.org

253-945-3634

253-391-7444 (Cell - Text okay)

and

Emily Smith

(Assistant Principal)

emsmith@fwps.org

253-945-3608

253-391-6251 (Cell - Text okay)

Using this link to Husky Elementary School Day students and staff can claim up to 4 complimentary tickets to the Men's basketball game this Saturday, December 17th at 7 p.m. to kick off winter break!

This game will be filled with tons of excitement you do not want to miss including:

· Complimentary tickets to see the Dawgs take on Idaho State

· Harry the Husky and Dubs taking photos on the concourse pregame

· Home Alone fan cam in-game

· Children's Book read with Dubs at halftime

· In-game giveaways & games

· Holiday coat drive

To show our appreciation we would like to invite you out and offer you up to four (4) complimentary tickets to this game.

Other Games to Join the Huskies

· Wed, Dec. 21 at 6:00 p.m. vs Auburn

· Fri, Dec. 30 at 7:00 p.m. vs USC

· Sun, Jan 1 at 4:00 p.m. vs UCLA

· Thu, Jan 12 at 8:00 p.m. vs Stanford

· Sat, Jan 14 at 3:00 p.m. vs Cal

· Thu, Jan 26 at 8:00 p.m. vs ASU

· Sat, Jan 28 at 2:30 p.m. vs Arizona

· Wed, Feb 15 at 8:00 p.m. vs Oregon

· Sat, Feb 18 at 5:00 p.m. vs Oregon State

· Thu, March 2 at 8:00 p.m. vs WSU

Don't forget... We will be celebrating scholars with great attendance upon return from Winter Break.

Scholars who are here every day, on time, and ready to learn will receive a Golden Ticket invite to Kids Night Out!

Families will drop scholars off on a Friday at 6pm to have fun with their friends at the school in a safe setting! They do not need to be picked up until 9pm which means YOU get that time all to yourself.

Stay tuned for more information and remember... ATTENDANCE MATTERS!

We are incredibly excited to announce the Panther Lake PTA Board:

President- Renee Metanoia

Vice President- Katie Finch

Secretary- Jason O'Daniel

Treasurer- Kianna Hall

PTA is still in need of members to support family event planning and building up our Panther Lake community.

If you would like to join our PTA, please reach out to Mr. Sanchez or any of our board members.

To report absences:

1. Call Mrs. Hagen at 253-945-3603 or office 253-945-3600, email: bhagen@fwps.org
2. Report on ParentVue, preferable before school starts at 9:10am (before teacher submit absences)

*If absences are not reported before 10:15am, parents will get a district automated absence callout* to remind them to call students absence in.

TIP: If students go to a medical appointment and misses school, you can provide a doctor's note so the absence can be excused as “medical” which will not count as an absent for BECCA.

**If you have a question about BECCA, our state school attendance law, please feel free to email or call me for more information.**

Prearranged absence: Form attached needs to be completed when student is out for more than 2 days BEFORE missing school. This applies for vacations or extended absences.

*parent will complete the top portion, then teacher will complete their section, parent and student will sign and final step will be completed from our principal, Mrs. Ritch.*

Tardy hours 9:15-9:40am

Absence is after 9:40am

If students are late and check in after 9:40am and it is under an unexcused reason, parents will get the auto absence callout.

• PLEASE put a reason down when students are coming in late or leaving early, if there is no reason written down, then the attendance code will not be accurate and it will be automatically coded as unexcused.

If you have any attendance questions, please contact Data Secretary Bonnie Hagen 253-945-3603 bhagen@fwps.org

Has your scholar's teacher gone above and beyond? Is there a staff member at Panther Lake you would like to recognize for their support and help? Would you like to celebrate anyone on the Panther Lake team for the incredible work they do everyday?

You have a chance to nominate any Federal Way Public Schools staff member in the district you believe has positively impacted you, your school, and/or your community with the “Because of You” award. Scholars from the superintendent’s advisory created the awards nomination process.

Nominations will be reviewed and selected by the Superintendent’s Scholar Advisory team and each month educators will be honored. Nominations forms can be completed online, and should be submitted by the end of the month. Stay tuned as we highlight these extraordinary staff members who make a difference each day in our schools!

Please use the link below to nominate your Panther Lake staff member!