The Panther Pulse

We are excited to welcome students back for the final quarter of the 2022-23 school year. We hope everyone had time to rest, recharge, and spend quality time with loved ones and we are looking to finish off the remainder of this school year strong!

Our sixth graders return this week with all the great memories that were made a sixth grade camp. We are looking forward to hearing from them about all the fun they had.

I also want to make sure we acknowlege our Associate Principal, Mr. Will Hawthorne, as we celebrate National Associate Principal's Week this week. APs are the backbone of any successful secondary education program and I am fortunate to have a partner like Mr. Hawthorne here at Pershing Middle School. Please make sure you let him know what a great job he has been doing when you see him on campus this week!

Sincerely,
Melanie Kray

SDSU SPIRIT DAY, MONDAY APRIL 3

What a weekend and what a game! Please encourage your students to wear read or black to school tomorrow, Monday, April 3rd to show their support for SDSU's historical appearance in the NCAA Men's Basketball Championship Game!

8th GRADE REQUIREMENTS FOR END OF YEAR ACTIVITIES

Students have been working hard and an important benchmark, P4 grades, is fast approaching. CLICK HERE to see the 8th grade expectations that were shared with students to participate in end of the year activities.

SEUSICAL PERFORMANCES, APRIL 18-21st

Student in our drama program have been hard a work preparing an amazing performance for the Pershing Community. Students will have an opportunity to view the performance during the school day and families can purchase tickets to see the performance at 6:00 PM on April 19, 20, or 21. $15 for premium seats, $10 for floor seats, and $5 for general admission. Please be on the look out this week for an additional email on ticket purchase options.

SPRING FEST, APRIL 27th @5:30-7:00 PM

The Pershing Middle School faculty would like to cordially invite all families to attend our second semester open house which we are calling Spring Fest: An Exhibition of Student Learning. We hope you will be able to attend and elementary students from our feeder elementary schools: Benchley-Weinberger, Dailard, Gage, and Green are also welcome to attend.

CAASPP STATE TESTING MAY 1-18.

Each year the State of California has all 6-8th graders take the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP). These tests are used by the state to measure student progress in English and Math. This year students will be taking their English CAASPP in their English classes the Week of May 1st and then they will take their Math CAASPP in their Math classes the Week of May 8th. Eighth grade students are required to take one additional state test the California Science Test or CAST. Eighth graders will take the CAST in their science classes the Week of May 15th. We are required to have at least 95% of our students take these state exams so we wanted to make sure families have these dates early so vacations and medical appointments are not scheduled during these state-wide tests. As we get closer to the testing dates more detailed information will be provided to families.

A REMINDER: PERSHING HAS A NO LUNCH DROP OFF POLICY

To help ensure disruptions to the classroom are minimized and ensure our office staff is able to stay focused on their daily responsibilities Pershing has a no lunch drop off policy. Please know all students are able to receive a free breakfast and lunch every day at Pershing so if they forget their lunch they will not go hungry. We also ask that families not attempt to circumvent the no lunch drop off policy by setting up a separate meet up time with their child during the school day to give them the lunch through the fence. Our most important responsiblity is to keep your children safe and we thank you in advance for your support and understanding regarding this policy.

PERSHING FOUNDATION UPDATE - STAY CONNECTED

There a lots of a ways to stay involved and support Pershing Middle School starting with our fabulous Pershing Parent Foundation. Be sure to check out their website: https://pershingmiddleschoolfoundation.org/ and visit them on facebook @parentsofpershingpanthers. On their facebook page they have information on how to sign up for Amazon Smile so that a portion of your amazon purchases support our school.

PERSHING SCHOOL WEBSITE

https://pershing.sandiegounified.org/

Do you have suggestions for our school website? CLICK HERE to complete our website feedback survey.

ATTENTION ALL STUDENTS - T-SHIRT DESIGN OPPORTUNITY

The Pershing Panther Challenge Course is coming soon! This will be an all school fundraiser and fun field event held on Friday, May 19th. Event T shirts will be earned by all students who raise $25 in donations for the Pershing Foundation. This year the Pershing Foundation would like the t-shirt to be designed by one of our students.

Would you like to see your art design on event T shirts for the Challenge Course?

Please submit your artwork to your first period teacher or via email: Pershingmiddleschoolfoundation@gmail.com by April 7th (week after returning from Spring Break).

To be considered, art must be:

• The students' original artowrk

• May be done on paper, other art media or computer graphically generated

• Include: Either the name "Pershing" or a depiction of the mascot (a panther)

• Be tasteful and respectful

Please email the Foundation with any questions: Pershingmiddleschoolfoundation@gmail.com

Our policy for SDUSD Middle School Athletics (MSA) is to usually try to wait until the morning of to make decisions about the weather and then let school sites make individual decisions because every geographical area and playing surface is different throughout the District. With rain forecasted for the rest of the week throughout the City, the SDUSD Athletics Office has made a unilateral decision to postpone all middle school flag football tryouts for the duration of this week due to anticipated bad weather. We will resume tryouts upon our return from Spring Break on April 3. Coaches are being alerted that they must still have a minimum of two days of tryouts before deciding on teams. Those two days of tryouts will be the next two scheduled days per this schedule upon our return from Spring Break: Spring 2023 Practice Schedule. Until coaches/teams are set, decisions as it pertains to practices/tryouts, including weather decisions, will be made centrally from the SDUSD Athletics Office. A message is being sent to all parents/guardians of students who registered as we have those emails from the sign-up form.

The start of the Flag Football season remains April 15th and our office anticipates having the first two weeks of the flag football game schedule released by the end of this week.

For any questions, please check our Middle School Athletics District website located at https://sdusdathletics.com/middle-schools/ or contact Lonnie Jones, our SDUSD Middle School Athletics Coordinator at Ljones3@sandi.net.

SPANISH TUTORING AVAILABLE

Does your child need help with Spanish? Mr. Barry is offering tutoring support on Tuesdays in Rm. 104 afterschool.

8TH GRADE HENRY HIGH SLIM PARENT NIGHT

If you were not able to attend the meeting CLICK HERE to see the slide deck the Henry team presented.

COVID-19 cases are on the rise in our area, with San Diego County recently entering the Medium COVID-19 Community Level. Other illnesses such as the influenza virus (flu), respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and the common cold also remain highly prevalent and easily transmissible. Practicing good health hygiene habits – washing hands, staying home when sick, and considering wearing a mask indoors and in crowded areas – can help prevent the spread of illness and is especially important during this time when many will be traveling or gathering with family and friends.

The district is providing all students and staff with at-home COVID-19 test kits to help our school communities have greater peace of mind about returning to school safely on Tuesday, Jan. 3 after the winter break.

The California Department of Public Health now recommends self testing for COVID-19 the day before coming back to school and two or three days after returning. We encourage students and staff to test on Monday, Jan. 2 and again on either Wednesday, Jan 4 or Thursday, Jan 5.

Testing before returning to school is recommended but not required. Additional test kits for students and staff are available at the Ed Center COVID-19 testing facility. If you test positive for COVID-19, please do not attend school and report your illness here.

Please do not send your child to school if they are feeling sick or experiencing symptoms of any cold-like virus, until those symptoms start to improve and there is no fever for 24 hours (without use of fever-reducing medication). Keeping your sick child home will be a great benefit for the health and wellness of our students and staff.

What Symptoms to Look For

• The flu and COVID-19 are both spread from person-to-person, especially indoors and in crowded places. Symptoms for both viruses can include nasal congestion, fever, headache, and muscle and joint pain, as well as a sore throat and coughing.
• RSV is a respiratory virus that has been detected in previous cold and flu seasons. Symptoms of RSV include cough, runny nose, and fever. Treatment consists of managing symptoms.

Tips to Avoid Getting Sick [English | Español)
Public health officials offer these tips to prevent getting sick:

• Consider wearing a well-fitting, good-quality mask, especially indoors or in crowded spaces
• Wash hands thoroughly and often
• Use hand sanitizers, if unable to wash hands
• Stay away from sick people
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth
• Clean commonly touched surfaces and/or wash/sanitize your hands after using them.
• Stay up to date on COVID-19 and flu vaccines

Mar 15: Coffee with the Principal @8:30 AM via zoom

Mar 20-24: 6th Grade Camp

Mar 27-31: Spring Break (NO SCHOOL)

Apr 19, 20, 21: Seussical School Play @6:00 PM

May 1-18: CAASPP School-wide testing

May 19: Pershing Foundation Challenge Course

Jun 8: 8th Grade Evening Awards Assembly

Jun 9: 8th Grade Dance

Jun 12: 8th Grade Promotion Practice

June 13: 8th Grade Promotion Practice & Dave & Buster's Trip

Jun 14: 8th Grade Promotion