Panther Post

On the Horizon...

• May 8th-26th: SBA Testing for 3rd-5th grades
  
• May 24th: Early Release
  
• May 26th: Spirit Assemblies
• May 29th: Memorial Day - No School
• May 30th: PTA Skate Night
• June 2nd: Multicultural Night Family Event
• June 7th: Assembly with local writer for 3rd-5th Graders

More info to come soon about end of year celebrations of learning and community!

Panther Lake had the opportunity to pilot using a new scheduling system for Student Led Conferences in March. If you scheduled your scholar's conference through ParentVue, please take this short (6 question) survey to offer the district your feedback.

LINK HERE

Greetings Panther Families!

Next week is Teacher Appreciation week! We are lucky at Panther Lake to have fantastic staff members who put their whole selves into supporting the learning of our scholars! Please take some time over the coming week to share your appreciation with our staff members who have had an impact on your scholar!

Next week, our scholars will also begin taking the Smarter Balanced Assessment (SBA). First to test will be 5th graders, and they will begin testing on Monday May 8. The following week 4th graders will test, and the week after that 3rd grade will test. We know that in the past testing can cause stress and anxiety for our scholars. Our scholars have been working so hard this year - we want to support our scholars in thinking of this as an opportunity to celebrate and share what they have learned! Please support your scholars who are testing by making sure they get lots of sleep, check in with them about how they're feeling, and what they feel they need to be successful. As a school we have lots planned to support and celebrate them!

A thank you to Mr. Soltez who has been filling in as guest principal during Principal Ritch's absence. We have greatly appreciated your time and support! Mr. Soltez has now been reassigned to Olympic View to support as guest principal for the rest of the year. We are all excited for Principal Ritch to be returning soon.

Thank you for your ongoing partnership!
Emily Smith

Assistant Principal

Please note that we are getting close to our Smarter Balanced Assessment (SBA) state testing for 3rd-5th graders. The testing window will be from May 8th-26th. There is a calendar below of the testing schedule. As you help your scholars feel prepared, some of the most important things we can do for them is to remain positive, help them get lots of quality sleep, support them in reading at home, and ask them to explain what they are learning about in school. We are going to be working as a school to encourage our 3rd-5th grade scholars and sending them positive messages on their testing days!

Superintendent, Dr. Pfieffer stopped by Panther Lake to see our scholars in action! (below)

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

President- Renee Metanoia

Vice President- Katie Finch

Secretary- Jason O'Daniel

Treasurer- Glyn Jenkins (5th grade teacher/admin intern)

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 9:10-9:40am

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!