PTMS Weekly Parent Newsletter

I. Coming Up (calendar items in the coming week or so)

II. Message from the Principal

III. Message from the Assistant Principal

• From the Attendance Office

IV. Counseling Corner

• Information on Wellness and Suicide Prevention
  

V. From the PTSA

VI. ASB and Student Announcements

VII. Department News

• Learning Commons
• PE
• Science
• Yearbook
  

XIII. Clubs (periodic information on extracurricular school activities)

IX. Nutrition Services

X. Multilingual Corner (includes information on ELAC other community resources)

XI. Ethic Studies Engagement Plan - 2024-25

XII. Special Education Sessions and Events (parenting classes, family events, informational sessions)

XIII. Community Events (opportunities/events involving the district and its schools)

XV. Other Important Items (links to the PTMS Family Handbook, Boys & Girls Club, Webstore, etc.)

Mon-Wed, August 26-28 - Reading STAR Testing in English classes

Wednesday, August 28 - ELPAC Testing

Thurs/Fri, August 29 & 30 - Math STAR Testing in Math classes

Monday, September 2 - Labor Day Holiday - NO SCHOOL

Wolfpack families,

What a fantastic week! Last night's Back To School Night was so well attended, and I want to thank each and every one who was able to attend. It was great to see new and familiar faces alike, and I hope that you enjoyed the opportunity to meet your student's teachers, see other parents, and get an idea of what this year will be like.

Last night, we kicked off our fundraising efforts for the 2024-25 school year. Our fundraising efforts go directly to supporting your children and their educational experiences while at Pacific Trails. We use these funds for Academic Power Hour, various health and wellness initiatives, teacher mini grants that supplement learning experiences, and so much more. Use the QR code below to access the donation page or click here. Please inquire at your place of business about corporate matching. Part of what makes Pacific Trails so special is the support that our parent community provides, and we are grateful for anything that you can give.

Earlier in the week, Dr. Hake spoke to all of our students about behavioral expectations so each student clearly understands how to behave and thrive while at PTMS. You can access the presentation here. I encourage you to view it, and review it with your student if you like.

Our ASB students put on games and activities during lunch as part of our Welcome Week. They played Beat Shazam (similar to "name that tune"), gave out fun prizes, and raised our school spirit. Meanwhile, our counselors facilitated our "new student luncheon" so that students new to Pacific Trails could meet others, get connected, and begin building community.

In classrooms, students in PE began their physical fitness diagnostics that serve as a baseline for the year. Some of our 7th grade social studies students are reviewing elements of the world map before they begin their study of ancient Rome, while our 8th graders are reviewing plot structure and literary terms in English class.

Finally, as I mentioned at last night's event, community building is a core value at Pacific Trails. One way students can do that is by participating in athletics through the Boys and Girls Club. Click here to get information about which sports are offered in the fall and specifics on tryouts.

Have a wonderful weekend, and we will see your student on Monday at 9:25 am.

In gratitude,

Scott Wild, Ed.D.

Dear Wolfpack Families,

Student safety is our number one priority always. As the use of e-bikes grows, we continue to evolve our practices with our primary focus of student safety. During the first week of school, we’ve noticed some student transportation trends with the potential for injury, and we would like to give information about the safest way to arrive at school and depart from school on an e-bike, bike, or motorized scooter. The following map will be reviewed with students next week:

Please review this e-bike/bike safety memo with your student. More information about e-bike/bike safety will be provided in coming weeks as our practices evolve. In the meantime, please reach out to me with any questions or concerns.

STAR Testing

This year all students will participate in the Renaissance Star Reading and Star Math academic universal screening tests to measure student’s learning and growth over the school year. The Star tests help our schools and teachers evaluate student performance and progress over time in order to provide the necessary student support.

Star Reading and Star Math are both short (30 minute), low stakes, computer adaptive, academic assessments. Star assessments help teachers better understand what students know and can do in the areas of reading and math. As a student takes the test, the software selects items based on the student’s responses. If the student answers correctly, the next item will be more difficult. If the student answers incorrectly, the next item will be less difficult. By adjusting the difficulty of the items based on a student's responses, the assessment is an accurate way to help teachers identify what skills students are ready to learn. Teachers use this information to guide their instruction.

Scores will be posted by the district in Aeries once they are available.

Fall STAR Testing Dates

• STAR Reading: Monday, August 26th, Tuesday, August 27th, or Wednesday, August 28th in English classes (check with English teacher for which day)

• STAR Math: Thursday, August 29th or Friday, August 30th in Math classes

If you have any questions please email Administrative Assistant, Lisa Graciano, at lisa.graciano@sduhsd.net, or Assistant Principal Dr. Stephanie Hake, at stephanie.hake@sduhsd.net.

If your student will miss class for any reason, email PTAttendance@sduhsd.net to either clear your student's absence, or to get an off-campus pass. If you contact us early, we can have your student waiting in the office for you to pick-up when you get here.

This week, we joined Dr. Hake, assistant principal, and met with all of our wolves during their elective classes to introduce ourselves and share about student support at PTMS. For more information about how students can access their school counselor, please refer to slides 11-15 of this presentation.

Digital mental health support for youth, young adults and families: Brightline for Kids & Caregivers & Soluna for Teens and Young Adults are two behavioral health virtual services platforms for children, youth, and families. The web and app-based platforms offer all California residents, regardless of insurance coverage, free one-on-one support with a live coach, a library of multimedia resources, wellness exercises, and peer communities moderated by trained behavioral health professionals to ensure the appropriateness of content and the safety of all users. Click here for more information.

The counseling office is unable to honor schedule change requests unless your student is requesting a level change for math or English. Changes can be made through your child’s counselor through September 10, 2024 and will be honored if space is available.

Check out the 5 Tips to Support Your Teen Transition Back to School

Lisa Curry, Counselor (A-Ll) lisa.curry@sduhsd.net

Carsen Anderson, Counselor (Lo-Z and MLL Students) carsen.anderson@sduhsd.net

Samantha Eels-Taylor, Student Support Facilitator samantha.eelstaylor@sduhsd.net

Mental Health & Wellness Resources for Students, Staff, and School Community.

Click on the QR code to discover your PTMS Support Staff.

Dear PTMS Families,

It was fantastic to meet so many of you at Back to School Night! We appreciate your engagement and commitment to our school community.

Our teachers and staff worked hard to welcome all the parents yesterday night so the PTSA brought them some delicious burritos.

We're excited to announce that the PTMS fundraising campaign is officially open! We kindly ask you to consider a donation of $250. Your financial support goes directly to the school and benefits our students, ensuring we can continue providing a rich educational environment.

With your contributions, we can enhance our amenities, academic programs, and mental health and wellness initiatives, creating a supportive and enriching atmosphere for all our students to thrive.

Thank you for your continued support in making PTMS a great place to learn and grow!

The PTSA Team

~ PTSA Activity will be posted here throughout the year. You can visit their webpage by clicking here.

See this presentation for more information.

You can check them out on the Students tab of our website under "Student Announcements" for a running post of each week's student announcements.

Please click here to see everything that the Learning Commons has been up to so far this year.

The PE Department is currently taking donations of your empty Almond Milk/Oat Milk hard plastic containers with handles. We fill these containers with gravel to use as weights.

Order your PE clothes here.

Please follow us on Instagram to see what your student is up to during PE class.

Pre-order your Yearbook here. Don't delay! Order your 2024-25 Yearbook TODAY!

~ Club activity will be posted here throughout the year. To get a list of all Clubs currently active, please check the Activities page on our website.

School Meals Reminders:

• School meals are free for all students.

• Know your student ID# for meals.

• Breakfast Daily: 7:40 - 8:10am.

• Breakfast Late Monday: 8:50 - 9:20am.

• Nutritional Break: 9:45 - 10:00am.

• Lunch Daily: according to the bell schedule.

I am happy to report that our 7th graders are adapting very well and moving faster to the lines. Just remember that if you are stuck and can’t recall your student ID number we are here to help. We can look up your name and find your number for you.

If you or someone you know is interested in joining our team, PTMS is hiring for food service workers . Click on the links for more information.

SDUHSD annual Fall Multilingual Learner Night is taking place on Wednesday, September 11, from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. at Earl Warren Middle School. This event will feature our Family/Community Listening Circles, which was so successful last year in encouraging active parent involvement and gathering valuable feedback on our MLL programs.

On the link below, you’ll find the flyer with registration details, including a link and QR code for parents to sign up. The flyer is available in English, Spanish and Chinese and can be translated into additional languages by right-clicking on the document and selecting a different language option.

Fall Multilingual Learner Night and Family Listening Circle - September 11 - 6:00-7:30 p.m. - EWMS

SDUHSD invites you to get involved in the Ethnic Studies Engagement Plan 24-25. The district has developed an Ethnic Studies Engagement plan which will become a graduation requirement for high schoolers in a few years. For more information, including opportunities for involvement in the engagement process, please visit the Ethnic Studies Graduation Requirements webpage.

Below are the meeting dates:

Community Engagement Meeting Dates:

8/14 - 5:30 pm - 7:30 pm @ Earl Warren Middle School

9/17 - 5:30 pm - 7:30 pm @ Earl Warren Middle School

10/8 - 5:30 pm - 7:30 pm @ Earl Warren Middle School

11/7 - 5:30 pm - 7:30 pm @ Earl Warren Middle School

For a list of Special Education Informational Sessions and Family Events, please click here.

High school students from Canyon Crest Academy and others across the US are hosting free online coding camps for middle school students. They offer Introductory Python, Intermediate Python, Introductory Machine Learning, and Project-Based Machine Learning with more programs planned, and their past programs have achieved 800+ enrollments throughout the country with dozens of positive reviews. These programs usually meet bi/tri-weekly for two to three weeks for one-hour classes. More information on dates can be found on their flyer and their website, and the enrollment form is linked here.

~ Activities at our sister schools or district-sponsored events will be posted here.

- Boys & Girls Club - Seasonal sports information/registration.

- PTMS Family Handbook. - PTMS Cell Phone Policy

- PTMS Live Calendar of Campus Events and 2024-25 Instructional Calendar.

- PTMS Student Vehicle Permit - Register your bike/e-bike/scooter/skateboard with PTMS. Complete this form and turn in to the office.

- PTMS Webstore - PE clothes and Limited Series Clothing (While Supplies Last)

- PTMS Yearbook. - Order today!

- San Dieguito Alliance for a Drug-Free Youth - complete the Parent Pledge here.

- San Dieguito Boys & Girls Club - click the link to the left for 2023-24 athletic schedules.

This newsletter has also been posted to our website under "Parent Communications."

Deadlines to submit articles for publication are Thursdays.

Email: vetha.pierce@sduhsd.net
Website: pt.sduhsd.net
Location: 5975 Village Center Loop Road, San Diego, CA, USA
Phone: 858.509.1000
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pacifictrailsmiddleschool