Twin Peaks Middle School

Happy Sunday Ram Families!

We hope this newsletter finds you all well and enjoying this long holiday weekend. There is NO SCHOOL ON MONDAY, NOVEMBER 11th in honor of the Veteran's Day Holiday. A huge THANK YOU to all of our active duty military and military veterans for your service and sacrifice. We look forward to celebrating all of our active duty military families and students, along with our staff veterans, at our Military Appreciation Lunch this Tuesday, November 12th, in Pride Park!

This past week was filled with field trips! Rams were learning off-campus as our Horticulture students visited the Coastal Roots Farm on Tuesday, our AVID & ASB Leadership students went to the YMCA Surf Camp for leadership trianing on Tuesday (see pictures below), and 180 drama students went to the Met2 on Friday to see Beauty and the Beast. It takes a ton of leg work to get all of the logistics organized to make these field trips happen, so a BIG THANK YOU to all of our teachers for their incredible efforts to provide students with these amazing learning experiences, and a big SHOUT OUT to all of our parent volunteers who came along as chaperones - we coudln't do it without your help!

The focus this next week will shift to the end of the first trimester... Friday, November 15th marks the end of Trimester 1, and Trimester 2 starts on Monday, November 18th. Students should be focused this week on completong missing assignments and checking in with their teachers if they have any missing quizzes or tests. Wheel elective classes will change and begin on Monday, 11/18, as will our new Homeroom lunch splits (7th graders will be split between lunches in trimester 2, 6th graders have first lunch and 8th graders have second lunch.) There will not be a hard copy of grades sent home; Trimester 1 grades will be available through StudentVue and ParentVue after November 23rd.

The PTSA Fall Book Fair will take place from Tuesday, November 12th through Friday, November 15th in the Twin Peaks Library. The Fair will be open to students before school starts, during lunch, and after school. Students will also visit the Book Fair with their Language Arts class. Books can be purchased with cash, check (made payable to "TPMS PTSA"), or credit/debit card/apple pay/google pay. Parents can also set up an eWallet — your child's digital payment account - for the Twin Peaks Book Fair. If you currently have a balance on an existing eWallet account, the balance can be used with your new account. Just be sure to set up the account with the same email address. Visit our Book Fair homepage to learn more, create an eWallet account, and preview books for the Fair by CLICKING HERE! Also, to make the Fair as successful for our school as possible, volunteers are needed to help at the Fair – cashiers and monitors! Shifts are short and easy. Please CLICK HERE to sign up!

Our Lost & Found is full and will be cleaned out at the end of the trimester, this Friday, November 15th. Please have your students check for lost water bottles, lunch bags, sweatshirts, hats, and even shoes... any items left after this Friday will be donated!

Our Annual CJSF Food Drive and Homeroom competition is now underway! Please be a part of this year's food drive and bring in your canned foods from now until Tuesday, November 19th! The San Diego food bank needs canned meats, vegetables, and fruits as well as peanut butter, rice, pasta, oatmeal, and cereal. Your homeroom will receive double points for the following food: canned tuna, canned veggies, canned soup, and canned beans. The homeroom to receive the most points will get a prize! Please note that the food bank cannot accept any glass jars or home-baked products.

Unfortunately, the amount of student trash on campus has not improved significantly over the past two weeks. Trash is still left in the quad and all over the lunch tables everyday after morning break and lunchtime. Students continue to ignore our noon duty requests to clean up, resulting in our campus being disrespected daily. After consulting with teacher leaders and our ASB advisor on this issue, we have decided to not host a winter dance this year. Our Homeroom Ram Reps will be meeting this week and I encourage them to discuss trash on campus and develop action steps to address this issue with students. If students can respect our campus and keep it clean, we can certainly discuss having after school events, like dances, after the Winter Break. If there are any parents who would like to come and volunteer during lunch to help with our campus cleanup efforts, please send me an email and let me know when you are available - we would love to have you!

Finally this week, the family of Ruby Butcher would like to extend an invitation to all members of the Twin Peaks Middle School community who would like to attend the Celebration of Life for Ruby, planned for this Friday, November 15th starting at 4:15pm. Please see the graphic below for location details. You can also support their family through donations to their Go Fund Me page LINKED HERE.

In Partnership,

Steve Mills

Proud Principal

Twin Peaks Middle School

stmills@powayusd.com

1(858)748-5131 x2806

Instagram: @principalmills_twinpeaks

TPMS NEWS AND EVENTS

November 11th: Veteran's Day - NO SCHOOL

November 12th - 15th - Fall Book Fair

November 12th: Military Appreciation Lunch (both lunches)

November 13th: Late Start 9:30am

November 14th: AVID Fundraiser at Panda Express

November 20th: Late Start 9:30am

November 21st: PTSA Meeting, Library @6:15pm

November 25th - 29th: Thanksgiving Break

This Wednesday and Thursday, November 13th and 14th we will be taking make-up photos for students who do not have their picture for the yearbook and student ID card. All students that don't have a photo or phot ID card yet received a message last week. Please choose a day your student does NOT have PE to make it easier and remember this a photo for the yearbook. If you have any questions, please contact Charlene Ellington cellington@powayusd.com. Thanks so much!

TPMS is participating in a Regal Fundraising Campaign to help support our PTSA. Get your Regal Movie Ticket Bundles to support Twin Peaks Middle School PTSA for $30.00 per order! Bundle Includes: 2 Movie Tickets redeemable at any Regal location nationwide. Click here to purchase or for more information.

Students! Please stop by our Lost & Found (outside the library) and reclaim your lost water bottles, jackets, sweatshirts, hats, shoes and lunchbags! Any items not collected by Friday, November 15th will be donated! Parents - make sure to stop by the Lost & Found when you visit the PTSA Book Fair, November 12th-15th!

It's that time of year again when we ask our Ram Family to give back to the community through the PUSD Giving Tree Program. We are again sponsoring four families for the holidays and need your help!

There are three easy ways to participate:

1 - Browse the Sign-Up Genius and shop for clothes and grocery/gas gift cards. Deliver items to school or organizer. https://www.signupgenius.com/go/70A0E4FABA72BA2F85-53133621-tpms#/

2 - Order online through the Amazon Wishlist. No pick-up or drop-off needed!

https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/21HMUBSMY4ZCA?ref_=wl_share

3 - Want to contribute but don't have time to shop? Donate via Venmo @TPMSPTSA and the PTSA elves will shop the wishlists.

Deadline to drop off items is Friday, December 6th.

Thank you for your support!

With fire season upon us we want to assure parents and guardians that we have appropriate response systems in place when emergencies arise. Our first priority will always be the safety of our students and staff on campus.

When Twin Peaks becomes aware of any incidents in the geographic area of the school site, we will focus first on the safety of our campus while working with law enforcement, emergency responders, and the District for guidance and support for communication. Communication with parents is part of the response plan, but will be secondary to immediate safety. As soon as we can, we will message families with details of school-wide incidents such as lockdowns or evacuations. Please ensure your contact information is up to date in ParentVue in the “My Account” section.

Finally, we have been asked by first responders to remind our families NOT to come to campus in times of emergency – there have been several instances when officers, firefighters, and their ability to respond to the emergency have been hindered by parents rushing to the scene. Should an emergency occur, we will send out messages about dismissal or reunification procedures for families when first responders indicate it is safe to do so.

Please complete the free/reduced-price meal application! Although school meals are free for all students, the application for free and reduced-price meal eligibility is still very important. School funding depends in part on the number of students who qualify for free or reduced-price meals. If income-eligible families do not apply, we risk losing important educational funds for our school.

Students who are eligible for free or reduced-price meals may also qualify for discounts on testing fees, before and after school care, and home internet! Income qualifications change annually, so a new application is needed every school year. For school year 2024-2025, children from a family of four are eligible if the total gross (pre-tax) household income is less than $4,810 per month, or less than $57,720 per year. Household income information is confidential and applying online is quick and easy. Apply online at MySchoolApps.com, or pick up a paper application in the school office.

Yearbooks are available for $55. Reserve yours now!

Pay by card: Go to www.jostens.com or use the QR code

Pay by cash/check: Download the order form from our webpage

http://tpmsyearbook.weebly.com/ or pick up a form in the office. Return the form and cash or check to the school office.

Want more information about Yearbooks? Go to http://tpmsyearbook.weebly.com/

Calling all proud families of 8th graders here at Twin Peaks! 8th Grade Recognition Ads are open and ready for purchase. Go to www.jostens.com and click on Recognition Ads to start the process of celebrating your 8th grader in this year’s yearbook! Deadline is February 1st so don’t delay!

Want more information about Yearbooks? Go to http://tpmsyearbook.weebly.com/

If your student who is a legal dependent between the ages of 13-18 with a parent/guardian in the armed forces, they are eligible to apply for the Military Child of the Year Award. Recipients will represent a branch of the armed forces — the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, National Guard, and Space Force — for their scholarship, volunteerism, leadership, extracurricular involvement, and other criteria while facing the challenges of military family life. All Operation Homefront Military Child of the Year Award recipients will be flown with a parent or guardian to Washington, D.C., and recognized at the April 2025 gala, during which senior leaders of each branch of service will present the awards. They also will receive $10,000 each, a laptop computer, and other donated gifts. Submissions close on December 2, 2024.

We are pleased to share that Valley will be hosting the Spanish Teen Positive Parenting Workshop Series for FREE In Person at Valley Elementary School! This webinar series is designed for parents and will address raising responsible teenagers while improving family communication. The webinar is offered for Spanish speaking parents and open to any parent and family across our school sites. The English series is scheduled for the new year in January 2025.

FREE SPANISH Teen Positive Parenting Workshop Series In Person

Valley Elementary School

Thursday, November 7th, Wednesday, November 13th and Thursday, November 21st from 6:00pm – 8:00pm

Click here for the flyer!

*Childcare provided for school-aged children

Fee-Based Parent Education Courses:

Taming Your Child's Tantrums and Meltdowns TK - 5th Grade - Click here for more information

Gender Identity and Expression Part II - All Grades - Click here for more information

In response to community requests and a desire to address a student safety need, PUSD has partnered with local enforcement to provide mandatory safety classes for all ebike riders. If your child rides their ebike to and from school, attending one of these one-hour classes with a parent or guardian will be a requirement to park their ebike on campus. To provide students ample time to comply, this new requirement will be enforced starting January 6, 2025.

Once you register your ebike at the meeting, you will receive a sticker to place on your ebike and TPMS will receive a notification that you attended the safety class. We appreciate your partnership in taking this important step toward keeping our students safe.

Please note - this class is only required if your student is riding an ebike! If your student is riding a regular bike to school, then our previous registration policy applies. If you registered last year and you have the same bicycle with the TPMS permit still visible, then you are good to go! If you are a new bicyclist to TPMS or have a new bike, please follow the permitting process LINKED HERE on our school webpage.

The Twin Peaks Middle School Parent Teacher Student Association (PTSA) is a membership-based, volunteer organization dedicated to making each school year a rewarding and enriching experience for all students. As a volunteer organization, PTSA is integral to the success of many campus events. We fund, organize and provide volunteers for a variety of PTSA programs and important school activities which serve to enhance your student’s middle school experience. We realize that volunteering may not be in the cards for everyone, but your membership and donation will ensure our programs continue to stay funded.

If you would like to contact PTSA please email: ptsaprestpms@gmail.com. Thanks so much!

All Executive Board meetings will be held on the 3rd Thursday of each month at 6:15pm in the TPMS Library unless listed otherwise. Association Meetings will be held in September, February, and April. Board meetings are open to PTSA Board Members and Committee Chairs while Association Meetings are open for all members of the Twin Peaks Middle School PTSA:

November 21st

December 19th

January 16th

February 13th (Association Meeting @6:15pm; Board Meeting to follow)

March 20th

April 24th (Association Meeting @6:15pm; Board Meeting to follow)

May 15th

June TBD

To join the PTSA for the 2024-25 school year, please CLICK HERE!

Our 2024-2025 Executive Board:

President - Melissa Atkinson

Executive VP - Sonnie Humphreys

1st VP of Ways and Means - Rachel Czarzasty

2nd VP of Membership - Shelly Mead

3rd VP of Volunteers - Alicia Tamayo

Secretary - Mikki Trusheim

Treasurer - Steph Cole

Historian - Alicia Gormican

Financial Reviewer - Phil Trom

Twin Peaks Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to enhancing educational excellence for ALL students at Twin Peaks Middle School. Their purpose is to bridge the widening gap between the amount of money actually provided by the State of California and the Poway Unified School District and the amount necessary to fund technology upgrades, educational programs and resources necessary to support the school.

The Foundation typically meets on the 3rd Tuesday of each month at 6pm in the TPMS Library. Here are their monthly meetings dates for the 2024-25 school year:

December 10th

February 11th
March 18th
May 13th

Please visit the TPMS Foundation Web Page by CLICKING HERE!

You can always shop Amazon and earn money for Twin Peaks! Just click on the Amazon link below, then start spending!

Nondiscrimination Philosophy and Policy Statement

The Poway Unified School District (PUSD) is an equal opportunity employer/program and is committed to an active Nondiscrimination Program. PUSD prohibits discrimination, harassment, intimidation, and bullying based on actual or perceived race, color, ancestry, national origin, nationality, immigration status, ethnicity, ethnic group identification, age, religion, marital or parental status, physical or mental disability, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, or gender expression or association with a person or a group with one or more of these actual or perceived characteristics. For more information, please contact: Title IX/Equity Compliance Officer, James Jimenez, Associate Superintendent of Personnel support Services, Poway Unified School District, 15250 Avenue of Science, San Diego, CA 92128, 1-858-521-2800, extension 2121, jjimenez@powayusd.com. For students, you may contact Title IX Coordinator/504 Coordinator Jamie Dayhoff, Director of Attendance and Discipline, Poway Unified School District, 1-858-521-2840, jdayhoff@powayusd.com.

Website: http://tpms.powayusd.com/index.html
Phone: 858.748.5131
Twitter: @TwinPeaksRams