Tiger Tales #12

On the early release Wednesdays students go home or to a variety of activities. But at school, our Medina staff members are engaging as students during this time. They are working and learning together. As a staff, we have been studying the topic of Accountable Talk, or student-to-student talk in the classroom that is productive and fosters learning. There is a skill for how to structure this type of classroom dialogue and to ensure that all members of a classroom feel their ideas are valued and heard.

This past Wednesday during our professional development time as a staff, Ms. Coombs shared some ideas for how she fosters this culture in her classroom. We engaged in an activity which promoted dialogue and thinking so that we can then begin to think about how these strategies might be implemented across classrooms. You can support this engagement in your dialogue with your children at home - through your conversations at dinner or during activities with them. Ask them what makes them curious or ask them to explain their reasoning and thinking behind their opinions. This helps them become critical thinkers and learners. Thank you for partnering with us to support our children as they continue to grow as learners and as people of our world.

Lara

At this week’s board meeting, I shared with the board and community some sobering financial challenges that our district is currently facing that are going to impact our system this year and for the next couple of years. Please read this blog post to learn more about our current fiscal challenges, how we are addressing these challenges in the short and long term, and how the state’s insufficient funding of public education must be addressed to resolve the structural issues facing districts across our state.

Read Superintendent Aramaki’s full blog.

We hope you will join us for our next Pastries with Principals event, which will be held this Monday, November 18th with the topic of Math. We will have two district Math Content Curriculum Facilitators who support both AL and the general curriculum for Math who will present some relevant and interesting information for parents. As always, at the end of our presentations we allow time for parents to ask general school-related questions of me or Kati as well. We hope to see many of you there!

Today our school celebrated and honored the many Veterans who have served our country in a whole school assembly. As part of the assembly, our students heard from fellow students about the history of Veterans Day, they read about the tomb of the unknown soldier, and we shared a slideshow of all the Veterans connected to our Medina School Community. They also were led in the singing of the National Anthem and another song about these heroes. As a special surprise, the students were able to honor a Veteran from our Medina community who joined us at the assembly by giving her roses and applauding her service. It was a touching assembly, and we appreciated the wonderful way our students honored our Veterans.

We're excited to announce that the Voices of Bellevue School District: Belong, Learn, Lead podcast series has officially launched! The series is connected to the 2024-29 Strategic Plan and aims to foster a sense of belonging by sharing the lived experiences of BSD's students, staff and families.

The podcast is now available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and YouTube Podcasts. Be sure to listen, share and stay tuned for more episodes to come.

On Wednesday, November 20 from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m., the district will conduct a test of our emergency communication system, SchoolMessenger. BSD families will receive a phone call, text message and email to the primary contact information they have provided in ParentVUE — which families are asked to verify at the beginning of every school year. The purpose of this test is to ensure that BSD families are able to receive district messages in the event of school delays, closures or emergencies.

Learn more about the test and get tips on how to receive district messages.

A big congratulations to all the boys who participated in this 7-week running club lead by Ms. Hutson, Mr. Heinemann, Mr. Jones, and Ms. Lam. This week the boys all ran a 5K run at the Medina Park in the drizzly rain as a practice for their big run at Greenlake Park in Seattle happening on Saturday, November 23. Thank you to the parents and teachers for their support and encouragement. We wish the boys success in their big run on the 23rd!

We want to thank Mr. Hector Nassar, the PE teacher who has been filling the medical leave for Mr. Jerry Hinton. This next week will be his last week at Medina as Mr. Hinton will be returning to teaching on Monday, November 25. It will be wonderful to see Mr. Hinton again, and we also want to thank Mr. Hector for supporting our students in his absence.

Wow! What an amazing evening we all had playing bingo together! A big thank you to our PTA for helping support the event. It was a lot of fun to see so many people of all ages, (including some teachers who came as well!), and to hear the yell of, "BINGO!" There was popcorn, prizes, and a lot of great energy in our cafeteria on Thursday night. We look forward to the next family fun night together!

To learn more about the PTA and to read their news, click here.

The Medina Police have informed us that there have been reports of speeding near Medina Elementary. Their officers have been focused on this area over the past week and have observed significant speeding and traffic safety issues for themselves. Please ensure that you are slowing down and driving safely when picking up students. We recognize that you may be in a hurry to get to and from school, but we need to take care for the safety of our kids. Thanks!

This week, we conducted a lockdown drill and practiced what we would do if there was a threat near the building. Students learned about the importance of listening to school staff and following instructions quickly and quietly. We also practiced assessing our environment and making decisions to keep us safe.

Please remember that a lockdown is considered a preventative measure and is not the same as an Active Threat. Please talk to your child about our drill. Be sure to listen and let them lead the conversation. An important next step in your family preparedness might be to talk about how what your child learned in the drill can help them stay safe in other situations. For more information on talking to your child about school safety, you might want to visit the website:

https://www.mhanational.org/talking-kids-about-school-safety.

November:

18: 8:15 - 9:15 AM Pastries with Principals in the Art Room

18: School photo re-take day

25 & 26: Elementary Conference Days early release (Preschool - 5th grade)

28 & 29: NO SCHOOL. Thanksgiving Holiday

December:

9: 8:15 - 9:15 in Art Room - Pastries with Principals

9-13 Book Fair

12: 8:15 - PTA General Meeting

21: Start of Winter Holiday

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January:

6: Start of school after holidays