Pioneer Press

Dear Pioneer Families,

With Halloween around the corner, we’re excited to celebrate the festive spirit at school! On Thursday, October 31st, students are welcome to wear costumes, but we ask that they follow these important guidelines to ensure a fun, safe, and respectful environment for everyone:

1. No Masks or Face Paint – We need to be able to identify all students for safety reasons.
2. Appropriate Attire – Costumes should follow our dress code policy. Please avoid anything overly revealing or inappropriate for school.
3. No Weapons or Props – This includes toy guns, knives, swords, or any other accessories that resemble weapons.
4. Respectful Themes – Costumes should not depict violence, gore, or inappropriate content. Please avoid costumes that could be offensive or disrespectful to others.
5. Cultural Sensitivity – Costumes representing another culture or group in a disrespectful or stereotypical way are not permitted.

We want this to be a fun day for all students, and we appreciate your support in helping make it safe and inclusive. If you have any questions or need clarification, please don’t hesitate to reach out.

If your student isn't interested in wearing a costume, we are encouraging them to wear wall colors instead!

Thank you for your cooperation, and we look forward to seeing the creative costumes and fall colors!

JoAnne Fernandes

Dear Pioneer Middle School Families,

I hope this message finds you well as we continue to enjoy the beauty of the fall season. It's been wonderful to see the energy and enthusiasm our students bring to their learning each day.

This week, I want to highlight the importance of staying connected. Whether through parent-teacher conferences, school events, or simply checking in on your child’s progress, your involvement is key to their success. A big thank you to those families who made it to our conferences this week!

Please be sure to review the upcoming calendar for events and opportunities to engage with our school community.

Thank you for your continued support!

Best regards,
JoAnne Fernandes
Principal, Pioneer Middle School

Dear Pioneer PTA,

On behalf of the entire Pioneer Middle School staff, I want to extend a sincere thank you for your generous donations of snacks, drinks, breakfast goodies, and the delicious dinner on Thursday night. Your thoughtful contributions have truly brightened our days and energized us during a busy time.

Beyond the treats, we are so grateful for your unwavering support of our school. Your commitment to our students, staff, and community makes a meaningful difference, and we appreciate everything you do to help Pioneer thrive.

Thank you for always going above and beyond for our school!

With gratitude,

Pioneer Middle School Staff

We are actively seeking dedicated individuals to join our team in various roles, including teachers, paraeducators, and substitutes. If you're passionate about fostering a supportive learning environment and making a positive impact, we want you on our team!

Click Here to learn more about our open positions and apply today!

Animal Advocates:

Ms. Joslin's 7th/8th Grade Animals Advocates Classes went on a field trip to Billy Frank Junior Nisqually Wildlife Refuge this past Friday. The weather was cold and rainy, but beautiful! This field trip allowed students to see birds, and wildlife in their natural habitat. Students are learning about birds and waterfowl using the Junior Duck Stamp curriculum. Students are researching a waterfowl species and creating presentations. This unit will culminate in creating an artwork of a waterfowl to submit to the state and national contest!

Video Production:

The Video Production classes have been busy creating the Pioneer Morning News show. Pioneer Morning News is our school news program, shown daily in each classroom. If you want to know what is happening at Pioneer Middle School, visit

https://pio.steilacoom.k12.wa.us/our-school/pioneer-tv to see our daily show. Pioneer Video Production also has a You Tube channel where you can see the videos that students in the class create. View our channel at: https://www.youtube.com/@dbeaulieu98388. The channel has had 971,497 video views! We aim to reach 1,000,000 by the end of the school year, so check it out.

Physical Education:

8th Grade PE recently finished their Pickleball unit! Students had the opportunity to participate in a double elimination doubles tournament before taking part in a single elimination singles tournament. Pickleball is a great sport due to the fact it is social, fun, inclusive, and has many health benefits!

7th grade PE classes have been playing floor hockey and are now finishing up the double elimination tournament. The next PE unit will be volleyball.

6th grade fitness students are finishing up the health section of our class returning to PE on Friday, October 25th. While in health to keep their bodies moving, we are participating in the 30 day plank challenge. Students who are still in the challenge can do a forearm plank for 2 minutes and 10 seconds so far.

Band:

Band had a great start to the year. There were a lot of team building and getting to know each other activities at the start of the year. Cadet Band has learned 6 notes and their basic rhythms and just got their first piece of sheet music! Concert and Symphonic Band are well on their way to having concert pieces finished and are building upon their knowledge from last year. Students got to be the conductor of the band in a student conductor activity last week.

Choir:

Twelve singers from the Advanced Choir and one singer from the Tenor/Baritone choir submitted audition records to the Washington Music Educators Association in hopes of being selected to be in one of two Junior All State Choirs. If selected they will be placed in the Mixed or Treble Choir. The choirs will be performing at the WMEA Conference in Spokane February 16th. In the Choir Program we just finished a multi week lesson on Vocal Anatomy and Vocal Health.

All the singers learned how the voice works by watching videos of a singer singing while in an MRI. They also watched videos of healthy and unhealthy vocal cords via a camera.

Caleb Gould, 7th grader from the Tenor/Baritone choir, stated “I had no idea that the tongue was that big.”

Dante Silver, 7th grader, found it interesting that “singers can develop nodules on their vocal cords.”

Sylar Kaeka, 8th grader, thought that watching a video of the vocal cords being scoped was “really weird, because I have never seen the vocal cords move before".

Art:

In Mrs. Palacios' painting class, students have been creating original acrylic pieces inspired by the work of contemporary artist Megan Duncanson. For the past two weeks, students have experimented with color mixing, blending and creating value scales using only the primary colors. Each student then designed and created their own original work. This unit focuses on color scheme, value, balance and painting techniques.

Season 2 sports registration is now OPEN

Sports for season 2 are:

Girls' Basketball - cut sport

Boys & Girls Wrestling - limited space

Click HERE to register.

YOU MUST HAVE A VALID SPORTS PHYSICAL TO TRY OUT.

Tryouts will be from Monday, Nov. 12th - Nov. 15th

-Practices are every school day from 3 pm - 5 pm every school day.

-On ACE days, all students have an hour-long mandatory study hall from 1:45 pm - 2:45 pm.

-There are no practices on half days or non-school days (unless the coach schedules optional practice days)

-After-school transportation is available for students trying out; see below for bus schedule and route information.

After School Activity (ASA) Bus schedules for Dupont & Steilacoom:
Dupont

Steilacoom

If you have questions, reach out to Mrs. Plumb at 253-583-7204 or by email at
eplumb@steilacoom.k12.wa.us

All students participating in clubs are required to pay an ASB fee of $15.00

You can purchase your student's ASB through Mrs. Ruby

ASB fees collected go to funding clubs and sports activities at Pioneer MS.

Tuesdays:

Junior Student to Student (JS2S) Room A115 with Ms. Taylor

Gay Straight Alliance (GSA) Room C102 with Mrs. Iglesias

Christian Faith Club (CFC) Room B103 with Mrs. Vaccaro

Art Club Room C126 with Mrs. Palacios

Math Club Room B101 with Mr. Martin

Homework Club in the Library with Mrs. Hilton

Thursdays:

Builder's Club in the Library with Mrs. Holyfield

Pokemon Go Club with Mrs. Elshire

Game Club Room C202 with Mrs. Nixon

Math Club Room B101 with Mr. Martin

Homework Club in the Library with Mrs. Hilton

For more information on the clubs we offer, use the link below:

https://pio.steilacoom.k12.wa.us/student-life

Transportation is available on Tuesdays and Thursdays for students attending school clubs.

Use the link below for route information:

https://www.steilacoom.k12.wa.us/who-we-are/departments/bustransportation/after-school-activity-bus#fs-panel-2698

ASB would like to announce a Veterans Assembly that will take place on November 7th from 8:15 am to 9:15 am.

Before the assembly, we would like to honor our local veterans with a light breakfast of coffee, donuts, and fruit.

The breakfast will be held in the commons conference room beginning at 7:45 am.

Please invite your local veterans to join us.

Come join us. We look forward to seeing you there!

Student Picture Re-takes - Tuesday, Oct. 29th

-There is no need to sign up. We will call students down by grade level starting at 8:30 am

ACE Day - Wednesday, October 30th

- Students released at 1:40 pm

End of Term 1 - November 1st.

-6th graders who are enrolled in the elective rotation only. Band and Choir students will stay in their year long elective for the duration of the school year.

7th grade Vision & Hearing Screening - Monday, Nov. 4th

- All 7th grades will be screened

Veteran's Day Assembly - Thursday, Nov. 7th

-Pioneer Gym - 8:15 am - 9:15 am

Veteran's Breakfast - Thursday, Nov. 7th

-Before the assembly in the Commons Conference Room

**Starting at 7:45 am**

Late to school:

Students start class at 8:10 a.m. If your student arrives at 8:10 a.m. or later, please have them stop at our check-in kiosk for a pass to class.

*students must know their student id # to access the tardy kiosk, this number is found on their student id card*

Transportation changes:

Please call the office no later than 2:00 pm (Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday)

1:00 pm on ACE days (Wednesdays) to request transportation changes.

You can request these changes by emailing us at pioneermsoffice@steilacoom.k12.wa.us

Bus Information:

In Family Access in Skyward https://www2.crdc.wa-k12.net/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=wsteilas71/seplog01.w, under the Busing tab there will be the bus route number, the bus stop and the times of arrival and afternoon drop off. If you have questions about your student's assigned bus stop or times please contact Durham at 253-584-1365.

SHSD Family and Student Handbook:

Our district requires that ALL parents/guardians and students review and acknowledge receipt of the handbook annually so please take a moment to review this year's handbook and complete the form in ParentSquare.

Use the link below to review the SHSD Family and Student Handbook 2024-25.
https://www.steilacoom.k12.wa.us/for-families/handbook

Use this link to access the form after you have reviewed the handbook.

https://www.parentsquare.com/feeds/36553567

*Once form per child in the family that attends Pioneer MS*

If you have any questions regarding the handbook, email us at pioneermsoffice@steilacoom.k12.wa.us. We are here to help.