Twin Peaks Middle School

Happy Sunday Ram Families!

I hope this newsletter finds you all well and enjoying your weekend and National Hispanic Heritage Month! Please remember that there is NO SCHOOL FOR STUDENTS ON MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 30th - our staff has a professional learning day so students have the day off from school. Please don't forget that next week, Monday and Tuesday, October 7th and 8th, are minimum days for students. This means school starts normally at 8:30am, but dismissal is at 12:35pm on both days. Buses will run their normal routes on these days, but will be adjusted for the early dismissal; ASES will be open its regular hours on both minimum days.

We had another busy week of learning at TPMS with 6th graders studying early civilizations in Social Studies, 7th graders learning order of operations in math, and 8th graders completing the exciting motion measurment lab in Science. This past Thursday and Friday, we hosted our Breaking Down the Walls workshops for our 7th graders. A big THANK YOU to the TPMS Foundation for their support of this event to help us build a more connected campus. Check out some pictures from the workshops below!

I'm excited to share that we have secured an amazing long-term substitute counselor for our students with last names starting with H-O... we are pleased to welcome Mr. Victor Ortiz to our counseling team at Twin Peaks! Mr. Ortiz comes to us with experience from Abraxas High School and middle schools in San Diego Unified School District. He will be filling in for Mrs. Roman until she returns in June, and has been on site for the last two weeks acclimating to our campus. He can be reached via email at vortiz@powayusd.com.

September is National Suicide Prevention Month, and thanks to the generous support of our TPMS Foundation and PTSA, and through the extraordinary efforts of our TPMS Counseling Team, all 7th and 8th grade students had a chance to attend a suicide prevention presentation two weeks ago by the With Hope Foundation - the Amber Craig Memorial Foundation. On Wednesday, September 18th we held a parent/guardian workshop hosted by With Hope that mirrored the student presentation; the link for that presentation can be found HERE or on the TPMS website.

This past week our students also celebrated two important events on campus - our No Place for Hate Resolution of Respect drive began to end hate on campus. This was an opportutnity for all students to join their Homeroom in making a pledge to end violence and hate speech on the TPMS campus. Also this week, our TPMS Library raised awareness around the dangers of censorship during Banned Books Week. Students were encouraged to check out the display in the library and learn more about efforts to question or remove books from schools and libraries. To learn more about each of these events, please watch the TPMStv news segment LINKED HERE.

PUSD middle schools are currently going through a pilot process for adopting a new English Language Arts (ELA) curriculum for grades 6-8. Please visit our Curriculum Adoptions page for more information and directions on how to provide feedback. Community members can provide feedback until Friday, November 1st, 2024.

Students riding bikes/E-bikes to school - please make sure to limit your riding to trails and designated parts of the street. Do not ride through parking lots - this includes the Twin Peaks Center parking lot where the district school buses frequently drive. Please make good choices while riding - wear your helmets at all times, do not carry passengers, stay on the trail/road, and watch your speed!

For students who still need to attend a PUSD E-bike Safety Training Session, the next safety training session will be held as part of our first PUSD Safety Summit presentation this Wednesday, October 2 at 6:30pm at the District Office Community Room. For your reference, here is the LINK to the new PUSD E-bike webpage.

Finally this week, please make sure to join our TPMS Foundation on Friday, October 18th for their Fall Parent Social starting at 6:30pm at Kaminski's BBQ. Tickets are on sale now and include your food & drink ticket - CLICK HERE to purchase online. This is a great opportunity to meet other TPMS parents, mingle with some of our amazing staff members, bid on some fantastic prizes, and support our campus and students! Want to help out and be a part of the Foundation!?! Then come to our next Foundation meeting at 6pm on Tuesday, Ocotber 15th in the TPMS Library.

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

September 30th: Teacher Professional Learning, Non-Student Day

October 2nd: E-Bike Safety Training Session, 6:30pm @PUSD

October 3rd: RAM Rep Meeting

October 4th: Cross Country Meet @ TPMS, 3-5pm

October 4th: Band Night at PHS, 5:30pm

October 7th & 8th: Minimum Day Schedule - Professional Learning Days

October 8th: Kebab Shop Fundraiser

October 9th: Fall ELAC Meeting, 5:30-7pm @Library

October 10th: PUSD Board Meeting, 6pm @ Community Room

October 14th: AVID Induction Ceremony, 6pm

October 15th: TPMS Foundation Mtg., 6pm @Library

October 17th: TPMS PTSA Mtg., 6:15pm @Library

October 18th: Foundation Fall Social, 6pm @Kaminski's BBQ

October 21st-25th: Red Ribbon Week

We hope you can join us at the Foundation's Fall Parent Social! This is a great opportutnity to meet other Twin Peaks families, our TPMS staff, and support our campus and students. Please click on the flyer below, scan the QR code, or visit https://my.cheddarup.com/c/tpmsfall-social-2024/forms?cart to get your tickets today!

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/

Tanner Mizel, a PhD candidate at the University of San Diego, is conducting a case study on the lived experiences of disabled students in inclusive classrooms. If you’re a parent/guardian of a student enrolled in the extensive support needs program and would like to contribute to the study, or for more information, click here. For further information about the research project, you can contact Tanner Mizel (tmizel@sandiego.edu) or Dr. Suzanne Stolz (sstolz@sandiego.edu).

If you are a member of the Armed Forces, a Reservist, or Veteran, please take a few moments to complete our TPMS Military Families Survey LINKED HERE. Thank you in advance for your time in completing this survey and thank you for your service to our country!

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.

September 2024 Parent Education Courses:

• Taming Your Child's Tantrums and Meltdowns - TK-5th Grade via Zoom
• Navigating Autism and Supporting Your Child - TK-5th Grade via Zoom

Please note, scholarships are available to parents who may be in need. Parents can contact the Caring Connections Center for more information.

Mesa Verde Middle School is hosting Cell Phones + Social Media + Your Teen's Brain = ? a FREE parent education event on Wednesday, October 23rd from 6-7:30pm in the their Little Theater. This event is open to all PUSD parents of middle and high school students.

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.

All children in PUSD are eligible to receive free breakfast and lunch meals regardless of income for the 2024-2025 school year. Please see the PUSD Food and Nutrition Website for more information. Breakfast is served 30 minutes before school starts daily, if your student can not make it before school, they can receive a free breakfast at morning break! Click here to view the school menus.

Parents/Guardians are still encouraged to complete a meal application online to receive other benefits such free or reduced-price after-school care, discounts on SAT and AP testing fees, reduced internet and utility bills, and food-buying assistance during summer breaks. Meal applications also help ensure that our school receives its fair share of state funding. The website to apply is www.myschoolapps.com. Paper meal applications (for parents that can’t complete one online) are available in the TPMS front office.

*PUSD Food and Nutrition Department is cashless. Parents/Guardians can add money to their students account at MySchoolBucks.com or bring a check to any window to enter in their account for any a la carte items their students would like to purchase.

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:

October 17th

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:

October 15th
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