BSD Staff Updates

West Hills STEM Academy had 100% of their families complete the annual Impact Aid Survey this year! That means EVERY classroom teacher will be getting $100 to spend on their class/classroom! Way to go WHSA staff, led by co-principals Carre Potis and Kimberly Powell and the dynamic office duo of Carol Hardebeck and Breanna Littrell.

To report a worksite accident or injury:

1. Inform your supervisor immediately
2. Obtain First Aid if needed
3. Complete the top portion of the internal accident / incident report form (These are available from your office coordinator, supervisor or school nurse.)
4. If you need further medical care, go to the nearest urgent care. Let them know this is a work related injury and that we are self-insured. Information should be sent to Puget Sound Workers’ Compensation Trust (PSWCT). Be sure to bring any and all paperwork you receive from the urgent care facility back to your school and give them to your office coordinator.
5. Call the PSWCT nurse at (833-928-6877) or go directly to the PSWCT web site at pswctup.org and click on the red Report a Worksite Accident or Injury button. Be sure to click “Yes” when asked if you have or intend to seek medical treatment – this is what creates the claim for you. To complete the process you must click the "Complete Incident" button and then confirm you “are ready to complete this incident” by clicking OK on the pop-up message. Your answers will be lost if you close your browser before doing these steps.

Note: Your office coordinator has little wallet cards and postcard size handouts with all this information on it.

Please contact Stephenie Nagle in HR if you have any questions or concerns at any point in the

process of reporting your accident or injury. She can be reached via phone at 360-473-1021 or

360-473-1026; or by email at Stephenie.Nagle@bremertonschools.org.

Hot off the press! The 2025-26 academic calendar is posted on the District website (Spanish coming soon!). This will be shared with families in January.

As you have likely heard, we are excited to have transitioned to a new school-to-home communication tool called ParentSquare. You may have heard of it as many districts regionally and nationally have made or are making the switch, including SK, CK and Bainbridge!

This unified communications platform lets parents choose how they receive information (email, text or app notification), and when they get it (instantly or via a daily digest at 6 p.m.). We can still send the occasional “robo call” too! ParentSquare has many features that will make communication with parents more efficient and easy for teachers, staff, coaches and principals too!

ParentSquare is a safe, secure, and modern approach to communication and collaboration between school and home! I invite all staff to watch this 3-minute ParentSquare introduction video for a quick overview! I also encourage you to look at this “Getting Started” guide with tips and helpful links to training on different features.

As a reminder:

• ParentSquare is the district’s adopted platform and is the mandated tool for communication with students and parents.

• ParentSquare has replaced Remind*

• All staff in the District are automatically set-up with an account.

• If you need more access in ParentSquare, please contact your principal or supervisor.

There are lots of training articles accessible by clicking on the question mark in the upper right hand corner, once you are logged-in to ParentSquare. There are links to training in every staff newsletter. Check out the archives here.

*WST staff still have access to Remind through the end of the school year.

Learn more here!

Check out this helpful article (with content suggestions!).

Thank you to Scotty Renner for making this helpful video showing how to rename your classes in ParentSquare!

So does this mean Ryan is buying the whole District donuts now?

West Sound Tech was also featured in a recent article in the Kitsap Sun!

Click here to access and complete your ALICE training.

If you haven't gotten the ALICE training link yet? Check your spam folder. If it's still missing, let Patty Glaser (31003 or Patty.Glaser@BremertonSchools.org) know.

At the December 12th Board Meeting, the board elected new officers for the 2025 calendar year. Director Hurley was voted in as the new board President and Director Bolton was elected to be the Vice President.

Bremerton High School Athletics Director Amber Plummer also joined the board meeting to provide a Fall Athletics Recognition presentation (photo: Amber Plummer recognizes BHS state champion swimmer Gabbie Patti during the meeting).

Assistant Superintendent Iva Scott provided an update to the Board regarding our ongoing efforts to improve student attendance across our system.

POLICY NEWS:

The following policies were adopted by the board:

• Policy 6220- Bid or Request for Proposal Requirements
• Policy 5011- Sex Discrimination and Sex-Based Harassment of District Staff Prohibited
• Policy 3205- Sex Discrimination and Sex-Based Harassment of Students Prohibited

The following policy was brought to the board for a first read and were approved:

• Policy 6890- State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) Compliance

Other Business:

• Proposed 2025/2026 School Year Academic Calendar

For more information about these meetings and to view any of these documents, visit BoardDocs.

Join us in-person or online! Note: There is only one board meeting per month in December and January.

The South Kitsap Chamber of Commerce is thrilled to announce our continued partnership with the U.S. Chamber Foundation to bring back the National Civics Bee® for its second year!

We are especially proud that one of our very own South Kitsap students took first place in last year’s state finals and will represent all of Washington State in the upcoming national competition this November!

Our mission to spark civic engagement and inspire future leaders in our community continues, and we need your help. We kindly ask that you share this exciting opportunity with your teachers, students, and parents to encourage participation.

Key Details:

• Application Period: October 15, 2024, through February 4, 2025
• Eligibility: Open to 6th–8th grade students
• Prizes: The top three winners from our local essay competition will receive cash prizes and advance to the state level, where they can compete for a chance to represent Washington State at nationals. The national champion will earn a grand prize that includes a $100,000 529 plan contribution!
• More information and details can be found on our website
• Educator and Parent Guide

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to Jaclyn Williams at Admin@portorchard.com.

Group Tickets Overview:

• Complimentary scoreboard message.
• 2 complimentary tickets to a game in 2025 during the regular season.
• Marketing flyer to help promote your event.
• Option to make outing a fundraiser by adding an amount above the ticket prices listed above and selling them for that rate. For example, selling the $10 ticket for $15, and $5 will go back to support your programs. We recommend not pricing the tickets higher than the face value.

Pricing:

• Protected pricing for groups of 20 or more involving students: $10 view level and $18 main level seat (excludes some game dates). No deposit needed to reserve seats!
• Option to add gift cards for full stadium usage!

Questions? More info?

Nate Altenhofen
Sales Consultant
Seattle Mariners
Nathan.Altenhofen@mariners.com

P: +1 206-346-4526

Friends and family watch Bremerton High School's Knight Company complete their "Pass in Review" after their Annual Military Inspection (AMI) last week. Knight Company earned a 10.5 out of 10 - a better than perfect score for the second year in a row!

Email: communications@bremertonschools.org

Website: www.BremertonSchools.org
Phone: 360-473-1000
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