Finn Hill Falcon Flyer

• Students have done a fantastic job working to exhibit our first Finn Hill PRIDE characteristic, positivity! During Falcon Time on Monday, classes engaged in discussion around how positivity can impact our school and selected a positivity-related activity to focus on together. Check in with your student about what they worked on! FHMS staff is on the lookout for students exhibiting the characteristic of the week! When students earn a PRIDE ticket, they turn them in for a weekly prize drawing AND help their House to earn more points. If each House earns 500 tickets during our PRIDE focus, we will have a schoolwide celebration at the end of April. We are so proud of our students!

• A special shout-out to our daily announcement volunteers! These students help our school by reminding everyone of the PRIDE characteristic focus, reading a quote, and sharing how they will be exhibiting the characteristic that day. They have been incredible! This week’s announcers:

Ryan M.

Elise M.

Jordan N.

Nathaniel B.

Maddie D.

Jas V.

Lilah J.

Elsa D.

• Shout out to all of our students who participated in the group pictures last Monday. The photographer made a special stop by the office to say how well things went because our students were very good and that made things run smoothly. Way to show Falcon PRIDE, students!

• From Ms. Delman: Shoutout to my 6th grade social studies students for working on and learning our new skill of paraphrased notes this week! So proud of you!

• From Mrs. Kirkman: Students in FHMS music groups recently participated in a music festival, performing their music for an adjudicator, who gave them feedback on their performances. Performances will be shared with music groups from other middle schools in our district. Kudos to our music students who did a wonderful job representing FHMS!

• Check out the sixth grade team's submission from Mr. Briehl's room for the culinary competition below. Kids needed access to a kitchen and he supervised them as they made their video during the early release time last Wednesday. Thanks to Mr. Briehl and good luck to our future Master Chefs!

Tuesday, March 22

• March Coffee with the Principals, 10:00 AM-11:00 AM, Teams (use link below to join meeting)
• Band Concert, 7:00 PM-8:00 PM, gym

Plan on joining Principal Cleaves and Associate Principal Mehlberg online for March's Coffee with the Principals event. Meet other families, ask questions, and learn what's happening at Finn Hill Middle School. Use the link below to join. See you online!

Microsoft Teams meeting

Join on your computer or mobile app

Click here to join the meeting

Or call in (audio only)

+1 425-936-2801,,542349753# United States, Seattle

Phone Conference ID: 542 349 753#

Find a local number | Reset PIN

Tuesday, March 29

• Battle of the Books District Competition, 6:30 PM-7:30 PM, KiMS
• FHMS PTSA General Membership Meeting, 7:00 PM-9:00 PM, Teams

Monday, April 4-Friday, April 8

• Spring Break

Monday, April 18-Friday, April 22

• FHMS Career Week

Thursday, April 21

• Finn Hill Virtual Career Day

Tuesday, April 26

• Culinary Competition Entries for Mr. Briehl's Students Due

Career week will be April 18th-22nd. Students will be exploring future career options and pathways through Xello, the district platform for career development. We will have our Virtual Career Day on April 21st. We were fortunate to have many community members contribute to this event last year and we are hoping to add some additional presenters to our collection for this year’s fair. If you have an interesting career, career path, or know someone who does, please consider being a part of the fair or inviting them to join us. We’d love to have a wide variety of careers to highlight. Contributors can either submit a video they film, or we can arrange a virtual interview, please see the attached instructions for more information . Take a look at the list of our students’ most requested careers. Do you or someone you know work in one of these fields? Our students would love to hear from you! Contact Gail Lee at gvecchiet@lwsd.org or Kirstin Doughty at kdoughty@lwsd.org if you have questions. We will be collecting presentations until March 31st.

Top 30 requested careers from FH students:

Athlete, Attorney/Lawyer, Chef/Culinary Arts/Baker, Animator/Cartoonist, Video Game industry, Actor, Artist Traditional/digital, Military, Business/Entrepreneur, Scientist, Engineer, Software Engineer/programmer/coder, Photographer/Videographer, Teacher – especially HS, Animal careers, Counselor/Therapist, Doctor, Model, Streamer/Social Media industry, Biologist/Zoologist, Dancer, FBI, Marine Biologist/Oceanographer, Nurse, Architect, Astronaut, Director, Pilot and Veterinarian.

As you may know, Lake Washington School District receives funding through the state and federal government in LAP and Title I grants. The amount of money available to LWSD is contingent on the number of students who receive Free and Reduced Meal support. LWSD's overall Free and Reduced numbers are down this year which will mean less LAP monies to support our Safety Net and Title I programs. We believe there are more students out there that need these supports.

We encourage families to complete a free and reduced meal application and get connected with additional benefits.

Hello to Families of Our Incoming Ravens:

We are really excited to be able to meet for an actual on-site meeting and orientation for the parents of our incoming 9th graders (Class of 26)! We will update information on our website with more specific details next week, but I wanted to make sure this is on your calendars:

8th Grade Parent Orientation

March 23rd

7-8

JHS Fieldhouse (gym)

What can you expect to see/learn/do? This is the general plan:

1. We will begin by having everyone meet in the Fieldhouse and sit in the bleachers for a short time.
2. You will have an overall introduction and welcome by admin, our PTSA and a few other staff
3. You will hear some information that we want parents to know in order to best prepare your student for high school.
4. After that, we will dismiss where you, and will be able to go to a variety of places in our school( we will have maps)

1. Fieldhouse: visit the table for athletics where you can learn some essential information about what needs to be done to turn out for high school sports, and more specifically, be ready for fall sports deadlines.
2. Commons: We will have some tables set up for clubs and some of our teaching staff to answer questions about activities and academics.
3. Library: Chat with a counselor if you have a question about grad pathways or student support; talk to an administrator if you have general questions about our school
4. Student Store: We are HOPING to have our student store open so that parents can purchase gear. We will have details posted on our website next week.
5. Self-guided tour of our entire building if you choose.

Finally, you have the distinction of being the first parents who get to do an in-person orientation that includes our completed, and beautiful, new building. This is my 5th year here, and we have had to figure out how to do orientation just a bit differently every year I have been here: the first 3 years were due to construction…and then COVID hit. So, I hope you can come and I look forward to meeting you.

El 22 de marzo estamos organizando un evento para nuestras familias hispanohablantes. El evento será todo en español. Reunimos en línea a las 6:30 y las familias están bienvenidas a asistir con un teléfono celular o computadora.

Para unirse, visite www.zoom.us y haga clic en "Unirse a la reunión" y ponga el número 837-8569-2933. Si tiene alguna pregunta o problemas para unirse, puede enviar un correo electrónico a sistemaescolarusa@gmail.com y / o elamont@lwsd.org

(LV) Kamiakin Middle School está organizando un evento con Sistema Escolar USA (una organización sin fines de lucro) para familias hispanohablantes. Reunimos en línea el martes 22 de marzo de 6:30 a 8:00

Discutiremos:

• desarrollo del cerebro de los adolescentes
• cómo funciona middle school
• Preparación para la escuela secundaria

Para unirse, visite www.zoom.us y haga clic en "Unirse a la reunión" y ponga el número 837-8569-2933. Si tiene alguna pregunta o problemas para unirse, puede enviar un correo electrónico a sistemaescolarusa@gmail.com y / o elamont@lwsd.org

At our most recent building leadership team meeting, the team reviewed the dress code and decided to uphold the current LWSD dress code policy:

"Dressing in a manner that is not conducive to the educational environment. A student’s dress or appearance may not present a health or safety hazard or create material and substantial disruption of the educational process at the school. Student dress shall not be gang-related, nor may it promote illegal activities or activities that violate school regulations."

We are able to offer in-person meetings as an option for families as long as participants are vaccinated and are able to show proof of vaccination. Book the conference room so the front office staff know to expect visitors and are able to check vaccination status. Teams meetings will still be offered for parents who are unable to attend in person.

• We have an expectation that teachers update grades at least every two weeks in Skyward. Sometimes, teachers may need additional time to grade big projects. In those cases, teachers will communicate with students and families to let them know.
• Missing assignments are given a minimum score of 50%, but they are still missing. The expectation is that students will complete and turn in all missing assignments in a timely manner in order to receive credit.
• The best way to stay informed about students' assignments is to check out teachers' weekly learning plans on Teams. Your student will be able to show you how to access this page for each of his/her/their classes.
• We operate on a grading scale using A-D letter grades. Students are issued "N" grades rather than F grades. An "N" grade indicates no credit and is not considered a passing grade.
  

Registration for Season 4 Sports is now opened in FinalForms on the district website. Sports offered for Season 4 are coed track, girls’ volleyball, and girls’ tennis. You can pay online by going to the district website>Families/Students>For Families/Students>Online Payments or at the cash register window with cash or check. The first day of practice is April 11th, 2022. You must register and pay in advance in order to practice on the first day. Practice will be everyday except for Wednesday from 3:05 until 4:30. If you have any questions, you may contact Taylor Holland, tholland@lwsd.org or Sandra Stephens, sstephens@lwsd.org.

We are in NEED of several coaches to make season 4 happen:

• At least three (3) more track coaches
• At least one (1) more volleyball coach
• At least one (1) more girls tennis coach

Reach out to the front office if you are interested. Job applications are also available online on the LWSD website.

March Full Month NATIONAL WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH

• Honors women as significant agents of historical change

March 2–20 NINETEEN-DAY FAST

• Bahá’í Baha'is between 15 and 70 years of age do not eat or drink from sunrise to sunset and set aside time for prayer and meditation.

March 21 INTERNATIONAL DAY FOR THE ELIMINATION OF RACIAL DISCRIMINATION

• Call to action to eliminate all forms of racial discrimination worldwide.

March 21 NOWRÚZ

• Zoroastrian A traditional ancient Iranian festival celebrating the first day of Spring and the Iranian New Year. Also celebrated as New Year’s Day in Baha’i tradition (Naw-Ruz). (This date may vary based on region or sect.)

March 26 KHORDAD SAL

• Zoroastrian The Zoroastrian celebration of the birth of Zoroaster, the founder of the Zoroastrianism religion. The holiday is specifically celebrated in India and Iran, immediately following the Persian new year, Nowrúz.

March 31 CESAR CHAVEZ DAY

• Honors Mexican American farm worker, labor leader and activist Cesar Chavez (1927– 1993) who was a nationally respected voice for social justice.

Mission

Each student will graduate prepared to lead a rewarding, responsible life as a contributing member of our community and greater society.

Vision

Every student future ready: Prepared for college, Prepared for the global workplace, Prepared for personal success

Website: https://fhms.lwsd.org/
Location: 8040 NE 132nd St, Kirkland, WA, USA
Phone: (425) 936-2340
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FinnHillMiddleSchool
Twitter: @FinnHillMS