Washington MS October '23 Update

Hello Washington Middle School Families!

It's hard to believe that we are already in our second month of school! We have had several events prior to and since the start of school that have been well attended. It has been great meeting you all! Thank you for the kind conversations, emails, and cards!

Translators Available: Thank you for coming to Curriculum Night; it was well attended! I am looking forward to meeting many more parents! If you are concerned about a language barrier, please know that we arrange for translators to assist with sharing your responses and answering your questions. Your presence is missed! We are not complete without the participation of every part of our community. Parents, please invite other parents and the parents of your children's friends to attend our future events. Thank you!

PTSA: A huge thank you to our WMS PTSA (Parent Teacher Student Association) for your sponsorship and provision of food and other resources requested. Greatly appreciated!

Evie Taylor, Principal

Washington Middle School

It has been brought to our attention that there are Washington Middle School students hanging out daily at various businesses before and after school. (Amazon Fresh, Walgreens, etc.) During this time it has been reported that students are gathering and engaging in behaviors that often lead to confrontations and fights.

This afternoon, I announced to students that they may not hang out at local businesses unless they have a note from parents. Please know that we cannot monitor your child's safety if they are not on school grounds. It is hoped that students will come to school on time and not hang out in places unsupervised. Additionally, it is recommended that students go home or to a safe, supervised place after school dismissal.

Beginning Monday, October 9th, Washington Middle School will implement a new sign out procedure.

• Students will be able to leave the classroom to get water or use the restroom four times per quarter for each class period.
• Students will need to sign out before leaving to use the restroom or get water using the sign out sheet available in the yellow folder in each classroom.
• Students will need to use a Hall Pass to leave the room and navigate the halls.
• Students should take about ~5 minutes. Students gone for an extended period of time will be referred to the office for safety.
• Students who are late to class will lose hall pass privileges for that period.

We recognize there are students who may have accommodations based on their IEP, 504, or medical needs. In addition, this policy would not apply to students who need to see a nurse or receive a note to see a staff member. However, those students would need an appropriate pass. In addition to the Hall Pass, students will be able to navigate the halls through the use of nurse pass or the small blue pass to see an adult.

In order to support this role out, we will be having an Advisory Lesson on Monday, October 9th, to share with students.

Mandated Vision and Hearing Screening for all Grade 7 students will take place during Social Studies classes in October. Most screening will take place on Monday, October 23rd. If you have specific concerns about your student’s vision and hearing, please contact Nurse Nash sanash@seattleschools.org, 206-252-2607.

There is another clinic sponsored by the SVNA in the Washington Middle School gym on and Saturday, 10/14 (9am - 3pm.)

REGISTRATION LINK: https://schedule.seattlevna.com/home/9d20cac8-d510-ec11-b6e6-000d3a57ec4c or you can click the button below.

Click here for dates and times of other clinics throughout the district.

Ultimate Frisbee Game

Saturday, October 7th at Ingraham High School

Washington Middle School vs Hamilton @2:30pm

Last Week’s Game Highlights

• The 6th grade team won their scrimmage 6-5 in an intense game against JAMS!
• The 7th and 8th grade team built upon their win last week and some more practice together to get some more consistency in our playing. We had cutters running with conviction, getting open on both sides of the stack, and heads up defenders getting blocks as well!

We were even able to grab some video of the last point: https://youtu.be/9v0_zVyRej0

Girls Soccer Game

Saturday, October 7th at Cleveland High School @ 8:00am

Washington Middle School vs Mercer

Last Week’s Game Highlights

WMS Girls Soccer lost - Result were 7-0

• SPECIAL SHOUT-OUTS from last week’s game - Olive, Victoria, Rakiyah and Janet – for being outstanding leaders, being resilient and finishing strong!

We had our first family volunteer help us in the library this week! They put together a laptop cart so that we can store and charge extra laptops for testing.

If you are interested in volunteering in the library by shelving books, making copies, laminating, tidying, or leading lunchtime activities, please reach out to Emily Harris (WMS Librarian) at echarris@seattleschools.org and check out the SPS Volunteer page to fill out/update your volunteer application.

The library was fortunate to get many projects funded by donations through Donors Choose over the summer. We currently have projects for:

• Graphing notebooks for the math department
• Book Club books and board games for our Reading Intervention class
• WMS shirt for our GSA club
• Masks and hand sanitizer for all of our classrooms

Check out our Donors Choose to see details. Consider sharing the link with friends and family on social media to support your students’ school. All donations will be doubled on October 11th!

Email: eataylor@seattleschools.org
Website: washingtonms.seattleschools.org
Location: 2101 South Jackson Street, Seattle, WA, USA
Phone: 206-252-2600