Panther Post

STEM Exploration Night will return as an in-person event on Wednesday, April 12, 2023, 6-8 pm at Federal Way High School! Mark your calendars to save the date for the sixth annual STEM event, which offers PreK-12th grade scholars fun, interactive opportunities to explore, prepare, and launch into STEM opportunities and STEM careers!

This year’s scholar-voted theme is STEM for Everyone. STEM is now integrated into almost every area of our lives. Come to STEM Exploration Night to see how your interests, hobbies, and career goals are connected to STEM!

Learn more at www.fwps.org/STEMExpo.

On the Horizon...

• April 26th: Scholar Advisory
• April 26th: Early Release
  
• April 28th: Spirit Assemblies (K-2 @ 1:45 and 3-5 @ 2:45)
• May 5th: Kids Night Out

Greetings Panther Lake Family and Friends!

Thank you to everyone who attended Student Led Conferences last week! The partnership between scholar, families, and school staff is such a powerful factor in a student's educational journey!

Last week, all Panther Lake scholars received books that are theirs to take home and keep as part of our Book Blast! Ask your scholars to share their books with you, and invite them to read to you! Every opportunity to read, be read to, and have a book in their hands, helps our scholars!

As we head into Spring Break, we hope that all families and staff will be able to take time to rest and enjoy time with loved ones!

Sincerely,

Jeff Soltez

Interim Principal

and

Emily Smith

Assistant Principal

Scholars who qualified for Kids Night Out should have received their Golden Ticket at the awards assembly on Friday 3/24. These tickets are for Kids Night Out on April 14th from 6-9pm.

To qualify for this Kids Night Out students had to have no more than 1 excused absence and no more than 3 tardies. If you feel your scholar should have received a Golden Ticket please reach out to Emily Smith (assistant principal) at emsmith@fwps.org

April will be the last month for scholars to get Golden Ticket to Kids Night Out this school year. Since April is a shorter month, we've made the goal high! To get a ticket for the final Kids Night Out scholars need to have 0 absences in April. That means they will need to be in attendance the full day for all 15 school days in April. Details are below.

We are incredibly excited to announce the Panther Lake PTA Board:

President- Renee Metanoia

Vice President- Katie Finch

Secretary- Jason O'Daniel

Treasurer- Glyn Jenkins (5th grade teacher/admin intern)

PTA is still in need of members to support family event planning and building up our Panther Lake community.

If you would like to join our PTA, please reach out to Mr. Sanchez or any of our board members.

To report absences:

1. Call Mrs. Hagen at 253-945-3603 or office 253-945-3600, email: bhagen@fwps.org
2. Report on ParentVue, preferable before school starts at 9:10am (before teacher submit absences)

*If absences are not reported before 10:15am, parents will get a district automated absence callout* to remind them to call students absence in.

TIP: If students go to a medical appointment and misses school, you can provide a doctor's note so the absence can be excused as “medical” which will not count as an absent for BECCA.

**If you have a question about BECCA, our state school attendance law, please feel free to email or call me for more information.**

Prearranged absence: Form attached needs to be completed when student is out for more than 2 days BEFORE missing school. This applies for vacations or extended absences.

*parent will complete the top portion, then teacher will complete their section, parent and student will sign and final step will be completed from our principal, Mrs. Ritch.*

Tardy hours 9:10-9:40am

Absence is after 9:40am

If students are late and check in after 9:40am and it is under an unexcused reason, parents will get the auto absence callout.

• PLEASE put a reason down when students are coming in late or leaving early, if there is no reason written down, then the attendance code will not be accurate and it will be automatically coded as unexcused.

If you have any attendance questions, please contact Data Secretary Bonnie Hagen 253-945-3603 bhagen@fwps.org

Has your scholar's teacher gone above and beyond? Is there a staff member at Panther Lake you would like to recognize for their support and help? Would you like to celebrate anyone on the Panther Lake team for the incredible work they do everyday?

You have a chance to nominate any Federal Way Public Schools staff member in the district you believe has positively impacted you, your school, and/or your community with the “Because of You” award. Scholars from the superintendent’s advisory created the awards nomination process.

Nominations will be reviewed and selected by the Superintendent’s Scholar Advisory team and each month educators will be honored. Nominations forms can be completed online, and should be submitted by the end of the month. Stay tuned as we highlight these extraordinary staff members who make a difference each day in our schools!

Please use the link below to nominate your Panther Lake staff member!