Stanwood Middle School

Good morning Stanwood Middle School Families!

Empowering our Spartans to Learn

As part of our MTSS work, another aspect of our work with students includes SEL work (social and emotional learning). During Spartan Space on Wednesdays, our teachers use a curriculum from Character Strong. Currently, this work is centered around building community agreements as a class. Our Keys to Middle School class for 6th graders also uses Character Strong on Mondays.

Part of our buildings overall SEL work also encourages three signature SEL practices in every class:

1. A welcoming ritual to set the tone for learning in the class each day.

2. Engaging practices that help students make sense of the content being taught, with brain breaks to encourage maximum participation.

3. An optimistic closure that allows students to reflect on their learning and look forward to what is next in the class.

Another tool some classes are using is the mood meter. This practice has students take a moment to notice what they are feeling as they are learning and think about whether or not they need to stay in that feeling or work on strategies to move out of that feeling.

Our work around SEL at Stanwood Middle School is rooted in research. Building on what is traditionally called "soft skills" helps empower our students to learn and grow each day.

Community Facilities Advisory Committee Invitation

This year, the Stanwood-Camano School District will form a Capital Facilities Advisory Committee (CFAC). This team’s purpose is to affirm that public schools belong to the entire community, and funding for capital improvements is generated through voter-approved bond measures. Also included in the team’s work are recommendations for how families are assigned to particular schools based on where families reside, school capacity, and immediate and projected enrollment.

Community members play a key role in developing our long-term capital facilities plan and providing input on facility use to ensure the community's values and priorities are accurately represented.

If you are interested in joining this committee, or would like to know more, please complete this form.

PTO Fundraisers

Our wonderful PTO is kicking off their fall fundraiser this week. Students will bring home information about a catalog and cookie dough sale. The wrap and home items can be purchased by family and then shipped directly to their home--a great option for family that might live far away. Any of the items from the Otis Spunkmeyer catalog must be delivered locally and unfortunately can not be shipped.

On October 27, the PTO is hosting another MOD pizza night with a portion of the proceeds going to our PTO.

Our PTO supports a huge number of programs here at Stanwood Middle School. Please consider helping out through one of the fundraisers or coming to a meeting and learning about volunteer opportunities for different events.

Boys Basketball and Girls Volleyball

Stanwood Middle School Athletic Registration is open for boys basketball and girls volleyball. With our new league, the season is divided into two parts.

Basketball starts with the first practice on October 19 and the last game on November 29.

Volleyball starts with the first practice on November 30 and the last match on January 26.

In order for an athlete to start a season on time, they must fill out the registration form (link above or hard copy in the office) and be sure to include emergency contact information, insurance and the Athletic Code. 6th graders can participate in Cross Country (XC) and Wrestling only.

Sports Physical: All athletes must have a current sports physical (good for 2yrs) turned into the office BEFORE turning out.

ASB Card/Pay to Participate: Each participant must purchase an Associated Student Body card and Pay to Participate fee before the first contest. The ASB card is $20, Pay to Participate is $50 per sport ($100 maximum per year; Free/Reduced options for those who qualify).

Transportation: In the event that we cannot get a bus to out-of district competitions (due to bus driver shortage), we will have district vans. However, seating is limited, so the Stanwood/Camano School District is allowing families to arrange transportation to and from competitions when this occurs. These families will agree to provide their own transportation to and from away competitions and understand that the district assumes no liability/responsibility for the athletes during the transportation times. The waiver will need to be signed and returned to your athletic director prior to your first out-of-district event. *Hard copies of the waiver can be picked up in the office or from your athlete's coach Parent Transportation Waiver for Middle School Sports

Clubs

Volleyball club meets every Tuesday and Thursday until 4 p.m.

Art club meets every Monday and Wednesday until 3:15 p.m.

Please call the school if you have any questions, 360.629.1350!

Tod Klundt

Principal

Stanwood Middle School

tklundt@stanwood.wednet.edu

We have a new look for our Spartan Pride Awards! Thanks to Mr. Randall, our art teacher, for developing this new design. Parents, you'll receive this award in the mail after we announce and recognize our Spartans here at school.

This week we are highlighting the last of our office staff--the team that keeps things up and running. All three of these lovely ladies are in their first year at Stanwood Middle School and are not only working diligently at their jobs, but also working to build relationships with students, families, and staff.

Kirsti Daniels (left) is our Office Manager. She's not new to the Office Manager role, having previously served as the lead at Port Susan. Her duties include registering new students, fiscal duties, and a whole host of other work that keeps our school ticking on a daily basis.

Cathy Cozza (middle) is our Attendance Secretary. This is her first year working in a school setting. Her duties include maintaining accurate attendance in Skyward. She also calls home regarding absences.

Barbara Burton (right) is our Athletic Secretary. She previously worked in a variety of roles in the district. A large part of her role is helping students with activities and athletics; she has a myriad of other duties, including getting students passes when they are late to class and being the first person to greet people as they come into the office.

We will be teaching the Signs of Suicide Program through our 7th grade science classes on
Tuesday, October 18th. This program helps youth and adults differentiate between typical
development and what may be a more serious mental health issue such as depression.
Adolescence is a time of many changes and challenges. Each child handles it differently, but
most parents and adolescents wonder: How do I know if someone is really struggling and needs
help, or is just going through a “rough patch”? The SOS, Signs of Suicide Prevention Program
teaches students what to do when they are worried about a friend by employing the ACT
message.
Acknowledge-Care-Tell
Acknowledge that you are seeing signs of depression or suicide in yourself or a friend and that
it is serious.
Care Let your friend know that you care about them and that you are concerned that they need
help you cannot provide.
Tell a trusted adult. Take your friend with you or go alone if you need to.
Some of the program goals are to decrease suicide attempts by increasing knowledge and
adaptive attitudes about depression among students.
Encourage individual help-seeking and help-seeking on behalf of a friend.
Reduce a stigma by linking suicide to mental illness that, like physical illness, requires
treatment.
Engage parents and school staff as partners in prevention by educating them to identify signs of
depression and suicide in youth by providing information and resources.*
*We will be attaching the SOS Parent Newsletter to our website. It has helpful information in
relation to talking with your child, teens and alcohol, depression, cutting, bullying, and more.
Let’s team together to help our students understand the symptoms of depression and suicide
risk and how to respond. If you have any questions, please contact our counselors.

Thank you,
Kyland Fischer and Jayde Piggott (360)629-1350.

7 de octubre de 2022

Estimados padres/tutores de 7º grado;

Estaremos enseñando el Programa de Señales de Suicidio a través de nuestras clases de ciencias de 7º grado el martes 18 de octubre. Este programa ayuda a jóvenes y adultos a diferenciar entre el desarrollo típico y lo que puede ser un problema de salud mental más grave, como la depresión.

La adolescencia es una época de muchos cambios y desafíos. Cada niño lo maneja de manera diferente, pero la mayoría de los padres y adolescentes se preguntan: ¿Cómo puedo saber si alguien realmente está luchando y necesita ayuda, o simplemente está pasando por un “momento difícil”? El Programa de Señales de Prevención del Suicidio SOS enseña a los estudiantes qué hacer cuando están preocupados por un amigo empleando el mensaje ACT.

Reconocer-cuidar-decir

Reconocerque está viendo signos de depresión o suicidio en usted o en un amigo y que es grave.

CuidadoHazle saber a tu amigo que te preocupas por él y que te preocupa que necesite ayuda que no puedes proporcionarle.

Decirun adulto de confianza. Lleva a tu amigo contigo o ve solo si es necesario.

Algunas de las metas del programa son disminuir los intentos de suicidio aumentando el conocimiento y las actitudes de adaptación sobre la depresión entre los estudiantes.

Fomentar la búsqueda de ayuda individual y la búsqueda de ayuda en nombre de un amigo.

Reducir un estigma al vincular el suicidio con una enfermedad mental que, al igual que la enfermedad física, requiere tratamiento.

Involucrar a los padres y al personal de la escuela como socios en la prevención educándolos para identificar signos de depresión y suicidio en los jóvenes brindándoles información y recursos.*

* Adjuntaremos el Boletín de Padres SOS a nuestro sitio web. Tiene información útil en relación con hablar con su hijo, adolescentes y alcohol, depresión, cortes, intimidación y más.

Formemos un equipo para ayudar a nuestros estudiantes a comprender los síntomas de la depresión y el riesgo de suicidio y cómo responder. Si tiene alguna pregunta, comuníquese con nuestros asesores.

Gracias,

jayde piggott&kyland fischer(360)629-1350.

Dear Parents of Stanwood Middle School Students,

We enjoyed the opportunity to photograph your students today... lots of smiles, check out their ID card!

If you missed an opportunity to purchase photos, you can still send your order in to the school up until next Wednesday. Just have your student drop it off in the office. Or, if you prefer, you can place an online order using the link below. Important - do not fill out the online form if you already submitted a paper form.

Once again, thank you!

Sincerely,

Firefly Images

LINK - https://fs4.formsite.com/FireFly/swc45hjvxl/index.html

Dear Families,

We thank you and your family for being our valued partners as we work together to educate the children in our district. As you may already be aware, building our social-emotional learning skills is an important goal for our school this year. Over the next several weeks, students and teachers will participate in several exercises to better understand these concepts and to reflect on how they perceive these skills in themselves.

We will be asking for your child to reflect on their own mindsets and approaches to learning via an online survey they will be completing at school. The survey shouldn’t take more than 20-30 minutes to complete.

The survey content will ask students to self-reflect on self management, grit, self efficacy, effort, learning strategies and emotional regulation.

We are asking that all of our students participate in the surveys, as their responses will provide invaluable insights into their experiences and how we can improve and adapt our district to their needs. If a student doesn’t feel like they have enough information to answer a question, they will be able to skip the item altogether. The responses to these surveys will be completely confidential.

If you have any questions about the SEL survey , please don’t hesitate to contact Kelly Parsons at (360) 629-1246 kparsons@stanwood.wednet.edu

SMS and the Stanwood-Camano Food Bank understand this school year may be tough for families in our community, with the Universal School Lunch program ending and food costs skyrocketing. We want to encourage families to take advantage of the HOPE Backpack Meals Program to assist in feeding your child(ren) over the weekends throughout the school year.

A “backpack” is a grocery bag filled with non-perishable items and our cold packs include fresh fruit, cheese, and yogurt when available. Each student can receive 1 backpack and 1 cold pack to take home on Fridays. Students can also take extra backpacks/cold packs home for their siblings if so desired. For holiday breaks, students will be able to take 2 backpacks, and 1 cold pack.
Any child wanting a backpack/cold pack can receive one. There are no applications, documents, or income requirements needed for students to qualify.

School staff will distribute HOPE bags every Friday after school in the foyer outside the cafeteria. (This may change for holidays and/or conferences). Students can stop by and grab a bag before getting on their bus or heading to the parking lot for parent pick up.

If you have any questions, please reach out to the SMS Student Support Advocate, Amy Hart at: 360-965-8249 or ahart@stanwood.wednet.edu.

2022-2023 School Year

Dear Families,

Our school district is fortunate to have access to Operation School Bell ®, a program offered by the Assistance Leagues of Everett ® for students who are in need of new clothes. To qualify for assistance, a child must be enrolled full time and qualify for the free or reduced lunch program. The process only takes a few minutes to get started and involves basic information.

In order to participate in this program, it is important that you complete the necessary forms for EACH child. Forms can be emailed to you or you/your student can pick them up from your child’s school.

There are options this year for how you would like to receive your clothing. You can choose to have a volunteer shop for you child and a bag of clothing will be delivered to your child’s school OR there will be a designated day (undetermined at this time) where your child, with your permission, will travel with district staff to the facility in Everett to shop for their own clothing items.

This program is for all SCSD students in preschool through 8th grade. High school students participate in a portion of Operation School Bell called “Teen Retail.” Please contact Azra Grudic, Student Support Advocate, if you have a HS student in need of clothing: agrudic@stanwood.wednet.edu

Please note that each child can only attend Operation School Bell ® ONCE each school year (through either the Stanwood-Camano School District or another program such as ECEAP).

To participate in Operation School Bell® your student can pick up a packet from the front office staff at any time, or you can contact Amy Hart, Student Support Advocate to get the paperwork: ahart@stanwood.wednet.edu or 360-965-8249.

Thank you,

Amy Hart

Student Support Advocate

Stanwood-Camano School District

Please be aware as we hand out chromebooks that there are fines associated with them if they are not returned and/or returned without damage.

The 2022-2023 student calendar is LINKED HERE and also pictured below.

Our PTO is an amazing group of people working together to support our students. From fundraisers to activities, their work helps our Spartans engage, connect, and thrive at Stanwood Middle School. Please like their Facebook page for all the up-to-date information about our school.

Families can access individual student transportation information online.

Versatrans eLink is the portal to access the bus route, stop time, location, and the bus your child will be riding. The "User Name" and "Password" on the login page is your student's 7-digit identification number.

Click here for instructions on finding bus routes

Click here to go to Versatrans eLink

The Stanwood-Camano School District does not discriminate in employment, programs, or activities on the basis of sex, race, creed, religion, color, national origin, age, veteran or military status, sexual orientation, gender expression or identity, disability, or the use of a trained dog guide or service animal and provides equal access to the Boy Scouts and other designated youth groups. Inquiries regarding compliance and/or grievance procedures may be directed to the District's Title IX/Affirmative Action Officer and Civil Rights Compliance Coordinator, Maurene Stanton (mstanton@stanwood.wednet.edu), or the Section 504/American Disabilities Act Coordinator, Robert Hascall (rhascall@stanwood.wednet.edu) Stanwood-Camano School District, 26920 Pioneer Hwy, Stanwood, WA 98292. Telephone: (360) 629-1200.

El Distrito Escolar de Stanwood-Camano School District no discrimina en sus programas o actividades por motivos de sexo, raza, credo, religión, color, origen nacional, edad, condición de veterano de guerra o grado militar, orientación sexual, expresión de género o identidad, discapacidad o uso de perro guía entrenado o animal de servicio, y ofrece igualdad de acceso a los Boy Scouts y a otros grupos de jóvenes especificados. El empleado mencionado a continuación ha sido designado para atender consultas y quejas de supuesta discriminación: Título IX / Oficial de Acción Afirmativa y Coordinador de Cumplimiento de Derechos Civiles, Maurene Stanton (mstanton@stanwood.wednet.edu), o la Sección 504 / Coordinador de la Ley de Discapacidades Estadounidenses, Robert Hascall (rhascall@stanwood.wednet.edu), Distrito Escolar Stanwood-Camano, 26920 Pioneer Hwy, Stanwood, WA 98292. Teléfono: (360) 629- 1200