Panther Post

Scholar-Led Conferences are coming up!

This time is dedicated to hearing about your child’s academic goals and progress.

This year, Panther Lake families can schedule their conferences in ParentVUE.

Please see the following HOW TO video (Click Here for HOW TO Video) and HOW TO Guide (Click Here for HOW TO Guide (including translations)) to support you in selecting the time that works best for you.

If you need an interpreter, please contact our front office 253-945-3600 for support.

On the Horizon...

• April 12th: Early Release
  
• April 12th: Parent Advisory
• April 14th: Kids Night Out
• April 26th: Early Release
• April 28th: Spirit Assemblies (K-2 @ 1:45 and 3-5 @ 2:45)

Greetings Panther Lake Family and Friends!
Working together as administrators to support the school while Principal Ritch is out has been a wonderful experience. Your scholars have been welcoming to Guest Principal Soltez, and helpful as he begins to meet everyone and get to know the students. Every day we see teachers working hard to help your scholars learn what is being taught, and we see scholars doing their best!

We want to remind you of the importance of attending your student's conference this coming week. We know that when parents, teachers, and scholars partner together, scholars are more successful. When you meet with your scholar's teacher, consider asking the following questions:

• What is my child's reading level?
• How can I help at home?
• Do you feel they are they working to the best of their ability?
• What do you see as their strengths?
• What are some areas where my needs more support/work?

Conferences are an important time for families, teachers, and students. Please make every effort to attend.

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.

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.

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!