Every Child...Every Day...100% Success

The Phoenix

Gazette

Rigor—Relationship—Relevance

January 2016

Dear Sequoyah Families:

Happy New Year! It was such a joy to watch our students return to school this week and see the smiles as they reunited with their friends, teachers, and staff.

Communication At our fall community forum, parents requested to know how we communicate with our families about

what students are learning and what is occurring at Sequoyah. We took a school survey to show how

our staff are communicating with families. Below are the results. We will continue to refine our

communication with families and welcome your feedback.

FWPS Communication Please download the FWPS app to your phone. This is a great way to stay connected to the school

and the District. You can learn how to download the app by going to fwps.org. The District recently

added a new automated message system. Safe arrival morning attendance calls will occur for

Sequoyah at 9 a.m. Middle School parents will also receive a call at the end of the day notifying you

of any missed classes throughout the day. Families may elect to edit their delivery preferences by

logging into the FWPS Parent Link portal at https://federalway.parentlink.net

English Language Arts (ELA) Pilot

We are proud that Sequoyah was selected to pilot the final two curricula selected by the FWPS District

ELA curriculum team. The first pilot, Expeditionary Learning, is to begin this week and will last for four

and a half weeks. Students will be reading novels, learning vocabulary and background knowledge,

interacting with the text, and writing responses to their learning.

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Principal letter continued from page 1

English Language Arts (ELA) Pilot-Continued

There is assigned reading at night so please look for one of these three titles at home:

The Lightening Thief by Rick Riordan, A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park and

Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai.

Highly Capable Nomination Applications FWPS is now accepting nominations for highly capable students through January 15, 2016. Go to the website http://ow.ly/Wtbu6 or call Sequoyah MS, at 253-945-3670, to have an application sent home. Early Dismissal for Professional Learning Communities Beginning February 24th, late starts will be changed to early dismissals for teacher professional development. This decision was made after FWPS conducted a family survey, formed a professional development committee, and received school board approval. There will be more information to come in the next Sequoyah Gazette which is scheduled to be sent home January 22, 2016. Homework New Years is a time where many people set goals for the year. It’s a great time to review

homework expectations with your student. Many of our returning high school students

report to us that there is so much homework in high school and that middle school did

not prepare them to study. It is important to establish a quiet place for homework and an

expectation that your student will have one hour of homework Monday – Thursday during

the school year. The purpose of homework is to allow students to practice what they are

learning in school and to prepare them for high school and beyond. Students are expected

to read for 30 minutes and can review their notes in their INB’s each night. Unfinished

class work may also be assigned for homework.

I wish you and your family a successful and glorious new year. Please call upon our staff

as we are here to serve you and your student(s).

In Partnership,

Springy Yamasaki, Principal

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Upcoming Events:

Whom do I call? Main Office Hours 7:15am - 3:15pm (253) 945-3670

Office Manager Julie Crowder (253) 945-3671

Principal Springy Yamasaki (253) 945-3675

Assistant Principal (on leave) Crystal Emerson (253) 945-3677

Assistant Principal (Guest) Paul Apostle (253) 945-3677

Dean of Students Steve Anderson (253) 945-3687

Counselor Anna Bush (253) 945-3676

Attendance 24 hr attendance line (253) 945-3696

Bus schedule Transportation Dept (253) 945-5960

Lunch: questions, payments Nutrition Services (253) 945-5555

Register/withdraw students Sandi Mullarky (253) 945-3673

Sports-Athletic Director Steve Anderson (253) 945-3687

Fines, fees & Scholarship Information Lorri-anne Hall (253) 945-3672

Library Assistant Mona Bryant (253) 945-3688

Jan 18 MLK, Jr. Birthday-No School

Jan 29 Semester Break-No School

Feb 1 Sports Season #3 Begins

Feb 5 1st Semester Report Cards Sent Home

Feb 15-16 President’s Day/Winter Break-No School

Feb 24 Early Release Day

Notice! We have enclosed an updated 2015-16 FWPS calendar listing all early release dates. Please watch for more information regarding early release days.

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Sequoyah Teacher Roster

Dept F Name L Name Email address Ext Planning Time

H/F Beverly Abad babad@fwps.org 3897 8:53 - 9:43

ELA-8th Nicole Adams nadams@fwps.org 3875 8:00 - 8:50

M-6th Denise Angerman dangerma@fwps.org 3789 1:55 - 2:45

M-8th Alisha Baldwin abaldwin@fwps.org 3775 8:53 - 9:43

M-6th Leonard Barnett lbarnett@fwps.org 3777 9:46 -10:36

Sp Ed-7th Lindsey Barney lbarney@fwps.org 3883 1:02 –1:52

SS-6th Betty Beier bbeier@fwps.org 3778 9:46 –10:36

SS-8th Don Borst dborst@fwps.org 3879 8:00 –8:50

S-8th David Chernicoff dchernic@fwps.org 3880 8:00 –8:50

S-6th Amy Christiansen achristi@fwps.org 3776 9:46 –10:36

SS-7th Collin Craig ccraig@fwps.org 3885 12:09 –12:59

SS-6th Collin Gibbs cgibbs@fwps.org 3793 1:55 - 2:45

SS-7th Amy Heritage aheritag@fwps.org 3795 1:02—1:52

ELA-6th Lauri Isaksen lisaksen@fwps.org 3790 1:02—1:52

S-7th Heather Laprade hlaprade@fwps.org 3886 12:09 –12:59

H/F Terry Lathan tlathan@fwps.org 3898 12:09 –12:59

S-6th Zachary McCauley zmccaule@fwps.org 3788 1:55 - 2:45

SEB Jennifer McKenna jmckenna@fwps.org 3774 1:55 - 2:45

Sp Ed Patty Monroe pmonroe@fwps.org 3791 11:06 - 12:06

ELA-6th Eric Nast enast@fwps.org 3796 1:02—1:52

ELA-8th Melody Nordstrom mnordstr@fwps.org 3772 8:53 –9:43

M-8th Paula Paris pparis@fwps.org 3878 8:00 - 8:50 Foreign Language Jessika Payton jpayton@fwps.org 10:36 - 11:36

ELA-7th Jonathan Scott joscott@fwps.org 3884 12:09 –12:59

ELL Valerie Serns vserns@fwps.org 3779

M-7th Daniel Song dsong@fwps.org 3881 12:09 –12:59

Band/Choir Jenessa Stout jstout@fwps.org 3895 12:09 –1:52

S-8th Malia Sturgeon msturgeo@fwps.org 3770 8:53 –9:43

S-7th Paul Swanson pswanson@fwps.org 3794 1:02 –1:52

SS-8th Luke Valenter lvalente@fwps.org 3771 8:53 - 9:43

Sp Ed Kim Wagner kwagner@fwps.org 3876 10:36 –11:06

Orchestra Tom Walworth twalwort@fwps.org 3893 1:55 - 2:45

Instruct Coach Debbie Williamson dewillia@fwps.org 3681

M-7th Lindsey Witcosky lwitcosk@fwps.org 3799 1:02 –1:52

Attendance Attendance: Please remember to call our 24-hr attendance line, 253-945-3696, when your child is absent or tardy and follow up with a note upon his/her return. To excuse absences, please write a note including the dates of absences, a brief explanation, your signature and date, and have your child bring it to the main office. Homework Requests: When your student is out for more than one day and you would like to request homework, please refer to the email addresses listed in this newsletter. You may email or call the teachers directly and they will either email you in return or bring work to the main office.

Please allow 24 hours notice for teachers to prepare work for your student.

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Student Safety is Important Please have Picture ID ready

When coming to pick up your child from school in the health room or for an appointment,

you must show picture ID when signing your student out.

Students will only be released to persons named on the

Yellow Emergency Card and who show proper ID.

Sequoyah Middle School Volunteer/Visitor Procedures

Sequoyah Middle School welcomes you! We ask that you abide by the following procedures when volunteering or visiting our campus. 1. For Volunteers: Complete, or have on file, a current Washington State Patrol

background form. You may obtain a WSP packet from our main office. You must be cleared before you volunteer, so please obtain a form and turn it in to our office several weeks prior to the date you wish to begin volunteering. If you have a current clearance on file with another FWPS school, you may have the school fax a copy to Sequoyah. The background check is good for two (2) years.

2. For Volunteers & Visitors: Always check in/out with our main office. Sign the volunteer/visitor book upon entry and exit. Our office will issue you a volunteer/visitor badge that must be worn while you are on campus and returned upon departure.

3. Questions regarding your WSP form may be directed to Mona Bryant at 253-945-3688.

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We recognize regular attendance is essential to the safety, academic success and well-being of all students. Because student safety is of utmost importance, parents need to be notified as soon as possible if their child has not arrived at school. FWPS is expanding the use of the automated notification system to make morning attendance calls for all students at all schools as part of our Safe Arrival Program. With the automated system, parents will be contacted more quickly than is currently possible with a manual system. Within an hour of the school start time a morning attendance call will be placed to the primary phone number for each parent/guardian listed in student information system. Families of students who have arrived late to school and those whose absences have not been verified by a parent/guardian will receive an automated notification. If parents have notified their child’s school of one or more absences via phone call or written notification, the automated system will not contact them. There may be instances when a parent has contacted the office regarding an absence, but the information isn’t entered into the system prior to the call being made. Please disregard these calls. We appreciate your continued diligence in informing the school of your absences. In the evening, all parents/guardians of students in secondary schools who were late that day or absent will receive a call informing them of their child’s absence by period. These calls are scheduled between 5 and 8 p.m. As we launch the Safe Arrival Program, we expect there will be some kinks to work out. We appreciate your help and patience as we work to make the system to work well for all of us. With this in mind, it is important that your contact information is up-to-date. Please review the following Frequently Asked Questions on the next page for additional information about our new automated system.

NEW! SAFE ARRIVAL PROGRAM

Why is the district expanding the use of the automated system for morning attendance calls?

We are hoping this change will serve as an additional safety measure to ensure all students are

arriving at school as planned.

Why did I receive a call after I contacted my child’s school about an absence?

The families of students whose absences have not been verified with a parent/guardian within an

hour of the school start time will receive an automated phone call.

The school secretary may not have been able to update the student attendance record before the

automated calls are scheduled.

Please disregard this call.

I received a phone call, but not an email. Can I be notified by email?

Yes. The default setting is a phone call to the primary number. Parents and guardians may edit

message delivery settings and receive notifications by email and to additional phone numbers.

What number will it call?

The system will call the primary phone listed in the student information system. Parents and

guardians may edit message delivery settings to add a cell phone or additional phone numbers, too.

I only have a cell phone, how will I be notified?

The primary phone number listed does not need to be a landline to receive a notification.

These automated calls will also be sent to parent or guardian cell phone numbers listed in the

student record.

Will the system call more than one phone line?

Yes, the system will can call the primary, secondary and cell phone numbers for each parent and

guardian listed in the student record.

What do I do if I receive an attendance call?

Please contact the attendance office at your student’s school to verify the absence, if you have not

already done so.

How do I change the phone number that is being called?

Parents may edit message delivery setting, so that notifications will be sent according to your

preference for either voice call, email or text, at a home, work or cell number, depending upon the

type of message. The FWPS Parent Link portal address is https://federalway.parentlink.net.

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Sequoyah MS Cell Phone Policy

Cell phones and earbuds/head phones are not permitted during class and passing times. Students may use cell phones before breakfast, at lunch and after school. No photos or videos permitted. Students may use cell phones under the direction of a staff member for instructional purposes only. Students are not to listen to their own music while working. Staff may select and play school appropriate music while students work. Students may use a school phone to stay in communication with parents/guardians.

1. Cell phones need to be silenced and put in a pocket or backpack

during instructional time. Earbuds/head phones need to be put away and out of sight.

2. Staff will tell a student to put the phone away once. Student will call

home and inform the parent/guardian that they broke the cell phone policy.

3. The second time the cell phone is out, staff may ask for the cell phone

or ask the student to put it away. If taken, the student will be given back their cell phone at the end of class. Staff will call home and ask parent for help to support their student in adhering to the cell phone policy.

4. The third time, the staff will ask for the cell phone and give it to Sean

Wilson, our security officer, or Steve Anderson, our Dean. The teacher will write an office referral. The phone will be locked up until the end of the day. Sean or Steve will call the parent with the student and explain that the next time the phone is out, it will need to be kept at home for two weeks.

5. The fourth time, the staff will submit an office referral. Student will be

assigned Friday School and be asked not to bring the phone for two weeks. Administration will call home.