Calendar
Check out the calendar  here .
School
Second Semester
PE/Fitness: If your student will have PE/Fitness for 2nd semester, please log into Parent Access  to purchase your student's PE shirt. Paying online will prevent your student Print the receipt and have your student bring the receipt to their PE/Fitness class to receive the shirt.

Elective Class Fees (ART, Cooking, STEM, Robotics, Design & Model) will be available for payment and automatically assessed in your student's account TWO WEEKS after the beginning of the semester. Please log into Parent Access to pay for your student's class fees.

Parent Access- the easy and convenient way to pay for your student's fees/fine and to check their purchase history -  https://www.lwsd.org/help/parent-access-support
(please use Safari, Firefox, or Chrome and unblock your pop-up blocker)
Study Lab
Now that we are a week into the new semester, it’s a good time to remind students about after school study support. We do have an activity bus on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays for our students who stay late after school to get help with their homework. 
Bus stop list:
  • Einstein Elementary
  • Avondale – Summerwood Apts.
  • Avondale @ 182nd AVE NE
  • Avondale @ 180th AVE NE
  • Redmond Elementary
  • City of Redmond Library
Study Lab Times
  • Monday – 2:40-4:00pm – No bus provided
  • Tuesday – 2:40-4:00pm – Bus provided
  • Wednesday – 1:10 – 3:00pm – Bus provided
  • Thursday – 2:40-4:00pm – Bus provided
  • Friday – No after school study lab or bus.
PTSA
Parent/Student education on Stress and Time management
RMS PTSA in collaboration with LWPTSA council presents:
Stress and Time Management Parent and Student Education Event
February 5, 2019, 6:00 - 8 p.m.  at Redmond Middle School

The topic will be "stress and time management" and the panel will consist of teachers, parents, and students. And here is the especially fun twist: middle school students will moderate! 
The panel will address a topic of major concern for this generation of high achieving and highly motivated students who juggle busy lives. The audience will get to hear directly from high school students on what to expect and how best to prepare for the new challenges middle school students will face in high school. Learning about how students can successfully manage their time and alleviate stress should be of concern to all parents. Come and experience learning about this topic in an innovative and engagingly new way!
For questions email  face@lwptsa.net
Join the New Green Team at RMS!
Redmond Middle Families! Are you passionate about recycling? Do you want reduce waste at school? RMS PTSA, partnered with the school is happy to announce the formation of the RMS Green Team! The Green Team will be comprised of interested students, parents and staff. We invite you to join our team to educate the community, promote sustainability and combat waste!
Proposed Green Team Initiatives:
  • Auditing and Improving Recycling/Composting at Lunch Periods
  • Best Practices Recommendations at School/PTSA Events
  • Earth Day/Week Celebrations and Education
  • and more!
What can you do?
  • Join the team! Yes, we need parents!
  • Encourage your student(s) to join the team. All grades are welcome!
  • Send us your ideas about how we can make the school more green!
Please email  greenteam@rmsptsa.org  to join the team yourself or sign up your student. You can also contact us to find out more information about meetings and happenings! We look forward to continuing our and strengthening our practice of reducing, reusing and recycling at RMS!
Advocacy Week 
Advocacy Week - Due to mid-winter break coinciding with Advocacy Week, LWSD PTSA and RMSPTSA will not be visiting Olympia this year. Instead, you are encouraged to support WSPTA’s efforts. Contact Steve Hitch at Advocacy@rmsptsa.org if you want more information. Otherwise, do this . . .

WSPTA will be asking members to take action from home or your phone throughout the week of February 11-15. Each day will have a new, prewritten message for members to send to their legislators regarding WSPTA legislative priorities. To participate subscribe to the WSPTA Action Network to stay informed.
Math Club News
MATHCOUNTS Lake Washington Chapter Competition Results
9 RMS Students (Michael Sheng, Ethan Li, Alan Duan, Joseph Kaim, Alon Ragoler, Juwang Lee, Max Qu, Annabella Li, Di Mao) participated in MATHCOUNTS Lake Washington Chapter Competition held at Microsoft Conference Center on Saturday, Feb. 02, 2019.
Total of 198 students from 25 middle schools in Lake Washington area competed in this competition. Redmond Middle School team placed 5th in the team competition. As result, RMS MATHCOUNTS Team, consisting of Ethan Li, Joseph Kaim, Michael Sheng, Alan Duan, advances to MATHCOUNTS Washington State Competition.
Congratulations to the MATHCOUNTS team.
Science Club News
4 RMS Science teams participated at Invitational Science Olympiad at North shore Middle school on Jan 19, 2019 where a total of 33 teams participated. RMS teams performed well and Team rank, top medalists and ranks are mentioned below.
RMS PTSA Robotics team wins tournaments
RMS robotics club was officially launched as a PTSA club this year.  Three RMS robotics teams participated in the regional Vex IQ robotics tournaments and achieved amazing results.
The Plants team (Evan, Rakesh, Aaron and Shripad) received the Excellence award, the Skill champions award and finished 2 nd  place in the final teamwork challenge. The excellence award is the highest award presented in the VEX IQ programs. The Skills award is given to the team that achieved the top combined score for Programming and Driving Skills Challenge. As a result of the excellence award, the Plants team is qualified for the state-level competition.
Robo-TRONS (Teyi, Rithwick, Om, Neev, and Seth) and Vexplorers (Sidharth, Udhay, Shiv, Caster and Ehan) teams have also done an amazing job at the competitions by winning in qualification matches and proceeding to the final rounds. Both teams placed 3 rd  in the final teamwork matches.
Congratulations to the Plants, Robo-TRONS, and Vexplores. We appreciate the generous support from the  LWSD Reach for Success   program  for the RMS robotics club.  
Volunteer of the month
The PTSA would like to recognize Gerald Sakuda as the February Volunteer of the Month.
Gerald is a tutor for the AVID program at RMS. He arrives every Tuesday and Thursday like clock-work and has hardly missed a day this year or all of last year. The kids love him and they fight to be in his group!
When's the last time you have heard students who fought over a tutor? :-) Gerald must be doing something right and we appreciate his passion and methods of helping our Grizzlies. Congratulations Gerald!
Spring volunteer sign up
paper_people_chain.jpg
Out of the shadows of winter rain, spring is on the horizon and PTSA is bringing with it a few opportunities to help out at the school. 
Take a peek and SIGN UP !
Sign Up to receive information from RMS PTSA
New to the school or have a 5th grader who will attend RMS next year? Hear about opportunities available for your student by completing this short form.
Join RMS PTSA
Please Click to Join
'The Snuggery'- RMS Initiative for students in need
Redmond Middle School has created a food pantry/clothing closet for students in need of these extra resources during the school day or at home during the week. They have dubbed this room “The Snuggery”. It is u pdated on January 20th to reflect the current Individual Food Needs! Read More..
ASB
Spirit Gear
Support the RMS ASB and build up your Grizzly Pride. You have until February 15 to get your orders in.
A reminder that purchases made on Amazon using this link help RMS ASB.
Help RMS ASB by donating used clothing and shoes. The bin is located in the parking lot by the portables.
Fund the Grizzlies  –  Please donate to the Redmond Middle School Associated Student Body (ASB) to help fund student activities.
Community
WSPTSA Focus Day
WSPTA members adopted a new set of legislative priorities focusing on all aspects of the health, safety, well-being and education of children – and 1.1 million students need YOU to be their voice on Focus Day,  February, 11, 2019 in Olympia .

Please join LWPTSA Council and PTAs across the state in Olympia to meet with your legislators. Got questions contact Melissa Stone, LWPTSA VP Advocacy at  advocacy@lwptsa.net
PTA Men’s Essay Contest
Students needed to participate in the PTA Men’s Essay Contest. In an effort to help promote male engagement around the state of Washington, the objective of this contest is for students of all ages to write an essay about a male role model that has had a profound impact on their life. For more information. Entries must be postmarked by March 1, 2019. Download the entry form .
Measles
As you may be aware, on January 25, Governor Inslee declared a public health state of emergency after reports of 31 confirmed cases of measles were identified in the state. Most of the confirmed cases are in Clark County and there is one confirmed case in King County. We currently do not have any cases of measles in Lake Washington School District. 
 This unusual occurrence of measles may generate some concern or questions. To help keep you informed, district processes and state law for vaccinations is  outlined on the LWSD website .
Bear Tracks weekly is produced by RMS PTSA as a benefit to the Redmond Middle School Community. Articles are due on Thursdays for publication the following Monday. Bear Tracks is edited by Ekta Vadlamudi and [YOUR NAME HERE - please email Sujatha Patra: communications.vp@rmsptsa.org if interested in co-editing]. Please review our communication priorities and submit articles to weekly@rmsptsa.org .