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)
Council-level winners for Reflections
The RMS PTSA received many OUTSTANDING entries to the Reflections Art Competition (which can all be viewed   here ). We are proud to finally announce the winners at the school level as well as the district-wide competition! Out of 15 entries submitted to the Lake WA PTSA Council for the district-wide competition, SEVEN students took top honors are moving on to State Competition!!

Congratulations to the school finalists: 
LITERATURE

6th grade winners:
1st Place - Ricardo Brito
2nd Place - Yuwan Luo
3rd Place - Anson Chen

7th grade winners:
1st Place - Annabella Li
2nd Place - Shruti Badrish
3rd Place - Adiba Saadullah

8th grade winner:
1st Place - Hannah Chinn
VISUAL ARTS

6th grade winners:
1st Place - Shuhui Yang
2nd Place - Nivedha Neelakandan
3rd Place - Chujia Yang

7th grade winners:
1st Place - Tiffany Tu
2nd Place - Di Mao
3rd Place - Catherine Gowell

8th grade winners:
1st Place - Jina Kim; 2nd Place - Kenzie Seymour
SPECIAL AWARDS:
For EXCELLENT INTERPRETATION: Di Mao
For MOST INTRIGUING: Hannah Chinn
For BEST OVERALL: Jina Kim

DISTRICT-WIDE COMPETITION WINNERS
Please congratulate the following district-wide competition winners:
Winning the Award of Merit for Literature is Yuwan Luo for their entry titled Firefighters and Medics.
Winning the Award of Excellence for Literature is Hannah Chinn for their entry titled "Broken Tools".
Winning the Award of Merit for Visual Arts is Shuhui Yang for their entry titled "We Are All Heroes".
Winning the Award of Merit for Visual Arts is Nivedha Neelakandan for their entry titled "Farmers: The Heart of our Country".
Winning the Award of Merit for Visual Arts is Tiffany Tu for their entry titled "The Climb to the Top".
Winning the Award of Excellence for Visual Arts is Di Mao for their entry titled "My Unique Heroes".
Winning the Outstanding Interpretation for Visual Arts is Jina Kim for their entry titled "A Brighter World".
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
Advocacy
Thank you to RMS PTSA delegates Steve Hitch, Felice Nightengale, and Shawn Roland and also Devon Kellogg who spent their weekend at the WSPTA Legislative Assembly in October to help the WSPTA select our legislative priority for Olympia.

The top 5 legislative WSPTA priorities for 2019 are:
- Social Emotional Learning
- School Construction and Simple Majority for Bonds
- Prevent Gun Violence
- Strategies to Address the Teacher Shortage
- Strategic K-12 Investments to Close Gaps

Read more about the state’s legislative priorities, resolutions and supported issues for 2019 here.

PTSA Advocacy Focus Day in Olympia is February 11, 2019. Contact Steve at  advocacy@rmsptsa.org  if you are interested in participating.
Math Club News
American Mathematics Competition 8 (AMC 8) Results
Total of 100 RMS students participated in MAA AMC 8 competition on November 13, 2018.
8 students listed in Honor Roll of Distinct (top 1% nationally) and 21 students in Honor Roll (top 5% nationally). Eleven 6th graders received Certificate of Achievement (scored over 15)
Redmond Middle School is listed in School Merit Roll. Read More...

MATHCOUNTS School Competition Results
2018-19 MATHCOUNTS School Competition was held at Redmond Middle School on December 11, 2018. Total of 79 students participated in the contest. Please Click here to know about top 15 Students with the highest scores.
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 !
RMS PTSA Membership Update
In case you missed the general meeting on the 15th . . . As of 1/14/2019, RMS PTSA has 711 members which should earn us the Platinum Membership award for the year (20% growth over last year). Growth awards are given automatically when the criteria is met at the state level. 80 of the 711 members are staff. RMS has 47 full-time certificated employees. We will be applying for the 100% Staff Membership Award. Membership benefits are still available, we did print extra copies of the directory.
'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
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
Microsoft Ninja Camp for Students with Disabilities 
Microsoft is Now Accepting Applications for the 2019 Ninja Camp
Microsoft’s  Ninja Camp  offers students with disabilities an introduction to technology, life at Microsoft, and the future of accessibility. In 2019, the camp is being expanded to serve 50 middle and high school students (current 7 th -10 th  graders). Participants will develop digital skills using Microsoft products, connect with Microsoft employees with disabilities, learn to leverage their personal strengths, and train to join the next generation of Accessibility community leaders. This free day camp will take place from 9:00am-4:00 pm on August 12-16, 2019 at the Microsoft Corporate Campus in Redmond, WA. Students outside of the Seattle area are welcome to apply. However, any arrangements and costs associated with travel and lodging are the responsibility of the parents/guardians of the applicants.  Online applications  are due by February 1, 2019.  Applicants, their families, teachers, and community partners are invited to attend a Ninja Camp Question & Answer (Q&A) conference call on Thursday, January 24, 2019, at 4:00pm Pacific Time to learn more about the camp and get their questions answered by the camp planning team members. Conference call numbers are: 206-800-4384, 425-616-0754 and 866-679-9995 (toll-free). Conference ID is 13346208#. If accommodations are needed to join the Q&A call, please contact  ninjacamp@microsoft.com . 
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
Public Social Emotional Learning Survey
The Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) is doing a survey regarding social-emotional learning and they would like your input! Please help by taking the survey HERE .
Survey will be closed February 1st. 
Future Freshmen Parent Night @ RHS
Parents and guardians of 8th graders are invited to the Redmond High School Performing Arts Center on Wednesday, January 30, from 6:30 - 7:30 p.m. The RHS Counseling department will present on the transition to 9th grade, scheduling, classes, graduation requirements, etc. For more information see the postcard sent last week.
HIV/AIDS Curriculum
In response to the growing threat of HIV to our population, the 1988 Washington State Legislature mandated that a program of prevention education be presented to students yearly, beginning with the fifth grade. The Lake Washington School District adopted the  KNOW curriculum  developed by OSPI for grades 5 - 8, and the Family Life and Sexual Health (F.L.A.S.H) curriculum from the King County Department of Health for grades 6-12 for our HIV/AIDS prevention education. LWSD also adopted lessons from the  F.L.A.S.H sexual health curriculum  for students in 4 th  grade through high school.
These research-based curricula were adopted with the involvement of educators, parents, and community members, and provide a science-based focus on the topics. Lessons will be taught by teachers at our school.
The HIV/AIDS and/or sexual health curriculum will be taught this spring in student’s science classes.
In accordance with the AIDS Omnibus Bill (E2SSB 6221), no student may be required to participate in AIDS prevention education if the student’s parent(s) or guardian, having previewed the materials, excuses their child from participation. Lesson materials for preview are available online for the  KNOW curriculum  and the  F.L.A.S.H sexual health curriculum  or can be viewed at our Curriculum Library, located at the Lake Washington School District Resource Center. Please contact Jennifer Gordon, ( jgordon@lwsd.org ) Curriculum Library Secretary, to arrange to check out the materials. Parents or guardians can also choose to preview materials at the school.
 
The next District presentation for parents will be held on February 5 th  from 6:30 – 7:30 p.m. in the Board Room at the Resource Center.  Materials will also be available for preview and wavier forms will be available at each of these presentations.
 
If you choose to waive your child from this instruction, you will need to complete a request form that is available once you have previewed the materials.
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 .