Tahoma School Board members conducted four meetings in the first two weeks of the new year, including a special meeting on Monday, Jan. 4, when the board approved plans to bring more students back to school.

The school re-entry plan uses new health guidance that was issued by the state Department of Health on Dec. 17. The new guidance made significant changes in how schools can operate, based on recent research from the Centers for Disease Control and the experiences of other school districts in the state and nation that indicate very low transmission of coronavirus in schools when proper health protocols are followed.  

The board approved a phased plan to bring back students in grades kindergarten-3. Kindergarten and first grade students whose families selected in-person learning will begin on Feb. 1; grades 2 and 3 will follow on Feb. 3. Students also have the option of remaining in remote learning. The re-entry plan divides in-person elementary students into two groups, with one group attending school for 2.5 hours each morning and the other group attending in the afternoon. No more than 15 students per classroom are permitted. When not in classrooms, students will complete the school day at home, including some online instruction in subjects such as music, art, STEM, Future Ready and PE. While at school, each student must wear a mask and follow coronavirus health guidelines for hand washing and distancing. To help keep students in one group, there is no recess and meals will not be served, though students can pick up a “grab and go” lunch and breakfast to eat at home. 

Students in grades 4-5 will return to school at an undetermined date. Planning is underway to determine when middle school and high school students can return to in-person instruction on a hybrid schedule.

In other School Board business:

Before Winter Break, Summit Trail Middle School counselors presented the Signs of Suicide curriculum during an all-staff meeting and, later that evening, for parents and guardians interested in learning more about the program. All seventh-grade students are learning the S.O.S. suicide prevention curriculum as part of their seventh-grade health and fitness classes this year. The evidence-based program teaches students about warning signs, risk factors and what to do if they are concerned about themselves or a friend.

Maple View Middle School is hosting similar parent/guardian and staff meetings as well.

During the STMS staff presentation, Counselor Branda Almli talked to staff members about their role in suicide prevention, and also shared some general facts about suicide.

“Suicide is an attempt to solve the problem of intense psychological pain and hopelessness,” Almli said. “Why does suicide happen? It’s never a single factor … every suicidal individual has a complex mix of factors.” Although suicide is complicated, it is preventable, she said.

The staff members discussed possible warning signs that a student may be considering suicide, such as untreated depression, loss of hope, drinking or drug use, isolation or withdrawal, access to guns and thoughts of suicide. Risk factors include recent loss to suicide, as well as a break-up, transitions, personal trauma.

They also talked about protective factors in students’ lives. School is a key protective factor, including students’ belief that adults and peers care about their learning and care about them as individuals.

“We can be a part of the solution by reinforcing connectedness with others, access to effective behavioral healthcare, and life skills” such as how to solve problems and coping skills, said Counselor Brianne Laverdiere. Other protective factors include a sense of purpose, a sense of belonging, cultural continuity and religious identity.

Part of the S.O.S. curriculum is the acronym and strategy “ACT to help a student in need.” The “A” stands for “Acknowledge” that you are seeing signs of depression or suicide in a student and that it is serious. The “C” stands for “Show you Care,” and let them know that you care. The “T” stands for “Tell mental health staff, parents or administrators.” 

During the meeting, staff members also talked about potential strategies for helping students (including what might be different during remote learning), and looked at a case study of a fictional student, discussing that made-up student’s risk factors and signs, as well as protective factors. They also practiced how to “ACT” in the case of the fictional student described.

“One of the things that we really want you to know is that you don’t have to be an expert and have all the answers,” Counselor Naomi Whylie said. “Give yourself permission to be human."

Middle school students or parents/guardians who have questions about the S.O.S. curriculum or how to seek help for a student, staff member or community member can reach out to their child’s counselor. Or, we have resources available on the TSD Wellness Supports page.

Earlier this week, some high school athletes were able to return to small-group, outdoor conditioning and workouts, after guidance was adjusted by state officials. The Tahoma School Board approved a revised athletics and activities plan at its meeting on Jan. 4. While the plan includes clubs and activities, details for those meetings are still being finalized; they will begin in February.

In addition to meeting in small groups outdoors, students wear masks and follow other health recommendations such as maintaining social distance. The students are assigned to small groups or “pods” that stay the same during each meeting so that if there is a positive case, the exposure will be smaller and easier to manage. The parent or guardian of each student participating fills out a health attestation each day that the student will attend; if the student is not approved to attend in person that day, they are offered a free COVID-19 test through Tahoma’s new voluntary testing program. There is no interscholastic competition at this time.

The School Board originally approved return-to-play protocols on Oct. 27. Those protocols were created by athletic directors from the North Puget Sound League. Shortly after that plan was approved, the number of COVID‐19 cases in our area increased dramatically and the decision was made to end participation.

The Jan. 4 revisions to Tahoma’s athletics and activities plan are based on the governor’s modifications to the safe start plan for our state based on the available science, including:  

In case you missed our emailed invitation last week, we’re sharing it again here in the newsletter.

Dear Tahoma families, community members and staff,

We’re reaching out with a special invitation. At the end of 2020, we asked you to participate in a survey to help shape the School Board’s -- and district’s -- focus for the next five years. Now we’re inviting you to the next step in that process: a virtual Board Goals 2025 Cafe, from 6-8 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 3. We know that you’re busy, and it’s hard to dedicate two hours on a weeknight, but we think you are likely to enjoy this opportunity that will help determine how to best serve our students.

The parents/guardians, students, staff and community members who completed the survey indicated that the top four areas that are most important for student success, and most in need of improvement are:

The cafe is the next strategy that we will use to understand what the district’s stakeholders mean when they say they want an improvement in one of these areas for student success, said Dawn Wakeley, Executive Director of Teaching and Learning. Other strategies that may be used after the initial cafe include focus groups, listening sessions, cafe sessions on a specific topic, meetings with specific focus groups such as the Equity Committee, Technology Advisory Committee or COVID-19 Task Force.

During the cafe, we will hear an introduction and welcome, then work together in Zoom breakout rooms. If you would like to participate that evening by sharing your thoughts and ideas with us, please click here to register: http://bit.ly/TSDgoals2025cafe

We look forward to working with you and connecting virtually at the cafe!

Sincerely,

Tahoma School District

You’re invited to a virtual wellness event featuring performances by local musicians, along with a conversation and Q&A session with local mental health clinicians David Downing, MS, LMHC, CMHS and Carrie Erickson, MS, LMFT, CMHS, moderated by Pete Miller of the Tahoma School Board. The event, which is called “Goodbye 2020, Hello 2021: Embracing Our Mental Health,” will be from 6:30-7:45 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 28 on YouTube Live.

The free event will include musical performances by local artists Sealth and Lucia Flores-Wiseman; it is a presentation in partnership from the City of Maple Valley, the Tahoma Behavioral Health Collective and Tahoma School District.

To register, visit http://bit.ly/2LtFolc

 

 

Tahoma added to the school district’s coronavirus health and safety resources this week. The district is partnering with the state Department of Health in a pilot program to operate a drive-through COVID-19 testing facility, located in the athletic-complex parking lot on the west side of Tahoma High School. Helping us to staff and administer the pilot program are UW Medicine-Valley Medical Center, Puget Sound Regional Fire Authority, and Health Commons.

The program launched on Thursday, after a one-day delay due to the windstorm Tuesday night. Students who are attending for in-person school, student athletes, and staff members who have COVID-19 symptoms or have been exposed to COVID-19 can sign up for a free, voluntary test through the district's health attestation process.

If you missed our full announcement about the program earlier this week, you can read further details here.

Monday, Jan. 25 will be a school day, to make up for Wednesday's storm-caused closure. The 25th is semester break day, and was supposed to be a non-student day. However, it was also designated as an inclement weather make-up day.

Registration for students who will attend kindergarten in the 2021-2022 school year is open now, in an online format.

 

To enroll their student, parents/guardians are asked to go to the Tahoma website to complete the necessary documentation by Jan. 31, 2021. This will ensure that you are notified of kindergarten transition activities and events being planned by your child’s school. After enrolling your child, you will also receive monthly the Tahoma Kindergarten Readiness Newsletter delivered to your email.

 

For more information about kindergarten, click here. If you do not have a child who will attend kindergarten next year, but know of a family in the Tahoma School District that does have an incoming kindergarten student, please share this information.

 

If you are unsure which elementary building your child will attend, click here to enter your address in our online map. Or, for assistance, call the Transportation Department at 425-413-3220.

Due to the district’s remote learning status, our Teaching and Learning staff members have been working on revamping our assessment protocols and timelines for highly capable testing for the 2020-2021 school year. Second-grade students who have parent/guardian permission to be screened will receive that screener remotely during the school day. Nominated students in grades K, 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 will most likely be tested on Saturdays in small groups where they will wear masks, adhere to social distancing, and follow any other recommended safety measures at that time. These tests will take place on computers at testing locations yet to be determined. Here are additional details:

Grade 2: All second-graders are eligible to participate in the CogAT screener, which is the first step in qualifying for the TSD highly capable programs. Families will receive permission slips via Skyward at the beginning of February; those forms are due electronically by Feb. 19. Test dates for when students will participate in the CogAT screener are yet to be determined. 

Grades 5, 6, and 7: Nominations for our highly capable ELA-SS program will occur from Jan. 1-27. Please return these forms promptly Jan. 27 so that our staff can prepare for the testing procedures. We plan to test students at 9 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 6. Nomination forms are available on the highly capable page of our website. 

Grades K,1, 3, and 4: Nominations for highly capable elementary programs will occur from March 1-31. We anticipate testing these groups of students on Saturday, April 17. Please access the nominations forms on the highly capable page of our website. 

Free meals being served curbside, for Tahoma students and any children 18 and younger, via a USDA program, at Lake Wilderness Elementary and Tahoma High School. For times and other details, click here.

To check out what's on the menu, click here.