Volume I / October 2020
October - We miss you:(
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Calendar of Events

October 19 - 23 - Virtual Spirit week (More information below.)
Nov. 6 - End of 1st Quarter
Nov. 11 - Veterans Day - No School
Nov. 25-27 - Thanksgiving Break - No School
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Message from the Principal
Oct. 2020
You have most likely noticed that our school is partnering with Character Strong to teach and reinforce character education and social emotional learning. We began this process four years ago with our “Attitude of Gratitude and Kindness” initiative. This year our lesson design is happening in our Advisory class from 8:30 to 8:50 daily. Your children will be able to tell you about specific character lessons. Additionally, our staff has been trained and is modeling character among one another. We periodically use social media to offer character challenges to our community.
As soon as our students and families get a chance to walk the halls of Sacajawea Middle School, they will notice signs posted throughout our school representing the SAC Way. The SAC Way is a mantra we share with students and staff highlighting and repeating what we believe and expect. Show Respect, Accept Responsibility and Commit to Success.  As our students and staff share in our learning community, this small phrase helps us to continue to prepare for the future.

Sacajawea has been recognized as an academic leader by the State of Washington. Recently we committed to a few high performing indicators that align with the College Board and ensure our school is developmentally responsive, culturally relevant and socially equitable. The indicators are Fostering Academic Behaviors, Creating an Environment of Learning, Providing Academic Press and Promoting a Culture of Success.  Our leadership team uses these indicators to begin our school year and align all of our day-to-day practices with the notion of “Excellence for Everyone”.

While you read Sacajawea News You Can Use, please look for little details that help you to understand what makes our school so special. This month you will notice two small requests from our community to help us to continue to offer a world-class middle school experience:
Support the Sacajawea Fund Run- Students will be presented detailed Fund Run information.  The money our students raise during our Fund Run supports clubs, organizations, music, arts, athletics, and more. Every student in our school is a beneficiary of our Fund Run. As an example, money raised in the past has funded uniforms, our Sacajawea Theatre performance, Talent Show, reward activity days, after-school activities and more.

As always, we are so thankful to our families for providing our school with such wonderful students and people. Our partnership with each of you is key to continued student success and is something we value deeply.  Please continue to check PowerSchool, talk with your children and seek clear communication with our school and our staff.

Jeremy Ochse
IMPORTANT - Upcoming....

12th Annual Spirit Week and Fund RUN begins on MONDAY

We kick off the week on....
Monday the 19th with Comfy Sweats/PJ Day
Tuesday Oct. 20th - Tourist Tuesday (Dress up as a tourist ready to go on vacation! Wear hats, cargo shorts, floral or Hawaiian shirts, camera gear, etc.)
Wednesday Oct. 21 - Sports/Jersey Day (REPRESENT!!! Wear your favorite sports gear or support your favorite sports team.)
Thursday Oct. 22 - Pet Day (Take a selfie with your pet or favorite stuffed animal and submit it for the yearbook - see below how to do this.)
Friday Oct. 23 - Sac Colors and Teacher Appreciation (Hold up a sign saying “THANKS!” to your teacher(s) – make it broad or personal to a specific teacher. AND The First Ever Virtual and 12th Annual Fund Run – get outside and walk, and make sure you submit photos to the Yearbook!

Please SEND US YOUR PHOTOS for the Yearbook and other SAC publications like this newsletter, and our Social Media Platforms. 2 ways to do this....
  1. Email the pictures to...Mr. Allen or Mrs. Leyde (aarona@spokaneschools.org, traceyl@spokaneschools.org)
  2. Submit on our Instragram page sac_yearbook or sacajaweams7117
Coming Soon....PBIS rewards.

PBIS stands for Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports. A school wide SAC program to help encourage students to make positive choices academically, behaviorally and socially.

Recognizing students for following agreed upon expectations has been part of our school culture for many years. Shifting to a virtual setting, recognizing students who are making positive choices that contribute to success is just as important as before, if not more so. We will be rolling out a reward system in the coming weeks. Students will learn how they can be nominated by their teachers for showing courage, leadership, achievement, problem solving skills, creativity, kindness, etc. All nominated students will be put into a weekly drawing to earn prizes like gift cards, “skip an assignment” passes and more. 

Students will learn more about the PBIS Reward system on October 26th in Home Base!
News/Info
REMINDER - The school day goes from 8:30 AM to 3:00 PM EVERY DAY!!!

Here is our schedule....

8:30 - 8:50 - HB Activities....we prepare for the day, teach whole school expectations and procedures LIKE how to get into and use Power School, Social Emotional support and lessons, etc.... this is a very important part of your student's day and the Home Base teacher is one of your BEST advocates, resources and support.

8:50 - 9:50 - 1st or 4th period - depending on the day. Your child is expected to be in class EVERY DAY, EVERY PERIOD. We need to know immediately of any barriers. Please call our counselors. 354-5500

9:50 - 10:50 - 2nd or 5th period

10:50 - 11:50 - 3rd or 6th period

LUNCH BREAK - Please encourage your child to step away from all screens including cell phones. EAT and then get outside, take the dog for a walk, do the dishes:)

12:50 - 1:50 - Students are checking grades, looking at the assignment tabs and working independently on any and all homework/assignments they have. This is also a good time to email teachers if they have questions.

1:50 - 2:30 - Students continue working independently UNLESS a teacher requests that they join them for Differentiated Instruction. Many teachers have set up this time as open access time where you drop in to ask questions, get help. Check with individual teachers if you have any question about how to access them during this time!!!

2:30 - 3:00 - Student and Parent Access Time using BOOKINGS. YOU are the driver here....Set one on one appointments with your child's teacher....
BITE 2 GO....
We are partnering once again with Second Harvest Food Bank, Children’s Choice Dentistry, and Lukins and Annis Attorneys at Law with the Bite2Go program. This program provides weekend food sources to qualifying families. For more information please inquire with main office staff at Sacajawea.
ATTENDANCE Plea for HELP!!

24 HOUR ATTENDANCE LINE
509-354-5515
Please call anytime your student will not be attending class
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TECH TIP for STUDENTS:
At the end of the school day, please make sure to ‘Restart’ your school laptop before you ‘Shut Down’ your laptop. During ‘Restart,’ your laptop will install any updates or software that is needed along with resolving any errors. After your laptop has restarted completely, you can shut down your laptop and it will be ready to go for the next day.
8th Grade Parents....

We are still planning on trying to do a student/family-funded Spring Break trip to Washington, D.C. and New York City. This trip is a long-running tradition here at Sacajawea and we are hoping we can still make it happen. Obviously, things will be different than usual and we will be navigating things as we go. If you are interested, there will be an introductory, informational zoom meeting with Mr. Allen and a representative from Global Travel, the company that we partner with. The meeting will be October 20th at 5:30. If you have any questions, feel free to email Mr. Allen at AaronA@SpokaneSchools.org

Here is the information for the zoom meeting:

Meeting ID: 813 6877 1348
Passcode: 335122
Thunderbird Closet... is still taking donations. If you are Mari Condo-ing your life bring the kid's clothes/accessories here!!! We need all sizes!

If you NEED clothes/toiletries come see us between 8:00 and 3:00!! We are well stocked and would love to help out our SAC families.

Special request - We could ALWAYS use hangers, socks/underwear and shampoos, deodorants, toothpaste etc....
PTG Corner

Get Involved. Please join the Sacajawea PTG. This parent group helps support Sacajawea students and staff. Honor Roll Celebrations, supporting needy students, 8th grade fun day, and more are all examples of the way our PTG supports our learning community.
Our next meeting is Wed. Oct 21. 2020

Donate.
We strive to provide the BEST middle school experience for your child. Many of the activities we offer here at SAC are unfunded and don't happen at other middle schools. This is because of YOUR PTG. Sacajawea PTG is solely funded by your direct donation. Parents tell us that they don't want to sell cookie dough, wrapping paper, chocolates, etc..... If every parent donated a minimum of 20.00 our PTG would net 16000.00 to support student activities and events. Funds are getting low....CLICK HERE and donate today!!! Or pick up an envelope in the main office. Please make checks payable to Sacajawea PTG.
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Volunteers are needed. Please volunteer your time. Contact our office to get in touch with our volunteer coordinator at 509-354-5500.
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Planning to ride the school bus this year? All eligible riders must register online to ride the bus every year! All eligible bus riders in Spokane Public Schools must register online now to ride the bus for the 2020-21school year. How? Visit www.spokaneschools.org/BusRegistration. You can check your eligibility there too. Specific bus route information will be available online by the second week of August.
Digital Library Cards: The Spokane Public Library is introducing Digital Access Library Cards for all middle and high school students. These specialized library cards give students online access to most of the library's digital learning resources that are ideal for research. How to access: go to www.spokaneschools.org/students. Click the ‘Clever’ button and log in like normal. Click the Spokane Public Library icon, where you’ll see your library card number and pin displayed at the top of the page.
Congratulations/Good News/Celebrations
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Congratulations: Share your good news with us! We love to feature the incredible things our students are doing inside and outside of school. If you have good news to share, please send it to Tracey Leyde (traceyl@spokaneschools.org) to be included in the SacNYCU
Community Partners
About our Community Partner's Program..... We would appreciate you partnering with us in supporting the PBIS program at Sacajawea. There are 2 ways to participate and help the Sacajawea community.
  1. We ask that businesses pick one month of the school year to sponsor our PBIS program, with a suggested donation of $75.  When your business sponsors a month of PBIS, it will be recognized in Sacajawea “News You Can Use” email with a link to your businesses’ website. This email gives your business exposure to the families of the 800+ students enrolled at Sacajawea. We will also advertise your business for the entire month on our brand new Sacajawea Middle School electronic reader board, located on Grand Blvd. at 32nd Ave.
  2. Other businesses provide us with rewards and tangible goods for students and staff.

If you are a business owner and would like to partner with us by contributing to our Sacajawea family with donations of time or resources please email Laura Treece at laurat@spokaneschools.org
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