Hello Golden Eagles!
I am so excited to kick off the 2021-2022 school year and am eager to see your children in our hallways – again or for the first time. We recently wrapped up the summer SPARKS program in our building and it was so wonderful to see and hear students in the building and made me even more excited to start the school year.
I will do my best to communicate via this blog each week, which will be shared via email based on the email address in our system, so please be sure you’ve got the correct email address in ParentVue. Call Christina Johansen, our Community Engagement and Athletics Secretary, at 541-355-7807 if you need assistance in doing this. I do realize that if you’re reading this, we probably have the correct email address, but am including this information here anyway, so tell a friend.
The goal will be for these blog entries to be as long as needed and as short as possible, which might sound like diametrically opposed foes, but will help to ensure everyone gets all of the information they need. This time of year in particular, there is a lot of information, so you can expect that this week and next week’s entries will be long.
There are many questions you likely have that we don’t yet have the answers for, including class schedules, COVID guidelines, and more. We are working to get or create answers and will share them as we have them, so please continue to check all emails from Pacific Crest.
To that end, we will host a remote Orientation Night via WebEx on August 31st at 5:30. Assistant Principal Anne-Marie Schmidt and I are excited to share some information on how Pacific Crest operates and welcome you to bring your questions. My WebEx room link is: https://bls.webex.com/meet/ryan.kelling
The best way to build a strong community is through meaningful, honest communication; if there is anything you’d like to discuss, please always feel free to contact me directly via email [email protected] or phone (541) 355-7802.
I am humbled and honored to lead Pacific Crest this year and am so very excited for the year ahead.
-Ryan
6th Grade Student Orientation
We are so happy to welcome the class of 2028 to PCMS! In order to help students get acquainted with our school and to ease any nerves before we begin, all 6th graders are invited to attend our WEB Day on September 7th from 9:00am – 1:15pm. Where Everyone Belongs (WEB) is a program that’s focus is to support the transition from elementary to middle school while developing leadership opportunities for 8th graders. All 6th grade students will be partnered with an 8th grade WEB leader for the year. WEB leaders will be supports for 6th graders and help them to navigate any of the questions that come with advancing into middle school. Lunch will be provided to students. District bus transportation is available and but your student must be registered. Click here complete bus registration.
New 7th and 8th Grade Student Orientation
We are also excited to welcome our NEW 7th and 8th graders to our Golden Eagle community this year! In order to best support you, our WEB leaders will be doing an optional training with you on September 7th from 2:00pm – 3:30pm. Families will need to provide transportation. Hope you can join us!
School Start/End Times
Click here to access the start and end times for the 2021-2022 school year.
Student Pick-Up and Drop Off
For the safety of our students, staff and others, we ask that everyone entering the parking lot be cautious, be courteous, and to follow signage and guidance from our curbside staff greeters while dropping-off and picking-up students throughout the school year. Also, follow our Drop-off / Pick-up Map.
Bus Transportation Registration
Registering allows our Transportation Department to create more efficient bus routes and student rosters for safety. Does your student plan to ride the bus this fall? If so, make sure to register them as soon as possible. NEW THIS YEAR…only students who are registered will be able to ride the bus (this includes previous-year bus riders as well as frist-time riders). Don’t wait…Register here and now!
Attendance Policy
Staying in the know about our attendance policy will ensure a successful year for our students. We ask that you take time and review the details with your student and to make sure you give our Attendance Secretary, Tami Nielsen plenty of notice to avoid waiting when picking up your student during the school day. No need to call the main office. We have a new email address for the Attendance Office, so please email [email protected] or leave a detailed message at (541) 355-7820. Emails and voicemails are read and listened to constantly throughout the day.
School Supplies
Wondering about school supplies for fall? All of the materials students need for instruction will be provided so no need to search for a list. Families are welcome to provide personal items for students (backpacks, water bottles, headphones, lunch boxes, etc.). If your family needs help securing a personal item, or would like to aid a family in need of such help, please reach out to the PCMS main office.
Annual iPad Insurance
If you haven’t done so, we strongly encourage families to purchase iPad Insurance for your child’s device each year and prior to 9/30/21. The annual cost for insurance is $30 per student and provides full coverage for repair or replacement to any damage done to the iPad in the classroom, on school grounds and anywhere off campus. Without insurance, the repair of an iPad will be $150. Complete replacement of any iPad will cost $299. Our preferred method of payment for iPad Insurance is with our secure online site Touchbase. After 9/30/21 iPads will have to be inspected before insurance can be purchased at PCMS Main Office. Note: We will share more iPad information and required forms in our next communication.
Nutritional Services: Free Meals and P-EBT
- All meals are at no cost for all students all school year in all schools. Therefore, it is not necessary to set up accounts to pay online this year.
- Free & Reduced Price Meal applications are available to complete online or print if you them for fee waivers and scholarships: https://www.bend.k12.or.us/district/parents/school-mealsBend-La Pine Schools :: School Meals
- P-EBT. Please refer folks to 503-945-6481. That takes them directly to the P-EBT office where they can actually look up the student by name and see where their claim is in process. We don’t have access to that level of detail.
- If you want to put P-EBT information in your electronic newsletters just let me know. The info on ODE’s website is written as though you would be sending out the information last school year. I can update it if anyone wants it.
Math Assessment
Each year, we assess all students on their grade-level mathematics knowledge. Those students who score at or above the 97th percentile are then invited to take a bypass exam, to see if it would make sense for them to bypass their grade-level mathematics course and take the next level.We will make this assessments available once prior to school starting and then again in all math classes within the first two weeks of school starting.
If you would like your student to take the assessment prior to school starting, please email Renee McCoy [email protected] and ask her to add you to the list. We will offer only one session of this assessment prior to school starting; if it does not work with your student’s schedule, they will need to take the assessment with their scheduled math class.
School Portrait Day
Dorian Studios will be onsite, Monday, 9/13/21 to photograph all students and staff members. To order student photo packets online with a credit card, simply follow instructions below in English or Spanish. If you would rather pay with cash or check, you may pick up an order form at PCMS main office. If you have any questions, contact Dorian Studio Support or call 1-800-826-3535.
- Go to dorianstudio.com and search for Pacific Crest Middle School
- Select the order button from the appropriate photo day
- Complete your transaction
- Visita dorianstudio.com y busca en tu escuela
- Haga clic en el boton de predio para la fecha correcta de la foto
- Competa la transaccion
Visitors & Volunteers
We love visitors and volunteers, but in our current pandemic situation Bend La Pine Schools will allow limited approved volunteer access to essential, fully vaccinated, masked persons when there is moderate, substantial or widespread COVID-19 community transmission, per Superintendent, or designee, approval and BLP policy KCA-AR.
Bend La Pine Schools will allow, beyond the school lobby, all visitors and volunteers who are fully vaccinated and masked when there is minimal COVID-19 community transmission, per BLPS policies KK-AR and KCA-AR.
Online Background Check Application
Virtual Curriculum Night
Mark your calendar…Wednesday, 9/22 at 6:30pm. More information will follow soon.
Calendar
- Aug. 16 | Fall Sports Registration Begins
- Aug. 31 | Remote Orientation Night 5:30 – 6:30 (more to come soon)
- Sept. 2 | WEB Leader Training | 9:00am – 2:00pm
- Sept. 7 | 6th Grade Orientation Day | 9:00am – 1:15pm (see info above)
- Sept. 7 | 7th & 8th Grade New Student Orientation | 2:00pm – 3:00pm
- Sept. 8 | First Day of School (see schedule above)
- Sept. 10 | Last Day to Register and turn in all required paperwork for Fall Sports
- Sept. 13 | School Portrait Day
- Sept. 22 | Remote Curriculum Night | 6:30 – 7:30pm (see info above)
Helpful Links
- PCMS Athletics
- News from the Nest in Spanish (coming soon!)