Pacific Crest Middle School
Where Identity and Relationships are Foundational to Learning and Living in a Caring Community
We work hard each day to manifest this vision and to ensure all students and families feel seen, heard, and safe in our school. We know that our work in intended to help students understand their role in our larger community and to understand how the impact of their words and actions is more significant than the intent of those words and actions.
Recently, we have heard from students and families that there have been an alarming amount of hateful, racist slurs being used at PCMS. I am sharing this to let you know of the steps we are taking to continue educating our students on the impact of such language, the hateful history of some of these slurs, and how we will respond to any such incidents.
Our School Board policy AC-AP outlines the relevant definitions, potential consequences, and provides a how-to on reporting such incidents. I encourage you to review it and discuss it with your student so that they are aware of the policy and how it might impact their experience at Pacific Crest. In addition to the reporting ways described in the policy, please know that students can tell a trusted adult at school if they experience or witness such incidents.
We do not tolerate the use of racial slurs. When use of these words is reported we respond swiftly and consistently following policies and procedures, and we assign both a disciplinary consequence as well as an empathy-building/learning activity for the offending student. We prioritize restorative conversations, reflective re-entry meetings, and follow-up supervision and check-ins to ensure the hurtful/hateful language stops immediately and permanently. We also communicate with the families involved, offenders and victims both.
In order to prevent the use of racist language and other bias incidents, we are mindful to create an inclusive and respectful school culture. This includes providing social-emotional learning and character trait instruction during our four-day-a-week Advisory sessions.
I say this a lot, and I say it earnestly – we cannot do this work alone; our efforts to support and provide a comprehensive learning environment for students requires a partnership with families. Thank you for your partnership in all of efforts, including our efforts to ensure students can be safe at our school.
Conferences This Week
Parents and guardians, below are the dates for upcoming Spring conferences. Conferences will be held in-person and are 15 minutes long. Students are encouraged to attend. So you can easily find your conference locations, we have provided this campus map for reference.
As a way to prepare for them, students spent time this week building a take-home conference slideshow and will be prepared to share it with you this weekend. They should be able to articulate their successes and challenges in each of their classes. In addition to the slideshow, I encourage you to view teacher-made videos. These videos will help to clarify any common questions that you may have and provide a deeper connection to the classroom environment. You can view teacher videos here: PCMS TEACHER VIDEO LINK
Conferences are a great opportunity to have a discussion with your student and their teachers to better understand what is happening in their learning and how you can support their efforts at home.
- Wednesday, April 13 | 4:00 PM – 8:00 PM
- Thursday, April 14 | 8:00 AM – 8:00 PM
- Conference sign-ups are now open: https://www.myconferencetime.com/pcms
REMINDER! Due to conferences, there is NO SCHOOL on Thursday, April 14th And Friday April 15th.
5th Grade Virtual Move-up Orientation
Just a reminder that this informative introduction to Pacific Crest Middle School can be attended by any grade level guardian or student who would like an overview of PCMS. It will be held virtually and will take place on Tuesday, April 19 from 6:00 – 6:30 PM via Ryan Kelling’s WebEx Room.
Virtual Family Bingo Night
Here is our final push to raise funds for our Sparrow, Mariah. Join us on line Wednesday, April, 27 from 6:00 – 7:30. Purchase your tickets on TouchBase up until 3:00 PM on April 26. On bingo night, go to this WebEx Meeting Room to start the fun! Click on Bingo Flyer for more info.
Cell Phone and AirPod/Headphone Policy
Students were reminded yesterday in Advisory of our “off and away all day” phone policy. Please help your student remember that if they are using their AirPods/headphones during the school day, this means they are using their phones to control them. If a student is seen by a staff member with AirPods or headphones on during the day, even at lunchtime, their cell phone will be confiscated and brought to the front office. Please help us remind students about this policy.
Let’s Make Good Choices
Thank you to our students that continue to make good choices every day and modeling those for each other. Students were reminded yesterday of the consequences that can come from poor behavior choices. Sometimes we see more interesting behavior as we head into spring, and would love your support in helping our Golden Eagles finish the year strong!
A Novel Idea…Read Together!
The state’s largest community read program now offers a book selection for young readers which offers free programs and events for young readers and adult educators. Click here for more information and to learn about upcoming author visit on May 5 & 7 with Christine Day at Bend High School.
Summit Football Recruit Night
8th Grade students who are interested in playing Freshman Football next year are invited to attend Summit Football Recruit Night on Sunday, April 24th at 4pm. The event will be hosted in the gym at Summit High School. Parents and players will be able to meet coaches, the academic advisor, and learn more about the spring and summer schedules for rising 8th grade players.
Bend-La Pine Schools’ (BLS) Board of Directors Meeting
- Tuesday, April 12, 2022
- 4:00 p.m. Budget Committee Meeting
- 5:30 p.m. for a Regular School Board Meeting
The public is welcome to attend one or both meetings either in-person or via BLS SchoolBoard YouTube. To Request to Attend an in-person meeting, please complete the Google Form linked here. If assistance is required to complete the request to attend form, please contact the District Office, 541-355-1000. When meeting in person, audience capacity is limited to 50. Advance sign up is recommended, but not required. If more people request to attend than can be accommodated, the selection of attendees will be determined randomly from the requests received. ALL individuals wishing to attend, including staff, are encouraged to sign up in advance and are required to check in at the main entrance.
Representatives from the news media are welcome to attend without advance sign up, but are asked to check in at the main entrance upon arrival.
Members of the community who wish to make public comment may attend and speak either in-person or virtually. To provide public comment, please complete the Google Form linked here. The form will be open for sign-up until 5:00 p.m. on Monday, April 11, 2022.
The agenda and meeting packet are available here.
Calendar
- Apr. 12 | PCMS Track Meet vs. HDMS, Cascades Academy | HDMS | 4:45pm
- Apr. 13 | Middle School Conferences | 4:00pm – 8:00pm
- Apr. 14 – 15 | No School | Middle School Conferences
- Apr. 19 | PCMS 5th Grade Virtual Move-up Night | 6:00 – 6:30 PM
- Apr. 21 | PCMS Track Meet vs. PBMS, HDMS | PCMS | 4:45pm
- Apr. 24 | Summit Football Recruit Night | Summit HS Gym | 4:00pm
- Apr. 27 | Spring Virtual Bingo Night | 6:00 – 7:30 (see above for more information)
- Apr. 28 | PCMS Track Meet vs. SVMS, WSV, Realms | 4:45pm
- May 30 | No School | Memorial Day
- June 14 | 8th Grade Promotion Ceremony (more info to follow soon)
- June 15 | Full Day of School | Release at 4:10 PM
- June 16 | Last Day of School | Early Release at 2:40 PM
- Aug 1 – 19 | SPARKS & Base Camp Summer Learning
Helpful Links