January 26, 2024

Posted on January 28, 2024 by Sean Keating

Principal’s Hello

Dear PCMS families,

After all those snow days, this week felt long! Haha!

We had a great week, though. Our PCCO served us lunch on Monday–delicious! We learned more about assessment cycles and standards-based grading from our instructional leadership team. And we hosted the first and very successful internet safety night in partnership with Deschutes County.

These school-community partnerships raise our level of service. We’re currently working with Commute Options on a bike safety assembly, scheduled for later in February.

As we wrap up the first semester, I want to thank you for your teamwork and partnership. When we work together, we support our students, teachers, staff, and you, our families. This is when we do our best work.

Let’s make semester two just as positive!

Sean

YouthTruth Survey

Thank you to the 31% of you who filled out the survey! We have the most participation of any middle school, but let’s get to 50%! That’s our district goal!

The survey tells us how you feel about leadership, culture, instruction, wellness. It helps us grow as a school! That’s what we’re all about as a business–learning and growth!

It should only take 10 minutes. Here’s the link (AND THANK YOU!):

http://www.ytsurvey.org/bendfamily24

We LOVE our PCCO!

As usual, another fabulous lunch was enjoyed by our staff. The comfort food was delicious. A double heartfelt thank you for the quick response by Heidi and our community for adjusting the lunch service from last Friday to this past Monday due to district snow day.

Volunteer Opportunities

We can’t provide your children with social and learning experiences without help from our parent/guardian volunteers. Please consider signing up for one of the following opportunities. You won’t regret it. Thanks in advance.

PCMS Swag 50% Blowout!

Although the selection is slim (sizes and styles), we have just a few pieces of PCMS swag that is currently in-stock at school. We are offering 50% off of these items until it is all gone. As you know, we are moving to an online store that offers more selection and sizes. The online store will open every couple of months throughout the school year and will be announced in the News from the Nest prior to it opening. If you are interested in the in-stock items, please stop by the main office between 8:30 – 4:00 Monday – Friday.

Golden Eagle Athletics

On Saturday, our wrestlers competed in the first match of the season at the Bend City Wrestling Championship. This was not just the first wrestling tournament for many of our kids, it was their first match! We brought more wrestlers to this tournament than ever before. We didn’t bring the most in the tournament, but we scored from the lightest 70 pounders to winning the title at heavyweight. Our first-year wrestlers performed well, and every grade represented the Golden Eagles in the championship finals. On the grit side, these wins didn’t happen overnight. For some of our 7th and 8th grade wrestlers, they didn’t win as 6th graders, but were scoring points for us yesterday. We took home the trophy and became Bend City Wrestling Champions!

Yearbook Information

Just a reminder, about a week ago a dedicated email went out to PCMS community regarding this year’s book. Click here to review the information that was sent. 8th grade parents, please note the deadline dates.

The Smarter Balanced Assessment (SBAC)

Testing is scheduled for all 6th – 8th students later this spring. We are expecting all students to participate in the assessment. We plan to conduct testing at PCMS in late April / early May 2023. If parents choose to opt their student(s) out of testing, please click on the link the following link, complete and return the form to our main office by April 1, 2024.

These tests are designed to be one tool that assesses students’ mastery of Oregon content standards. OSAS includes the English Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, and English Language Proficiency assessments.

SAVE THE DATE! 5th Grade Family Night

We will be welcoming our incoming 6th graders (current 5th graders) and their families to PCMS on Thursday, May 30th, for our 5th Grade Family Night! Last year’s event was so much fun where students got to meet teachers, meet administrators, and tour the campus. It helps to alleviate “middle school fear” right before summer!

Summit High School Boys Lacrosse

Summit High School offering 6th, 7th, & 8th grade teams. It is offered under the Summit Boys Lacrosse Program which is integrated from 3rd Grade to Varsity. This is open to all boys zoned for Summit HS and runs March through May. You can find more information and register here. You may contact the program directly here. There will be an interest meeting on Jan 25th hosted virtually, please contact us for the dial-in information.

Calendar of Events | Mark your Calendar

  • Feb. 2 | No School | 1st Semester Ends
  • Feb. 5 | 2nd Semester Begins
  • Feb. 5 | Val-o-grams Sales Begin (sales end 2/9)
  • Feb. 9 | Valentine’s Dance | 4:00 – 6:00 PM
  • Feb. 10 | Winter Family Fun Event | 9:30 – 12:30 PM
  • Feb. 19 | No School | President’s Day
  • Feb. 23 | Bike Safety Assembly
  • Feb. 26 | 8th Grade CTE Day
  • Feb. 27 | Vertical Orchestra Concert | 7:00 PM | Summit High School
  • Mar 7 | Vertical Band Concert | 7:00 PM | Summit High School
  • Mar. 1 | Deadline to purchase 8th grader celebration yearbook space
  • Mar. 15 | Deadline to submit 8th grader celebration yearbook message and photo

Helpful Links

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