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 Volume 18 Issue 9

 Thursday,  November 16, 2023

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Principal

 Katie May

School Hours:

 7:55 a.m. - 2:25 p.m.

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Early Release Wednesdays

 7:55 a.m. - 1:10 p.m.

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Attendance

 

If your child is absent from school, please contact the main office at

(206) 252-2800, or

email thurgoodmarshall.attendance@seattleschools.org,

and notify us of the absence and the reason for the absence, so we can keep accurate attendance data.

 All visitors to school MUST check in at the office upon entering campus. We ask that parents not enter the building during arrival or dismissal unless they are entering for a meeting, to help us avoid congestion in the hallways for our students.

REMINDER

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Contact information for Thurgood Marshall’s YMCA Program:

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Elementary Grade Reporting

Your child’s progress reports will be loaded into The Source sometime on December 18. You will be able to access your child’s progress report in The Source on or after that date. If you have not yet set up a Source account, you can learn more about how to do this here: https://www.seattleschools.org/departments/dots/support-training-forms/source/. This is a great resource as you can access report cards, standardized test scores and more from this account. This is also where you can go to update your address and phone number. (You are always welcome to ask for a hard copy of your child’s report card too, by calling our office at 206-252-2800).

 

In talking to parents about report cards over the past few years, I have noticed that as hard as teachers work to be clear in assigning grades and comments, there can still be some confusion. You are always welcome to talk to your child’s teachers or to me about questions you have, and I thought I would also address our system of grading here.

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We measure the academic benchmarks on our report cards by using a scale of 1-4. This reflects your child’s progress towards specific grade level standards. The scale is as follows:

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  1. Below performance expectations for this time

  2. Approaching performance expectations for this time

  3. Meeting performance expectations for this time

  4. Exceeding performance expectations for this time

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Standards based grading is different from traditional grades of “A”, “B”, “C”, etc. that most parents received growing up. The numbers 1-4 do not equate to traditional grades (i.e., a “4” does not equal an “A”).  They are also not an average of work that a student has done over the first trimester, meaning that if a student really struggled with a concept at the beginning of the year and earned scores of mostly “1”s, but had demonstrated consistent grade level understanding by the end of the first trimester earning a “3”, that child would not receive an average of the “1”s and ‘”3”s equal to a “2”. She or he would receive a “3” because they were able to meet the standard. Likewise, a child who was able to meet the standard early in the trimester and continued to do grade level appropriate work by the end of the trimester would also receive a “3”. The purpose of standards-based grading is not to compare your child to other children, but rather to give you information about how your child is progressing towards the expected grade level skills.

 

You may also see an area marked “*” on your child’s report card. This is to indicate that a particular skill has not yet been addressed by the teacher. Because teachers cover a range of skills across grade levels, they do not address every standard in every trimester. During conferences, your child’s teacher discussed their progress with you, but if you have questions about what you see on the report card, please do reach out to your teacher.

 

The Learning Behaviors section of the report card gives you information about your child’s behaviors that promote learning, such as perseverance, organization, and self-control. This section is scored in the following way:

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S: Strength (consistently uses skill across subjects and settings)

D: Developing (applies skills in most subjects and settings)

E: Emerging (beginning to apply skills in some subjects and settings)

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Attendance is also marked on your child’s report card. You will see the number of days your child has been absent or tardy. If your child has a bus that was consistently arriving late, you will see the tardies and also see that they are excused. If your child has missed more than 3-4 days of school so far, it may be helpful for you to set a goal for attendance with them. Missing more than 10 total days of school for the year (for any reason) can impact your child’s learning.

Calendar

Tuesday, December 12

6:30-7:30pm

FTME Board Meeting

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Friday, December 15

1-hour early dismissal 

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December 18–January 1, 2024 Winter break

(no school) 

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Please join us for our monthly FTME board meeting on Tuesday, December 12th from 6:30-7:30pm. We will be meeting via Zoom.  We will be checking in about fundraising, budget, and events. Hope you can join us! 

Winter Enrichment Enrollment Begins December 8th

FTME Winter Enrichment enrollment begins on December 8th at 8PM, more information can be found here: https://tmlink.org/after-school/enrichment/  We expect many classes to fill up quickly, so mark your calendars! There are classes available to students in all grade levels, however please read the course descriptions (or review them in Homeroom) carefully, as not all classes are open to all grades.

 

If you do not have internet access, please contact the enrichment team before enrollment opens to complete an offline enrollment. Paper forms with course descriptions will be available in the TM office. Visit the enrichment program web page for more detailed information about the program and registration via Homeroom.

 

Thank you for supporting the FTME Enrichment Program!

 

Questions? Email enrichment@tmlink.org

Thank you!

A big thank you to the many parents who have already fulfilled wish list items from our Amazon Wish List! We received many boxes of snacks this week. We appreciate ALL of your contributions! If you still wish to donate, here is the link: Thurgood Marshall Amazon Wish List

Family Engagement

Thurgood Marshall is partnering with Mary Padden from the University of Washington on a project to learn about family engagement efforts. Mary will be talking with parents and caregivers to learn about your experiences at the school, what you value, and how the school can better meet your needs. All participants will receive a $30 gift card for participating in a one-hour focus group. No experience is needed to participate—we are just interested in hearing from the community!

 

If you would like to participate please fill out this form or reach out to Mary at mmpadden@seattleschools.org or 206-790-6963.

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Middle School Survey Results

Here are the results of the middle school survey that was sent out in November: 

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1AEjFyQnY_eODkDhjydmpQV2uQl42vUqWlJVD2YPl1XY/edit?usp=drive_link

 

We are working on putting together a webinar about Washington Middle School and an FAQ document about each of the SPS middle schools that TM families are interested in. Email kwu2012@gmail.com if you have any ideas or want to help

Ultimate Frisbee is Coming Back 

Thurgood Marshall’s Ultimate Frisbee team is coming back! Ultimate is one of the fastest growing sports in the US, and it’s big enough in Seattle that we have an elementary school league here in the city (DiscNW’s Spring ES Mixed Team League). It’s a great sport for kids, with lots of opportunities for athleticism in a non-contact sport, all while developing personal responsibility by being entirely self-refereed.

 

The league we will play in is a co-ed, five-on-five league (older kids and adults play seven-on-seven), with Saturday games that start around the beginning of March and run through May. We hope to hold practice twice a week (still exploring whether those will be in the afternoon or evening). So, if your kid wants to play ultimate for the school, or if you just want to know more, please contact Jesse Willard by email at jwillard@gmail.com or by phone at 240-441-8788.

 

We are also seeking assistant coaches (no experience necessary), and the more adults we have involved, the more kids can play. Let us know if you’re interested!

Support Learning at Thurgood Marshall through Donors Choose

Ms. Anderson has a Donors Choose Project to support purposeful play in her classroom.

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Students in my classroom love learning. One of the most important learning opportunities that occurs each day happens during intentional purposeful play time. This is when students engage in learning through play.

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During purposeful play, students engage with one another in organized and thoughtfully designed play that lends itself to organic social emotional learning opportunities.

 

Students treasure this time and a couple of their favorite play items were just a bit too loved for a bit too long . The items in this Donors Choose project will replace worn and old toys and brighten their daily play.

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In addition, my classroom is made of a myriad of diverse learners including in language and ability. In a multilingual classroom, it is important to offer opportunity for natural low stakes language development.

 

Purposeful play enriches our daily learning and grows students' sense of agency and meaning in our classroom.

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Donate

2023–24 Family Income Survey: We need your help making sure every TM family fills out the Family Income Survey!

Why is this Survey Important? The Family Income Survey provides your student’s school with a way to collect household income information. This information is important because it helps your school receive federal and state funding.

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The form is simple to fill out and confidential. The information will only be used to help your school receive funding from state and federal programs.

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In addition to healthy and nutritious meals, the Family Income Survey also helps to fund school programs such as:

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  • Before and after school enrichment programs

  • School counselors

  • Health and wellness services

  • Resources for classrooms and teachers

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Please complete and return this form. Families with multiple students will only complete this form once.

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ALL Families with students at TM should complete the following form. Click on this link to fill out the form in English or other top languages. Thanks for your help on this.

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https://www.seattleschools.org/departments/culinary-services/free-and-reduced-price-meals/community-eligibility-provision/

2023–2024 Annual Giving Fund

FTME continues to support the school in multiple ways. This year, we have already funded a back to school staff lunch, Kindergarten Jump Start, new chairs for the main office, translation devices for every classroom teacher (these were used at APTT), and financial support of the playground clean up and beautification that occurred last weekend.

 

Teachers continue to put in grant requests for items such as multilingual books, classroom rewards, math materials, headphones and so much more. If you are able to contribute to our Annual Giving Fund so we can continue supporting our amazing school, please donate here.

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Thanks so much for your support!

2023–2024 Student Supplies Purchase

If you have not yet done so, please contribute for your student’s school supplies.

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True Cost—$45 per student, to help cover part of the cost for families who are unable to pay. 

 

Actual Cost—$30 per student.  This is the amount teachers spent for the students in their classroom.

 

Pay what you can—Any amount you are able to pay towards school supplies helps ensure adequate funding!

 

Want to donate more?  We welcome any extra donations. Any donations we receive in excess of what is needed for school supplies will be used towards classroom grants for each teacher to be able to purchase additional materials for their classrooms. 

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Donate

Free COVID Tests Available!

Beginning September 25, every U.S. household can again place an order to receive four more free COVID-19 rapid tests delivered directly to their home. You can place your order at: covidtests.gov

Free Concerts in Your Neighborhood from the Seattle Symphony

The Seattle Symphony builds lasting relationships with communities throughout the Puget Sound region through Community Concerts, Side-by-Side Concerts and the Community Connections Program for nonprofit organizations.

 

Join the Seattle Symphony for these free concerts in your neighborhood this season!

 

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 24, AT 2PM

Community Chamber Concert at Rainier Valley Cultural Center

Enjoy this family-friendly tricks and treats themed concert featuring string quartet music by Haydn, Borodin and Mendelssohn. Seattle Symphony musicians include Natasha Bazhanov, Walter Gray, Rachel Swerdlow and John Weller. Costumes are welcomed!

 

TUESDAY, JANUARY 26, AT 7PM

Side-by-Side with Cascade Youth Symphony Orchestra

Come enjoy this family-friendly concert featuring young violinist Yesong Sophie Lee and conducted by Assistant Conductor Pablo Rus Broseta. Cascade Youth Symphony Orchestra and the Seattle Symphony will share the stage to perform Stravinksy’s The Firebird Suite along with Yanchen Ye’s Xizi.

 

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 24, AT 7PM

Side-by-Side with West Seattle Community Orchestra

Enjoy this family-friendly concert featuring young violinist Alena Hove, young violist Bronwyn James and conducted by Assistant Conductor Pablo Rus Broseta. West Seattle Community Orchestra and Seattle Symphony will share the stage to perform Sibelius’ Finlandia.

 

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 26, AT 12 NOON

Community Concert at Seattle City Hall

Enjoy this all-Mozart concert featuring young violinist Alena Hove, young violist Bronwyn James and conducted by Assistant Conductor Pablo Rus Broseta. Program includes Overture to La finta giardiniera and Symphony No. 29 in A major.

 

TUESDAY, MARCH 1, AT 7PM

Side-by-Side with Garfield High School

Music Director Ludovic Morlot conducts Garfield High School Symphony Orchestra and the Seattle Symphony as they share the stage to perform Debussy’s La Mer (“The Sea”).

 

TUESDAY, MARCH 8, AT 7PM

Side-by-Side with Roosevelt High School

Enjoy this family-friendly concert featuring young violinist Evan Johanson and conducted by Conducting Fellow Ruth Reinhardt. Roosevelt High School Symphony Orchestra and the Seattle Symphony will share the stage to perform Debussy’s La Mer (“The Sea”).

Community and Side-by-Side Concerts are made possible with support from 4Culture and the Seattle Office of Arts & Culture.

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Happy Circle

Pup Press

BROUGHT TO YOU BY

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Thurgood Marshall Elementary FTME

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