Be in the know.
November 2021 Community Meeting Minutes
We are thrilled with the continued community support and participation. The November Community Meeting included a guest speaker and updates from Principal Jill O’Neil and your Tumwater PTO Board. Highlights include:
An update on school clubs.
A report on the grants that your support funded.
Read the full minutes & click through the slideshow to learn more.
We look forward to see you at our next Community Meeting on Thursday, 2/10.
Questions? Email Hannah (tumwaterpto.president@gmail.com)
Grading at Tumwater
Wondering how to interpret your student’s report card? Log on to ParentVue, click on “Grade Book” and then select a specific class. If you’re on the app, it should default to “standards view.” On a computer, click on the “standards view” tab. This view provides a list of all of the assignments a teacher used in order to determine the final grade, which is called a “summary judgment.” This view also provides insight on which criterion(s) your student is proficient in and where they’re still developing their skills. If you’re used to letter grades, 6.0-8.0 translates to an A, 4.5-6.0 translates to a B, 3.0-4.5 translates to a C, 2.0-3.0 translates to a D and less than 2.0 translates to a F.
Here is the slide deck Ms. Hayward used when explaining grading at Tumwater during the November PTO Community Meeting.
November Community Meeting this Thursday, 11/18
Join us for November's Community Meeting this Thursday, 11/18 at 6:30pm via zoom. Pop in to hear school & PTO updates with principal Jill O'Neil and your Tumwater PTO Board. Here is the tentative agenda.
SPECIAL GUEST SPEAKER: Kristin Hayward, our MYP Coordinator & Synergy Teacher Leader will be with us from 6:30-6:50pm to go over how parents can navigate Parentvue, explain how students can use the MYP rubrics to set growth goals, and clarify how summary judgements will lead to the semester grade this January. **This discussion will not go over specific teachers or students, but is intended for general parent knowledge.
SUBMIT YOUR QUESTIONS: In an effort to communicate effectively & efficiently, the Tumwater PTO will be taking questions BEFORE our community meeting on 11/18. This will ensure that our meeting agenda and topics will clarify any lingering questions for our parent community.
You can submit your questions at https://forms.gle/JPNSHmo6p6FKZ4eH7
Zoom info will be sent on 11/18.
All parents are automatically members of the Tumwater PTO and all are encouraged to attend.
Questions? Email Hannah (tumwaterpto.president@gmail.com)
November 2021 Board Meeting Minutes
Your Tumwater PTO Board and two volunteer staff members reviewed Community Grant Applications and awarded funding to several exciting projects. Read the latest meeting minutes here.
Get Your Holiday Pie to Support the 8th Grade Send-Off
Tumwater Middle School’s 8th grade class is hard at work planning a fitting celebration to their middle school experience and they need your support. They have partnered with Willamette Valley Pie Company to earn funds for their event and bring you your holiday pies.
Willamette Valley pies have all-natural ingredients and no GMOs. The two crust pies are trans-fat free and dairy free, and all pies are low in added sugar. All pies are handmade using Oregon fruit in Salem, Oregon. You can learn more about Willamette Valley Pies including ingredient lists at https://www.wvpie.com/.
Ready to order? Online ordering and payment couldn’t be easier at https://tumwaterpto.org/store/p/pie. Share this link with family and friends, just have them list your student’s name when ordering for ease at pick up. Last day to order will be Friday, November 19th.
Pie pick up will be on Tuesday, December 7th at the school between 4-7pm.
Prices for pie range from $12- $32, and include Cobblers ($12), large Fruit Pies ($18), Pumpkin Pies ($15), and cases of Mini Pies ($32 per case of 6). And there are so many flavors to choose from!
The thaw and serve specialty pumpkin pie is sure to be a hit at your holiday gathering and no one needs to know how easy it was for you! Or bake a Caramel Apple Streusel pie and don’t forget to add ice cream!
Please contact Coordinator Amber Ferschweiler at amber.fer@frontier.com with questions, or for help with your order.
Whoever eats the most pie wins!
Lunch Volunteers Needed
We wanted to share about a current volunteer opportunity to support our amazing Tumwater staff during the lunch period.
Lunch Volunteers
Lunch volunteers will assist in the Commons area during lunch periods by greeting and helping students, reminding students about social distancing as needed, and cleaning tables between lunch periods. Currently students are assigned to one of six 17-minute dining periods and volunteers will work alongside administrators, counselors, and other staff to help keep lunchtime running smoothly.
To ensure a smooth transition between lunch periods, it is requested that volunteers plan to stay for the entire six-block lunch period. The timing of the shifts are as follows:
Monday - Wednesday 11:20am - 1:40pm (Non-Advisory Day)
Thursday-Friday 11:40am - 1:45pm (Advisory Day)
This is an urgent volunteer need starting Monday, November 1st, 2021! Although volunteer openings are only shown in the system for the next two weeks, this will be an ongoing need and additional shifts will be added in the future.
Please follow this link for the lunchtime volunteer opportunities.
A few other items to note:
Volunteers will be required to wear masks and may be stationed outside to monitor recess. Volunteers may also be standing and walking around for the majority of the shift. so please dress appropriately.
Only volunteers with approved documentation of their COVID vaccination will be allowed to view and sign up for volunteer shifts. At the moment, only 50% of our volunteer base has this approval. If you haven't done so already, please upload your vaccine documentation into the system so you can be approved by the district to volunteer onsite. Instructions can be found at https://tumwaterpto.org/volunteer
When you arrive, go to the front office to check in. Look for the “Welcome Tumwater Volunteers” sign and follow the instructions for signing into the computer and getting your volunteer badge.
If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to Jyothi & Kristi at tumwaterpto.volunteer@gmail.com.
Thank you Staff Appreciation Donors
Our "Apple of Our Eye" Staff Appreciation event was a huge success, thanks in part to the generous donations of this Tumwater community.
Last week’s apple-themed event included a Covid-friendly spread with enough individual apple beverages & apple-flavored snacks for the staff to enjoy for days to come.
Huge thanks to all who donated & special shout out to Staff Appreciation chair Breanna Smith and her team, Cherie Peck and Cindy Pierce.
October 2021 Community Meeting Minutes
Thank you to the 67 community members who joined us for our inaugural Tumwater PTO Community Meeting. Principal Jill O’Neil and your Tumwater Board were on hand to give school & PTO updates, including:
Back to School updates
Brief history of PTO incorporation & thank you to all involved
Fundraising update: Rising Tides buoys above $33,400!
Vaccination requirements for volunteers
Approval of 2021-22 Budget
Read the full minutes & click through the slideshow to learn more.
We look forward to see you at our next Community Meeting on Thursday, 11/18.
Questions? Email Hannah (tumwaterpto.president@gmail.com)
"Apple of Our Eye" Staff Appreciation Event on Thursday, 10/28
It's time to celebrate fall & spoil the hard-working staff of Tumwater Middle School.
Join us in creating an "Apple of Our Eye" event for our staff, complete with an apple-inspired beverage and snack spread on Thursday, 10/28.
Please consider donating any portion to this fun-filled grab & go effort.
October Community Meeting Checklist for Parents
As promised, here's the action list from our community meeting last Tuesday. What have you missed?
MOVE INTO OUR VOLUNTEER DATABASE: Check out www.tumwaterpto.org/volunteer for all the instructions.
UPLOAD STUDENT VACCINE INFO INTO PARENTVUE: Yes, it is a legit pain clicking through everything again, but it's a huge help to our school nurse & contract tracing efforts.
UPLOAD YOUR VACCINE INFO INTO MIP: This 10/18 deadline is coming up fast & all have to be reviewed by District staff (which takes awhile), so get on it ASAP! Head to www.tumwaterpto.org/volunteer for instructions.
BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THE STAFF APPRECIATION SIGN-UP: Should be communicated in tomorrow's newsletter!
8TH GRADE FAMILIES: JOIN THE SEND-OFF TEAM! Email Amber if you are interested in joining the team to make some magic this year to celebrate our 8th graders!
DONATE: We are sooooo close to our new $35k goal. Head to www.tumwaterpto.org/fundraising for more info.
FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA & LIKE EVERYTHING: Yo yo, are you following @tumwaterpto on both Insta & Facebook? Here's a huge help: LIKE ALL THE THINGS. We don't care if you actually like them , but any interaction helps spread the word. It's call organic reach (google it), which means our message is at the mercy of the algorithm. It's so easy to help us out this way!
SAVE THE DATE: November's Community Meeting is Thursday, 11/18. We only have five community meetings in a school year, so don't miss a moment! We promise to 100% respect your time by always being prepared & efficient.
Well, now you all understand the assignment! Get on it, TMS!
And oh, did you see that we have ANOTHER four-day weekend in November that’s NOT Thanksgiving? Mark your calendar now!
Rising Tides Raises $33,400
Impressed. Grateful. Thrilled.
We are feeling all the feels this week as we proudly announce that this Tumwater community has raised over $33,400 in our first annual Rising Tides campaign.
Just... wow.
We are honored & thankful to have 254 individual donors put their belief in this organization and we will spend all year ensuring that your dollars are SPENT WELL on our 900+ students.
Huge shout out to our VP Kelly McLoughlin Kinzer and Ava Palmquist for being the wind in this ship's sails. Bravo.
Miss the boat on donating? (See what we did there) Our goal is to raise $35,000 and we are THIS CLOSE. Head to www.tumwaterpto.org/fundraising to help take us over the top of this already incredible effort.
September 2021 Board Meeting Minutes
Your Tumwater PTO Board continues to work with principal Jill O’Neil behind the scenes to launch this unique year. Read the latest meeting minutes here.