Chinook News: January 27, 2023

Important Dates

January 27

First Semester Ends

January 30

Second Semester Begins

February 20-24

Mid-Winter Break, No School

Greetings Chinook Middle School Community,

This is the time of year when we request feedback through our Family Engagement Survey.

On January 17, each family received an email from Panorama Education with a unique survey link. For families who have not yet completed the survey, Panorama has also sent a weekly reminder.

Please look for this survey from Panorama Education in your email inbox and submit your responses by February 1.

If you don’t see the survey in your email inbox, please check your SPAM or junk folder for an email from Panorama Education. Families can also contact [email protected] for support.

Other news and updates are below.

In Partnership,

James Peterson

Principal

[email protected]

Reminder: Monday, January 30, is a Regular School Day

The make-up day for the December 1, 2022, closure is Monday, January 30, 2023. This day is now a regular school day.

See the full District Family Calendar here.

The Second Semester begins Monday, January 30

Second-semester classes begin Monday, January 30. Printed class schedules for all students will be distributed Monday morning before school.

February’s Advisory Focus

Community: Students will provide feedback on their Advisory experience, and advisories will have the opportunity to get together for some fun on Tuesday, Feb. 14^th.

Academic: 6^th and 7^th grade students will learn from current AVID students how they can benefit from the AVID elective. If they are interested, they will have time to complete an online application.

Social-Emotional: Students will participate in a lesson designed to build self-awareness.

Safety: We will have a school-wide safety drill on Thursday, Feb. 16^th.

6^th Grade Science Camp- Update

The presentation form our Family Information Session has been added to our 6^th Grade Science Camp web page here. This page is source for all information about 6^th Grade Science Camp.

Prize Store

Students can receive positive behavior points for demonstrating ROCKS and redeem points from the Chinook Student Store in the Commons during lunch every other Thursday.

R- Respect
O- Ownership
C- Compassion
K- Kindness
S- Scholarship

All prizes are 10 points (except lunch with a teacher = 20 points).

Thanks to a generous donation, a set of Apple AirPods Pro has been added to our prize store. Students may enter the raffle with just 10 behavior points. The raffle will be held Friday, April 7.

Save the Date: Bellevue Schools Foundation Spring for Schools, April 1

Join the Bellevue Schools Foundation to join us at Spring for Schools on April 1^st! This event provides critical programming for our school community and the total of 18,000+ students in every school in Bellevue School District. Here’s a snapshot of the Foundation’s support at Chinook.

Please be sure to indicate Chinook Middle School when you register here! With student performances, an Education Showcase, appetizers, and more, the evening promises to be a fun one in support of our students and community.

Learn more and register to attend.

Breakfast

Breakfast is available every day. Cost: $2.50 (free for students who qualify).

Daily Menu Includes: Assorted Cereals, Mini Bagels, Banana Bread, English Muffin Sandwiches, Cinnamon Roll, Pancake on a Stick, Oatmeal Round. See the full menu.

Yearbook Pre-Orders January 16-30th – While supplies last!

You can pre-order your 2022-23 Yearbook at the Chinook office or online at Touch Base Signin (intouchreceipting.com).

Donate to 6th Grade Science Camp

The expected cost for 6th Grade Science Camp has gone increased and is expected to be approximately $325.00 per student. You can help reduce the cost for all students by donating. Make a donation.

Counselor Caseloads Changing

We are excited to announce that have added additional staff time to our counseling department. As a result, counselor caseloads will shift slightly beginning second semester. See the new caseloads below:

Students A-E: Counselor Sam Glinsmann
Students F-M: Counselor Molly Mazur
Students N-Z: Counselor Jamie Johnson

Overdue Library Books

Please, encourage your students to return library books by their due date. As of today, there are over 250 books overdue by at least two weeks beyond their due date; this represents $5,000 in replacement fines if books are lost, as well as over 250 books that no other student can access.

If your student is unsure whether they have overdue books, they can log in to Destiny Discover via the student portal to view their library account. Also, all overdue accounts received an email earlier this week and it would be in their BSD email inbox.

Suicide Prevention

Between February 27 and March 10, we will be completing the second half of our Signs of Suicide (SOS), suicide prevention lessons and BIMAS2 well-being screenings for students in 8th grade, and students who have not yet had the lesson this school year in 7^th grade. The SOS lesson teaches students how to notice warning signs of depression or suicide in themselves or a friend and encourages asking adults for support.

Parents will receive a letter explaining SOS via email and can choose to opt their child out of the lesson and/or well-being screening prior to their child receiving the SOS lesson and BIMAS2. To learn more about SOS, check out https://sossignsofsuicide.org/parent.

Mental health resources, recorded parenting skills presentations, and more can be found at our new BSD Mental Health Resources webpage.

We all have a role in preventing suicide in our community. You don’t have to have any special training to ACKNOWLEDGE warning signs of depression or suicide, show the person you CARE, and TELL a trusted adult or professional.

Private School Applications

This is the time of the year when parents will reach out for support with private school applications. All private school applications are handled by the BSD Records Department.

For private school applications, please go to the Bellevue School District website for an explanation of the procedures.

https://bsd405.org/departments/records/private-school-applications/

Please use this link to submit your initial private school application.

https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=OUFKmQZ8HkmAmHkAbVdd4BMrUjpf_6pLkaCLhDpCyBVUQ0JHNVY0UjU1QlMwUUxYOEFCNUYwWkpESC4u

Please note that BSD will NOT be uploading records to third party vendors such as Ravenna and Gateway. The records department will forward your student’s records directly to the school(s) you list on the application, and you will receive a confirmation email once the request has been processed.

Commitment to Nondiscrimination

Bellevue School District does not discriminate in any programs or activities on the basis of sex, race, creed, religion, color, national origin, age, veteran or military status, sexual orientation, gender expression or identity, disability, or the use of a trained dog guide or service animal and provides equal access to the Boy Scouts of America and other designated youth groups. The following employees have been designated to handle questions and complaints of alleged discrimination:

Civil Rights, Racial Discrimination, and Gender Expression or Identity Discrimination:

Civil Rights/Nondiscrimination Compliance Coordinator Nancy Pham, (425) 456-4040 or [email protected]

Sex-based Discrimination, including Sexual Harassment: Title IX Coordinator: Jeff Lowell, (425) 456-4010 or [email protected]

Disability Discrimination: Section 504/ADA Coordinator: Heather Edlund, (425) 456-4156 or [email protected]

Mailing address for all three: 12111 NE 1st Street, Bellevue, WA 98005.