Weekly Update – Tyee Middle School

Good Evening Tyee Families,

It appears Autumn has officially arrived! Hope you had a chance to enjoy sunshine Saturday, here’s to hoping it doesn’t stay away for too long. Below are updates for the week of September 27, 2021.

Byron Lillie, Principal

Important Dates	BSD Calendar for 2021-22: https://bsd405.org/wp-content/pdf/calendar/2021-2022-family-staff-calendar.pdf October 14: Curriculum Night (virtual – details coming next week!)
School Picture Retakes	If your student missed school picture day last week, retakes are scheduled for November 2. More information will be coming in the days leading up!
Tyee: Wednesday Afternoon Traffic	Wednesday afternoon is Tyee’s heaviest traffic of the week since all our students dismiss at the same time. Our front parking lot/pick-up lane is limited to just 70-75 vehicles. As a result, we must close access to our front lot when full to ensure school buses can enter. Cars unable to enter can circle the block until after dismissal, or drive to the back lot and wait. For better safety, access for buses, and to reduce driver stress, we recommend families try any of the following strategies: Plan to arrive after 2:25pm. There will be adult supervision out front while students wait for your arrival. Drive to the back lot on the north side of campus. This has a one-way pick up loop and several more parking stalls. Legal street parking. Please exercise extreme caution when parking that driveways are not blocked. If you can walk home, please meet your student out front to walk home with them. Tyee has contacted the City of Bellevue about several needs: longer green light duration at Newport Way & Allen Rd during peak times, better crosswalk visibility & pedestrian safety on 40th ST, and traffic patrol for speeding on 40th and 135th/136th/138th AVE. Please drive slowly (20 mph) on all streets adjacent to Tyee, and be aware of our small pedestrians trying to get to and from school!
Tyee: Walk to School Day!	This year the City of Bellevue’s SchoolPool program celebrates Walk to School Day on October 6. Tyee students are encouraged to celebrate by walking to school, or their bus stop! Walking to school promotes physical activity and pedestrian safety, while reducing traffic congestion.
Tyee: Instruction During Quarantine	For students required to quarantine, BSD Teachers will follow existing practices to provide instruction and services to students under quarantine which may include, but is not limited to: Small group/personalized virtual instruction Independent learning and practice Concurrent Instruction Recorded Instruction Depending on subject matter and classroom activities, teachers will rely on multiple practices to engage students. In the event a student is quarantined due to COVID-19 exposure, families should notify the attendance office. The School Nurse and Counselor will confirm the number of days of quarantine (and return date). The Counselor will inform the Teachers, who will communicate instruction plans to students and families. While students are not present at school and not currently ill, they are not designated as “absent” and will engage in learning. We are stressing to our educators, students and families the importance of empathy and compassion in light of our new reality. Being on Teams during class doesn’t mean someone has COVID/coronavirus. Being in quarantine could happen to any one of us, millions of students and families are dealing with this, and we need to support one another as a community. Tyee centers its core values on respect: to one’s self, to one another, and to the community. We thank our families and students for their understanding, compassion, patience, and flexibility.
BSD: COVID-19 Testing	In the upcoming weeks, BSD will begin offering COVID-19 screening and diagnostic testing at our schools. Doing so will allow us to more rapidly determine infections in our buildings and take a proactive approach to minimizing potential outbreaks. Testing will be optional, but highly encouraged as we work to keep our students, staff and BSD community safe. District administration is currently in the process of finalizing the procedures, permission requirements for testing, and other details, which will be shared as they are available. More information on diagnostic testing and screening testing can be found on our COVID-19 Testing in Bellevue School District webpage and will be updated as more details become available. Please visit the district COVID-19 Health and Safety webpage for more information about our current health and safety measures.
PTSA: Calling all Volunteers!	TYEE PTSA Walk About Program supports our school staff in keeping a positive adult presence before school and during lunches. Here’s the training video for those who are interested in helping out. Volunteers do not need to police kids, just keeping a positive adult presence is a great deterrent to unwanted group behavior. If anything of real concern arises, volunteers simply let the office staff know and they will contact staff to address issues quickly. All volunteers must complete a background check and show their vaccination cards upon checking in with the lobbyguard site at the computer in the front office. Sign up HERE ! [email protected] for questions.