The Franklin SURGE

Dear Franklin Middle School Families,

As we gear up for the 2025–26 school year, I want to take a moment to share how honored I am to continue serving as the Principal of Franklin Middle School. This past year has been full of learning, growth, and meaningful collaboration, and I’m grateful for the strong partnerships we’ve built together. With renewed energy and focus, I’m looking forward to continuing the work of supporting our students, families, and staff as we create a positive and enriching environment for every Quaker.

The purpose of this summer edition is to share exciting updates from the summer and provide important information regarding school policies and key dates to help you and your student prepare for a successful return to school.

I’m pleased to introduce our new assistant principals for the 2025–26 school year: Ms. Faith Lindley and Ms. Tahisha Ayala-Dean. Both bring valuable experience and a deep commitment to student learning and well-being. Together, we are focused on fostering a safe, inclusive, and academically rigorous environment for all students.

This year, we are thrilled to announce that we have expanded our honors offerings and will be working to increase the number of clubs and extracurricular opportunities available to students. We believe in nurturing the whole child and encouraging students to explore their interests both in and out of the classroom.

I hope you continue to enjoy a restful and fun summer. We can’t wait to welcome everyone back on August 27th!

Warm regards,

Mr. Espindola
Principal
Franklin Middle School

AP- Tahisha Ayala-Dean

AP- Faith Lindley

6th Grade Orientation, Tuesday, August 19th(See details below)
Open House, Tuesday, August 26th(See details below)
First day of School, Wednesday, August 27, 2025-Full Day
Labor Day-No School, Monday, September 1, 2025
Professional Development-Half Day Release @ 11:15, Wednesday, September 24, 2025

We are thrilled to announce that Franklin Middle School will offer Honors classes for all grade levels in the 2025-26 school year! These courses are designed to challenge students with advanced content and prepare them for future academic success.

Placement for Honors courses will be determined as follows:

🔹 6th Grade Honors(Math Only): Scheduled based on SBA results.
🔹 7th & 8th Grade Honors(ELA and Math): Placement will be based on the following criteria:
✅ Teacher recommendation
✅ Student interest, paired with SBA scores (students scoring at a high Level 2 through Level 4 will be considered)
✅ SBA scores at Levels 3 and 4, with a teacher review considering student effort

We are excited to provide this opportunity for students to engage in rigorous coursework and expand their learning. More details will be shared as we get closer to the new school year!

At Franklin Middle School, we believe in recognizing and rewarding students who are doing the right things—academically, behaviorally, and in their attendance. When students consistently show Good Grades, Good Attendance, and Good Behavior, they earn the opportunity to participate in special privileges such as field trips, school celebrations, and other fun activities throughout the year.

To help maintain the integrity of these rewards, students who fail two or more classes will not be eligible to participate unless they can get passing grades. Our goal is to encourage responsibility and accountability, while still offering every student a chance to succeed.

We want families to know that we make every effort to support your child's academic success. At Franklin Middle School, here are a few examples of the support we offer:

Highly capable classes for students ready to be challenged,
Support classes for students who need extra help,
Imagine MyPath Reading and Math, which students can access both at school and at home to catch up on important skills,
And twice-monthly targeted intervention and enrichment sessions(Lightning Learning Days) to meet students where they are and help them grow.
Lightning Learning Room for students who need to refocus and speak to someone about their behavior.

We appreciate your partnership and look forward to a successful year for every student—together, we can make it happen!

This is an invitation for incoming sixth-grade students to come to Franklin Middle School for our Sixth Grade Orientation on Tuesday, August 19th. This will be a day dedicated to learning about the Franklin Middle School student experience.

Sixth-grade orientation is an invaluable half-day-long opportunity for your student to get a head start at the beginning of the school year. The day offers a chance for your student to meet his or her peers, learn to navigate the building, and meet key staff at Franklin. The students spend the day meeting and interacting with all the students in their grade level. It is a fun day for our students, and it greatly reduces students’ anxiety about coming to middle school. The day is provided at no cost to families; we just can’t emphasize enough how important the day is for setting your child up for success in middle school.

In addition to the benefits listed above, other experiences from sixth-grade orientation are:

A tour of the building-including how to navigate the different parts of the school building.
Learning our PBIS, dress code, ID Badge, and cell phone expectations
Learning about ASB, Sports, and Attendance
Online Citizenship
Relationship-building skills and games

Details about the day:

When: August 19th
Pick-up and Registration start at 7:30 A.M.
Students and parents will join us in the Gym for a welcome at 8:00 a.m.
Parents will be dismissed after the welcome.
Student activities 8:30-11:30
Students will be dismissed for pick up at 11:45

What to wear: It is a fun, active day….wear comfortable school-appropriate clothing and shoes you can run in.

We look forward to seeing your child on August 19th for orientation, on August 26th for an Open House and pick up class schedule, and on August 27th for the first day of school. If you have questions, please call 573-2100 on August 13th, when the secretaries are back at school.

Please join us for our Open House on August 26th. Students and families will be able to tour the building and pick-up their class schedule. We will also have our Fall Sports coaches there, if you have registered your child for sports. This check in will be in place of the Fall Sports meeting. We look forward to seeing you at this event.

Time: 4:00-7:00 PM

📒School Supplies✍🏻

All students will receive necessary school supplies directly from their school. Please note that backpacks will not be provided.
If you want to purchase your own school supplies here is a reccommended list.

College Rule paper
Pencils
Pens
Colored Pencils
Erasers
Scissors
Glue
Rulers
Folders
Pencil Sharpeners
Spiral Notebooks

The first day of school is August 27.
School starts at 8:00 AM. The building doors will open at 7:20 AM.

Fall Sports

SCHEDULE YOUR PHYSICAL TODAY!!- It is important to have your physical complete before the season starts. Many providers will back up and it will be hard for your student to get their physical if you wait until the day of practice.
Registration for fall sports opens on August 20th at 2:30 PM. Registration is online at FamilyID.com.
The first fall sports practice will be an informational meeting for students, along with making sure that students have physicals and registration.
Practice and games will be five days a week. Practices are from 2:45-5:00 PM. Athletes need to be picked up right after practice as they are not allowed to hang around campus after school.
STUDY TABLES: Students will have study tables on early release Mondays. If they do not stay, they do not practice. Students cannot leave campus on Monday if they are an athlete.

Fall Sports Offerings

Football
Boys Soccer
Volleyball
Fastpitch
Cross-country

We will continue with our Pick-up and Drop-off protocol from last year for those of you returning.
6th-grade parents this is new learning for you. Please pay attention to the routes.
We will block the turn on 19th from Tieton. Please follow the routes below.
Student Drop off is at the arches on 19th.

Franklin has another drop-off and pick-up route. The routes above will stay the same. We will be opening the parking lot on 19th for drop-off & pick-up as an option for families who prefer to drop-off/pick-up in the parking lot.

We are placing cones in our parking lot to make it safer. Please do not attempt to pass a car in the drop-off/pick-up line, follow the car in front of you.

As you exit the parking lot, please turn right. Do not attempt to turn left as it will cause serious congestion in the entrance area to the parking lot. Here is the image of our additional Drop-off/pick-up route.

Dress Code and Cellphone Policies

We want to ensure all families are familiar with our school's policies, particularly regarding dress code and cellphone usage. Adherence to the dress code promotes a respectful and distraction-free learning environment. Similarly, our cellphone policy is designed to minimize distractions and maximize learning time.

Franklin Middle School Dress for Success Code

The primary responsibility for a student’s attire resides with the student and their parent(s) or guardian(s). The Yakima School District expects students to dress in a way that is appropriate for the school day or any school sponsored event. Student dress code requirements reflect fair, equitable and consistent practices for all students, while contributing to a safe and positive school climate. We believe it is one more component of preparing students for success.

Students who choose to dress inappropriately* will be asked to change. If they do not have other attire to change into, parents will be called and asked to either bring appropriate clothing or take their student home. Suspension is a viable option for students who repeatedly ignore dress code.

The following is a guideline of how to wear some articles of clothing, as well as what is viewed as unacceptable.

* Inappropriate clothing is any item deemed by administration as disruptive to the educational process, advertises illegal substances, or promotes/is identified with gangs.

Clothing must cover underwear and cover body areas from the top of one armpit to the top of the other armpit, and down to mid-thigh. Tops must have shoulder straps and be long enough to adequately cover the waistline and not expose the midriff. Jeans/Shorts with rips/tears higher than mid-thigh that expose skin are not allowed ( if shorts or opaque leggings are worn underneath and cover the skin, then the jeans will be allowed)

Wear shoes that are appropriate and safe for a learning environment-including Physical Education and lots of stairs. No slippers.

Headgear- Appropriate caps and beanies are allowed if they do not cover the ears. Hoods and sunglasses may not be worn indoors.

Clothing and accessories displaying profanity, violence, discriminatory messages, sexually suggestive phrases, phrases or symbols of alcohol, tobacco, or drugs are unacceptable.

Gang related clothing, accessories, symbolism, or jewelry is everchanging and not tolerated. This includes gang symbolism, graffiti, and Old English writing. Gang graffiti drawn or worn on the person, in notebooks, folders, papers, backpacks, or hats will lead to a gang contract and further discipline. We collaborate with the Yakima Police Dept to update changes in gang related apparel. We publish the changes in our newsletter. At this time, the following have been designated as gang related and are not allowed:

Please Stay Away from Clothing or Accessories with the following:

Old English Writing
Dickies Brand Pants
Clothing that Represents Drugs & Alcohol(i.e. Cookies, etc.,)
Clothing with weapons or violence
The New York Yankee emblem
Bandanas
Belts, especially web belts, with the tails hanging down from the waist
Rosaries/Excessive Bracelets in a Specific Color(i.e. Red, Blue)
Too much red or too much blue(I.e., coordinating red/blue clothing with like accessories and shoe strings or the same color jumpsuit or sweat suit)
Extremely Baggy Pants& Sweats(These items need to fit your students well)
No Blue, or Red Pajama Pants or Plaid Pajama Pants

Franklin Middle School students will not be allowed to have their phones out in classrooms, or common areas, such as restrooms and hallways. This policy is implemented to decrease behaviors like social media bullying. To continue supporting a safe and connected school environment that promotes enhanced learning, we will be requiring students to keep their cell phones, earbuds, headphones, etc. in their backpacks and out of sight during the entire school day. This policy is in alignment with the other 3 middle schools in the Yakima School District. The District Communications Devices Policy can be found in the Student Handbook under (COM) on our website. https://www.ysd7.org/resources/student-resources

The goal of our cell phone policy is to increase student engagement in the classroom and to create a culture of respect for learning. Data shows that students are more focused and have higher test scores and grades when cell phones are kept out of the classroom. (See awayfortheday.research)

Congratulations to a talented group of students from Franklin who competed in the TSA (Technology Student Association) National Conference after an impressive showing at the state level!

Our TSA Advisor Mr. McFadden worked with our students to get them primed and ready to go for the National Competition. Representing Franklin Middle School were Peter Nelson, Jack Whitney, Colin Sullivan, Giovanni Siino, and Declan Dewitt.

Franklin students Giovanni Siino and Peter Nelson earned 2nd place in the Vlogging competition, showcasing their creativity and storytelling skills. Jack Whitney also shined as a semifinalist in the “Flight” event, demonstrating exceptional innovation and technical understanding.

These students have demonstrated the best of what our schools have to offer in STEM, collaboration, and leadership. We are proud of their hard work and can’t wait to see them represent our region on the national stage!

Good luck, TSA Quakers

During the last week of the quarter, Mrs. Smith's 6th grade ELA students spent the week learning about limericks and how to write them. They worked with partners to create a limerick, and then they designed a poster of their limerick. In addition to their poster, each student was excited for the opportunity to type their limerick on an "old fashioned" typewriter!

2024-2025 was a great year! FMS students and staff got together on the last day of school to celebrate the accomplishments of our students this year. We are very proud of them. Below are some of the highlights of the day. Have a great summer FMS families!