Panther Post

• June 5th: Book fair opens!!!!!
• June 5th: PBIS Meeting (Positive Behavior Committee) 4:15pm
• June 7th: Kindergarten Moving Up Ceremony 10am
• June 7th: Early Release
• June 9th: Multicultural Night 6pm
• June 14th: Talent Show 2:20pm
• June 14th: 5th Grade Graduation
• June 15th: Field Day
• June 16th: Panther Pride Party
• June 19th: NO SCHOOL Juneteenth

On the Horizon...

• June 21st: LAST DAY OF SCHOOL: Early Dismissal at 11:40am- Report Cards go home:

Dear Panther Lake Elementary Parents and Families,

June is here and we are down to single digit number of days before school is out! It has been a busy year full of learning and growth. Thank you for all you continue to do to support your child at school.

Every month throughout the school year, we spend time focusing on and recognizing diverse backgrounds, cultures, and populations. It is an amazing learning experience for our scholars and encourages a safe learning environment for every individual scholar. In June, we celebrate LGBTQ+ Pride Month, dedicating this time to affirming the identities that create our strong and diverse district. During this month, we focus on the importance of creating space for our scholars, staff, and community to show up as their authentic selves. Scholars feel most empowered to do their best learning when they are comfortable being themselves.

Our district emphasizes maintaining safe and welcoming environments that cultivate sense of belonging throughout our schools. We are proud to share LGBTQ+ resources, contributions made by LGBTQ+ individuals, and progress made for equal rights and acceptance in our community and the world.

This is an extremely exciting month for us as a school community! We invite you to come volunteer every day this month to celebrate the work happening in our classrooms. If you are unavailable every day, we are looking for volunteers for the following events:

• Book fair: Please reach out to our PTA if you are interested in volunteering at our Book Fair next week!
• Field Day: Our scholars will be engaging in activity stations organized by our Physical Education Teacher, Mr. Jackson. Scholars engage in a variety of physical activities that bring laughter and smiles to the party!
• Panther Pride Party: This is a day for us to celebrate the work of our scholars. This is all about celebrating positive behavior at Panther Lake and scholars engage in free play with their peers to celebrate the social emotional learning component of the school year.

Please do not hesitate to reach out if you have any questions.

Thank you for your continued support!

In partnership,

Tabatha Ritch

(Principal)

tritch@fwps.org

253-945-3634

253-391-7444 (Cell - Text okay)

and

Emily Smith

(Assistant Principal)

emsmith@fwps.org

253-945-3608

253-391-6251 (Cell - Text okay)

This school year has come with a variety of unique challenges.

Our scholars have struggled with conflict resolution and working together towards common goals.

We are continuing to equip our scholars with skills to effectively resolve conflict without

harmful words and hurtful hands.

We do not tolerate hands on.

We do not accept vulgar language.

We will enforce school board policy around harassment, intimidation, and bullying.

PLEASE DISCUSS THESE EXPECTATIONS WITH YOUR SCHOLAR

Please note:

With only 16 school days left, scholars initiating fights (hands on altercations), using racist language or hateful speech, and/or progressively disrupt the learning environment, may miss the opportunity to participate in Field Day and Panther Pride Party without your presence and support onsite.

We want to extend a huge THANK YOU to our amazing PTA for purchasing COLOR CODED recess equipment to support our scholars at recess!

Every year, we have to replace nearly all of our recess equipment due to destruction. To support our new equipment, please discuss expectations of safe play with your scholar. We do not want to have to replace equipment every year!

We are extremely grateful for our amazing Panther Lake PTA!

THANK YOU- THANK YOU- THANK YOU

We are incredibly excited to announce the Panther Lake PTA Board:

President- Renee Metanoia

Vice President- Katie Finch

Secretary- Jason O'Daniel

Treasurer- Glyn Jenkins (5th grade teacher/admin intern)

PTA is still in need of members to support family event planning and building up our Panther Lake community.

If you would like to join our PTA, please reach out to Mr. Sanchez or any of our board members.

Please click the link to sign up as a member: https://mp.gg/lzvya

Feel free to share with your friends, neighbors, and community members.

If you sign up before June 1st, your name will be emblazoned on an inaugural Panther Lake PTA Plaque to celebrate our first year as a reinstated PTA.

We have several fun end of year celebrations planned for our scholars and families. If you would like to volunteer for your scholar's field day or Panther Pride party, please reach out to our office for a volunteer form, or let your scholar's teacher know.

WE NEED VOLUNTEERS!

Thank you for your partnership.

To report absences:

1. Call Mrs. Hagen at 253-945-3603 or office 253-945-3600, email: bhagen@fwps.org
2. Report on ParentVue, preferable before school starts at 9:10am (before teacher submit absences)

*If absences are not reported before 10:15am, parents will get a district automated absence callout* to remind them to call students absence in.

TIP: If students go to a medical appointment and misses school, you can provide a doctor's note so the absence can be excused as “medical” which will not count as an absent for BECCA.

**If you have a question about BECCA, our state school attendance law, please feel free to email or call me for more information.**

Prearranged absence: Form attached needs to be completed when student is out for more than 2 days BEFORE missing school. This applies for vacations or extended absences.

*parent will complete the top portion, then teacher will complete their section, parent and student will sign and final step will be completed from our principal, Mrs. Ritch.*

Tardy hours 9:10-9:40am

Absence is after 9:40am

If students are late and check in after 9:40am and it is under an unexcused reason, parents will get the auto absence callout.

• PLEASE put a reason down when students are coming in late or leaving early, if there is no reason written down, then the attendance code will not be accurate and it will be automatically coded as unexcused.

If you have any attendance questions, please contact Data Secretary Bonnie Hagen 253-945-3603 bhagen@fwps.org

Has your scholar's teacher gone above and beyond? Is there a staff member at Panther Lake you would like to recognize for their support and help? Would you like to celebrate anyone on the Panther Lake team for the incredible work they do everyday?

You have a chance to nominate any Federal Way Public Schools staff member in the district you believe has positively impacted you, your school, and/or your community with the “Because of You” award. Scholars from the superintendent’s advisory created the awards nomination process.

Nominations will be reviewed and selected by the Superintendent’s Scholar Advisory team and each month educators will be honored. Nominations forms can be completed online, and should be submitted by the end of the month. Stay tuned as we highlight these extraordinary staff members who make a difference each day in our schools!

Please use the link below to nominate your Panther Lake staff member!