Community Newsletter

Dear Dolphin Families,

It was also wonderful to see so many of you at Curriculum Night this past Thursday. Seeing our community come together learning, connecting, and sharing was truly special. It was wonderful to speak with so many of you.

Thank you for sharing your scholars with us and for your continued partnership!

Warmly,

Mary Ingraham

• 10-10 Girls Varsity Soccer game Vs Meany @ Jane Adams MS at 1:00pm
• 10-10 Girls JV Soccer game Vs Eckstein @ Jane Adams MS at 11:30am
• 10-10 Ultimate Frisbee Match Denny Yellow - Vs Robert Eagle Staff @ Garfield HS at 12:45pm
• 10-10 Ultimate Frisbee Match Denny Blue – Vs Washington @ Garfield HS at 3:30pm
• 10-13 Author Visit: Sara Amini
• 10-14 PTSA Meeting 6:30-8 p.m. on Zoom
• 10-16 Picture Day
• 10-16 Proyecto Saber Hispanic Heritage Month Market CSIHS and DIMS 5:30 to 7:00
• 10-29 Choir Concert at CSIHS Auditorium 7:00 pm

Dear Denny International and Madison Middle School Families,

As we begin the school year, we want to share an important update with our families about how Seattle Public Schools middle schools will recognize our 8th-grade scholars as they complete middle school and prepare for high school.

Across Seattle Public Schools, middle schools will no longer hold promotion ceremonies. Instead, schools will recognize this important transition through student-centered celebrations.

At Denny International and Madison Middle School, we know that completing middle school is an important milestone. Our 8th graders will have spent three years learning, growing, building relationships, overcoming challenges, and preparing for what comes next. We absolutely want to honor that journey and celebrate them as they move on to high school.

At the same time, we want to distinguish this transition from graduation. Middle school is an important step along a scholar’s educational journey, while earning a high school diploma represents the culminating graduation milestone of their K–12 experience.

Toward the end of the school year, Denny and Madison will each hold an 8th Grade Moving Up Celebration. This will be a student-centered event where our 8th graders can celebrate together with their classmates, teachers, and school community. The celebration will focus on their growth, accomplishments, relationships, memories, and excitement about beginning high school.

We plan on holding this celebration during the school day as it allows every 8th-grade scholar to participate as part of their school experience. There will be no need for tickets, special attire, transportation back to school in the evening, or families needing to arrange time away from work in order for their scholar to participate.

We recognize that our traditional evening promotion ceremony has been meaningful to many Denny and Madison families, and we understand that this change may feel significant. We are sharing this information at the beginning of the year so families know what to expect and have plenty of time to plan their own special ways of recognizing this milestone.

Our commitment is to make our school-day celebration joyful, inclusive, and meaningful for every 8th grader. We are incredibly proud of our scholars, and we look forward to celebrating everything they accomplish this year as they prepare to take their next step into high school.

More information about the 8th Grade Moving Up Celebration and other end-of-year activities will be shared with families later this school year.

Warmly,

Mary Ingraham

Principal

Denny International Middle School

Dr. Scott Pierce

Principal

Madison Middle School

Dear Denny Families:

We are excited to share that our students will receive one free reimbursable breakfast and one free reimbursable lunch each school day, regardless of their individual eligibility.

What does “free reimbursable meal” mean?

Students get one free breakfast and lunch that meet program rules. To qualify, they must pick at least three of five items: grain, protein, fruit, vegetable, and milk. Additional items like extra milk, snacks, or second entrees are not included and will be charged at à la carte prices.

Why complete a meal application if meals are free?

Although meals are free for all students, submitting a free and reduced-price meal application helps our school maintain funding for critical programs. We encourage families to complete one online. If you need a paper copy, please contact your school’s main office.

Questions? Contact Culinary Services.

Sincerely,

Principal Ingraham

A huge thank you to our Denny PTSA for setting up an Amazon Wish List to support our school! We have already started receiving items, and we are so grateful for the generosity of our families and community.

If you would like to help, check out the Denny Amazon Wish List. Items purchased directly support our scholars, staff, and school community.

Thank you for supporting Denny — We All Belong! 💙

The Seattle Parks & Recreation Community Learning Center at Denny provides educational enrichment opportunities while also delivering cultural and social emotional development supports to its scholars by partnering with families, CBOs, volunteers, and other community organizations. OST will provide after school academic and enrichment programs, culturally responsive mentoring programs and recreational sports programs to its participants. Transportation is provided for those students who are furthest away from educational justice and want to participate in after school programs. OST fall registration is now open with programing starting on October 5th. Please use the QR Code or Link below to register. If you have any questions, please reach out to Program Coordinator Stephen Boney at smboney@seattleschools.org

Registration for fall sports is officially closed after September 18th. Registration deadline for winter sports will be December 18.

Log in to FinalForms with Seattle Public Schools

Families must be enrolled with Seattle Public Schools to have an active FinalForms account. If you have not created an account, please follow the instructions below. A parent/guardian must create their FinalForms account first, before the student is able to create their account.

Getting Started

To accurately complete your student’s account, it will be helpful to have the following information available to complete your student’s online registration:

• Health Insurance Information (Company and Policy Number)
• Basic Medical History and Health Information
• Doctor and Dentist Contact Information
• Physical Paperwork (WIAA Exam Form Required)
• Physical Participation Form
• Creating a FinalForms Account

Parents/Guardians

1. Go to the SPS FinalForms website
2. Select “Click Here for a Confirmation Email”
3. Check your email for a confirmation link, and click confirm your account in the email text.
• You will receive an email within 2 minutes prompting you to confirm and complete your registration. Remember to check your spam folder.
• Reminder: FinalForms will use the same parent/guardian email on file in PowerSchool
4. Create your new FinalForms password and click confirm account.

Students

1. Students will use their district (SPS) email account to log into FinalForms
• Reminder: Students new to the district (or participating as Athletics Only) should contact their school for log-in support

Games 10-10-26

• Varsity – Vs Meany @ Jane Adams MS at 1:00pm
• JV – Vs Eckstein @ Jane Adams MS at 11:30am

Soccer practice will be held Tuesday, Thursday & Fridays at Nino Cantu Southwest Athletic Complex (SWAC) from 3-4:30 p.m.

Matches 10-3-26

• Blue – Vs Washington @ Garfield HS at 3:30pm
• Yellow – Vs Robert Eagle Staff @ Garfield HS at 12:45pm

Ultimate Frisbee Practice days will be held Tuesday & Thursday at EC Hughes Playfield from 3-4:30 p.m.

Picture day is October 16 and the make-up and retake day is November 20.

Denny Families, we need your help! To ensure our scholars are ready to learn each day, please remind your student to:

• 🔋 Charge It! Fully charge their laptop at home every night.

• 🔄 Restart It! Regularly restart their laptop to keep it running smoothly and allow updates to take effect.

• 🎒 Bring It! Bring their charged laptop to school every day.

Our laptops are essential learning tools, and when scholars arrive without them or with dead batteries, valuable instructional time is lost.

A quick check each evening can make a big difference! Thank you for partnering with us to ensure every Dolphin arrives prepared, ready to engage, and ready to learn.

🐬 We All Belong. We All Learn. We All Succeed!

The first choir concert of the year will be on Thursday, October 29th in the CSIHS Auditorium starting at 7:00 pm

Hi families!

What an amazing September in the library! We ended up beating last year’s record high September checkout by over 50 books! Our kids are READING and it is awesome. We started two new lunchtime events in September—trivia and a “What We’re Reading” book club! Both had about 40 participants and we’re excited to bring those back this month! In October, we will also be starting our monthly makerspace lunch series. This month’s theme is 3D printing. Students can come to the library during Tuesday lunches to learn more and start submitting their prints!

I am thrilled to announce that we will be hosting author Sara Amini for a visit on October 13th! See below for more details and information on how your student(s) can attend. As always, I appreciate your support.

📆Upcoming events and action steps:

Sara Amini is an Iranian Colombian American actress, writer, and producer. Her debut graphic novel, Mixed Feelings, is one of our Dolphins Read books for the year! She will be visiting Denny on October 13th, 2026 to talk about her first book and the upcoming sequel, Mixed Signals. If your student is interested in attending this author visit, they can turn in the permission slip (handed out this week in ELA classes and available in the library) to the library.

Families who are interested in pre-ordering a signed copy of either book can do so at this link: third-place-books.square.site/sara-amini-denny-international-middle-school

🎉 Book Spotlight

Happy LatinX Heritage month!

See our LatinX Heritage Month collection here, featuring stories about LatinX characters and by LatinX authors.

As always, please reach out if you have any questions, would like to work together to help your student grow their reading practice, or want to collaborate in any other way.

Thank you!

Kate Risi, Denny Librarian

karisi@seattleschools.org

Donations accepted here: https://www.schoolpay.com/pay/for/2026-Library-Donations/STOkeO

A huge thank you to our amazing PTSA for creating additional opportunities for our scholars through their Mini Grants! Your generosity and partnership help bring creative ideas to life and provide meaningful experiences for our scholars. We appreciate you! 🐬💙

PTSA Meeting: October 14, 6:30-8 p.m.

Join the October 14 PTSA Meeting Zoom

Meeting ID: 919 4151 7513
Passcode: 819963

Hi Denny Families,

Thanks to those who have joined our membership for this school year! We are at 25 members to date. We invite families to renew their membership or newly join the PTSA, which is $10 a school year. You can help us meet the number of members needed for Washington state by having each parent or caregiver become a member if able. Our goal is to have 35 members by September 30. It takes two minutes to join here: https://wspta-00030863.givebacks.com/shop

Our first Thankful Thursday takes place next week on October 1. Thanks to those who have signed up and there are still opportunities to support this effort. Sign up here. If you need to drop off items to a PTSA Member's house the evening before, we can make that work, too. https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30E0A45A5AC2BA0F58-65454426-20262027

Here are a few ways to get involved:

• NEW: We are beginning a WhatsApp community where folks can learn of one-off opportunities to contribute to the school and another way to share any timely updates. You can join the group here: https://chat.whatsapp.com/HVgtxxgpM9cHxr4FObwSHI
• NEW: We created an Amazon list of school needs that you can purchase and will be sent directly to the school. Thanks to those who already purchased first aid kits for our sports teams! https://www.amazon.com/registries/gl/guest-view/1DSLQRIPUG17W?ref_=cm_sw_r_cp_ud_ggr-subnav-share_V5F2A86GCP30W3G2TS7H
• Email the full Board at board@dennyptsa.org to ask any questions, suggest ideas or to learn more about the Safety Patrol.
• If you don't want to join as a member and do want to be on our email list, please reach out to board@dennyptsa.org
• Make a gift to support our work: https://my.cheddarup.com/c/denny-ms-ptsa/items. October will be our Direct Give month! Please consider giving early to support our scholars and community this year.

Thank you for all you do for our scholars!
The Denny PTSA

Friends, our Path to Empowerment fundraiser is almost here, and we would love to see you there.

The work is working. We’re coming together to celebrate that fewer people are being killed or injured by gun violence. It’s going to take all of us to lean in to keep this work going.

Let's team up. You are part of our community. We need your energy, your investment, and your focus. We need to keep building together and strengthening the village around our young people.

We’ll be in the beautiful space, The Collective, in South Lake Union with a live DJ, food, drinks, and good people. We’re coming together to build and strengthen relationships, dance, eat, drink, and keep rebuilding our village to support young people. We need to celebrate the wins!

This is going to be a good time. Come out!

To learn more about Neighborcare Health and school-based health center services for the 2025-2026 school year, or to pre-register your student for services, view the Denny International Middle School page on the Neighborcare Health website.

Youth Programs

Seattle Housing Authority : Led by Ms. Melissa & Mr. Todd

• We are currently doing outreach for our programs that start mid-October!
• Interest form for Fall Programs
• ·Programs that we will be offering: High Point Film Club, Sports w/ UPower, Start Strong, Youth Advisory Council

Neighborhood House : Led by Abbie Carr

Neighborhood House Youth After-School Programs Teens in Service, Tuesdays from 4-6 p.m. starting on 9/15! Looking to gain community service hours? Come to Neighborhood House! Each week, teens will be offered various opportunities to complete needed graduation requirements. Service options change weekly based on community need, youth interest, and season. This program is open to both middle + high school students. Some service-learning options may include..

• Community Youth p-patch garden maintenance work
• Community Trash Clean-ups
• Creating events and experiences for your peers and neighbors to enjoy
• Service-learning guest lectures
• Community circle conversations on safety, community, and belonging
• Join us on 9/15 to harvest food from our Youth Maintained p-patch!

Teen Study Lounge & Café, every Wednesday from 2-5 p.m. This is a space where middle + high school students are welcome to:

• Come receive homework/studies assistance
• Collaborate with your fellow peers
• Enjoy a peaceful work environment
• Sip & eat a tasty café drink + snack
• Learn barista skills!

Neighborhood House Family + Intergenerational Programs

• Learn to Sew! 1st and 2nd Thursdays of the month, 4-6 p.m. Learn to use a sewing machine and create your own clothing + accessories! Space is limited, machines are first come, first serve. This program is open anyone 12+.
• Family Connection Nights Last two Thursdays of the Month, 4:30-6 p.m. All ages friendly! Activities change week to week and month to month. Come connect with your neighbors, our program staff, and community partners. Refreshments provided while supplies last.
• Yoga for Women & Girls Every Wednesday from 5:30-6:30 p.m. Come move in a mindful way! Class is open to women and girls. All ages and abilities are welcomed.
• For any questions about Neighborhood House Youth & Family Programs, please contact Abbie Carr (Youth and Family Engagement Coordinator) for more info abbiec@nhwa.org, 206-887-7657