PBL Weekly Blast

As part of their 9th grade service learning, students will venture out again into the Santa Monica community. Our 12th graders are also heading out into the community researching organizations that are servicing a community need.

School will be closed on Thursday for a local holiday.

Applications open Sept 2–30, 2025 for students to join Metro’s Youth Council (Jan–Dec 2026). Selected members will share ideas, advise on Metro projects, and advocate for better transportation in their community. Eligibility: ages 14–17, living and attending school in LA County. Applications are straightforward and easy to complete in one sit down session. An FAQ page is also attached. Learn more at metro.net/youthcouncil.

Need help with your classes? Come to the library at lunch or after school! Monday through Friday Samohi Peer Tutoring offers tutoring to anyone from tutors who are current Samohi students. Tutoring is offered in all subjects and in all levels of courses. Follow the instagram @samohipeertutoring for more specific information(tutors, the subjects they tutor, what days they tutor).

Teachers are available to support students after school in the library!

Mondays- Spanish

Tuesdays- Research

Wednesday- English

Thursday- Chemistry

They are in the library Monday through Thursday 3:30-5 pm.

PTSA and the College Center present the Samohi College Fair!

Thursday, October 9 from 6pm-8pm in the Samohi Cafeteria. Samohi students and parents are invited to meet reps from 100 local, regional, and nationwide colleges and universities. Student ID is required for admission, and admission times are staggered by grade level to give the oldest students more time:

• Grade 12 can attend 6pm-8pm

• Grade 11 can attend 6:30pm-8pm

• Grades 9 &10 can attend 7pm-8pm

All 9th, 10th, and 11th grade Samohi students will be taking the PSAT College Board Exam at Samohi free of charge on Tuesday, October 21, 2025

All 11th grade Samohi students will be taking the SAT College Board Exam at Samohi free of charge in Spring 2025. The date is TBD.

Students do not need to “sign up” for the tests. They will be assigned a testing classroom through their English classes. This year, the PSAT will be administered digitally. Students will need to use their district issues chromebook. All students are required to attend school, even if they opt out of the testing. Attendance will be taken. If a student has adopted out of testing, the student will be assigned a room. The student will be notified through smmk12 email.

All 10th and 11th grade students pre-approved for testing accommodations through the College Board will receive accommodated testing. 9th grade students are not provided testing accommodation.

For questions about PSAT/SAT testing, please contact M House principal, Lissette Bravo at lbravo@smmusd.org.

Free and Reduced Lunch Application

Fill out the Free/Reduced Meal Application by Thursday, October 2 to ensure that Samohi receives its Title 1 funding (see SMDP article). This application also entitles qualifying students to discounted rates on prom tickets, AP exam registration, and more. Breakfast and lunch are provided free to ALL students in the district, but families still need to complete the application!

https://www.myschoolbucks.com/ver2/getmain?requestAction=home

Samohi has become a test center for the October 4th SAT date ONLY. If you signed up through College Board to take SAT at another school, you can change the school location. Samohi students will have priority to select Samohi as their test site as long as you sign up by September 25, 2025. Please ensure Santa Monica High School is listed as your attending school. You can do this by visiting your account settings and searching for our school in the “School Information” section of the page. You may need to remove your home zip code from the search to populate your school. Once updated, you will see your school populate as an option during registration.

Parent Project: A free, 10-week program teaching parents of teens practical tools for managing challenging behaviors, strengthening family relationships. and improving relationships at home/school. Classes taught in both English/Spanish with SMPD and MSWs. Free dinner, refreshments, social time and childcare provided. Mondays 6-9 p.m. at SMASH. Orientation from 5-6 p.m. on Sept. 15. Sign up before October 1. https://bit.ly/ParentProjectFall2025.

Join Samohi Orchestras for their "Once Upon a Time" fall concert on Saturday, October 4. Tacos and bake sale start at 3:00 and the concert starts at 4:00, with a costume contest before the show. This concert will sell out! Student tickets are $10 and available online at samohiorchestras.org.

Your ASB is working tirelessly to offer the best Homecoming week from October 6th thru October 11th. We will be posting updates on these announcements regularly…

If you’re attending our dance, we want to hear from you! What music do you want to hear and dance to that evening? Click on the form and let us know! https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1w00R3EoLf8vW8zw48ZDvfBySqGaOyRYLJscN3ZWspLc/edit?resourcekey=&gid=1316024426#gid=1316024426

Thinking about a Homecoming proposal? Enter our HOCO Proposal Competition—now through October 5th! The top 3 couples will win FREE dance tickets. To enter, submit your proposal video to @vikingssamohi, and don’t forget to include your name and grade. Get creative, have fun, and you just might score free tickets!

Hey Vikings! Ready to vote for your 2025 Homecoming Court? Homecoming Court is made up of seniors chosen to represent our school during Homecoming week, highlighting school spirit, leadership, and community involvement. Ten students will be selected for the court, and later, two will be crowned as Homecoming royalty. Vote by Wednesday, October 1st, by filling out the form in your smmk12 email inbox!

Samohi HOCO Dance ticket sales! We begun on Wednesday, September 24th thru Thursday, October 11th. No sales 9/26 or 10/10. Please see the ticket calendar for prices and time slots in the link.

Bringing a guest that doesn’t attend Samohi? You will need a Guest Dance Application. Submit to the M House Office in D201. The deadline is Wednesday, October 1st! https://drive.google.com/file/d/1EFuqk-roz0QUXGwEMe4JwrUx9zb43Fke/view?usp=sharing

HOCO Carnival is coming on Wednesday, October 8th, during lunch, we’ll have food trucks to sell lunch! Inflatables, music, and games are available for FREE for every student! It’s our way of saying thanks, made possible by your dance ticket purchases. Don’t miss it—it’s going to be the highlight of Homecoming week.

THE COLLEGE and CAREER CENTER provides resources to all Samohi students as they plan for their post-Samohi plans. In addition to SchooLinks, college, career, military and gap year publications are available for student research. Secondary school reports, letters of recommendations, and testing materials are handled by the College/Career Counselors. The College Fair, Samohi Scholarship Program, SAT & ACT, FAFSA/CADAA, CSS Profiles and college, career and military representative visits are all part of the service.

Students are welcome to come in before school, during lunch and after school to research specific colleges and financial aid opportunities - but you need an appointment to meet with one of the College/Career Counselors. Please note that college/career planning meetings are reserved for Seniors only during the fall, and Seniors and Juniors during the spring. Seniors/Juniors, to schedule a meeting with your College/Career Counselor, please click on their "calendly" link to access his/her availability.

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE MONTHLY NEWSLETTER

Need your lunch pass added to your ID now that attendance obligations will not be carried over. Please fill out the link https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe8YtboDls8YVbCfLYoxPQXaO9r_HeivBZyDGtiTZ8aaAClJQ/viewform?usp=sf_link OR use the QR codes in the house offices to request your lunch pass to be added. Each ID will be verified, so you will not be charged. You will be emailed once it is ready.

Take advantage of purchasing an ASB card. For $75, you can get free admission to football and basketball games (not during playoffs), up to 3 free I.D. replacement, a reduced price for your tickets for formals, homecomings, and prom, reduced price for school plays and band concerts, reduced price for your yearbook, and local business benefits like Donut King, Little Bean Coffee, Pita House, Samo’s Oaxaca,and Sylvan Learning. Saving you over $250!!!

https://www.myschoolbucks.com/ver2/getmain?requestAction=home

The Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District (SMMUSD) is pleased to announce that the District has enrolled in year four of Los Angeles Metro’s GoPass program, which provides free public transit rides and Transit Assistance Program (TAP) cards to all kindergarten through 12th-grade students. The initiative promotes accessibility and encourages the use of public transportation.

Students can go to the PBL House office (B111) to get a new TAP card and eligibility code.

To reactivate your existing TAP card, please submit the following form to receive a new eligibility code: REACTIVATE YOUR TAP CARD HERE.

1. Pick up a Work Permit Application in the College/Career Center (B120) or PBL Office (B111) before school, lunch, or after school ONLY

2. Complete sections one and two of your Work Permit Application and return to Ms. Griffis in the PBL Office (B111) before school, lunch or after school ONLY

Keep in mind processing may take up to one week; please plan accordingly. Remember, if you are under 18 years old, a work permit is required in order for you to work. If you have questions, stop by the College/Career Center (B120)

To report a student’s absence, please send an email to:

AttendancePBL@smmusd.org

or call Crystal Griffis at 310.395.3204 ext. 71-177

Please include your student’s first and last names, student ID numbers, and the reason they are absent (illness, family matter, medical or dental appointment, etc.).

• Students who become ill at school need to go to the nurse’s office to be released from school

• If a students leaves at lunch, we MUST have an email from you IN THE MORNING, asking for an early dismissal pass…if we receive an email AFTER they have already left, the absence will not be excused

• Students can pick up their early leave pass from the PBL house office after the 1st period of the day

• These passes CANNOT be delivered to their class

• When students leave early for a doctor’s appointment, they must bring a note back from the doctor so we can clear their absence…if we don’t receive a note, it is marked as a cut.

• All absences must be cleared in 3 days…please email the PBL house office if your child is out sick…after 3 days, it is an unexcused absence

• After a student has had 5 full day absences in the school year for illness, any further absence for illness must be verified by a physician

• Attendance for athletic participation is cleared through the athletics office

• This can take a few days to be corrected. Thank you for your patience.

• Questions about attendance procedures, please go to our website: https://www.smmusd.org/domain/3026