Sumner Middle School Update

• Spring Break, April 6-10

• SMS Focuses on Success: State Testing Schedule

• 3rd Quarter Grades Mailed Home Next Week

• Upcoming Survey Asks for Student Feedback

• Lahar Evacuation Drill, April 23

• Parent Review Night for HIV/AIDS Prevention, May 14

• Stay Connected!

Our staff is proud of the growth our students have made this year. In late April and throughout May, students will have the opportunity to demonstrate their learning by taking the state assessments in English Language Arts (ELA) and math. Eighth-grade students will also take the science assessment in their science classes.

We use state assessment results to help inform decisions about students’ course placements and to identify any additional supports they may need.

These assessments also provide valuable practice, as students will be required to pass state assessments in high school in order to graduate.

Testing schedule

• ELA SBA in ELA classes: April 28-May 8

• 8th grade ONLY science assessment in 8th grade science classes: May 12-May 15

• Math SBA in math classes: May 19-May 29

To help your child do their best on these tests, make sure your child:

• gets plenty of sleep the night before

• eats a healthy breakfast

• gets to school on time

• brings a charged chromebook and pencil

• brings a positive, can-do attitude!

Third quarter progress reports will be mailed home next week. You can also check your child’s grades online. Third quarter progress report grades are just that—a report of your child’s progress so far this semester. Your student’s final semester grade will be determined at the end of second semester on June 16.

Your child’s grades can be accessed at any time by logging into Family Access on the district website: www.sumnersd.org. Family Access also allows access to attendance, lunch account information and much more. Please contact our counseling office at 253-891-5000 if you need your login information.

If your child is earning a C-, D or F and/or has multiple missing assignments, please contact your child’s teacher or counselor so that we can partner together to help your child achieve academic success.

In striving to provide the best possible education for all students, we value feedback to help us continually improve. We’ll soon be conducting a Center for Educational Effectiveness (CEE) survey with students in grades 4 through 12 and school district staff.

Students at Sumner Middle School will take the survey the week of April 20-24. We will share the exact date with families the week we return from Spring Break,

The multiple choice surveys, available in multiple languages, will ask questions around the topics of support, safety, trust, environment and equity.

The Sumner-Bonney Lake School District is participating in a regional lahar exercise, which is designed to test and improve the ability to evacuate or shelter students and staff in the event of an incoming lahar from Mount Rainier.

On April 23 at approximately 9:30 am, students attending Sumner Middle School, and other schools in the Sumner valley, will physically evacuate their school building. This includes students in the Community/District Based Transition Program, located on the SMS campus. Students will walk a designated emergency evacuation route, safely escorted by school staff. If you do not want your child to participate, you may opt out of the lahar exercise by completing and returning this form (Spanish | Russian | Ukrainian) to Sumner Middle by April 21.

What to expect

• Under staff supervision, with assistance from local police personnel, students will follow a designated evacuation route on flat, paved sidewalks with one street lane closed.

• Students will complete about 80 percent of the route, stopping before gaining significant elevation with an end at the Gordon Family YMCA (16101 64th St E).

• Buses will transport students back to their school where they’ll complete the remainder of their school day as normal. Total time for the drill is approximately one hour.