PAML 25/26 Happenings

Calendar of Chaos

JUNE 9th - MS 8th Grade Ceremony at 10:00

JUNE 11TH - HS GRADUATION - (The school board confirmed this date)

Happy Teacher Appreciation Week! I hope students spoil you with kind words, good choices, and hard work on their assignments!

This Teacher Appreciation Week, I want to take a moment to recognize the incredible dedication and heart you bring to our school community every single day. Thank you for embracing fun and connection—whether we were creating our own "beach day," tailgating together, or celebrating school spirit.

Thank you for showing up for our students during Winter Wellness, meeting them on the mountain, decorating cupcakes, and getting air on trampolines. These moments matter more than you know.

Thank you for the countless parent meetings, phone calls, and family conferences. Your commitment to showing up for every family—building those essential bridges between home and school—strengthens our entire community.

Our families depend on you to provide the consistent, caring, and academically focused environment their children need to thrive. Your work matters. Keep pushing for high expectations. Keep believing in what our students can achieve.

You make the difference. We have a wonderful week coming your way.

Monday: Afternoon Drink and treat cart from Nikki, Kati, and Jes

Tuesday: Taco truck from LSSU

Wednesday: Breakfast from parents

Thursday: Trail mix bar from parents

Friday: Dessert bar from parents

Best,

Jes

• Attention Spans: Middle schoolers (ages 12–14) often have attention spans that max out around 15–20 minutes of direct instruction. Shorter, 45-minute periods create a "sense of urgency" that can reduce off-task behavior.

• Frequency of Support: For students with significant learning gaps, "distributed practice" (shorter, daily sessions) is scientifically proven to be more effective for retention than longer, infrequent sessions. Daily intervention ensures that misconceptions are corrected within 24 hours rather than lingering for three days.

• The Trade-off: 45 minutes fast. Research indicates it is difficult to fit a warm-up, a mini-lesson, and meaningful independent practice into 45 minutes, often forcing teachers to assign more homework to finish lessons. (Therefore, I added a weekly study hall on Fridays).

The leadership team is committed to intervention daily, this was the motivator for changing the schedule. The shifts I have made maintain that commitment while having core daily also and opting not to do a waterfall schedule.

• There are no clubs next year due to increase in Expos. Expos classes are more structured and with Expos being option based and an increase in those options, clubs are no longer necessary.
• 5th grade will maintain an alternative day on Wednesdays for Outdoor Education.

I’m excited to share that next year we will be launching our very first Program of Expo Studies for PAML—a meaningful step forward in how we showcase the depth, creativity, and professionalism of our work.

It is an opportunity to highlight the expertise within our faculty and to make visible the innovative, student-centered practices that already define our classrooms. Just as importantly, this initiative strengthens our connection with the broader community. By opening a window into the powerful learning experiences happening at PAML, we elevate the perception of our school and the profession as a whole. It sends a clear message: our educators are leaders, designers of engaging learning, and committed to preparing students for a complex and evolving world.

I want to recognize and thank the staff who will be teaching Expo classes next year. Your willingness to innovate, collaborate, and step into this work is what makes this program possible. You are helping to set a standard that reflects the very best of who we are as a school.

Nikki and I sent Summer Academy letters last week. If you hear from parents with concerns, have them contact me. Here is the list again, the highlighted green students with the YES are the students who parents received the letter, twenty-five total for absences and minimal work completion. Here is the letter they received if you wanted to see that again also.

Chad and I spent a lot of time in the teacher's room this vacation improving the space. We are incredibly lucky to have Chad. I think you will enjoy the changes we made.

Please keep the space nice by ...

• Clean up after yourself, take care of your dirty dishes immediately.
• No dumping "free" stuff for people to pick up, if you want to get rid of something, it works best to send an email to staff.
• The teacher's room is not a storage space, please ask the office if you need a place to store materials.
• There tend to be papers left on the copier or table next to it, and that can pile up. This is a waste of paper and can clutter that work area, if you print something you do not need, go and pick it up to recycle rather than leaving it there for someone else to take care of.

Thank you for respecting the space so we all can enjoy it.

The Washington DC trip for the 8th grade is coming together, thanks to the hard work of Sarah Leister. I have built a communication and expectations document, there is a lot in here including expectations for students, chaperones, agenda, and curriculum connections. If anyone is curious, especially those attending, here is the document.

If you are interested in tutoring, we have a few students that are interested in this level of support from teachers!