Calendar

Check out the combined calendar  here .
Please send comments/suggestions and May Calendar Items to  calendar@rmsptsa.org
School
State testing starts this week
Please encourage your student to get a good night’s rest and to ensure they take home and charge their laptops nightly. Students should report directly to their testing locations on testing days (this is the same location as they took the practice tests). Students without a 1 st period should plan on arriving at 8:10 AM for testing. 
  • ELA Computer Adaptive Test (CAT) - 5/7/19
  • ELA Performance Task (PT) - 5/9/19
  • Math CAT - 5/14/19
  • Math PT - 5/15/19 
  • Washington Comprehensive Assessment of Science (WCAS) - 5/16/19
  • 8th Grade Only
  • Iowa Algebra Aptitude Test (IAAT) - 5/16/19
  • 6th and 7th graders not currently in Algebra
Learn more  about the state assessments on the district website.
Host family opportunity
Open your hearts and homes to students from Japan! The RMS Japanese program is looking for several more home stay families to host two 8 th  grade students from Shukutoku Junior High School in Tokyo Japan. No Japanese language ability is required by the student or home stay family. All that is required is a desire to experience another culture. Students will arrive at RMS on Friday, May 17 and return on Monday, May 20 th . This is a great opportunity for any RMS student who is interested in Japanese culture. Please contact Kuyper Sensei at  skuyper@lwsd.org  for details. Arigatou! 
Save the Date - Griz Biz 2019
Mark your calendars for Tuesday, August 20, 2019, this will be the date of Griz Biz where families can pick up and complete paperwork, sign up for sports, open lunch accounts, tour the school, etc.
PTSA
Staff Appreciation Week - May 6-10
May 6-10 is Staff Appreciation Week. Let’s show our wonderful RMS staff how much we value and appreciate all the hard work they put in to enrich the lives of our kids. Please sign up to support them with donations of time, food, and/or money. The following is the week’s schedule and links to sign up.
 Monday, May 6 th  –  Coffee Cart  – sponsor a coffee for your favorite staff member(s)
Tuesday, May 7 th  –  Taco Bar  – sign up to donate food and volunteer to help setup/serve/clean up
Wednesday, May 8 th  –  Dessert Buffet  - sign up to donate food and volunteer to help setup/serve/clean up
Thursday, May 9 th  –  Snack Attack  - sign up to donate snacks
Friday, May 10 th  – small individual appreciation gift – no volunteer help needed
We need help on Tuesday (Taco Bar) and Thursday (Snack Attack). Please sign up!
Redmond Middle School PTSA Achieves Platinum Status
The Standards of Excellence Award recognizes local PTAs for the use of best practices of PTA management. Redmond Middle School PTSA was awarded the Platinum Level Standards of Excellence Award for the 2018-2019 school year. This award demonstrates that we are child-focused, responsible to members, knowledgeable, fiscally responsible, involved, and well-trained.  
WSPTA Convention Report
Our PTA sent five people to the state convention this weekend. Attendees learned many things that will help them help all families at our school. Delegates voted on state bylaws updates and for the incoming executive committee. The most exciting part of convention was being awarded a 100% Staff Membership Award as well as a Platinum Level Standards of Excellence Award. Redmond Middle School PTSA is pleased to be recognized for excellent work in the service of our school community. Thank you to everyone who has made this possible!
LWSD Levy Passing with 56% of the Vote
THANK YOU to all of the PTSAs that voted to endorse and support the levy! We would not have been successful if you had not shared this with your membership and helped get out the vote. The additional classroom and auxiliary space and security enhancements are huge win for our kids. Given the tremendous growth in our area and existing building needs in the district, this is one step towards what is needed. We look forward to continuing to work with LWSD in the future to determine the next steps for our kids, schools and community!
Bike to School Day, Wednesday May 8
Wednesday, May 8, is Bike to School Day! Have your students start making plans to bike to school that morning! A lucky RMS student bicyclist will win 5 "Awesome Pawsomes". The winner will be notified and can come claim their prize at the school office! As part of the month of May's SchoolPool, don't forget to remind your student to mark this day off on their tracker if they've biked, walked or bussed or carpooled!
Sign up for volunteers
Celebrate good times - come on!
There are only seven more weeks of school and the remaining events are sure signs of closure. 
After teacher appreciation week, there is Laptop Roll in and Field Day!
Please review this sign up for the last of the volunteer opportunities of 2018-2019.
**** a HUGE thank you to all volunteers!!
Click on the below link:-
Math Club News
More than 200 middle school students from Lake Washington School District competed in LWSD Math Olympiad 2019 at Kirkland Middle School on Tuesday, April 23.
Redmond Middle School Math Team won  the first place . Congratulations!
The following 24 students represented Redmond MS at the competition:
Aakash Banerji
Aarna Chowdhary
Alan Duan
Alon Ragoler
Angad Arora
Anish Deshpande
Annabella Li
Arnav Jain
Chris Ma
Di Mao
Divij Aswinkumar
Eva Jain
Evan Kim
Jacob Qian
Joseph Kaim
Juwang Lee
Kabir Hotani
Leo Miao
Max Qu
Michael Sheng
Mohith Ram Narendra Babu
Tonoya Biswas
Vanesha Hari
Yue Ding

Well Done!!!
Science club news
Results from STATE Science Olympiad at Highline College, WA.
Two RMS Science teams participated at state level Science Olympiad on April 13th, 2019. Both teams performed very well, Please click below to see the Team rank and top medalists.
Member Savings. Powered by PTA
Take advantage of these benefit offers:
  • Great Wolf Lodge - save up to 30% on your next stay
  • LEGOBags.com - 50% off at LEGObags.com plus kids go free to LEGOLAND Parks or Discovery Centers.
  • Tickets at Work - formerly TicketMonster - 20-70% off on movies, hotels, shows, concerts, sporting events and more.
  • Office Depot - savings on school supplies, office products, technology, furniture, and print.
Members were sent their benefits access code along with their electronic membership card at the time of sign up. Can't find your? Contact  membership@rmsptsa.org  for assistance.
ASB
A reminder that purchases made on Amazon using this link help RMS ASB.
Help RMS ASB by donating used clothing and shoes. The bin is located in the parking lot by the portables.
Fund the Grizzlies  –  Please donate to the Redmond Middle School Associated Student Body (ASB) to help fund student activities.
Community
Vote for Redmond Middle School
Mathnasium wants to provide a treat to the teachers at Redmond Middle and we need your help. We want to bring in snacks and the desired items to fully stock the fridge in the teachers’/staff lounge of 5 schools in the area. To select the 5 schools, we are doing a Facebook contest. We will work with the PTSA at the top 5 schools with the most votes in this contest to make this a reality.
We would love Redmond Middle to be one of these schools. You can see the contest at  https://www.facebook.com/MathnasiumRedmond/posts . Please go cast a vote for Redmond Middle  to be one of the 5 schools and  share the contest info with the parents , wherever appropriate to get additional votes for your school’s teachers!
Suicide Awareness & Prevention Presentation
18% of LWSD high school students have contemplated suicide. Suicide is preventable. Come listen to speaker Peter Loft and learn how to help your child or friend through a suicidal episode. This talk is open to all LWSD families.
When : Tuesday,  May 7 , 7 - 9 PM
Where : Lake Washington High School Library
Sponsored by the LWPTSA Council in conjunction with Lake Washington School District.
For questions contact  face@lwptsa.net
Technology at Students' Fingertips in LWSD
Come learn what tools are readily available to all LWSD students to help with reading and writing literacy.
When : Tuesday  May 21 , Networking at 6:30, Presentation at 7 PM
Where : LWSD Resource Center at Redmond Town Center. Entrance from the parking lot in the back. 
Presenter : Joe Brazier from Microsoft's Worldwide Education Industry Team
Download a flyer   for this event
The meeting opens at 6:30 with networking and a chance to meet and chat with Dr. Shannon Hitch, Director of Special Services, and her Associate Directors. Complimentary student care is available for meeting attendees. To sign up, please email  smcenroe@lwsd.org  at least a week prior to the meeting date. Include your child’s name(s) and age(s). Please use the email subject line:  Childcare at PTSA meeting . 
Persons with disabilities who anticipate needing accommodations or who have questions about access may email us at   special.needs@lwptsa.net   in advance of the meeting.
If you would like to request an interpreter, please let us know at   special.needs@lwptsa.net
Learn more about the   Special Needs Group.
Bear Tracks weekly is produced by RMS PTSA as a benefit to the Redmond Middle School Community. Articles are due on Thursdays for publication the following Monday. Bear Tracks is edited by Ekta Vadlamudi and [YOUR NAME HERE - please email Sujatha Patra: communications.vp@rmsptsa.org if interested in co-editing ]. Please review our communication priorities and submit articles to weekly@rmsptsa.org .