Dear Tolt Families,

I hope you had a fun and relaxing Winter Break (and stayed warm through the snow and ice). It has been wonderful having our students back on campus this week. We have lots to look forward to in 2023 here at Tolt!

During this Wednesday’s Tolt Time, our students watched a video that reviewed our school expectations, also known as The Tolt Bear Way. This included expectations in the hallways and breezeway, in classrooms, on the bus, and during lunch. We believe that reviewing our expectations frequently helps our students to stay focused on learning.

Next Thursday, we will have our Martin Luther King Jr. assembly. Thank you to Mr. Del Rosso and our Yearbook class for planning our time together and for helping us to honor Martin Luther King Jr.’s life and legacy.

Our Yearbook class is working hard to make this year’s yearbook memorable! Yearbook orders are due by Friday, February 17. Every year, we have students and parents who are disappointed because they do not get a yearbook. Please think about this now and consider ordering a yearbook for your student before it is too late. Yearbooks can be purchased online through eFunds under “Optional Fees” for $34.

Big thanks to the Riverview Education Foundation (REF) for awarding grants to Tolt teachers at the end of 2022! These thoughtful grants will have a positive impact on student learning. We are grateful to REF for supporting our schools and appreciate the opportunity to support REF at their upcoming Auction on Saturday, February 4 (see the flyer below).

Thank you for your continuing support of our staff and students.

Go Bears!

Amie Karkainen, Principal

Tolt will be conducting winter MAP assessments.

English Language Arts MAP is 1/24-1/25 in ELA classes

Math MAP is 1/31/-2/1 in math classes

Make up MAP is 2/6-2/8 in the library



How can you best prepare your child for these assessments?

• Have your student at school, all day, every day unless they are ill. If possible, please plan or rearrange medical/dental appointments to not interfere with the testing dates.
• Students should come to school well-rested and having eaten their breakfast, so their brains are in full-drive mode!
• Students must arrive at school with laptops fully charged, a pair (or two!) of earbuds/headphones that attach directly to their laptop (wireless earbuds are not allowed for testing) and a silent reading book.

How to Help a Friend Presentation

New Date! Wednesday, February 1

Our 6^th, 7^th and 8^th graders will participate in a presentation on suicide prevention in their social studies class on Wednesday, February 1 . The presentation, “How to Help a Friend,” is a youth suicide prevention program that follows a peer-to-peer training model. Students learn how they can identify and help their peers/friends that may be experiencing hardship or struggling. High school students are engaged as peer trainers for the “How to Help a Friend” suicide prevention training. We find that younger students pay closer attention to the message when it is being delivered from an older student rather than an adult. The presentation is provided by the Empower Youth Network www.empoweryouthnetwork.org. The program is based on the work of Washington State's Youth Suicide Prevention Program (YSPP), established in 1999 to lead statewide effort to reduce youth suicide. For more information, please see the following link: 

www.doh.wa.gov/Portals/1/Documents/Pubs/631-058-SuicidePrevPlan.pdf.

We understand this can be a sensitive topic, and if this is the case for your child, they may be excused for the duration of the lesson. Please contact the Tolt Counseling Center at (425) 844-4607 if you would like your child to opt out of the presentation. Below, we have included the contact for the Tolt counselors. Additionally, we’ve included some telephone numbers that can be helpful for people dealing with concerns surrounding suicide.

·    1-800-SUICIDE

·    Crisis Text Line: 741-741

·    24-hour Crisis Line 866-4CRISIS

·    Teen Link 206-461-4922

·    National Prevention Line 1-800-273-TALK

Thank you,