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A CSCA Publication

What's HOT the week of September 6, 2021

"Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can."

—Arthur Ashe

New in This Week's Dragon's Fire

• Week 2 Schedule
• Stay Up To Date on What's Happening at TCS
• ACT Basics
• COVID-19 Contingency Plans
• Grading Guidelines for the 2021/22 School Year
• Understanding Teen Anger

NOTE: Early release Wednesdays start this Wed, Sep 8. School ends at 2:30 pm. But please note the change in the Wed schedule due to the holiday Monday.

Stay Up To Date on What's Happening at TCS

Get the latest as it happens! Sign up for text updates from TCS.

Fill Out & Return School Forms

Please complete, sign, and return your student's FERPA and Emergency Release forms. Forms can be returned in person to the front office or emailed to Ms Tracey at tlott@seattleschools.org.

If your student will need to take medications (prescription and over the counter) at school, must fill out the Authorization to Administer Medications at School for each medication and must be signed by your health care provider.

Join the CSCA

TCS is a choice school and we all chose it because it offers a unique experience for our unique kids—smaller classes, more personalized instruction, an arts-focused curriculum, a vibrant location, and an active and inclusive community. That community is key to supporting the school we chose and that's why our PTSA is called the Center School Community Association. Each year the CSCA provides crucial support and funding to our teachers, staff, and students. There are many ways to be involved, and joining the CSCA is the place to start. Whether you want to volunteer, sit in on the occasional meeting, or just let your kid do their thing, show your support for our community by becoming a CSCA member today.

Use the Join! button below to join online (a small processing fee applies to credit card payments) or download the membership form and return it with a check by mail.

Scholarships: If you would like to join but the membership dues are a burden, please email your completed membership form to membership chair, Monica Payson, at monica@paysley.net so we can apply a scholarship. And if you can afford to sponsor another member or two when you join, we thank you for your generosity.

ACT Basics: Breaking Down What You Need to Know About the Test

The ACT is one of the best ways to help your student prepare and plan for their future. Taking the ACT as a junior in high school gives your student an idea about their readiness for college coursework by showing them where they have strengths and where there are opportunities for improvement.

Identify interests. The ACT provides your student with a unique Interest Inventory. By answering questions about their interests, courses, and educational preferences, they can provide colleges with a unique profile of their work in high school, career interests and higher education goals.

Get noticed. The ACT helps colleges find your student. By taking the ACT, they can opt-in to the free ACT Educational Opportunity Service (EOS) and make themselves visible to colleges and scholarship agencies—a great way to get a powerful head start on their post-high school journey!

Excerpted fromNational PTA's Our Children digital magazine. Read the full article.

When to Keep Your Student Home

Help us keep TCS safe for our whole community by keeping your student home when they have a known exposure to someone with COVID-19, or have new symptoms that are not caused by another condition. Please don’t send your student to school if they have any symptoms. If they do arrive at school feeling ill, they will be sent home.

Symptoms of COVID-19 may include the following:

• Fever or chills
• Cough
• Fatigue
• Headache
• Sore throat
• Nausea or vomiting
• Congestion or runny nose
• Diarrhea
• New loss of taste or smell
• Muscle or body aches
• Difficulty breathing

If your student experiences any symptoms that might impact health and safety at school, please report immediately to school nurse, LeAnn Rowlen by phone or text at 206-595-9177.

2021/22 SPS COVID-19 Dashboard

Families can view a public-facing dashboard showing confirmed COVID-19 cases at SPS. Refreshed weekly on Mon, this dashboard disaggregates—or divides data into parts—cases by region, week, and role to provide an understanding of the pandemic across the district. This dashboard will be refreshed on Sep 1 to track cases during the 2021/22 school year.

School-Based COVID-19 Testing

SPS is now offering free, safe, confidential, and painless COVID-19 testing to all students. Students swab themselves with a short soft swab, or if needed, can receive assistance. School-based testing is a proven strategy for limiting the spread of COVID-19 in our schools and communities. Watch the video to learn more.

COVID-19 Contact Tracing

If there is a positive COVID-19 case, SPS's central nursing team will work with Public Health to manage contact tracing. The district will notify close contacts, staff, and school community, as needed. SPS will notify families when there is a positive COVID-19 case in their student's classroom (note that this exceeds the Department of Health's communication recommendations for close contact).

COVID-19 Contingency Plans, Including Ongoing Student Learning

If COVID-19 transmission rates increase significantly in our community, our schools and district will be affected. SPS is organized and prepared to respond to the changing context and needs of students, staff, and families.

If an individual student or small group of students must quarantine, this will be considered an excused absence and the student’s ongoing learning will be supported. Assignments will be posted on the school’s learning management system (Schoology and Clever) and/or provided in another accessible form at the request of the student’s family.

Grading Guidelines for the 2021/22 School Year

SPS is returning to the pre-pandemic grading scale (A–E for most courses), but will require educators to do the following:

• Provide biweekly check-ins with students and families for students at risk of earning an incomplete, no credit, or a failing grade.  
• Allow retakes and assignment revisions to the extent possible.  
• Not give any grades lower than 50% on any assignment, even for a missed assignment. 

Apply for Free and Reduced Lunch

It’s important to apply for Free and Reduced Lunch before the start of the school year. While breakfast and lunch will be provided for free, students approved for free and reduced-price meals may be eligible to receive reduced fees for device distribution, events, Advanced Placement testing, college applications, and so much more. Apply today!

Understanding Teen Anger

Adolescents are growing and changing. And the hormones that drive puberty can have a big impact on mood. When kids seem like they’re overreacting it’s important to remember that they’re less able to manage big feelings, like anger, than adults are.

Parents should try to see teenage anger as a normal part of being a person. The goal shouldn’t be to stop teens from feeling anger, but to help them find safer, less harmful ways of expressing it.

Read the full article at the Child Mind Institute.

TCS & SPS Mental Health Services

Much as we all wish life were back to normal, it's not. And some of our students might be experiencing additional stress as a result of the pandemic and returning to in-person school. For students who need mental health support, TCS will be providing emotional and social supports and resources with a referral from a counselor. Additionally, SPS offers a variety of mental health, substance abuse, and crisis support services. Download the SPS Behavioral Health Resource Guide. Read more about accessing mental health support.

The Bulletin Board section publishes information about art, photography, film, theater, writing, and other programs and competitions outside of TCS that might be of benefit and interest to our students. If you know of an opportunity that our students might want to hear about, contact the Dragon's Fire at dfsubmitarticle1@gmail.com.

Listings in the Bulletin Board section for any specific commercial or organizational product, process, or service, or the use of any trade, firm, or corporation name is for the information and convenience of the public and does not constitute endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by The Center School or the CSCA.

Dragon's Fire wants to hear about what's going on in our school community. Please submit articles and images to Dragon's Fire by 5 pm Friday afternoon for inclusion in the next newsletter. Read our submission guidelines.

If you have comments, corrections, or additions to Dragon's Fire, please contact the editor at dfsubmitarticle1@gmail.com. We welcome your feedback!

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