Aki Kurose Middle School

Aki Kurose
Middle School

Community Bulletin 12/02/22

Community Bulletin 12/02/22

At-a-Glance Calendar

December 2 | Picture Retakes (see announcement below)

December 12-16 | Spirit Week | Daily dress up details will be posted next week

December 19-January 2 | Winter Break | No School for Students & Staff

Announcements

Checking Grades on The Source: With first quarter complete as of November 17, teachers are working on finalizing grades and grade reports will be available on The Source in early December. As family members, you can also check their grades on your own. Details about checking your student grades on The Source

Picture Retakes: Picture retakes will take place on Friday, December 2nd.  Retakes are available for students who are ordering pictures for the first time, ordering pictures and didn’t like their first take, absent or started after picture day.  If you are retaking your picture that you ordered, you must bring back the original pictures.  Order pictures

Free & Reduced Lunch Eligibility

Aki is part of Community Eligibility Programs which provides free meals for our students. In order to maintain this programming, we need families to complete the Family Income Survey digitally, even if you don’t think your family will qualify. You may also access forms in other languages and hand into Aki’s main office:

Translated paper copies of the family income survey can be downloaded and printed out in the following languages:

  • English
  • Cambodian
  • Chinese
  • Korean
  • Punjabi
  • Russian
  • Somali
  • Spanish
  • Tagalog
  • Vietnamese

Aki PTSA – Aki PTSA usually meets every 3rd Tuesday of the month at 6pm virtually on Zoom. There is NO meeting in December.  Please email for more information: akiptsaboard@googlegroups.com

URGENT Math Tutors needed: Aki runs an afterschool math program on Tuesdays from 4-5 that is led by math teachers.  They need parents/grandparents/teens to supplement their teaching and work one on one with some students to help them gain confidence with math concepts.  Ideally volunteers would be able to come consistently to strengthen relationship with the students they are helping.  Please contact Mr. Browne at mlbrowne@seattleschools.org, and/or Vero VanLeuven at Veronique.J.Sagevanleuven@kp.org

Athletics Updates 

Final Forms – Aki Kurose is transitioning to FinalForms for athletics registration.  We ask ALL parents/guardians of athletes to use FinalForms, as it is an online system that boosts compliance and safety.  FinalForms allows you to complete and sign forms from your computer, tablet or mobile device.

FinalForms saves data from season-to-season and year-to-year, meaning you will never need to enter the same information twice!  FinalForms also pre-populates information wherever possible, for each of your students, saving parents/guardians time if you have multiple children.  You may log in any time to update information including emergency medical contacts and information. You will be required to sign your forms once per year and anytime you make an update.

In order to participate in Aki Kurose Sports, Before Tryouts, FinalForms must be completed.

Ultimate Frisbee – Congratulations on a fantastic year, Ultimate Players & Coaches!   And a special shout out to the 6th Grade Ultimate Team for only losing one game this season! 

  • Season Over – No Games

Girls Soccer – Congratulation girls for all of your hard work & perseverance.  We see you!

  • Game: Sat. 12/3  8am vs Meany @ Robert Eagle Staff (1330 N 90th St, Seattle, WA 98103) 
  • Bus will pickup players at Aki at 7 am.  Bus will return to Aki and be here at 9:45 to drop off. 

Basketball Season 

Basketball Season is fast approaching!  Please Get Registered Now on FinalForms

  • Tryout days TBD, & practice can start on Dec 6
  • First Middle School Basketball Games – Jan 7
  • End of season – TBD

Sports Information is on the Athletics Page | Instagram @Aki_Athletics | SPS Athletics Schedules

Reminders

Bathroom Hallway Pass System Revision: Taking into account our monitoring of student use of bathrooms and hallways during class time this first quarter of the school year, along with student, staff and family feedback, we have moved to an “as needed” pass system during class time. Each classroom teacher keeps a sign out/in sheet for students to use a uniform pass, one student at a time, and not during the first and last ten minutes of class time. As has always been the case, any health accommodations and emergencies will be handled separately on a case-by-case basis. We continue to focus on maximizing class time and student safety across our school day for all our students.

On Time to Class: We are working with our students on time management and purposeful movement between classes to ensure students are ready to go on time with their learning in each class period. Starting next week, and are hosting lunch tables in the cafeteria for students who are struggling to make it on time to classes to talk through improvement plans and reflect on the importance of being on time to each class.

Free Tutoring Service for Students –Tutor.com is a service that SPL subscribes to where students can get online help from 2pm-10pm every day. Tutoring is available in English, Spanish, and Vietnamese. The tutors are background checked and subject experts. Students can upload papers for editing help, they can use the whiteboard to scribble math problems back and forth with the tutor and have access to the transcript of the session when they are done.

Flyers for students:

Crane Cash – Our students can earn Crane Cash each day at school in all school spaces by demonstrating the Aki Core Four mindsets (academic, social/emotional, community and environmental), which have been introduced and continue to be practiced through our Wednesday advisory class time. We have raffles every other Thursday during grade level lunches to provide celebration and rewards for our students doing a great job each day at school! Families are welcome to donate raffle gifts and volunteer to help with prepping our Crane Cash tickets – reach out via phone or email!

After-School Program – The program started Monday, October 17th, and will run through January 19th, 2023.  More about our After School Program . Feel free to email Mr. Browne at mlbrowne@seattleschools.org.

Student Needs Assessment – In order to serve our Aki Kurose student community, the counseling and student support team uses a variety of tools and data to develop programs and interventions specific to our students. One of the tools used is the student needs assessment survey. This short survey asks students how they are feeling about a variety of academic and social emotional topics. Students will be offered the chance to take that survey twice a year, mid-October through December, and mid-April through June. Based on survey responses, school counselors and school support staff may follow up with students individually to offer resources within the Aki community as well as the broader community. Ultimately, we want to remove barriers for our students and ensure that they have access to programs, activities, and support to help them feel safe, welcomed and able to be successful within the school environment. Information collected through the surveys is kept confidential except for anything that would mandate us to report. Survey responses excluding personally identifiable student information are shared with administration to report overall student needs. Students will complete the brief needs assessment during advisory class, and participation is voluntary. Students and families can opt out of completing this survey. If you would like to review the survey, please let us know and we will make one available to you. If you would like to opt your student out of completing the needs assessment, please contact the main office at 206-252-7700. We look forward to a great school year with your students!

Student Laptops: All students should have received a laptop and charger. Support their learning by making sure it is plugged in every night, and that they bring their laptop and charger to school and that they restart it at least once a week. 

Library Books– Please continue to support your reader turning pages!  Talk to your reader(s) about what they are reading and ask to see their reading log!  Also, please remind them to return their library books when they are done reading them so others can check them out!  If you still have books from a previous school, bring them in & we’ll get them to the school so they can be checked in. You can check our Instagram for new titles at @aki_library.  Go #AkiReaders! 

Need Resources? Please check our Family Resources page for information about food, household items and financial assistance.

Please reach out to us with any questions using the following contact information:

For English, call Aki at 206-252-7700 or email akikurose@seattleschools.org

For Amharic & Oromo, call Guesh Wubneh at 206-252-7718 or email guwubneh@seattleschools.org

For Somali, call Abdi Geireh at 206-252-7718 or email afgeireh@seattleschools.org

For Spanish, call Amy Anderson 206-252-7748 or email alanderson@seattleschools.org 

For Filipino, call Eden Tumbaga at 206-252-7748 or email ebtumbaga@seattleschools.org

For Vietnamese, call Quang Hoang at 206-252-7734 or email qvhoang@seattleschools.org