Mattson Messenger
Dear Parents and Guardians,
March-April
2014
All schools in the Kent School District will be participating
in the new Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium’s
(SBAC) field tests in math and English language arts
this spring. The SBAC will replace the Measurements
of Student Progress (MSP) except in Science for grades 5 and 8 and End of
Course Tests for Algebra, Geometry, and Biology.
The Smarter Balanced Field Test will be delivered to over five million students in 23 states. Starting in the spring
of 2015, all Washington students in grades 3‒8 and 11 will take the new Smarter Balanced tests in math and
English language arts. The purpose of these tests is to measure whether students are on track to be college or
career ready after high school. These new tests will assess the Common Core State Standards in math and English
language arts, which State Superintendent Randy Dorn adopted in 2011.
The field test allows assessment and education experts to make sure the tests are fair and the questions work
the way in which they are intended. Participation in the field test also allows our school to see what it’s like to
administer these new online tests, to schedule appropriate time and computer use that affords all students the
opportunity to show all they know.
Participation in the field test also allows our teachers and students to learn about the new testing before scores
count in spring of 2015. Practice resources that simulate the online SBAC tests and align with learning standards
have been provided to classroom teachers for use in their classrooms in the months leading up to the field tests
so students feel prepared to do their best. Students will be provided opportunities following the field tests to
provide staff feedback so that we can learn from their experience as we continue to refine our instructional
practices and prepare them to reach new, higher Common Core Standards.
Because the field test is a trial run of new items and the test delivery system, there will be no scores for individual
students, schools, or districts. Rather, performance on individual items by students in many states will help determine how the new tests are put together and what scores will be needed to “meet standard” once the tests are
used statewide in 2015. Although students will not receive scores, families should encourage their children to do
their best given this is a great opportunity to prepare for future requirements.
The field testing window is March 18 through June 6, 2014. Students will take the tests online.
For more information about the Smarter Balanced tests and to try out a practice test, please visit www.k12.wa.us/
smarter. More information about the Common Core may be found at www.k12.wa.us/corestandards and for more
specifics about the process in the Kent School district at http://www.kent.k12.wa.us/CCSS.
Please call or email our school office if you have questions about state testing at our school. For answers to
technical questions you may have about this new assessment, you may call Kent School District’s Executive
Director for Testing and Assessment Razak Garoui, at (253)373-7225.
Thank you for continuing to work with us to make sure your child is successful. Please let us know if there is anything we can do to better support your child. We want your child to leave us with a solid foundation of skills and
a future full of opportunities.
MSP and SBAC Testing Dates for Mattson:
May 8: MSP Science Testing
May 7 and 9; May 12, 13, 14, 15 and 16: SBAC testing in Language Arts classes
May 27, 28, 29 and 30: SBAC testing in Math classes
NEWS aND EVENTS
Important Registration Information
9th Grade Registration: It’s time for us to begin the process of getting our eighth graders registered for ninth
grade. Kentwood and Kentlake counselors will be coming to Mattson on March 24th to give our eighth
graders the information they will need about registration. Kentwood counselors will be presenting the information
in English classes and Kentlake will be presenting in the Library. Counselors from both schools will be coming back
to Mattson on March 31st to register students online, so all students should remember to bring their laptops on
that day.
Kentwood Future Freshman Night will be held on March 27th at 6:30 p.m. You will learn everything you need to
know about Kentwood and high school registration. Please report to the Performing Arts Center first; following
the presentation you will be released to visit the Elective Fair.
Future Kentlake Falcon Night will be held on March 27th from 6:30pm-8pm. An Elective Fair will be held from
5:45pm- 6:30pm.
8th Grade Registration: The Mattson counselors will be going into the 7th grade English classes on March 10 th
and 11th to introduce the registration process for 8th Grade and to answer questions. Students will also begin to
register on that day. Students will have one week to register online. They can submit their registration information
online any time between March 10th and 19th. The counselors will return to the English classes during that week
to help complete the registration process for those students who have not submitted their registration information.
During registration week we encourage parents to review their student’s choices for next year. This can be done
by asking their student to go online and share the registration information that they are to complete and submit.
Students may self-select for our Honors Program. Our Honors Program includes three core classes: Honors
Language Arts, Honors Social Studies, and Honors Science. Students need to have met standard (400, L3) on their
most recent Reading MSP to be able to Self-Select.
Students will have an opportunity to select between a variety of electives. The one-semester electives we offer are
Woods I & II, Metals I & II, Drama, Art, and Home/Family Life. Our full year electives are Mixed Choir, School Annual/Yearbook, Show Choir, Cadet Band, and Advanced Orchestra. We ask our students to think carefully about the
electives they choose because changes in the fall are unlikely. Some of the elective offerings may change due to
staffing. We will be sure to let you know when we know.
It is important for you to know that we do try to honor elective choices whenever possible. However, due to limited
offerings and scheduling constraints we cannot guarantee that your student will have his/her chosen elective.
The Course Catalog for Middle Schools can be found on the School District website. Click on ‘For Families’ and
select ‘Course Catalogs’ under the menu on the left side of the page.
7th Grade STANG STEP‐UP NIGHT
Who: Sixth grade students and their parents
What: STANG STEP‐UP NIGHT!
When: March 20, 2013 / 6:30‐7:45 P.M.
Where: Mattson’s Gymnasium
Why: Information about 7th grade will be presented. Administrators, counselors, teachers and current Mattson
students will be available to answer your questions about 7th grade registration, academic expectations and
extracurricular activities. Tours of the school will be available. We look forward to seeing you!
News and Events continued
NATIONAL HISTORY DAY: Update from the Social Studies Department
The following 17 History Day projects were selected to represent Mattson at the regional
competition for National History Day at Green River Community College on March 27th.
These students were also invited to display their projects at the Kent Historical Society.
Congratulations for a job well done!
Daniel Bernik and Cade Harris: “The Wagner Act: 1935”, Group Website
Mitchell Harle: “The Stamp Act 1765”, Individual Website
Samantha Domingo and Iona Waight: “Brown vs. the Board of Education”, Group Exhibit
Hope Adams, Logan Foege, and Mykenzie Moriarty: “Votes for Women”, Performance
McLaughlin and Peter Vu: “Ernesto vs. State of Arizona”, Group Website
Madalyn Brobak and Gabrielle Rizzo: “Women in WWII”, Group Documentary
Sydney Carter and Rhilmina Sagapolutele: “Title IX: Women’s Time to Shine”, Group Exhibit
Grant Millard and Alex Maloy: “Communism’s Most Terrible Creation: The Berlin Wall”, Group Documentary
Christian Gealta and Davis Zerr: “Suspension without Redemption: Pete Rose”, Group Exhibit
Justin Plett: “The Fight for Free Agency”, Individual Website
Jordan Shimizu: “Japanese Internment Camps”, Individual Website
Ivy North and Sabrina Perez: “How to Dress: Changing Rights of Muslim Women”, Group Exhibit
Haley Torgerson: “The Railroad Strike of 1877”, Individual Exhibit
Justin Seiber: “Jackie Robinson”, Individual Exhibit
Nathan Cogswell and Devin Duong: “The KKK in Washington”, Group Documentary
Jaydn Campbell and Alexander Liechty: “The Chinese Exclusion Act”, Group Exhibit
Taryn Campbell and Skylar Pollak: “Title IX: It’s Not a Sprint, It’s a Marathon”, Group Exhibit
Mattson Annual Talent Show— Dates to remember
Wednesday March 19th: 1st tryouts after school, 3:15-5:15pm, Room 36. You will receive
constructive feedback.
Tuesday, April 1st: 2nd final tryouts and PARENT NIGHT in the Gym from 7pm-8:30pm
Wednesday April 2nd: School-wide Talent Show for select acts
Questions? See Mrs. Burn
Show Choir Tryouts
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Show Choir Workshops will be held in the Choir Room (Room 44) after school on
March 26th, March 28th, and April 1st. Come learn the dance and song for tryouts!
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Show Choir Tryouts will be held in the Choir Room after school on April 2nd, 3rd
and 4th. 15 girls and 15 boys will be selected for next years’ Show Choir .
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Contact Mr. Gilbert for further information
MATTSON LIFE
The 12th Man at Mattson
On January 31, Mattson staff and students celebrated Super Bowl Blue Friday by decking out in
Seahawks colors and gear. As you can see from these pictures, we went all out for our team. Two
days later we would be celebrating the greatest victory in Seahawks history—the 2014 Super Bowl
Championship. It was a season we will never forget!
Ping Pong Club
The Ping Pong Club, which meets Wednesdays after school, recently
had a tournament with some of the Mattson staff! Mr. Speer, one of our
7th grade social studies teachers, was our top staff player. Everyone had
excellent sportsmanship so a good time was had by all. The students
continue to improve their skills while having fun. There's always room
for more players! See Mrs. Scott in the Learning Lab, Room 34, for
more information.
Mattson Cheer: They Do it Again!
The Mattson Cheerleaders completed another undefeated season
to become the Washington State Champions for the fourth year in
a row. We are so proud of them!
Welcome Puerto Rican Friends
On January 23, Mattson hosted 18 civic and school officials from
Puerto Rico to showcase how our teachers utilize in the classroom.
Our visitors had the opportunity to visit and interact with students
and staff about how Kent’s 1-1 laptop program impacts student
achievement as well as the logistics of how we make it work in a
district of our size. It was a rich opportunity for our visitors as well
as our staff, who are truly teacher-leaders in their consistent use of
technology to provide high cognitive demand instruction to our
students. At right is a picture of the delegation with some of our
Mattson Staff (DeWayne Lindh, Administrative Intern; Sara Bentley,
LA; Glenn Harmaning, LA; Tammy Unruh, Principal; Riana York;
LA student teacher).
~ STUDENTS OF THE QUARTER ~
2nd Quarter 2013-14
Adams, Hope
Abdi, Fatuma
Antonelli, Paris
Babbitt, Kelly
Barlow, Emily
Bauer, Rhyan
Bergin, Taleah
Bergmann, Tianna
Bloomquist, Jacob
Bolt, Jacob
Brookey-Tingy, Ashley
By, Savonna
Carlsen, Kylie
Carter, Sydney
Chea, Tera
Clancy, Nichole
Collyer, Lisa
Corpuz, Dalton
Cosacchi, Peter
Crabtree, Kimberlynn
Cruz, Alondra
Cruz, Enrique "Ikkey"
Dance, Kody
Dhaliwal, Manmeet
Dunham, Hannah
Escalona, Sabrina
Everybodytalksbout, Jude
Fernandez-Sanchez,
Andrew
Filatov, Karina
Foege, Logan
Fox, Kyle
Fugate, Dashane
Garnica, Jesus
Glazier, Aubrey
Glazier, Taya
Goebel, Daniel
Gonzalez, Adriana
Graham, Melody
Griffin, Rachel
Hampton, Kalacious
Harris, Cade
Hirsi, Hikmo
Howard, Kyler
Huff, Garret
Iman, Warfa
Jaramillo, Brandon
Jarrell, Tate
Jensen, Aaron
Jimenez, Antonio
Johnson-Padilla, Elijah
Kalka, Taylor
Kushnerchuk, Victoria
Kushnirchuk, Igor
LaBorde, Alex
Laborde, Taryn
Layson, Alexander
Layson, Ben
Student and Staff of the Month
January Character Trait: CITIZENSHIP
7th Grade: Karen Aguayo and
Peter Cosacchi
8th Grade: Skyler Pollack and
Makana Macomber
Certificated:
DeWayne Lindh
Classified: Noelle Rogerson
Leyva, Cynthia
Loeffler, Karizma
Long, Cierra
Loria, Michael
Mahoney, Kimara
Martinez-Rodriguez,
Michelle
Mason, Pierson
McGraw, Michael
McLeran, Sean
Merrill, Isabella
Mills, Riley
Moody, Montana
Moore, CJ
Moreno, David
Natsuhara, Koji
Nguyen, Cindy
Novack, Tristan
Olson, Brittney
Opplinger, Jennifer
Phea, Mahalia
Plant, Leon
Plett, Connor
Plett, Jessica
Quintos, Abbey
Ransom, Amelia
Reaney, Cameron
Rebrik, Pavel
Rizzo, Gabrielle
Roggenbach, Ben
Rubino, Kaylah
Rupan, Anthony
Russell, Morgan
Salanga, Zach
Saling, Hannah
Sansaver, Riley
Sargent, Julia
Scheeler, Hannah
Sein, Alyzza
Shephard, Abigail
Smith, Malachi
Strakeljahn, Shauna
Suit, Hailey
Symon, Kylee
Torres, Deja
Valencia, Jesus
Vasquez, Julianna
Velazquez-Mendez,
Samuel
Veliz, Keila
Vu, Tommy
Warren, Rachel
Watson, Stephen
Whitcomb, Chandler
White, Deontaye
SAVE THOSE BOX TOPS !!
Can you believe it? Mattson
students and their families
contributed 1,923 valid box
tops during November, December, January,
and February. That means $192.30 for
Mattson! This is in addition to the hundreds of
dollars we received from the months of March
through October of 2013.
Thanks to all of you who saved and submitted
box tops, to Mrs. Harris for her hard work
coordinating the Box Tops for Education program, and to the students in Ms. Burn’s 6th
period class who collected, counted (by
class), and trimmed them.
Keep saving those box tops!
A Note from the Cashier: Parents, second semester is underway and your student may have a new
elective or class that has a fee. You can pay your student’s fees online using a debit or credit card by Following these easy steps:
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Log onto the Kent School District website www.kent.k12.wa.us
Click on the link “For Families”
Scroll down and click on “Online School Fee Payments”
Enter your student’s ID number, home telephone number and birthdate
Select the class or sport/activity fees that you want to pay and follow the instructions.
Print out a copy of your receipt for your records.
Payments for school fees may also be paid at the Mattson Cashier’s office daily from 8:30 am to 3:30 pm.
The cashier can accept cash or check payable to Mattson Middle School. If you have any questions,
Please call our cashier, Kathy Angus, at 253-373-6253.
Mattson Calendar
Mattson Office Hours
Main Office: 8:00 am to 4:00 pm daily (opens 8:15 am for students)
Cashier: 8:00 am-3:30 pm
Registrar: 7:45 am-3:15 pm daily
March 11: Girls’ Basketball, MA@TG, 3:45pm
Wrestling, TG@MA, 3:45pm
March 12: Orchestra Concert, KW, 7:00pm
March 13: Girls’ Basketball, CH@MA, 3:45pm
Office Contact Numbers
Wrestling, MA@CH, 3:45pm
Main Office: 253-373-7670
March 14: No School; Teacher’s Workshop day
Attendance Office: 253-373-7671
March 18: Girls’ Basketball, MA@NW, 3:45pm
Cashier: 253-373-6253
March 19: Talent Show tryouts, 3:15pm, Rm. 36
Wrestling, NW@MA, 3:45pm
March 22: Non-Varsity Round Robin @TJH, 8:00am
March 24: Spring Choir Concert, Gym, 7:00pm
SAFETY FIRST: THE SAFETY OF OUR
STUDENTS IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT TO US.
FOR SECURITY REASONS,
ALL PARENTS and GUESTS
COMING ONTO CAMPUS DURING OR AFTER
SCHOOL HOURS MUST CHECK IN AT THE MAIN
OFFICE FOR A VISITOR’S PASS.
March 25: Spring Band Concert, Gym, 7:00pm
March 29: Varsity Conference @KW, 8:00am
April 1:
Talent Show Parent Night, 7:00pm, Gym
April 2:
Late Start, School begins at 10:30am
School-wide Talent Show Assembly
April 2, 3, 4: Show Choir tryouts, Room 40
April 7-11: Spring Break, No School
PARENT INFORMATION RESOURCES
April 14:
Track season begins
MATTSON WEBSITE: This is a great way to keep up to date on
what is taking place at Mattson. To access the Mattson site, please
log into the Kent School District website, click on schools, and then
click on Mattson.
April 18:
Student of the Quarter, 2:20pm, MP room
April 23:
3rd Season Stang Night, 5:30pm, Gym
April 30:
Track, TG@MA, 3:45pm
May 7:
Late Start, School begins at 10:30am
PARENT EMAIL: If you have not received an email from Mattson
yet, we still need your email address. Please send your email
address to our Registrar Diane Barnes [email protected]
so you can start receiving important Mattson information via email.
Track, MA@MC, 3:45pm
May 14:
Track, NW@MA, 3:45pm
May 21:
Track, MER@MA, 3:45pm