Welcome Back Letter

Greetings Families,

School is about to start; welcome to 2025-26 at Twality Middle School! Every new year is a little different, and here are some things that will be a little different this year.

New Staff

We are excited to welcome a number of new staff members to Twality this year, including Family Partnership Advocate Blanca Martinez, Associate Principals, Stevie Drake and Jeff Grigsby, and Dean of Students Jennifer Hunter Tindle. Contact information for all four of these folks is on the Twality Middle School website. You’ll see some new faces in 7th grade and 8th grade, and we’ve said some very fond goodbyes to David Sammond and Kate Spegal in 6th grade. 

Your Student’s Schedule

We know students are anxious to see their schedules, but we’re still putting on the finishing touches. Schedules will be viewable on StudentVue/ParentVue on August 26.  If you have questions about your student’s schedule, please use the following Schedule Inquiry Form to interact with your student’s counselor. Counselors are ready to partner with your family to support your student’s return to school: 

Brittany Volk, 6th grade, bvolk@ttsd.k12.or.us

Makenna McMillen, 7th grade, mmcmillen@ttsd.k12.or.us

Sue Porter, 8th grade, sporter@ttsd.k12.or.us

Food!

We want the very best for your children when they come to Twality, and for that reason, we do ask for family cooperation around a few “food” related things. 

1. We ask that you do not use food delivery apps to send lunches or special treats to your child during school hours. The office is a busy place when students are here, food being delivered gets turned away. 

2. If your child forgets their lunch it is important to know that every student can get a (one) free breakfast and a (one) free lunch every day at every TTSD school. You can also drop a meal off for your child (and only your child) in the office and we will let them know it is waiting for them at their lunch time.

3. We do not allow students to bring energy drinks. The research on what high sugar/high caffeine drinks to adolescent brains is sufficient for us to say they do not have a place at Twality. We’ll set closed containers aside for them to take home-open cans and containers will be disposed of.

4. We also require students to have water bottles and beverage containers that close (a screw top, a “squirt” top that closes completely. We discourage cups with straws, as they are just too prone to accidental spills and problematic hallway cleanups. 

Student Lockers will be issued the week of September 8th

Students do not get their lockers immediately at Twality. For this reason, we suggest you wait to send school supplies (or locker decorations) to school until class information has come home and you have a complete list of the supplies students need for their classes. If students have items that need to be stored, for example equipment for sports practices after school, we will work with them and their teachers to find a safe location until lockers are assigned. Every student will receive a locker. Need assistance with school supplies? Contact the Twality Main Office at 503-431-5202. 

TTSD Electronics Policy

Good news! Twality students are receiving new Gen 10 Ipads this year. And with those come a few changes that families can help prepare their students for:

1. Students will now be logging themselves into their Google accounts and applications. In order to do that, they need to know their email and passwords. All TTSD students’ emails follow this pattern 2-digit graduation year:last name:first initial@ttsdstudents.org. Example: 90kosmalas@ttsdstudents.org .8th graders are the class of 2030 so an 8th grade email would look like 30grade8s@ttsdstudent.org. Passwords are the first letter of your child’s first name capitalized,  followed by the student id and the first letter of their last name, lower case. For example, S123456k.

2. Ipads are assigned by student and are intended for that student. It is their responsibility to take care of it, make sure it is charged, and remember that it is for school use. Students and families should be aware that the network tracks things like searches, emails and document revisions. 

3. These ipads do not have standard headphone jacks. Students will need wired headphones with usb-c connection to listen to music or media.

Twality Middle School has a “bell to bell” no personal electronics policy. Students and families will receive much more information on this policy in the month of September, most of the basics remain the same:

1. Students may not be on personal electronic devices between 8:15 and 3:10-from the time they enter the building until they exit the building for the end of the day.

2. Personal electronics include: cell phones, bluetooth connected headphones (all types), personal ipads or gaming devices, and smart watches. See above: students will need wired headphones with usb-c connector.

3. TTSD does not assume responsibility for any personal electronics lost or damaged at school.

What will be different is that students can no longer carry their phones in a pocket in their clothing-phones and other devices have to be secured in a backpack/bag or locker. 

School News and Information

Events and dates, school information and more can all be found on the Twality Middle School web page, and are usually ALSO in the Twality Family newsletter that comes out weekly. 

See you in September!   Susan Kosmala, Principal