NEWTech News - October 2022

October in National Bullying Prevention Month, a time to focus and raise awareness on bullying. In support of National Bullying Prevention Month, students and staff are encouraged to wear orange on Fridays. NEWTech's Health Career classes made anti-bullying posters and a banner to display throughout the building.

Important October Calendar Dates:

• Oct. 12 PSAT Testing Day:
  • Many of our sending high schools will be administering the PSAT test to their juniors on Wednesday, Oct. 12. We have marked juniors out for school activity to excuse their absence due to PSAT testing. Any junior who does not have to take the PSAT and attends their NEWTech Prep class on Wednesday, Oct. 12 will be marked present.
• Oct. 13 Professional Learning Improvement Day (PLID):
  • Spokane Public Schools’ staff will be participating in a district-wide PLID day on Friday, October 13th. Because of the PLID day, NEWTech Prep classes will not be in session on Friday, October 13th
• Halloween:
  • Spokane Public Schools, our host district, has moved away from the wearing of Halloween costumes at school. Students and staff are not permitted to wear Halloween costumes at NEWTech.

PowerSchool:

NEWTech Prep classes are year-long courses and are worth 1.5 credits each semester. Students' grades and attendance are kept in PowerSchool. PowerSchool provides real-time information regarding a student's NEWTech schedule, attendance, and grades. PowerSchool is internet based so you can login from any place you have internet access.

• Attention Mead and Central Valley School District Parents and Students: The User ID and Password for NEWTech is different from the User ID and Password used to access Mead and Central Valley School District's PowerSchool. A separate ID and Password are required to log in to PowerSchool through NEWTech's website.
• Student Absence Notification: Whenever your student is marked absent from their NEWTech class, you should receive an automatic notification via phone call in the evening of the day they were absent. To excuse your student’s absence from their NEWTech class, please call our 24 hr. attendance hotline @ 509-354-7400.

Moved? New phone number? To update your contact information or questions about PowerSchool, please contact our registrar, Mercedes Gunning, at 509-354-7459 or MercedesG@spokaneschools.org 

Welcome Wednesdays:

Do you know a current 10th, 11th, or 12th grader who might be interested in attending NEWTech Prep? Welcome Wednesdays allow prospective students to shadow in the NEWTech Programs they are interested in learning more about. Prospective students visit the NEWTech Programs during our regular AM or PM shifts. Our first Welcome Wednesday for 2022-23 will be held on November 2nd. Prospective students can sign up for this Welcome Wednesday by clicking here.

The next opportunity to enroll in a NEWTech Prep program will be for mid-year placement. The mid-year application will go live next month.

Employed, Enrolled or Enlisted? What’s Your ‘E’? 

Congratulations to Xander Loyd, a Senior from Lewis and Clark HS, in Mr. Horton's Automotive Technology program at NEWTech Prep. Xander is EMPLOYED by Corwin Ford as a Lubrication Technician! Congratulations to Elizabeth Tobeck, a NEWTech Prep Graphic Design and Digital Media student. Elizabeth was accepted into the Visual Communications Program at the Northwest College of Art and Design in Tacoma, WA!!

Teachers are Students Too!

Congratulations to Shannon Dale, our Pharmacy Technician instructor, and Kim Coleman, our Veterinary Assisting instructor, who recently completed their Plan 2 CTE teacher preparation program and were issued their WA State Initial CTE Teaching Certificate. The Initial CTE Certificate is the first level certificate that an educator can apply for when they have completed their CTE PLAN 2 program.

Community Outreach:

• Kathleen Proud (our Principal Assistant), Tricia Talbott (our counselor) and a few of our student ambassadors participated in the Unlock Your Future event at the HUB. This event provided an opportunity for middle school students to learn about career options and pathways post-high school that don’t always require a traditional 4-year degree.
• Industry Partnership Lewis Russell and Parker Russell, with Auto Paint Plus provided an overview of our Collision Repair Paint Mixing System and Paint Ratios Representatives from Gold Seal Plumbing spoke with students from our Skilled Trades Programs about employment opportunities with their company.
• Special thank you to, Andrew Beier, Account Manager for DeWALT Tools (WA/OR/ID/MT) and John Cervelli, Vice President of Sales with EDGE Construction Supply for their generous donation of tools to our Construction Trades program!

Application Based Learning:

• Industry Ready: Students in our Nursing Assisting program practicing and being assessed on technical skills. Our Nursing Assisting students have to perform their technical skills at the expected industry proficiency mark by the end of third quarter in order to be able to participate in the 80 hr. off-site clinical rotations fourth quarter.
• Our Culinary Arts Cafe is open to the public Tuesday thru Friday 8:45 a.m. - 10:15 a.m. and 11:45 a.m. - 1:15 p.m.!! We are located at 4141 N. Regal St. in Spokane.

We had a great first week of school! Here are some things to keep in mind as we've worked out some scheduling kinks:

Consortium Bus Schedule
Please click here to view our 2022-23 Consortium Bus Schedule.

Late Start Days

Spokane Public Schools:
NEWTech Prep does not participate in Spokane Public Schools’ late-start Mondays.
The Spokane Public Schools’ NEWTech buses follow their regular schedule Monday mornings with a scheduled arrival time of 8:00 AM.

East Valley Public Schools:
The East Valley Public Schools’ NEWTech bus will follow its regular schedule on Monday mornings with a scheduled arrival time of 8:10 AM.

Mead School District:
The Mead Public Schools’ NEWTech buses will follow a regular schedule, arriving at 8:05 AM every morning except on Wednesdays.
On late-start Wednesdays, The Mead Public Schools’ NEWTech buses will arrive at NEWTech at 8:40 AM.

Student Absence Notification

NEWTECH PowerSchool Parent and Student Access

PowerSchool will provide real-time information regarding a student's NEWTECH schedule, attendance, and grades. PowerSchool is internet based, so you can login from any place you have internet access.

Attention Mead and Central Valley School District parents and students:
The userid and password for NEWTECH is different from the userid and password used to access Mead and Central Valley School District's PowerSchool. The two programs do not communicate with each other; a separate User ID and password is required. Also, you will need to log in to PowerSchool through our website.

Please check PowerSchool regularly for up-to-date information on your student's grades and/or assignments. If you have any questions regarding your student's progress in class, please contact their instructor. If you have any questions or need assistance setting up your PowerSchool account, please contact our registrar, Meagan Pietz, at 509-354-7444 or MeaganP@spokaneschools.org