Student safety is one of our highest priorities at Tillicum – socially, emotionally, and physically.  Our teachers and support staff work hard to provide explicit social emotional instruction, screening, and intervention.  In moving about the school, student safety is  further reinforced through our common schoolwide behavioral expectations illustrated through the acronym TMS. Specifically Tillicum Tigers:

• Take Responsibility
• Make Good Choices
• Show Respect

Parents are asked to partner with us in promoting physical safety by following our posted Drop-Off and Pick-Up Procedures.  In particular, if you drop your child off in the morning before school:

• Follow the indicated drop off route with a RIGHT TURN ONLY after entering the school off 160th AVE SE.
  • As you arrive in front of the school, pull all the way forward and have your child exit from the right side of the vehicle.
  • The right lane (curb) will always be drop-off and pick-up. The left lane is “thru” traffic.
  • NOTE: When entering the school off of 160th, turning left appears to bypass the drop-off line but puts you onto a 1 way road and endangers students when you drop them off in the middle of the parking lot.
• DO NOT pull over or stop on 160th AVE and let your child out of the car to scamper across the street to school.  This is incredibly unsafe for students, for you, and for other vehicles.  If you are running late, don’t worry.  I care a whole lot more about your child arriving safely than I do about them being 2 minutes late to class.  If you, as parent, really want to avoid the drop off line, then consider letting your kid out of the vehicle a block or more away from school

Thank you families for doing your part to help ensure student safety at Tillicum! Consider signing up to volunteer 20 minutes of your time in the morning from 7:25  – 7:45 as part of our Safe Arrival For Everyone (SAFE) team.  We’ll provide you with a fancy yellow safety vest, clipboard, safety flyers, and some training.  You’ll get to welcome students as they are dropped off and help encourage safe drop-off behaviors.  Click here to learn more and signup as part of the SAFE team.

Dusty Steere

Principal – Tillicum Middle School