Principal's Message
Greetings Pleasanton Middle School Community,
On behalf of Assistant Principal's Ms. Cobb and Ms. Dukes, I want to officially welcome you to the 2023-2024 school year! My name is Marco Lopez, and I am honored to be your Pleasanton Middle School Principal. After serving the South San Francisco community since 2011 as Middle School administrator, I want to thank the entire PUSD community for entrusting me with the responsibility of leading this wonderful group of dedicated and passionate professionals and inspiring student body here at PMS. I am a husband and father of 3 children in primary and secondary education (Elementary/Middle/High School), so I 100% understand the importance of feeling that you can entrust your child with their school for 180 days/year. Safety, feeling respected, and feeling loved is our number one priority here at PMS. As long as we provide these essential components amongst our staff and student body on a daily basis, we will continue on our journey of academic prowess and becoming engaged world-class citizens.
After preparing for the past few weeks, we are ready for your children, the soul of our school! Our loyal group of teachers, counselors, support services staff, paraprofessionals, office staff, and custodial staff have worked tirelessly to prepare for the start of the school year. In many cases, educators spent hours over the summer engaged in professional development seminars, while site staff worked on preparing logistics for the upcoming school year, not to mention the enhancement of site grounds. In an effort to ensure that all incoming families have the essential information needed for a smooth start to the school year, below are a few key items you will need to keep in mind:
- Student pick up/drop off: Please DO NOT park in the BUS ZONES and RED ZONES and PLEASE be mindful of pedestrians when driving through the parking lot.
- ALL visitors must check in with the front office. Parents/community members are not allowed on campus (unless you have made an appointment to meet with a staff member), especially on an already chaotic first day of school. Trust us, we got this!!!
- Math 6/7 placement requests: Parents, we understand that you may have received information over the summer that may have changed the trajectory of your child's Math 6 placement. Our staff is working diligently with site and district office personnel to ensure that your child is appropriately placed in their math class. We will be administering MAP assessments during the week of 8/14, and we will be making a final round of Math 6/7 placements based on these assessment results within the first 10 SCHOOL DAYS. Your patience is truly appreciated as we are receiving updated information on a daily basis, and each student needs to be evaluated on a case by case basis.
- PMS will have a service dog in our school assisting one of our students. This service dog is a highly trained companion for the student and is able to assist them in many of the daily routines while learning at school, and is recognized by an accredited Canadian training facility. The student's right to have a certified service dog is protected under Human Rights legislation and the School Act and therefore can be with the handler in all aspects of his/her education.
Yours in Solidarity,
Marco A. Lopez
Principal
Pleasanton Middle School