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When students from Cleveland High School’s Advanced Commercial Foods and Baking class visited Hosford Middle School last month to try out a new recipe they called Baked Pears Goat Cheese Sunflower Seed Delight, the results of an informal sticker poll were very much on the positive side: 26 kids liked it and 30 loved it. Twenty-two were on the fence.
Sixth grader Isaac Huynh was in the latter category. “I’ve had goat cheese before, but this goat cheese tastes different,” he said. “I think the whole thing might have been better with whipped cream.”
Ever wondered if dogs might be able to sniff out cancer? Or how Magic the Gathering is connected to the Satanic Panic of the 1980s? Or if your running watch might be gaslighting you?
Seniors in the Cleveland High School International Baccalaureate (IB) program answered these questions – and many more – at the 15th annual Extended Essay Senior Showcase on February 21. The showcase gives IB students the opportunity to present the results of two years’ worth of research into academic topics of their choosing. The topics begin as inquiry questions, which students then investigate and eventually answer in the form of a 4000-word essay.
At first glance, the annual Portland Public Schools district calendar might seem to fulfill one crucial function: to alert students, staff, and families to the days when school is in session and when it is not.
If that were the case, crafting the calendar would be the work of days, if not hours. In fact, the calendar is a multipurpose living document that involves meticulous planning and careful forethought to ensure the best possible outcomes for students and staff. It also reflects the needs and observances of the many diverse communities the district serves.
Ethan Kramer, Beaumont Middle School’s assistant principal, sees middle school math as so much more than 2x + 3y = 5.
“It’s helping to build the logic center – the prefrontal cortex – in analysis and processing,” he said. Given this, Kramer and others believe that middle grades instruction must lay a strong foundation to support more challenging math concepts in the future – first high school, then beyond.
But what are the components of that foundation? And how is it best established?
The district’s middle grades core academics team and its grades 6-8 math committee have spent the last year weighing these questions in tandem with educators and community stakeholders. Their goal: a comprehensive math curriculum that challenges students without rushing or skipping over key concepts.
Hello Vernon Community,
Vernon is a diverse and vibrant neighborhood school with an international focus. Because Vernon is home to diverse, creative, and supportive community, it lends itself like no other to the International Baccalaureate (IB) program. Our diverse population and the IB framework help to create a uniquely rich school culture.
Vernon is an authorized International Baccalaureate/Primary Years Program (IB/PYP grades K-5) and International Baccalaureate/Middle Years Program (IB/MYP grades 6-8). Our teachers have completed extensive IB training that helps them hone their skills in the latest instructional practices, assessment and child development in order to bring your child an educational experience that is world-renowned. We know that IB offers tremendous advantages for students, helping them to become internationally minded students who can be successful at any level.
Our use of the IB framework allows us to provide a well-rounded program that incorporates the PPS curriculum with a focus on conceptual learning and our connectedness to a global society. In kindergarten through eighth grade, students explore world language. In addition, our curriculum builds on district and state standards delivered through internationally developed, research-supported educational practices. Inquiry is a primary vehicle for learning, and is used to integrate higher order thinking, questioning, and application of content knowledge through interdisciplinary learning. Students participate in authentic projects that promote responsible citizenship, applying content knowledge through community action. Developing students as learners is fundamental to IB, and our use of Learner Profile as well as IB Attitudes and Outcomes help us strive to be the best we can be. Students regularly assess and reflect on their mastery of becoming a thoughtful learner.
Finally, parents are actively involved at Vernon. Volunteers are welcome in classrooms, helping to extend and enrich the curriculum. Programs offered through our SUN after school program provide additional academic and enrichment opportunities to hundreds of students each year. We invite families to join us for these wonderful opportunities as part of our learning community. As the Principal at Vernon, I hear everyone from staff to families talk about the positive atmosphere here. They describe Vernon as a place that just feels good to be, where the environment is deeply caring. Vernon's quality staff, dedicated to academic achievement for all, makes Vernon a great place to learn for over 460 students.
Come grow with us,
Ben Keefer
Principal
6:00 PM - 9:00 PM School Board- Budget Work Session with vote on a consent agenda
4:30 PM - 6:00 PM School Board - Facilities and Operations Committee meeting
5:45 PM - 7:30 PM PTA Meeting
9:30 AM - 10:30 AM Principal Coffee Hour
5:45 PM - 7:00 PM Families of Black Students meeting
6:00 PM - 9:00 PM School Board- Regular Meeting
5:45 PM - 7:30 PM STEAM Committee meeting
9:00 AM - 2:00 PM Vision & Hearing Screening (K-1-3)
4:30 PM - 6:00 PM School Board - Student Success Committee
8:30 AM - 1:30 PM Vernon's Day - PTA Clothing Center
9:30 AM - 2:00 PM 5th grade field trip
2:30 PM - 3:00 PM Kindergarten Meet & Greet
4:30 PM - 6:00 PM School Board - Facilities and Operations Committee meeting
5:45 PM - 7:30 PM PTA Meeting
6:00 PM - 9:00 PM School Board- Study Session with vote on a consent agenda