Merriment, magic, mischief and mayhem are afoot in the forest as RGMS Drama presents "A Midsummer Night's Dream" (see performance schedule below). We thank our lucky stars that such discord never affects our amazing volunteers! You can help our cast and crew put on another successful show by signing up during the RGMS fall play. There are many items to be donated (especially during tech week) and also roles to fill before and during performances.
Sign up here and thank you for donating and volunteering! http://signup.com/go/UKyVCMV
• Nov 30 - Opening Night at 7:00 pm
• Dec 1, 7 - Performances at 7:00 pm
• Dec 2 - Performance at 2:00pm
• Dec 8 - Closing Performance at 7:00 pm

The RGMS PTA is hosting a dinner and grab and go snacks during conferences for our teachers and staff.
• November 19th: Grab and Go Breakfast/Snacks starting at 8:30am in the cafeteria kitchen
• November 20th: Soups, Salads and Breads will begins at 4pm in the faculty lounge
If you can contribute by either helping with set up/serving/clean up or providing part of the teacher meals, please sign up here http://signup.com/go/SwyqZvu We have such a giving and supportive community at Robert Gray. Thank you for helping us give back to our teachers!

Youth Uganda, a local non-profit, supports sustainable projects that enhance the well-being, health and education of marginalized people in Uganda. This fall, Youth Uganda is building a new library for the school Hope for Youth Uganda, a school providing primary school education to aids orphans and children who cannot afford state-sponsored schools.

We will be traveling to Uganda to help in the library construction and to buy books for the school. While we are there, we are taking new soccer uniforms for the three teams at the school. Local company Tursi Soccer has teamed up with us to provide the new uniforms, but we need your help to get shoes.

8:35 AM-12:00 PM, 1:15-4:00 PM, 5-7:45 PM

Online conference sign-up (including deleting conferences) will end at 3:00 PM on Sunday, November 18. After that time, conference additions, deletions, and changes will be done on paper at RGMS starting at 8:30 AM on Monday, November 19.
Start by clicking this link: ptc.rgms.org to get to the instructions page on the RGMS website.
On the webpage, you will see a link to the website where you actually sign up. It is very easy to use.
Please only choose one time slot per teacher in order for teachers to see as many students as possible.
Rather than scheduling conferences back-to-back, it works better to leave five minutes or more between each.
If you are signing up for multiple students, take your time so you do not double book.
Teachers and staff are not able to make changes for you. You can do this yourself following these directions:

How to Check, Delete or Make Changes to a Conference Request:

1. To change a conference(s), delete your current conference requests, then start the request process again. Do not contact teachers; they are not able to make changes to the myconferencetime schedules.
2. Click on this link: https://www.myconferencetime.com/robertgrayms/lookup/.
3. Type the email address you used to schedule the conference(s).
4. Click on the Send Me My Conference Schedule.
5. Check your email and follow the link.
6. The page will show details for each of your conferences and a Conference Detail >> link.
7. Click on the link for the conference you wish to delete.
8. Click on the button: Click to Remove {student's Name} and Make Conference Available to Others.
9. You will be prompted to confirm the cancellation. Click OK.

Got books? Join us in partnering with The Children’s Book Bank to collect a whopping 20,000 books during this year’s Children's Book Harvest book drive. Bring in your gently used or new books appropriate for babies, toddlers, elementary age children, and middle schoolers. Drop off your books at the Robert Gray Library from November 5th through November 20th. Our goal at Robert Gray is to collect 500 books! Of special need are books that feature children of color and books in Spanish. Consider donating new books that reflect the wonderful diversity of the PPS community. Cash donations are also accepted and allow The Children's Book Bank to purchase books in Spanish and other books not generally collected in the book drive. Families who wish to contribute cash to support the Children's Book Harvest may donate here. Please help us put a book in the hand of every child.
For more information contact: Teacher Librarian, Julie McMillan, jmcmillan@pps.net

Yearbooks orders will be placed only online this year using this link.
The cost is $20, a real bargain. Hard cover!
We will be looking for folks to be on this year's Yearbook Club to design, execute, proof, tag photos, take orders and distribute. 

RGMS would love it if parents would put money in their school meals account. We are in the hole by quite a lot. While we will not deny a child a meal, it does weigh heavily on us when we have outstanding debts. See the link to deposit funds at https://www.schoolcafe.com/ or send cash or a check to the school kitchen before school begins in the morning.

Our Positive Behavior Interventions & Supports (PBIS) lesson this month features the Be Internet Awesome project. The following fundamental practices make up its “Code of Awesome.”

1. BE INTERNET SMART: Share with Care
2. BE INTERNET ALERT: Don’t Fall for Fake
3. BE INTERNET STRONG: Secure Your Secrets
4. BE INTERNET KIND: It’s Cool to Be Kind

The Robert Gray Music Program is collecting Box Tops for Education! Please collect them and turn in all Box Tops to Mrs. Miller's box in the fall. There is also an app for your phone so we can collect more points.If you use the app, our group code is 360040 under Gray Middle School. Thanks so much!

Library fines/charges will show up in SchoolPay, the popular online payment system, so that students and families will be able to pay for lost or damaged materials online. The fines/charges will still show up in Destiny, the library information system. Students can log on to DESTINY to check for fines or charges.

AVID Tutors support the AVID Elective by running "tutorials." In the tutorials, students craft questions based on homework and the group uses academic protocols to develop critical thinking skills while answering the questions and helping each other with assignments. AVID Tutors guide the process in order for students to get the most out of it. Because these are small hour commitments, they make awesome jobs for parents working in the home, future teachers, and folks that like young and maturing adolescents. Consider applying today!

In this week's PPS Pulse: Flag-raising at Grant honors Native Americans; tips for flu and cold season

Students at Grant High School were invited to attend a flag-raising ceremony during lunch Thursday to recognize Native American Heritage Month, and school officials weren’t sure how many students would go outside on a chilly day. What they saw was a huge throng of students filing through the front door at the Marshall campus (Grant’s temporary home) to watch.

Sen. Ron Wyden wanted to hear questions from students, and he went to the right place last week when he held a forum in the Franklin High School auditorium.

Matthew Bacon-Brenes, a teacher mentor and a leading advocate for dual language immersion in Portland Public Schools, has been awarded a Horace Mann Award for Teaching Excellence for 2019 from the NEA Foundation and Horace Mann.