• Fencing
• Explorations in Theatre
• Pinata Intensive
• Mathquest
• Japanese
• Coding Club
• Stress-Less Morning Yoga
• Lego Robotics- FULL
• Drawing
• Hosford Speech & Debate Team
• Cooking- FULL
• Archeology
• Chess Club
• Yearbook Club
• Improv Club
• Homework Club

I am very pleased to welcome Amy Slaughter as our new Assistant Principal. In selecting the right match to support Hosford students and families, I was excited to be able to bring on a strong instructional leader with experience at both the middle school and high school levels. Amy has significant experience in supporting math instruction and racial equity work, and as the parent of two PPS students, she believes deeply in the importance of making strong neighborhood public education accessible for all students.

Amy started her teaching career as a middle school science teacher in Baltimore, Maryland. After moving to Portland in 2003, she worked for two years at St. Andrew Nativity School in NE Portland as a teacher and a graduate support coordinator. Amy has held multiple teaching and leadership positions in Portland Public Schools over the past 12 years. She taught Advanced Mathematics at Benson Polytechnic High School, and developed the TechGeometry course, in which students contextualize geometry while building houses for the homeless. During this time, she also worked with PPS high school students teaching math through Portland Evening and Summer Scholars. After nine years at Benson, Amy served as an Advanced Math Teacher on Special Assignment while also supporting proficiency grading and Synergy alignment at the district level.  Last school year, she served as the Instructional Specialist for Franklin High School, and helped lead teams that supported students through credit recovery, tiered intervention and teacher professional development. 

Amy has held a variety of teacher leader roles, and has been asked to serve on several panels for math education at the state level. She has also held the role of Vice Principal for the LEAP into 9th grade programs for both Jefferson and Franklin High Schools. 

Amy’s values align closely with Hosford’s core values of Friendship, Learning, and Commitment. She believes that it is essential to provide both high expectations and high support for all students, and that strong relationships are key to helping students develop into their best selves. Throughout her career, Amy has consistently advocated for students of color and actively worked to close the racial opportunity gap. She is excited to meet the students, families and staff of Hosford, and to work together to create a school community where each student thrives. 

Please join me in welcoming Amy to the Hosford community.

Sincerely,

Kristyn Westphal, Principal

For the last two years, we at Hosford Middle School have used the motto "Courage-College-Community" to encapsulate what we are about. This motto wasn't jointly created; it was a vision I set based on the existing longer Hosford mission statement so that we could immediately get down to the work of making Hosford a better, more welcoming place. The plan was always to then work with the community to develop a motto that reflected community values. While I loved the C-C-C framing, it didn't quite resonate with all of our middle schoolers. 

Prospective high school students can visit their neighborhood high school, alternative high school or a focus option school at information sessions being held district wide October through February. This is a great opportunity for students to tour their future high school and learn more about the academic and athletic programs offered.

Superintendent Guadalupe Guerrero pledged Monday to work in collaboration with ACCESS Academy leaders to find a solution that continues to provide educational services to the unique needs of students “that ACCESS excels at supporting.”

“It’s important to recognize that there may be particular students who may not be served well” in their traditional neighborhood school, Guerrero said during a PPS Board work session on middle schools. “I get it.”

Petra Callin, Emi Donis and Nate Waas Shull had plenty of notes to compare.

Callin, the principal of Madison High School, hosted Donis and Waas Shull on Thursday, Oct. 12, as part of the Principal for Almost a Day (PFAD) event. The program places business, government and civic leaders into public high schools in Multnomah County, including all 79 Portland Public Schools campuses.