Happy Summer! Read Ms. Westphal's Welcome Letter here, and click here for more information related to the start of 2017-18.

Dear Hosford Community:

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. 

All students who were receiving free or reduced-price meal benefits at the end of last year must complete a NEW meal application for the 2017-18 school year. Students who have not submitted a new application will be required to pay full price starting Thursday, October 12th.

Applications are available at your school office, cafeteria and online at www.pps.net/nutrition.

If your child attends a Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) school, you do NOT need to submit a free or reduced-price meal application. All students at CEP schools do not pay for school meals. The CEP schools are: Alliance @ Meek, Boise Eliot/Humboldt, Cesar Chavez, George MS, Harrison Park, King, Lent, Pioneer @ Youngson, Rigler, Rosa Parks, Scott, Sitton and Woodmere.

The Portland School Board on Friday unanimously voted to hire Guadalupe Guerrero to lead Portland Public Schools as its next superintendent.

Guerrero, now a deputy superintendent in San Francisco Unified School District, has dedicated himself to ensuring that all students – especially those traditionally underserved – have access to a well-rounded education that sparks learning and success in school.

Welcome to our weekly newsletter PPS Pulse. The current issue has great information on how PPS is preparing for back to school, introductions to our new board members and exciting news about our next superintendent Guadalupe Guerrero.

Three new members joined the PPS Board after the May 16 election, bringing a wealth of experience, activism and passion to the job. Julia Brim-Edwards, Scott Bailey and Rita Moore were inaugurated last month and will serve the PPS community for at least the next four years. Brim-Edwards was elected chair. Moore was elected co-vice chair along with Julie Esparza Brown.