9/10 Friday - Lewis Dines Out at Nectar
9/13 Monday - Virtual PTA meeting, 6:30 - 7:30pm
9/18 Saturday - Garden Work Party, 10am - noon
9/21 Tuesday - Virtual Back to School Night, 5:30 - 7pm, more information to come
9/25 Saturday - Garden Committee meeting, 11am - noon
10/15 Friday - Picture Day
News From The Gym
We are so happy to be back doing in-person PE! For most of September we will review rules, safety protocols, and assign seats so we have proper spacing to help keep everyone safe. We will always warm our bodies inside the gym and teach a different warm-up game each class. This will be part of our routine throughout the year. Our main focus in September will be transitioning outside to learn Recess Games and play them as a class so students have options each recess. We will be using equipment in batches and sanitizing throughout the day to keep everyone as safe as possible. Students will also be using hand sanitizer on the way into the gym and teachers will have the students wash their hands once they exit the gym.
Here is to a healthy, active year!
Best,
Mr. D.
News From The Music Room
Hello All,
It has been a difficult 18 months. Thank you for joining me online for music classes last year. Even though it was challenging, we did manage to have some really nice musical moments. With that being said, I am so very excited to be having live, in-person music classes this year! Music is a tough subject to teach and learn in an online group setting; but making music together, live and in-person, has such energy and life! As of this writing I have seen all classes except for our new Kindergarten students. I can’t wait to meet them at the end of this week.
Now, even though we are doing music in-person in the music room, because of COVID we still have some big limitations to the types of activities we can do safely. First and foremost masks are worn at all times. This is extremely important in keeping each other safe, especially when singing. Secondly, we will keep at least 3 feet apart at all times. This includes when we are playing instruments (more on this later). For this first month we will be working on body percussion, reading rhythms and finding our singing voices again. Singing with a mask on is difficult at best for children. We will be taking it slow with some easy to sing songs and fun rhythmic chants.
Speaking of instruments, we will not be sharing them this year. What I mean is that in the past we have partnered up when playing instruments like floor drums, and xylophones. But to keep cross contact to a minimum, we won’t be doing that this year. When we do play class instruments, an instrument will be assigned to a student for the entire class. They can change things up the next time they come to music. We also won’t be able to play wind instruments like the recorder during class time. We will be sticking to individual percussive instruments like drums, shakers, metal, woods and xylophones. I’m also not sure about dancing yet. We will not be able to have partners like we did in the past, but I’m working on ways we can try some contactless dance.
As for Band, Boomin Beats and Recorder Club, those groups are still on hold. I hope at some point that we can have these groups again, but right now we just don’t have the spaces available to hold these large groups.
As you can see, currently there are more restrictions and precautions than any of us would like. But I do feel that safety has to be our biggest concern at the beginning of the year. I know over time we will figure out how to do many of the activities that kids love from music class. Just seeing their faces and hearing their voices this past week has been such a gift and I hope that we’ll be making some great music together this year.
Best,
Mr. Jamesbarry
The Music Room -
Optional Mat Purchase For Outside Lunches
We have found an affordable sitting mat for outside eating on those rainy/damp days yet to come. They pack up small and will fit in backpacks to take to and from school. Families can wipe them down at home. And this will help teachers, staff and students stay safe and dry during outside lunch.
Please consider purchasing 2 for $9.99 for your child and a classmate with this amazon link. This is one option but you might find other similar mats online.
https://www.amazon.com/Waterproof-Backpacking-Mountaineering-Trekking-2PCS-Red/dp/B08S6S16MJ/ref=sr_1_4?crid=1ROSTKCECMVWM&dchild=1&keywords=camping%2Bfoam%2Bpad%2Bwaterproof%2Bxpe%2Bfoam%2Bseat&qid=1630694114&sprefix=camping%2Bfoam%2Bpad%2Bwaterproof%2Bxpe%2Caps%2C231&sr=8-4&th=1
Southeast Guiding Coalition
Portland Public Schools has launched a multi-year process to balance student enrollment and programs across the district. As part of this effort, a PPS Southeast Guiding Coalition (SEGC) has been tasked with developing a plan for adjusting school boundaries, feeder patterns, and/or program placements at Lane Middle School and Harrison Park K-8 School. The District is committed to utilizing an authentic, inclusive, and transparent process to garner ideas from diverse communities and develop a representative, inspiring vision for the future. To this end, the District seeks to engage stakeholders from diverse racial/ethnic backgrounds in meaningful conversations about how PPS schools can best serve Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) students. These conversations will inform the development of potential enrollment balancing scenarios that align with the District's racial equity / social justice (RESJ) goals and honor the experiences of BIPOC families.
Additional details, including session dates and time, are listed in the attached flyer. All dialogue sessions will be held virtually via Zoom. If you are a current or incoming BIPOC student, parent, or teacher at Lane, Harrison Park, or a neighboring school, please complete a registration form for an upcoming dialogue session by selecting the appropriate link below. We look forward to talking with you soon!
English Language Form: https://bit.ly/PPS_SEGC
Spanish Language Form: https://bit.ly/SEGCSpanish
Somali Language Form: https://bit.ly/SEGCSomali
Russian Language Form: https://bit.ly/SEGCRussian
Chinese Language Form: https://bit.ly/SEGCchinese
Vietnamese Language Form: https://bit.ly/SEGCVietnamese
Monday: First PTA Meeting
Join us Monday for our first PTA meeting of the school year. While we had hoped to have it in person in the gardens, we are adjusting to virtual meetings with health and safety in mind.
Here is your invitation to join our first PTA meeting on Monday September 13th, 6:30-7:30! Come meet the team, join the team and have fun! This link will be used for all future meetings as well. We hope to see you on screen for the meeting!
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81784153488
Thursday: BottleDrop
Bring your blue bags to Lewis 8:30-9:00 on Thursdays. Your donated bottles and cans add up to roughly $5000 per year. All of it goes back into our school community and makes a huge impact on our school. Please drop off your full blue bags outside the front entrance to the school. You may also drop off full bags at any of the BottleDrop centers.
https://www.bottledropcenters.com/
Friday: Lewis Dines Out at Nectar
Support Lewis teacher projects and cool off with froyo this Friday! Nectar will donate 15% of Friday’s sales to Lewis PTA! We are really hoping for a great turnout at Nectar especially since this is their first year participating in Lewis Dines Out. Mark your calendars, invite your friends and head on down the hill for some froyo after school or dinner (or before dinner, we won’t judge)! Let’s make them want to keep supporting Lewis in future years.
Volunteer Opportunities
Calling all volunteers! The Lewis PTA has lots of opportunities for you to help out around the school. Keep an eye out for an email this week with specific ways you can be involved on or off campus.
Get Involved with the Lewis Gardens
Welcome to Lewis. If you're new to the school or new to being back on campus full time, we want to introduce you to one aspect that makes Lewis such a special school. Lewis is lucky to have a giant school garden. It is one of the largest such spaces citywide. The garden is made up of many different parts. They include the raised beds in front of the 5th grade and kindergarten classrooms, the two rain gardens that filter stormwater on the blacktop, the butterfly garden along SE Evergreen made up of native plants that attract pollinators, and the back garden space that sits behind the school.
The main garden space on the backside of the school spans the entire building length. There is a large vegetable garden space that has been recently overhauled and raised beds built by a local Boy Scouts troop. We have been growing food for our kids to graze and to serve members of our community who are food insecure. There are also large areas of native and shade garden, including the old apple trees that line the fence along SE Glenwood that actually pre-date the school. There are tons of hidden gems including prior class art projects, a totem pole, and two outdoor shelters. Our students and staff were lucky to be able to make use of this large space last year to help spread out classes and use more outdoor space. They will continue to do so this year. We are also currently in the process of having the whole garden certified as Native Habitat with the Backyard Habitat program.
If you are interested in learning more or getting involved, we invite you to join our motley crew. There are many ways to get involved. We always encourage individuals to bring their families and join a work party. We have these roughly every month or two. Given how large the garden spaces are, we need as much help as people can offer. Participating in work parties provides a sense of pride and ownership and helps us teach our children the practice of volunteering. A well-loved garden space is part of a well-loved and maintained school. We are proud of Lewis and looking for folks to help us build and grow what we have. Our first work party is scheduled for Saturday, September 18 from 10 AM - 12 PM.
Another way to get involved is by attending and contributing to our Garden Committee at meetings. The first Garden Committee meeting of the year will be held Saturday, September 25th from 11 to 12 in the back garden under the shelter. Please come wearing a mask. We will be meeting outside and socially distant. If you cannot make the meeting but are interested in learning more, please email Lewis parent Pauline Ruegg at pclauterbach@gmail.com
Lastly, we always encourage folks to peek in and explore the garden spaces. The kinder beds are a great chance for children to pick a cherry tomato, munch on some beans, or explore the seeds inside a sunflower. The back garden space is open every day during school hours. We encourage you to pick an apple, find a bird nest, stay and play for a while and come to love the space as much as we do. See you out in the garden.
Student Health Center Locations
YEARLY VERIFICATION
Please log onto ParentVue (https://parent-portland.cascadetech.org/portland/PXP2_Login.aspx) in order to complete your student's Yearly Verification. This is required by all parents each year and replaces the paper forms we used to send home. It is vital that we have this updated information ASAP since we use this information for emergencies and pick up contacts.
Once you have logged in, look at the top of the screen and find the Online Registration/Yearly Verification button. Click on it and take a few moments to update your student’s information. Make sure you complete the YEARLY VERIFICATION and not the Online Registration. You need to do this for each of your children.
Be sure to update and check your student’s In Case of Emergency list. These are the people (other than parents/guardians) we will release your student to! (REMEMBER: you can update this list at any time during the school year by returning to this page! Did you know there is a ParentVue app? Great for those emergencies where someone not currently on your student’s list needs to be added, but you are away from your computer!)
Forgot your password? There’s a way to reset it! (Please use this system instead of contacting the office. Once you have an account, we cannot re-send the Activation Key)
Have you never logged into ParentVue before? Monday August, 9th the PPS IT department sent an email to all parents/guardians with inactive accounts. Please check your spam folder if you did not receive it.
Did you turn in a paper enrollment after August 9th? Contact the Lewis office at 503-916-6360.
Still having trouble? Contact the PPS support line at 503-916-3375 or support@pps.net. You may be asked for your student’s ID number.
Need more information about ParentVue? Check out the district’s webpage: https://www.pps.net/Page/2341
Attendance Reminders
If your child will be absent please do one of the following:
1. Email your child's teacher and copy Nancy Smith, our School Secretary, so the teacher knows what to expect for the day and so Nancy can mark it appropriately in our attendance.
OR
2. Call our attendance line at 503-916-6366
Please be sure to be clear about your child's first and last name, grade, teacher and reason for absence. If your child is ill and you think it is Covid-related then please let us know that too. You will receive a call from us to gather more information. Thank you in advance.
Oregon Battle of the Books
Calling all 3rd - 5th graders interested in participating in this year’s Oregon Battle of the Books (OBOB) competition. Be on the lookout for notification of an informational meeting early in the school year. In the interim, this is a great time to begin thinking about a team and to get started on the reading. Each team is comprised of five students and must have an adult coach. More information, including the book list, can be found on the OBOB website. Hope to see you at the TBD meeting!
