TOMORROW – Bottle Drop, 8:30 - 9:00 am
TOMORROW – Sellwood Middle School Incoming 6th Grade Info Night, 6 - 7:30 pm
3/23 Thursday – Lewis Dines Out at La Buca, 5 - 9 pm
3/27 - 3/31 – NO SCHOOL - Spring Break
4/11 Tuesday – Timber Joey visits K-3
4/13 Thursday – Connect to Kindergarten Meet and Greet, 6 pm
4/22 Saturday – Earth Day Garden Party, 10 - 12 pm
4/29 Saturday – Garden Fair & Plant Sale Pick-up, 10 - 12 pm
Dear Lewis Community,
The days are flying by and we are certainly getting closer to Spring break. Once the break is over we will hit the final stretch to the end of the school year! Last week we had a wonderful visit from Dr. John Franco, the Chief of Schools for PPS. I got to spend the morning showing off Lewis, the teachers, the wonderful learning and your children. Dr. Franco called our school a "hidden gem." Which we all agree is true! I love being able to show off all of the good things happening in our building, while at the same time talking about the support we need to make our little school even better.
Last Friday night we had our first ever Lewis Multicultural Fair. THANK YOU to Olivia Aregood and Osama Lakhdar-Ghazal (first grade parents) for all of their hard work putting this amazing event together. Wonderful performers, food and fun! Thank you to all who helped out in so many ways. We had a fabulous turn out and look forward to bringing the event back in future years.
As you are aware the district has had to make cuts this year at many schools. Lewis is one of the schools that was affected. If you listen to a Portland Public Schools board meeting, you'll almost certainly hear about the impacts of declining enrollment. During the pandemic, when public schools were closed, many private schools were open. Some families made the choice to go to school in-person or to homeschool, and still other families chose to stay online after finding that worked better for their kids or families. There's also a declining birthrate, and people moving out of Portland. Bottom line: fewer kids mean fewer dollars.
This week, I would like to give each of you a task to "choose your own adventure" and talk to at least one person about neighborhood public schools. You could remind your neighbor about Lewis's Connect to Kindergarten event on April 13th or May 18th at 6pm. You could talk to your friend who is considering private school or a focus option school about why neighborhood public schools are a great choice. Or you could think of some other way to celebrate public schools. With more students enrolled at Lewis we will access more funds to support our students.
On another note, I want to thank all of our volunteers! We have many who have been volunteers in the classroom, with the SMART program, and at our school events, and in the cafeteria. Kelly, our Head Nutrition Service Lead has been grateful for the daily support and I know your children are always excited to have their parents serve lunch. When signing up to volunteer please be mindful of giving the opportunity to others. My hope is that everyone gets an opportunity if they would like and it works into their schedule. I know that many of you volunteer on your day off, or juggle your work schedule to be at school. Please know that it is very appreciated. We love our volunteers and you all help make Lewis a great place to learn and grow.
At the PTA meeting it has been brought to my attention that there are issues of "safety concerns" in our school community. If you have a concern, please share it with your classroom teacher or myself. I believe that knowledge is power and if we don't know something we can't address it. Safety is important to all of the staff at Lewis. We work hard to make sure that your children and quite frankly everyone in the building is working and learning in a safe environment.
As we jump into spring we have lots of things happening. Classroom field trips, assemblies, Lewis PTA auction, discussions about funding a new play structure and what it could look like, garden/plant sales, and garden programs, Walk and Roll and celebrating with roller skating at Oaks park, Pride parade, and honoring our volunteers...the list could go on and on. So many wonderful events that support our students and community. Please be sure to read the weekly newsletter to stay informed on the many upcoming events. Let's hope for many more sunny days as we head into spring, giving everyone the opportunity to get outside, enjoy some fresh air and focus on learning and growing in our community.
Please note that the School Board has voted to add back one of our snow days to the end of the year. Our last day of school will be on Wednesday, June 14th.
Happy Spring!
Deanne
Deanne Froehlich
dfroehlich@pps.net
Principal
Lewis School
5th Grade OMSI Outdoor Science Camp
Lewis Community,
We are so close! Please help us get these kids to science camp. Any amount, no matter how small, is helpful. Use this link: https://gofund.me/52fc6c89 or the QR code below to donate. Please also share it with friends and family.
Thank you!
Lewis Dines Out at La Buca 3/23
Lewis Plant Sale - Pick up on 4/29 at the Lewis Garden Fair
Order here by 4/5:
https://forms.gle/pb7koy94Wh56ePQJA
Come one, come all and get your Girl Scout Cookies!
Your friendly Lewis Girl Scouts from Troop 10505 and Troop 11886 will be selling cookies after school on the playground on the following days:
Thursday March 16th
Friday March 17th
Tuesday March 21st
Thursday March 23rd
Friday March 24th
All sales benefit the selling goals of the girls and help them to be able to do fun act-ivities with their troops and donate money to charities they support. Thank you for your support!
Lewis Auction 5/20
Consider donating an auction item!
We're in need of:
- Gift cards of any value
- Bottles of wine ($25+ value)
- Tickets to local events or experiences from season pass holders
- Time in vacation homes
Art of Science
4/4 - 6/6
Tuesdays 3 - 4:30
Register here
Basketball with Portland Reign
Here is the link to register online.
Play-Well Lego Classes
To register go to:
Play-Well TEKnologies - Teaching Engineering to Kids
Community Resource of the Week: Support Groups for Family and Friends of People Struggling with Addiction
One of the most powerful experiences in life is finding other people who understand the difficult situation you are going through. This is especially true when a loved one is struggling with addiction. It can be hard to find people to talk to, due to misunderstandings about addiction and general stigma. Here are a few organizations that offer free in-person and online support groups to talk about how a loved one's addiction affects you and to learn new tools to use in your life.
-SMART Family & Friends meetings: https://www.smartrecovery.org/family/
-Al-Anon meetings: https://al-anonportlandoregon.org/find-a-meeting/
-Nar-Anon meetings: https://www.nar-anon.org/find-a-meeting
-NAMI Oregon Family Support Group meetings (these are focused on general mental health conditions, not addiction-specific): https://namior.org/support-groups/
If you could use help finding other community resources, or have worries about how a loved one's struggles are affecting a student at school, please reach out to me and I would be happy to support in any way I can!
Laura Powers
lpowers@pps.net
(971) 387-6355
