Friday 9/25/2020 

Dear Llewellyn Families, 

I want to thank everyone who was able to join us Monday night for a discussion hosted by the  PTA and myself around schedules. I greatly appreciated and value the feedback and discussion around both the positives and the challenges of this fall’s schedules. I want to acknowledge again how much my staff and I appreciate the incredible effort you are putting into supporting your child(ren) during Distance Learning. We know this is not an easy task with many of you juggling the schedules of one or more students, balancing a professional life at home or away, and on top of all that, maintaining all that is involved in parenting and family life. 

In summary, much of the discussion was focused around: school start time, the number of transitions students make in a day, the amount of screen time students are asked to participate in, the placement of synchronous vs. asynchronous learning within the day, instructional requirements that shaped the making of the schedules, and attendance during specials. I know that not all families were able to attend the discussion so I have created a Q & A from the questions contained in the chat stream. Questions have been combined based on similarity of content. You can find that Q & A here. You can find the Instructional Schedule Components attached here: k-2 ed components.pdf 3-5 ed components.pdf  

After synthesizing and reflecting upon the feedback this week, my next steps are to share your feedback and questions with my direct supervisor to see where and if any flexibility can be made. I am also sharing the feedback with staff to see how we can better support you as teacher partners and our students to make sure that they enjoy a positive school experience during Distance Learning. I will share the outcomes of these conversations with you in next week’s Friday Newsletter. 

I am grateful for the recognition of our teachers efforts and their dedication to helping our students to thrive in a virtual environment. We also appreciate the acknowledgement of how tirelessly teachers are working to provide the best instruction and care for students that they can under incredible circumstances. We share these same feelings toward you as our teaching partners knowing what a huge challenge this is for you as well. 

We are all learning together, one day at a time and we will continue to adjust where needed, always keeping in mind the needs of our students and families. In just the short time we have been using these schedules, we have already seen students display resilience and adaptability as they settle into their new routines and daily schedules. For this, we are grateful. 

I hope this week has been better for you and your family. At least the weather has provided us with fresh air and the ability to be outside once again. One highlight is that on Tuesday alone, over 110 Book Bag collections were distributed to students by our incredible library team of Mrs. Gilkey and Ms. Shawen. And this was only the beginning! Thank you to our library staff for all the work you put into making this distribution happen even after not being able to get into the building for a week during the closures from wildfire smoke. 

Here are a couple more positives from a few of our teachers:

Mr. Rozell says, “100% of my kids are showing up every day and most are finishing assignments and few have complained about too much or too little work.” He is definitely enjoying getting to know his students!

Ms. Woods shared, “My positives are kids are loving the Book Creator website to tell and share stories. They are checking in with each before class meetings start and we take time to laugh a little each day.”

From the Kinder Team: “In kindergarten we have been learning about whole body listening. Today we did our first show and tell (stuffies) and the students did such a great job! We asked them to keep their stuffie out of sight until it was their turn to share and they followed directions so well! They loved sharing about their stuffie and listening to friends too!” 

Save the Date!  September 29th & 30th  Llewellyn Back To School Nights

We hope to “see” you!  

• Tuesday, September 29th will be Back to School Night for our K-2 families. 

• Wednesday, September 30th will be BTSN for our 3-5 families. 

Both evenings will begin with a Principal’s Community Meeting from 5:30-5:55 pm.

Following this meeting will be two sessions, giving parents the opportunity to visit two classrooms as needed. Session one will be from 6:00-6:25 and Session 2 will be from 6:30-6:55. Please see the linked document here for meeting codes and links. Please check back for updates to the links as we add or edit those currently listed.  Don’t forget to log in to your child’s student.pps.net Google account to enter these meetings!  We hope you will find these sessions helpful and informative.

From the Counseling Department:

Hello Llewellyn families! 

I have started joining live class meetings and it has been so nice to get to meet everyone! These live lessons have centered around me getting to know students, as well as learning the resiliency strategy of seeking out “helper people”. It’s important to identify people who support us - friends, family, babysitters, pets (yes, pets count!), community members, etc - and then reach out to them when we feel like we could use some support - either though a talk, a hug, or even by sharing jokes and making each other laugh. I am really enjoying learning fun facts about students, as well as hearing about the people they turn to for support and how these people help them. 

Some new counseling updates:

• I have updated the Llewellyn Counseling site to include my information and some new resources. You can check that out here: Llewellyn Counseling website

• I created a virtual classroom, which includes a calming area as well as some other some fun resources: Ms. Allie's virtual classroom. On the first page you will see a link to a counseling check-in form as well as a link to the counseling website, and on the second page is a link to the PPS Virtual Calming Room. I will keep adding to this as the year goes on, so keep checking back!

• I have a Seesaw classroom, and you can join me by…

  • Go to app.seesaw.me

  • Choose "I’m a Student"

  • Sign in using your school Google account or email address

  • Click on your profile icon on the top left

  • Click on the +Join Class button

  • Type in the code: CIRU DIBY. This code expires on October 1, 2020

Additionally, below are some resources that were recently shared with me by the district. I look forward to meeting you all live virtually soon! 

Best,

Ms. Allie

District Resources

Information on childcare during distance learning can be found here: Childcare during distance learning 

Mental health teletherapy:  Services are now available through the Cleveland school-based health center, and they can provide outpatient individual and family therapy to all K-12 students who have OHP or no insurance. I am happy to put in a referral if you think your child(ren) would benefit - just email me at apenix@pps.net and let me know that you are interested. The mental health therapist also said she would be happy to consult over the phone with parents to answer any questions about whether treatment is a good fit.  

Fall 2020 Update: Breakfast and Lunch Are Free for All Students: Portland Public Schools is now able to offer seven days’ worth of meals every week for not just PPS students, but all Portland children ages 1-18. As they announced in August, meals sites have expanded to 38 schools where families can pick up sacks of breakfast and lunch on select days, from 3 to 5 p.m. The regular meal service schedule will be:

• Mondays: 2 days’ worth of food

• Wednesdays: 2 days’ worth of food

• Fridays: 3 three days’ worth of food

The complete list of meal pickup sites is available at our Fall 2020 Meals webpage. Families are welcome to visit any school site for meals, regardless of whether their children attend that school. There is no need to sign up, register or provide student ID when you arrive. All sites are outside, and we ask that you wear a facemask and practice physical distancing as you pick up meals. We will continue to inform you of any updates or changes to meal service. For more information or support, please contact the Nutrition Services department at 503-916-3399 or nutritionservices@pps.net.

From the PTA: 

Dear Llewellyn Elementary Parents and Families, 

Today we are kicking off our largest annual fundraiser and we are counting on your support! Now more than ever, YOU can make a difference and there's even something in it for YOU, too! 

Our Fundraising Goal: To refill our Art Fund for next year!! This year we spend the ENTIRE art budget on art supplies that will be distributed to YOUR homes! Look for more info on that the first week of October! 

Helping us reach our goal is QUICK, EASY, and only takes about 5 minutes. We have partnered with Charleston Wrap® to make it happen! With over 2,500 gift ideas, including UltraHeavy™ gift wrap, gourmet kitchen essentials, personalized gifts & more, friends and family can help us reach our goal by checking off their holiday shopping list! But first, you'll need to invite them to support our fundraiser - and we have a special gift for you, too! Complete the three (3) steps below and you'll receive a FREE ROLL of Charleston Wrap®’s UltraHeavy™ gift wrap when you make a purchase! 

Here's how to help and receive your FREE UltraHeavy™ roll of gift Wrap. 

1) Please go to http://charlestonwrapstore.com/non-school-registration.php  to register today! Use our ORGANIZATION ID 11592 to register!

2) Send 10 unique and valid shopping email invites to your friends & family using our invite tool at registration.

3) Once you've sent 10 emails, a gift card will be emailed to you for your FREE roll of Charleston Wrap®’s UltraHeavy™ gift wrap with the purchase of any item. 

In addition to awarding the FREE roll of wrap, we will also award a Charleston Wrap® Gift Card to parents who have rallied others to support the fundraiser! We'll award these Gift Cards on the last day of our sale (10/16/2020) for Parent Appreciation Day. We will automatically email you a gift card for the highest level achieved! 

* Any Parent with 5 supporters will receive a gift card for $10 off any purchase of $50 or more.

* Any Parent with 10 supporters will receive a gift card for $25 off any purchase of $50 or more.

* Any Parent with 20 supporters will receive a gift card for $50 off! Your $50 order is FREE!

* Gift Cards expire in April of next year and cannot be combined with any other offer. Orders may be subject to shipping and tax. 

PRO TIP: The more email invites you send, the more supporters we'll get! So, break out your email contact list, share on social media, and help spread the word! 

Will you take a few minutes and register now at http://charlestonwrapstore.com/non-school-registration.php? 

Thank you so much for your support!

Llewellyn Elem. School PTA-OR

Erin Hughes