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When students from Cleveland High School’s Advanced Commercial Foods and Baking class visited Hosford Middle School last month to try out a new recipe they called Baked Pears Goat Cheese Sunflower Seed Delight, the results of an informal sticker poll were very much on the positive side: 26 kids liked it and 30 loved it. Twenty-two were on the fence.
Sixth grader Isaac Huynh was in the latter category. “I’ve had goat cheese before, but this goat cheese tastes different,” he said. “I think the whole thing might have been better with whipped cream.”
Ever wondered if dogs might be able to sniff out cancer? Or how Magic the Gathering is connected to the Satanic Panic of the 1980s? Or if your running watch might be gaslighting you?
Seniors in the Cleveland High School International Baccalaureate (IB) program answered these questions – and many more – at the 15th annual Extended Essay Senior Showcase on February 21. The showcase gives IB students the opportunity to present the results of two years’ worth of research into academic topics of their choosing. The topics begin as inquiry questions, which students then investigate and eventually answer in the form of a 4000-word essay.
At first glance, the annual Portland Public Schools district calendar might seem to fulfill one crucial function: to alert students, staff, and families to the days when school is in session and when it is not.
If that were the case, crafting the calendar would be the work of days, if not hours. In fact, the calendar is a multipurpose living document that involves meticulous planning and careful forethought to ensure the best possible outcomes for students and staff. It also reflects the needs and observances of the many diverse communities the district serves.
Ethan Kramer, Beaumont Middle School’s assistant principal, sees middle school math as so much more than 2x + 3y = 5.
“It’s helping to build the logic center – the prefrontal cortex – in analysis and processing,” he said. Given this, Kramer and others believe that middle grades instruction must lay a strong foundation to support more challenging math concepts in the future – first high school, then beyond.
But what are the components of that foundation? And how is it best established?
The district’s middle grades core academics team and its grades 6-8 math committee have spent the last year weighing these questions in tandem with educators and community stakeholders. Their goal: a comprehensive math curriculum that challenges students without rushing or skipping over key concepts.
From the school counselor:
I know today we have come to school with a heavy heart after the traumatic and devastating news from the school shooting in Texas. The school counselor department and student success and health is working on compiling resources for educators and students.
I do not want to overwhelm but also want to provide a few resources that might be of help throughout the week. If you, students, or families need support please reach out as I am happy to hold space for anyone who might need an outlet.
Recovering emotionally from disaster
Talking to students about school shootings in the news
Try and keep routines as normal as possible. Kids gain security from the predictability of routine, including attending school.
Limit exposure to television and the news.
Be honest with kids and share with them as much information as they are developmentally able to handle.
Listen to kids’ fears and concerns.
Reassure kids that the world is a good place to be, but that there are people who do bad things.
Parents and adults need to first deal with and assess their own responses to crisis and stress.
Rebuild and reaffirm attachments and relationships.
6:00 PM - 9:00 PM School Board- Budget Work Session with vote on a consent agenda
4:30 PM - 6:00 PM School Board - Facilities and Operations Committee meeting