Portland Public Schools needs student, family and staff voice as we become a school system informed by data.  Three segments of the PPS community will take part in the anonymous survey. Students will participate from Feb. 4-22, families Feb. 4-March 1, and school-based staff Feb.19-March 8. Survey topics will include school climate, school safety and barriers to engagement. Please take a few minutes to participate in this very important survey:  http://www.pps.net/Page/13430 

Welcome to a new year, continuing our season "It's All An Illusion"!
Our remaining shows include:

• The Tempest Thurs.-Sat. Mar. 7-9 @ 7:00 P.M. Main Stage Theatre
• Social Justice Festival: Gender Expression in partnership with Portland Playhouse Mon.-Tues. Apr. 15-15 @ Portland Playhouse
• Senior Shorts Thurs. May 9 @ 7:00 P.M. Black Box Theatre and Main Stage Studio

 

You can get your tickets today at www.roosevelttheatre.org Please consider adding a donation to your ticket purchase. Between now and the end of February, if you donate $50, and you indicate "CommuniCare" with your donation, your dollars will be matched 10:1 by the Schnitzer CARE Foundation. Our goal is to raise the maximum $1500 and we're already over a third of the way there. Those funds will be granted by Roosevelt Theatre students to local nonprofits and RHS clubs.

Want to support our CommuniCare program even more? DON'T MISS OUR ESCAPE ROOM "Pit of Despair"! With only two months remaining, book your 30 minute escape room experience fully designed by students today, using the same link as above. ALL funds raised go toward the same mini-grants.

Thank you for supporting RHS Theatre, Opening Act Theatre Company, and Thespian Troupe #7289. Remember: Educational Theatre Builds Character. See you at a show! - Ms. Jo Strom Lane

The Roosevelt High School course guide for 2019-20 is now available as a PDF under the Academics - Course Guides page of our website. A Spanish version is also there.

Monday, February 11, 2018

College Ready ‐ Career Focused ‐ Committed to a Just World

Dear Roosevelt families,

I hope you had a restful weekend.  I’m still trying to get over my cold and hope to be fully recovered soon.  Here are some announcements and reminders for the week ahead:

Dear Roosevelt parents,

Welcome to the Black Lives Matter At School National Week of Action.  This week we join schools across the country who are committed to ensuring racial equity and justice in education.  I know that many of you have been preparing relevant curriculum for this week.  Thank you!  For those of you who are still in need of inspiration and guidance, we’ll take time on Tuesday to dig into Teaching for Black Lives.  The books finally arrived last week!  Tuesday, 2/5, is our Fourth Annual Hoodies Up Day!  Our student leaders have been working hard to create another powerful Hoodies Up Day.  Many thanks to to all the teachers and staff who have been putting in the long hours in preparation for this event.  I know that our students see you and appreciate you.

Dear Roosevelt families,

I hope you are having a restful weekend.  More than half of our students (54%) made honor roll this semester. Our largest group getting All As was freshmen: 20% of our freshmen made all As. 37 students had perfect attendance (no absences) all semester, and 13 of those also had no tardies all semester.  All these students and families are receiving a phone call from me to say, “Congratulations and keep up the good work!”  Our initial analysis of S1 course passage rates indicates that we have a growing number of students earning credits in core content areas.  Thank you for all your hard work this past semester in helping our students experience success.

Birthdays this week: Sue Brent’s is Monday, Vanessa Crock’s is Wednesday, Brenda Ramos’ is Friday, and Rob Melton’s is Saturday. Here’s hoping they each have a great birthday. Here are a few announcements.  

Wednesday, January 23, 2018

College Ready ‐ Career Focused ‐ Committed to a Just World

 

Dear Roosevelt Staff,

Congratulations on wrapping up first semester.  I hope you are pleased with your students’ work and can find some time to rest and relax this weekend.  I know that there are papers to grade and assignments to evaluate.  Be sure to take care of you, too.  I also want to appreciate you for doing a great job with taking attendance.  You’ve taken class attendance more than 95% of the time for the last few weeks. Let’s keep it up!

Birthdays this week: Cathy Nguyen’s birthday is Friday, David Schouten’s is Saturday, and Steven Collazo’s is Sunday. Here’s hoping they each have a great birthday. Here are a few announcements.  Please note that we have a morning assembly on Friday, 1/25.

Monday, January 14, 2018

College Ready ‐ Career Focused ‐ Committed to a Just World

 

Dear Roosevelt families,

 Welcome to our last week of first semester.  Our finals, as you know, are Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.  I hope everyone had productive Flex Tutorials last week.  Thank you for all that you’ve done over the last few days and months to help our students finish the semester well.  This week we have a very confusing class schedule.  Please be sure to go over it with students in all your classes on Monday.  Here are a few announcements:

Monday, January 7, 2018

College Ready ‐ Career Focused ‐ Committed to a Just World

Dear Roosevelt families,

Merry Christmas to all of you who celebrate Serbian Christmas!  Welcome, also, to our last regular week of classes before the end of the first semester.  We have Flex Days on Wednesday and Thursday of this week and S1 Finals next Wed-Friday.  

George Bishop has a birthday this week (Thursday). Please wish him well.  Here are a few announcements:

Dear Roosevelt families,

Happy New Year to you and your loved ones!  I hope you had a restful break with friends and family.  I had the wonderful privilege of spending time with my family, my in-laws and my sister and niece in Hawaii.  The cousins, ages 2 to 9, spent lively time with each other while the grown-ups, ages 39 to 79, got a chance to slow down and enjoy the natural beauty.  I am excited to be back at work and look forward to what 2019 has to bring.

Mike Heisler (last Friday) and Shannon Kittrick (yesterday) both had birthdays over the break. Kia Swain has one this week (next Monday). Please wish them well.  Here are a few announcements:

Monday, December 10, 2018

College Ready ‐ Career Focused ‐ Committed to a Just World

 

Dear Roosevelt families,

Welcome to your last week of school before winter break.  It’s going to be a great week!  Please wish a happy birthday to Clair Roix and Brandon Morehouse (both Thursday) and Mary Davies (Saturday) this week.  Here are a few announcements:

Monday, December 3, 2018

College Ready ‐ Career Focused ‐ Committed to a Just World

Dear Roosevelt families,

Welcome to December!  Thank you to all of you who attended our 8th Grade Preview Night last week.  We had a very strong showing of prospective students and families - the highest that I’ve seen.  Our teachers and staff did a wonderful job representing the various opportunities our students have here at Roosevelt to explore their interests and prepare for the adventures that await beyond high school.  If last week’s turnout is any indication of next year’s enrollment, our student numbers are likely to keep increasing.  

Birthdays: please wish a happy birthday to Jennie Cha (Wednesday) and Ben Mihelic (Thursday) this week.

Tuesday, November 26, 2018

College Ready ‐ Career Focused ‐ Committed to a Just World

Dear Roosevelt families,

I hope you spent a couple of enjoyable days off with friends and family.  My dad is visiting from Serbia for a couple of weeks.  It’s such a treat seeing him surrounded by grandkids.  

Teachers, thank you for your hard work during conferences last week.  It seemed as though everyone had a strong turnout of students and families.  This is a testament to all the prep work you did prior to the conferences and the relationships that you’ve already built with students and families.  I hope that the conversations you had and the connections that you’ve built will help students be successful in the weeks and months to come.  Many thanks to all the support staff who helped with setting up and taking down the conferences.  We definitely couldn’t have done it without you.  Special thanks go to Tammy for her vision and attention to detail. 

Please read the memo below carefully.  There are several important announcements and dates that everyone needs to be aware of.

Birthdays this week: Shoko Parker (Monday the 26th) and Shawn Swanson (Friday the 30th). Happy birthday to you both! 

Tuesday, November 13, 2018

College Ready ‐ Career Focused ‐ Committed to a Just World

 

Dear Roosevelt Staff,

    I hope you had a restful weekend.  Birthdays this week: Joe Kuhlman (Monday) and Ben Nieman (Tuesday). Happy birthday, guys!  There are several important announcements and reminders for this week so please be sure to read the memo carefully.

Monday, November 5, 2018

College Ready ‐ Career Focused ‐ Committed to a Just World

 

Dear Roosevelt families,

    I hope you had a restful weekend.  We have one birthday this week (Clair Roix, today). Happy Birthday, Clair!  Congratulations to all of our Fall Sports Athletes on wrapping up a successful season.  One of the things that I am most proud of is how well our student athletes performed in the classrooms.  This fall the Roosevelt Athletes averaged a 3.2 GPA while the non-athletes averaged a 2.7 GPA.  Many thanks to all of our teachers and our coaches for helping our student athletes succeed on and off the field!

Monday, October 29, 2018

College Ready ‐ Career Focused ‐ Committed to a Just World

 

Dear Roosevelt families,

I hope you had a restful weekend.  Congratulations on wrapping up the first quarter of the year!  I hope today is quiet and productive for you and I hope that you feel good about the work that you and your students have accomplished thus far.  

Dear Roosevelt families,

I hope you had a restful weekend.  Though it may be hard to believe, we are nearly at the end of the First Quarter.  Please look for an email from Julie and/or Andre about our upcoming Saturday School on 10/27.  We have a few staff birthdays to celebrate: Tory Rodgers (Tuesday), and Elena Garcia-Velasco (Sunday). Happy Birthday, everyone!

Monday, October 15, 2018

College Ready ‐ Career Focused ‐ Committed to a Just World

 

Dear Roosevelt families,

    I hope you had a restful long weekend.  As usual, I had big ambitions of completing a number of task and only got through a partial list of my to-do items.  Though it may be hard to believe, we are two weeks away from completing Quarter 1.  If you haven’t done so recently, please review your class calendar with students this week.

We have a few staff birthdays to celebrate: Madeline Harmon (Tuesday), Noel Tamez (Thursday), and Joel Hanawalt & Jeff Lothe (both on Saturday), and, last but not least, Emi Hanawa (Sunday). Happy Birthday, everyone!     

 

Monday, October 8, 2018

College Ready ‐ Career Focused ‐ Committed to a Just World

Dear Roosevelt families,

    I hope you had a restful weekend.  We have a few staff birthdays this week: Marguerite Buyer (Tuesday), and Amy Ambrosio and Josh Ziady (Wednesday). Happy Birthday, everyone!     

This is a bit of an unusual week.  We have PSATs on Wednesday - 9th graders will participate in a series of job talks; 10th and 11th graders will take the PSAT; and 12th graders will work on completing their graduation requirements.  All students will be dismissed by 1:15.  Thursday, we have a last-minute assembly at 2:15.  We will run the afternoon Flex schedule.  The assembly on Thursday will feature a special visitor and will allow us to launch this year’s RESPECT program.  Friday is a day off for students and staff.

Monday, October 1, 2018

College Ready ‐ Career Focused ‐ Committed to a Just World

 

Dear Roosevelt families,

    Welcome to October!  I hope you had a restful weekend.  My son, Mateo, turned 6 last week and my daughter, Maya, is turning 9 this week.  It’s a busy couple of weeks in our family!  We have one staff birthday this week: Barb Macon (today). Happy Birthday, Barb!  Here are some announcements for the week ahead.  Also, we’d like your feedback on Back to School Night: tell us with this survey.

 

Monday, September 24, 2018

College Ready ‐ Career Focused ‐ Committed to a Just World

 

Dear Roosevelt families,

    I hope you had a restful weekend.  We have one staff birthday this week: Laurel Auda-Capel (Saturday). Happy Birthday, Laurel!  Here are some announcements for the week ahead.  Thank you again for a wonderful Back to School Night.  If you haven't done so already, please fill out this survey which will show us what worked well and what you would like changed about Back to School Night.

Monday, September 17, 2018

College Ready ‐ Career Focused ‐ Committed to a Just World

 

Dear Roosevelt families,

    I hope you had a lovely weekend.  My family and I watched the Thorns win a spot in the National Women’s Soccer League final.  They might win their second consecutive title when they play next Saturday.  Pretty exciting!

    Thank you to all of you who helped make our Homecoming such a success.  Many thanks to Ms. Tamez and Student Leadership for a fun assembly, thank you DJ Jeff for a well-attended dance, thank you to our PTA and alumni for a tasty BBQ and more, thank you to Mr. Margolis and our student musicians for gracing us with their tunes, and thank you to our football players and coaching staff for a well-played and exciting football game.  I know that many others contributed, too.  Thank you!

Jeff Spalding, a retired PPS administrator, will serve as our Vice Principal substitute until we find a more permanent solution.  Jeff will start on Monday.  We will let you know what Jeff’s areas of focus will be once our admin team has a chance to meet.  Please join me in welcoming Jeff back to Roosevelt.

Several of our colleagues have birthdays this week: Rachel Haber (Mon), Keri Hughes (Wed), Josh Jones & Renee Mitchell (Fri), and Melissa Marsland (Saturday). Happy Birthday to you all!  Here are some announcements for the week ahead:

Monday, September 10, 2018

College Ready ‐ Career Focused ‐ Committed to a Just World

 

Dear Roosevelt families,

In this week's Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary celebrates its diverse cultures; meet the poodle who helps students read aloud

The PPS Visioning initiative reached some major milestones in January and we are ready to get back out to the community in the next few weeks!

Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary has one of the most diverse student bodies in Portland Public Schools, and on Friday it held a dual event that reflected that diversity. The Global Celebration included elements tied into Black History Month and the Lunar New Year as well as other cultures in the school community. 

Raquel Laiz has a new job with Portland Public Schools this school year, but she has been honored for her work at her previous position in the district. Laiz was one of nine counselors around the country to win a Counselors That Change Lives Award.