Hello Sunnyside!

I am so thrilled to be chosen as your new principal. I have known about Sunnyside and the good work that is being done there since I came into the district 12 years ago. As the principal of the Odyssey program, I know first hand how special our choice option programs are and I am really looking forward to getting to know the Sunnyside program, staff, students, and families.

As we get to know each other, I will share with you more about my vision for leadership, my unwavering commitment to equity, and my advocacy for all students. As a teacher, I worked most of my career teaching high school in Brooklyn, NY and I keep with me today the lessons I learned there from the students I was lucky enough to teach. As an administrator I am first and foremost centered on authentic relationships and how we can work together to establish relationships of trust that benefit the students and the community. I wrote my dissertation about teacher transformation and how true transformation only happens with critical reflection, relationships of trust, and true collaboration. I am excited to collaborate with you.

I am a native Oregonian and a Mom of two kids who both attend Portland Public Schools. I am looking forward to getting to know you all over the next few months and I encourage you to reach out to me. I know we will have an opportunity to meet each other soon and please feel free to introduce yourselves via email in the meantime.

I know the past year has been a huge lift for educators and families, and I also know that you have worked long and hard to meet your students' needs. Thanks for all you do and I am so excited to work with you!

-Eryn

Dr. Eryn Berg
Principal, Odyssey Program
She/ Hers/ They (Why?)

Hello Sunnyside Families,

As this school year begins to wind down, it's time for office staff to begin thinking of next year. One of the most important things we can do for next year is to have an accurate student body count. Early kindergarten registration is one of the many ways that we do that, with your help. If you have an incoming kindergartener please register as soon as you are able. If you know a neighbor with a young student, please consider spreading the word that registration is open. 

Registration can now be done entirely online- enrollment paperwork can be completed through ParentVUE and supporting documentation can be uploaded with enrollment paperwork or emailed to school staff. To register, follow these steps:

1. Complete the student registration form
2. Upload/email two forms of address verification. (Examples include mortgage, rental agreement, utility bills, insurance or governmental assistance statement. Parent/guardian name must be displayed along with a date within the last 30 days.)
3. Upload/email Oregon Certificate of Immunization
4. Upload/email proof of birth date (passport, birth certificate, or other similar document)
5. Email the Vision & Dental Screening form

If you missed our Connect to Kindergarten events, we will hold a final one in June after the school year is over. The date, time, and Google Meet link will be posted on our school website and calendar. We will also send an email in June to all registered families letting them know about what to expect for fall, including a timeline of future communications and events.

Please email documents or questions to our school secretary Sarah at sconley1@pps.net.

Thank you kindly,
Sunnyside Office

Hello Middle School Families - 

Tomorrow, Wednesday April 7th, we will host our hybrid informational sessions for families. The session begins at 6:30. We will share what we know about the future of hybrid and CDL learning for your students, and (try to) answer any questions you may have.  

The Google Meet code was sent out through email (please check junk/spam if you do not see it).

We hope to see you tomorrow!

Best,
Amy and Alix

NOTE: Please use your students PPS account to sign into the event.

INFORMATIONAL SLIDESHOW

Hello Sunnyside K - 5 families!

The bulk of this letter is for those who have opted into hybrid learning. Kinder and 1st grade, we'll see you on Friday! 2nd - 5th grades, you'll join us on Monday the 5th. In the future, hybrid days are Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday. There is no hybrid on Wednesday.

Here, you will find details about the start of this new school “season.”  We’ve taken to calling it Spring School. 

Screening for COVID-19:  First and foremost, please make sure your student does not exhibit any primary or secondary symptoms of COVID.  If they do, please keep them home.  We’ve attached PPS’s self-screening checklist that all staff use each morning before heading to the building.  We ask that you do the same.

Drop off/Pick Up times/locations and protocol:  Because we are a small building and want to keep everyone safe and socially distanced, our start times are staggered by 15 minute intervals.  Teachers’ class times are Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday (no hybrid on Wednesday):  9:00 - 11:15, 9:15 - 11:30 or 9:30 - 11:45.  You will see on the attached maps your student’s teacher start time and where to drop-off AND pick-up your student.  There are 2 locations:  either the front of the building on SE Salmon, or on the blacktop at the back of the school.  (Your teacher and times are also listed at the bottom of this email.)

You may arrive within 5 minutes of your student’s start time.  These “staging” areas are for more than one class, but only spaced 15 minutes apart.  We want to keep the areas relatively uncrowded and safe.  In short - please arrive as close to your start time as possible and do not leave your student there unattended.   From that location, your teacher or an administrator will walk your student through the building and directly to class.  Please note if your student exhibits and signs of COVID-19, they will be taken to our “Symptom Space” and screened further by our School Health Assistant or District Nurse.

At the end of the day, your teacher will walk your student to the original drop-off/pick-up location.  Please be mindful of your teacher’s time and arrive on time. Safety is our priority, both COVID-19 safety and physical safety of students from home to school and back again. In our KG-3rd grade we ask that you or a designee (listed in Synergy, please email sconley1@pps.net to add people to your list) physically pick up your child at the end of their hybrid day. If your student is in 4th or 5th grade, your child’s teacher will be reaching out to you to see whether they have permission to walk home and the school will keep an accurate list of students who are released independently. 

If you have an appointment, and your student needs to arrive late, please come to the front door and we will meet your student at the front door.

Visitors:  During this time, visitors (including parents, guardians and family members) will not be allowed in the building.  If you need to talk in-person with a staff member, please make an appointment.

Supplies:  Unless you hear differently from your teacher, your student should only bring a filled water bottle.  Students will not be allowed to use the drinking fountain, or fill their own water bottles, because it is considered a high-touch area. Staff will assist in filling water bottles or providing one, if needed. Individual supply boxes are provided for each student on their desk here at school.  Supplies will not be shared among students.

Food:  Unless your student has a medical condition, please do not send snacks with your student.  There is no eating in the classroom.  At the end of each day, your student will be provided a sack lunch which they can take home to eat, if they choose.

Bathrooms: We know that our students may need to use the restroom at school, and have COVID-19 protocols in place for this. Please, please, please - as much as possible - encourage your student to use the restroom before they leave home in the morning simply to minimize the number of students using the restroom each day. 

Changes to your student’s schedule: Right now, most of our rooms are at full capacity, allowing 6-feet between students.  Many teachers needed to change classrooms to accommodate students (we wanted to keep students with their teacher as much as possible). If you’d like to change to full CDL, please let us know. However, for the moment, we are pausing on allowing more students to join hybrid classes.

Speaking of schedules, there is no school on Friday, April 9.  This is a teacher in-services day for report card preparation.

Phew. That’s a lot of information; thank you for reading until the end.

Please reach out to your student’s teacher with questions specific to your student, or Amy and Alix with general questions.

Thank you, and we can’t wait to see your kiddos!

Kindly,
Amy and Alix

*B- Blacktop/KG doors

*F- Front/main front doors

9:00 - 11:15

Monica -B
Heather-B
Levia-F
Tiffany- F

9:15 - 11:30

Asa- B
Jeremy -B
Leo - F

9:30 - 11:45

Allye-B
Logan-B
Corbin-B
Michelle-F
Angel-F
Eric-F

Note: The following was presented May 11 by the Community Budget Review Committee. We are thankful for the hard work and commitment shared by these volunteers.

Background and Purpose of the Community Budget Review Committee (CBRC)

The Community Budget Review Committee (CBRC) reviews, evaluates and makes recommendations to the Portland Public School Board of Education (Board) regarding the Superintendent's Proposed Budget and any other budgetary issues the CBRC or the Board identify. The CBRC also monitors and advises the Board on the allocation and expenditure of Local Option Levy funds, which will be completed under separate cover.

Dear PPS Community,

Portland Public Schools is in the process of developing and finalizing our 2021-22 budget for approval by the Board of Education, and we want to hear from you. Please join us for the 2021-22 Budget Focus Groups. Both opportunities are available to PPS students. 

Dear PPS High School Families,

This is a reminder that COVID-19 vaccinations are available again this Wednesday, May 12 at the Oregon Convention Center for students 16 and older and their family members. 

Dear Colleagues, 

As Teacher and School Administrator Appreciation Week comes to a close here at Portland Public Schools, I want to share an additional personal note of gratitude to all our hard-working and dedicated professional educators and school leaders. While your commitment to our students is always evident, this past year with all of its challenges was truly unlike any other in our careers. The impact of this pandemic, economic crisis, and racial uprising, has required incredible flexibility, adaptation, and perseverance on your part. 

5/7/21 School Messenger
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School News (NEW)
Upcoming Dates (NEW)
Websites to Know
Teacher & Staff Appreciation Week (NEW)
Memorial Day Week Schedule (NEW)
Enrollment and Program Balancing Update (NEW)
Fliers from the District (NEW)
COVID Testing Consent Form
2021-2022 PPS Calendar
Recycling Plastic Bags and Clamshell Containers from To-Go Lunches
Anti-Racist Reading and Resources (NEW)

School News (NEW)
Happy Friday, SES Families,

We had another great week with your students, and it seems like spirits are high all around! Thank you. 

Quick reminder: we have your student loaded into our computer system as “Hybrid” or “CDL” (comprehensive distance learning). PPS policy says that if your child has had exposure to COVID-19, they must quarantine for a specific amount of time, and in this case we would move a student who is enrolled in Hybrid to be enrolled in CDL for the duration of quarantine. 

Other than the scenario above, it’s important that students remain in their assigned section: Hybrid or CDL. We are beginning to get families who have expected “life things” happen, such as dental appointments, flat tires, oversleeping, etc. and we are seeing kids who are absent from hybrid showing up or emailing their teacher and asking to participate in CDL for the day. While this seems logical and easy, it’s actually quite a bit of work for both the office and the teacher to switch students for these daily situations. We kindly ask that you let us know if your child will be absent for the day, and then we will follow our typical procedure—mark them absent and welcome them back on their regular schedule the following day. Unfortunately, we are unable to accommodate “flip flops” between hybrid and CDL enrollment, with the exception of a handful of extreme, extraordinary circumstances. 

Thank you so much for your assistance with this, and thank you for your continued flexibility. 

Have a wonderful weekend,
Amy and Alix 

Upcoming Dates (NEW)

Websites to Know
Can My Child Go to School Today?
District COVID Resources & Info
PPS Family Resources Page
Sunnyside School Page
SES PTSA website
SES COVID Fund on Venmo

Teacher & Staff Appreciation Week (NEW)
We will be celebrating our amazing Sunnyside staff this coming week, May 10 - 14th. It’s been a wild & super challenging year for the incredible teachers & staff at our sweet school. Please read on and do all that you can to thank these awesome humans….

1. “Love Baskets” for classroom teachers: Your Room Parents should have already asked you to contribute to these literal baskets filled with gifts from the heart. Think homemade cards; small gifts like candles, chocolate, tea, blank books, little plants, coffee; small gift cards; child created art, etc. 

2. Thank/gift non-classroom staff : Via this Gift Donation LINK, you can donate to a fund that we will use to gift the secretaries, custodians, art teacher, librarian, special ed teachers and more.

3. Add to virtual love notes: 

Thank you for Gillian, our librarian

Thank you for Iris, our PE teacher

Thank you for Indigo, our art teacher

Thank you for Sarah Wagner, our science teacher

And a thanks for all the angels of the front office

4. Blacktop love: Tuesday May 11th, chalk will be left around and outside the building. Please plan to stop and write a thank you or love note to our wonderful staff.

5. Treat them with flowers: Friday morning between 8:00 and 9:00 am, drop off flowers (from your yard, the store, etc) and/or join other parents (masked and distanced) on the playground to create little floral bouquets that we can gift teachers as they head into hybrid classes.

If you have any questions/ideas regarding Staff Appreciation Week, please contact your Classroom Family Rep or Leonie at simplyleonie@gmail.com. Thank you all!!

Memorial Day Week Schedule (NEW)
Because of the shortened week following the Memorial Day holiday (Monday, May 31), we will adjust our schedule as follows:

• Middle School:
  There will be no Asynchronous Day that week. Monday/Tuesday classes will take place Tuesday and Wednesday, and Thursday/Friday classes will remain the same.

• K-5
  We will follow the normal schedule on Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. Wednesday will remain an Asynchronous Day that week.

If you have any questions about a student’s schedules that week, please contact the student’s teacher.

Enrollment and Program Balancing Update (NEW)
The following message is from PPS:

Dear PPS Community,

The scope and timeline of Phase 2 of the Enrollment and Program Balancing process will be

discussed during the PPS Board of Education meeting on Tuesday, May 11. In February, the

Board approved Resolution 6236, which completed Phase 1 of the process. 

PPS staff is proposing a narrowed scope for Phase 2 that focuses on three areas:

• Converting Harrison Park (currently a K-8) into a 6-8 middle school

• Re-locating Harrison Park K-5 students 

• Increasing enrollment at Lane Middle School

[Read the full letter here.]

Fliers from the District (NEW)

• Oregon Health Insurance Marketplace Flier

COVID-19 Testing Consent Form
A hardcopy of forms were sent home this week with hybrid students. They can be returned to classroom teachers or emailed to aliber@mesd.k12.or.us. See the links below for a fillable PDF version.
English | Español | Tiếng Việt | 中文 | Soomaali | Русский

2021-2022 PPS Calendar
The Board of Education approved the 2021-22 PPS District Calendar on Tuesday April 27. The 2021-22 calendar is now available on the PPS website (with translated versions).  

As Superintendent Guerrero has said, it is PPS’s expectation that we will fully reopen for five days a week of in-person instruction in the fall, unless health conditions and guidance from public health and Department of Education officials do not permit it.

Recycling Plastic Bags and Clamshell Containers from To-go Lunches
We have a member in the community who will clean, sanitize and reuse the plastic bags and clamshell containers from school to-go lunches. Please bring your used bags and containers to the back door of the cafeteria; bins will be placed by the door from 9am until 12pm. Please email Kieran Cannistra at kcannistra@pps.net if you have any questions.

Anti-Racist Reading and Resources (NEW)
Watch Segregated by Design, an examination of the forgotten history of how our federal, state and local governments unconstitutionally segregated every major metropolitan area in America through law and policy.
“Without being aware of the unconstitutional residential policies the United States government enacted during the middle of the twentieth century, one might have a negative view today of neighborhoods where African Americans live or even of African Americans themselves. We can compensate for this unlawful segregation through a national political consensus that leads to legislation. And this will only happen if the majority of Americans understand how we got here.”