Hello all- I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. There are some wonderful events coming up at Vestal, please see the notes below-

Sabrina

PTA News

There are lots of opportunities to support Vestal and our kids.  Please consider the list below and lend a hand where you can.

Vestal STEAM Night - Tonight!

Join us tonight from 6:30pm - 7:30pm in the gymnasium for Vestal STEAM Night!  There will be a variety of fun activities for Vestal families to explore Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math. Students must be accompanied by an adult.

Rally for Full Vestal Staffing

Show your support for Vestal's need for a second third grade teacher to ensure two third grade classes next year.  Parents from King, Scott and Vestal will gather at the School Board meeting on Tuesday, April 24 at 6pm at 501 North Dixon Street with signs that say #2STRANDS.  

You can help by making signs and joining us on Tuesday night in your Vestal gear.  Please spread the word to the Vestal community! 

Vestal Spring Cleanup Day

In honor of Earth Day, Vestal families will gather to clean up the school grounds on Sunday, April 22 from 9am to noon.  Bring your gloves and tools to help make our school a safe and attractive place for our kids!

Montavilla Farmers Market

Vestal and Vestal PTA are lobbying the PPS School Board to bring the Farmers Market to Vestal and we need your help!  Please sign and return the petition to your child's classroom. Talk with your friends and neighbors about this great opportunity - they can sign the petition too!  

Hello Vestal Community-

Wow, I am very sorry about my tardiness of this Community Notes! I was gone for a conference, then back late Sunday night and super busy playing catch up all week! The conference I attended was terrific-very inspiring and full of concrete ideas for our next steps as we plan to become a pre-K-5 with a focus on social justice. The keynote speaker, Dr. Yong Zhao, spoke a great deal about the import of finding and celebrating each student's differences, what makes them unique as well as the essential need for schools to find opportunities for students to do what matters to them AND what make a real difference. On this Tuesday, our Social Justice Committee (new!) will spend a day off campus starting to plan the next steps...

This past week was full and rich...I cannot articulate how much I enjoy spending time in our classrooms, where amazing teaching and learning is happening every day! This week I will try and post more pictures on our Vestal Facebook page...if you haven't joined yet, please do!

We are starting the task of making concrete plans for next year. the big changes will include having Headstart move into what is now the 1st /2nd grade hall. Our 1st-5th graders will all be upstairs next year; know that 1st and 2nd will be in rooms that have already been approved by the fire department, as they have additional exits! We will also be moving Art into the building, which will be terrific!

If you have OR know of any incoming kindergarteners OR Headstart kids, please let us know and we will get you the paperwork...we are very hopeful to fill our Headstart classrooms with Vestal kiddos!

Even while we are starting the think about next year, we are also very focused on making the 4th quarter of this year fantastic for all of our students and extra special for our 5th-8th graders who all will have big transitions coming. I will be sending home more specifics about these transitions in the next few weeks.

Please know that our last Community Dinner will be focused on sharing and discussing our hopes, plans, and vision for Vestal- A School for Social Justice! So, watch for the date!

Two quick notes-

Our can drive continues- please bring in any cans that we can get a deposit for!

Every Friday we will have our Food Pantry in the Play Court!!

Thanks all...hope the sun comes out!

Peace, Sabrina Flamoe

sflamoe@pps.net

SafeOregon is a program that allows anyone to anonymously report and respond to student safety threats. Access the SafeOregon Tip Line via the “Report unsafe behavior” button on our school websites, the SafeOregon website , calling or texting 844-472-3367, emailing tip@safeoregon.com, or downloading and sending information through the “SafeOregon” mobile app. Let’s work together to keep our school community safe.  

Dear PPS Community,

Please know that in collaboration with school administrators, district leadership actively monitored the hundreds of mostly middle and high school students who walked out of our schools today as part of a national demonstration against violence in schools. I am pleased to say that, by all reports, this was a peaceful and respectful event with no serious incidents. While these actions were not district-sponsored activity, I would like to extend my sincere thanks to all who helped keep students safe, starting with the students themselves who remained organized, calm and intentional throughout. Others who helped include Portland police, PPS security, and other PPS staff. Thank you all.

Portland Public Schools is in the process of allocating teaching staff at schools throughout the district. As has been true for many years, we are working within a budget that has been chronically underfunded by the state, and we are doing our utmost to make the most of the resources we have. Understandably, parents, students and PPS staff want to know what will happen at their specific schools. While precise allocations won’t be known until enrollment figures become clear in the fall, we can share what we know at this point, and answer many of the questions we have heard to date.

In this week's PPS Pulse: Benson’s Curtis Wilson is state HS Principal of the Year; Martin Luther King Jr. School celebrates 50^th anniversary of name change

It’s been 50 years since some impassioned students led the movement to rename their school after Martin Luther King, Jr. Last Friday, the community turned out in force to show appreciation, and to honor Dr. King with a huge celebration at the school.