Hello Astor Families, 

Classroom/homeroom teacher notifications have been released for all 1st through 8th graders. If you did not receive this information or you have multiple children in the same grade level, then please reach out to the office starting at 503-916-6244. The office hours are from 8am to 4pm daily. Kindergarten families will receive a phone call regarding your child's teacher, school start date, and parent-teacher meeting time/day.

All families can find our welcome back letter for the 24-25 school year here. We have so many exciting events coming up this month! You can find information on them in the last Astor Connection.

Have a wonderful rest of the summer and we hope to see you at our Warm Welcome on August 26th from 2:30 to 3:30pm!

Warmly,

Blake Robertson
Principal @ Astor

Hello Astor Families!

There are a couple of great events coming up prior to the start of the 23-24 school year that we want you to know about.

Connect to Kindergarten

August 17th from 5:30 to 6:30 - Link with information is here 

Join Astor Staff and other Astor Kindergarten students and families as we visit together prior to the start of the school year. You'll be able to see the kinder classrooms and our Astor PTSO will be there with Portland Goat Parties! Hope to see you there!

Project Community Care Day

August 19th from 9am to 12pm - Link with information is here 

Please join us for Project Community Care Day, an annual tradition and a wonderful opportunity to help beautify our school grounds to be held on Saturday, August 19th, from 9am to 12pm.  We encourage you to bring your gardening gloves and tools and refillable water bottle. Students are welcome to join you and we’ll just ask that you supervise. We look forward to seeing you Saturday, August 19th, 9 am to 12 pm!

Astor’s 3rd Annual Warm Welcome!

August 28th from 4:30pm to 5:30pm - Link with information is here

This event on campus will allow for our students and families to meet, see the entrance that they should come to at the start of each day, and pick up their back to school packets and Middle School schedules and supply lists. Additionally, many of our teachers will be at this event and it's a great time to connect with them prior to the start of the school year. Families may arrive at the school at a time that works for them between 4:30pm and 5:30pm on August 29th.

Our community partner, the Coalition of Black Men, invites boys in grades 6-8 to join their DREAM BIGGER Mentoring Program.

What: This program provides academic support, mentoring, cultural enrichment and personal development to our young men!

When: Begins September 28th 

           Every Tuesday from 1:45 - 2:30 pm 

Where: Room 63 (portable 3)

How do I join?: Scan the QR code on the flyer below or visit https://forms.gle/F3RA3/1Q8ePn2aGV97

Questions?: Contact mentoring@cobmportland.org

The assignment their teacher gave them was simple – make a short film that begins with a phone call and ends with someone hanging up. Benson first-year students Dylan Martinez-Torres and Dariel Soriano Zamora ran it all the way to a small city populated by two very big and rather iconic monsters – Godzilla and Hedora.

The result, Sorry, Wrong Number, is one of the more than 90 films entered into the annual Best of PPS Film Festival. The festival is a celebration of exceptional student filmmaking that includes a showcase at the historic Hollywood Theatre. 

The fourth annual installment of the festival took place on May 21 and included a screening of 13 standout films. The films came from all over PPS and ran the gamut from Dylan and Dariel’s monster short to documentaries, film noir, and broadcast journalism. 

If you are a passionate student or community member that wants to make a difference at PPS, apply to join the Climate Crisis Response Committee! This is a committee that reports to the PPS Board of Education.

On the committee you will learn about how PPS is making progress towards our climate justice and sustainability policies, provide input and recommendations to the PPS Board on how to better support PPS staff as we advance these policy goals, and connect with other passionate members of our PPS community from diverse backgrounds, knowledge areas, and lived experiences.

No previous professional experience in climate change or sustainability required! Students can apply via this form. Community members can apply here.

Deadline to apply: June 6. 

Earthstock 2025 was a huge success!

Each year, special education students from across the region gather at Portland's Crystal Ballroom for a truly unique and uniquely joyful high school dance. 

Earthstock began in 1992 at the request of a young student who was confined to a wheelchair and was disappointed he couldn’t attend the high school dances because of transportation issues. There were 60 kids at the first event. Earthstock now entertains more than 700 students, staff and volunteers, and is rapidly becoming one the largest events of its kind in the country. 

Students at Skyline school were recently treated to a visit from PPS teacher-turned-graphic novelist Aron Nels Steinke. 

Steinke is the award-winning author and illustrator behind the popular Mr. Wolf's Class series. He also taught at Skyline during the 2015-16 school year.

During his visit to Skyline, he opened up to a group of third, fourth, and fifth graders about how he got started as an author despite struggling to read and write in school. He also read a short excerpt from his newest book, Speechless. 

Speechless tells the story of Mira, a sixth grader who spends her first year of middle school finding herself and her voice. Skyline students were some of the book's first readers. We can't wait to see what Mr. Steinke writes next!