At the July 14 Board of Education meeting, Portland Public Schools released a plan that lays out a procedure for renaming its buildings and other spaces. The move to reexamine district names comes in response to the continuing unrest across the country, including in Portland, in reaction to the systematic racism brought into public focus this summer.

Dear PPS Families,

We hope you are enjoying a safe and healthy summer break. Thank you for sharing your feedback on the re-entry survey we recently sent to you. While there are still numerous details to finalize, we wanted to update you on where we are with our efforts to ensure healthy beginnings for the 2020-21 school year. 

Dear PPS Families,

We want to make sure you are aware of a change in meal distribution. For this week only, sacks of breakfast and lunch will be available Monday through Wednesday instead of the usual Monday through Thursday. Sacks of breakfast and lunch will be distributed outside 14 of our schools, from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Dear PPS Community,

We wanted to remind you about opportunities to provide feedback on the 2020 School Bond Renewal, including one that is now open. The 2020 School Bond Renewal Survey is now available. The survey, which will allow you to share your input on priorities and approaches to funding, will be open until 5 p.m. on Friday, July 3:

Please view the PPS/PTA Volunteer Celebration slideshow for 2019-20 at pps.net/volunteer. 

Thanks to Abernethy PTA for all you do to help our students be prepared for their next learning experience! 

FREE SUMMER MEALS FOR PPS STUDENTS AND ALL CHILDREN

We are pleased to announce that the meal service we have provided for students since the closure of school on March 16 will continue during the summer. Although we will lose two sites, Harrison Park and Rigler, due to construction, we are adding a new site, Faubion, to bring our total to 14 schools where students can receive breakfast and lunch Monday to Thursday, from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.  Please note the start time has shifted from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.  Faubion will start Monday, June 15.  Breakfast and lunch will continue to be free for all PPS students and all children in the community ages 1-18 years.  Children do not need to be present to receive a meal.  Pantry services in partnership with Oregon Food Bank and SUN will also continue into the summer, along with the food boxes with Pacific Coast Fruit Company.

PPS also is partnering again with Portland Parks & Recreation to provide meals at 13 additional parks throughout the city starting June 22. 

• See PPS and Parks meal sites and times

Whitney Ellersick, Senior Director, Nutrition Service

If you have a child who will be 5 years old by September 1, please register for kindergarten! To register, go to pps.net/kinderenroll. The process takes 20-30 minutes and school staff will follow up with you later in the summer. With schools closed, online registration is the easiest option, but paper options will be available soon. You don’t need to register if your child attends a PPS Head Start or Pre-Kindergarten program. Children with IEPs need to register using a paper form. 

Click here to access this blurb translated into the 5 supported languages

Paper registration packets will be available in multiple languages at meal sites starting Wednesday, May 27th.

Coming soon: The Early Learner Programs team is developing a family-centered kindergarten transition plan. We know families are worried about the start to school, especially kinders. We’re planning on a slower, more family-friendly approach this year. Early registration will ensure that families stay in the loop on updated plans for the start of school.

UPDATE:  On April 8, Oregon Gov. Kate Brown ordered that all in-person classes will be canceled for the rest of the 2019-20 school year. Find more information and updates here: https://www.pps.net/coronavirus. While it is disappointing to hear we will be unable to return this school year, as stated below, we are confident that registration can continue via the online format. Please see below for details. 

You are receiving this email because you attended Abernethy's Connect to Kindergarten in February or submitted an online or paper registration form for your child. As you are aware, in March, Portland Public Schools and other districts announced school closures through April 28th, following an executive order from Oregon Gov. Kate Brown, in response to the coronavirus pandemic. While these closures include Abernethy's office, lots of work continues to happen behind the scenes, from our homes, in a different capacity. Being in charge of enrollment, I am able to complete many of my tasks from home and will continue to work on registering your incoming students during this time. The districts move to online registration this year, could not have come at a better time - as I'll be relying on this tool significantly during this school closure. 

As you know, we are asking parents to complete the online registration (https://www.pps.net/Page/14787) as well as physically turn in up-to-date Immunization Records and a copy of your child's Birth Certificate/Current Passport. However, during this time, in order to move forward with online registration, IF YOU HAVE NOT already submitted Immunization Records & Birth Certificate, I will ask that you email these two proofs to colsen1@pps.net. (Here are instructions on how to convert photos to a PDF from your phone/ipad: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1TP2IyO4wACbPS4s8tL-HeI4FC8lbfeyS68A0AOddRx4/edit?usp=sharing

While PPS will still require a hard-copy of these documents once school re-opens, by receiving valid proofs via email, I will be able to complete your students online registration. See my Q & A below to hopefully answer other questions you may have. 

Q. I have completed all of the steps required for registration, but I have not received a confirmation that my child's registration has been accepted/complete. Is there something else I need to do at this point?

 A. At this point, I have a number of registrations pending. If you have submitted Immunization Records/Birth Certificate prior to school's closure, look for a confirmation email later this week. There was a significant delay due to employee's being unable to access school files until late last week. 

Q. We have missed the online registration deadline of March 20th, can we still register our child?

A. Yes, please complete the online registration as soon as possible (https://www.pps.net/Page/14787). 

Q. I filled out my child's paperwork by hand and delivered it directly to the office prior to school's closure. Is there something else I need to do at this point?

A. At this point, sit tight. If you are missing documentation, I will reach out individually to let you know what is still needed and ask you to email those documents still needed.

Q. My child did not complete the Pre-Kindergarten Screening that was due by March 20th. What should we do?

A. Once school re-opens, we will resume the screening's. The Pre-Screening is a 5-10 minute meeting that is very low pressure and fun. Also, look for Kindergarten Assessments that will be scheduled in mid-August. These Assessments are with your child's teacher and run 30 minutes in length.

Q. What if School does not not re-open this school year? Does this impact my Kindergartener's enrollment? 

A.  Assuming we have all of your child's documentation in order, there is no reason their enrollment will be impacted. At this point, PPS has received no indication from the Governor that schools will remain closed for the remainder of the year. If anything changes with regards to this, we will reach out to you to talk about next steps. Be sure to continue to monitor pps.net for all updates regarding the Covid-19 situation and how it relates to school information.

Q. When do we find out who my child's Teacher is?

A. Teacher assignments are mailed to families mid-August.

Q. What is the best way to reach the school if I have questions?

A. You can email myself at, colsen1@pps.net or our Principal Secretary, Elise Darling at edarling@pps.net. If you are on Facebook, find us here for school updates and news:   https://www.facebook.com/PPS-Abernethy-ES-341408246019365 

Thank you so much for your patience as we navigate through these uncharted waters. Feel free to email me with any further questions you may have.

Warmly, 

Christine Olsen

Secretary, Abernethy Elementary