3/20/2023
Hello BEH Families,
We are in our last week before spring break and doing our best to keep pushing our work forward all the way to the break and then setting ourselves up to pick-up right where we are when we return.
Goal Setting Focus:
All teachers will be working with students this week to set two goals for each student in their home rooms. One goal will be academic focused and one will be focused on one of our core values (community, integrity, perseverance). When we come back from the break, we will have a whole school assembly to review goal setting and get each student their badges with their individual goals on the back. We will then work to review student goals at least monthly, moving forward.
PTA Advocacy for Growing BEH:
As you may have heard, PPS has plans to cut 3 BEH classroom teachers for the 2023-2024 school year. This would mean our current kindergarteners, 1st graders, and 3rd graders are forecast to drop from 3 to 2 sections per grade level, increasing the number of students in each class. The BEH PTA is concerned about these potential changes and we are working hard to bring awareness of this to the community and encourage families to keep their kids at our school. Additionally, if you know of other families that are unsure of their plans for next year, please give them a nudge to check out BEH! Principal Kaveh is happy to talk to any current or prospective families. Getting a couple more kids enrolled would earn us a 3rd teacher in affected grades, which in turn will mean smaller class sizes for all kids in that grade range. Rising 4th grade is the closest to securing a third teacher and we are working to communicate with the school district about this. If you would like to help PTA develop an action plan, please reach out at
BEHPTA620@gmail.com.
Site Council Meeting:
Our monthly Site Council Meeting is this Thursday at 5:30 PM. This team is a collaborative team of families and staff that work to review our work and provide feedback around the direction we are going as a school. As usual, this meeting will be virtual and we will provide the recording to all families and staff following the meeting.
SUN School Update:
The SUN family meeting was held last week and review of applications and enrollment followed shortly after. I was told that all SUN acceptance emails came out today and that the programming for spring is currently full. There was a large turnout for SUN in the spring and several families were put on the waitlist if they did not get into programming. If you did not get an acceptance letter, then you can expect that you are on the waitlist and will have to wait until the first week of SUN to see if space opens up.
Center for Black Excellence Survey:
Six months ago, Portland Public Schools embarked on a historic plan that centers and strives to improve outcomes for Black students. The objective: the development of Portland's first-ever Center for Black
Student Excellence (CBSE). Join us in envisioning what becomes of the Center for Black Student E
xcellence:
https://form.typeform.com/to/eJv25cJB?typeform-source=www.google.com
BEH School Calendar Updates:
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We will no longer have BEH Music and Poetry Night on Thursday, April 6th. We would like to focus on our Talent Show on Thursday, April 20th.
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Our 22nd Annual Storybook Parade will now be on Friday, May 12th (a week early). We need to make this change due to the availability of the city to support with police escorts for the event.
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Promotions will all shift to one day later due to the addition of the school day to make-up for snow days. As a result our 5th Grade Promotion will be in the evening on Tuesday, June 13th, PK & Kinder Promotion will now be in the morning on Wednesday, June 14th.
Thank you so much for your support and understanding.
Important Dates:
Whole Month: BEH March Madness Reading Challenge!
March 27th-31st: Spring Break
April 7th: Family Friday @ 8:00AM & Principal Connect @ 8:50AM
April 20th: Talent Show [If your child plans to participate please make sure their teacher is aware and that they are practicing for the performance]
Thank you all for your continued support and collaboration with our work to push ourselves and our students to set high expectations and work at exceeding them.
Take care,
Mr. Kaveh
3/13/2023
Hello BEH Families,
Hopefully you are all adjusting to the time change and making it through the day awake today. The stormy weather and the time change seemed to have affected our attendance a bit today, but hopefully we get back on track tomorrow. Here is the info for the week:
SUN Parent Meeting:
This Wednesday, March 15th at 4:00 PM is the Spring SUN Family Meeting. If you enrolled your student for the spring SUN term, a parent/guardian must attend this meeting virtually by clicking on
this link. If you have not registered yet, here is the
registration link and if you have never attended SUN before you need to register with SEI
here. Speaking of SUN school;
here is a video Mr. Todd created with his SUN school Choir Class.
SUN Morning Support:
We have been working with SUN to think of a way to support families with the transition to school. Starting Monday, April 3rd SUN will have morning support available for families starting at 8:00 AM. This will allow for families to have a larger window to drop students off for school and make sure that they are here on time. If you are interested in what this Boise SUN risers Monday-Friday 8am-8:30am starting in April parents should contact Ms. Ali via email to sign up alshawndam@selfenhancement.org
Secret Roller Disco:
There will be another Secret Roller Disco under the covered basketball courts at BEH this Wednesday, March 15th from 7:00pm-9:00pm for anyone that is interested in checking it out.
Connect to Kindergarten:
Our first Connect to Kindergarten event at BEH will be this Thursday, March 16th at 5:30pm in the BEH library. We will share info about the transition to kindergarten, tour the school and answer any questions families may have. If you know any prospective kinder families please pass the message along. We will hold two more of these events coming up in May and June for families that are not able to attend this one. Additionally, I always welcome families to reach out to the school and schedule a tour on their own schedule if that is what works best for them.
Family Resource Fair:
Harriet Tubman Middle School is partnering with the Community Services Network to put on a resource fair for families and we would appreciate you sharing this info with your school communities. All are welcome!
The Resource Fair will be at Harriet Tubman Middle School on Saturday March 18, 2023 from 11:00am - 2:00pm.
Over 30 nonprofit/social service agencies will be present including CareOregon, DPI Staffing, Community Energy Project, Sunshine Division, Growing Gardens, Rose City Rowing and Portland Youth Builders. Additionally, there will be catered lunch, food boxes and donations from Columbia Sportswear.
Lost & Found
Our Lost and Found clothing rack has reached its capacity. If you think your items could be one of the many coats, sweatshirts, hats, etc. we have accumulated, please stop by and retrieve your item. We will be donating any items left in the lost and found before we go to spring break at the end of the next week. Here’s a photo of our lost and found items right now:

Important Dates:
Whole Month: BEH March Madness Reading Challenge! (Don’t forget to fill out your reading logs.)
March 16th: Connect to Kindergarten @ 5:30PM
March 27th-31st: Spring Break
April 7th: Family Friday @ 8:00AM & Principal Connect @ 8:50AM
April 20th: Talent Show [Please inform your child about this now so they can start rehearsing if they’d like to participate]
Last week we got to hold our BEH Black History Assembly and each grade level shared a performance or information that they learned in their classes over the past month. Additionally we handed out BEH shirts to all students and staff. It was amazing to see so many engaged students and hear all that they were learning. We look forward to continuing that learning throughout our year.
This month we are working on focusing our students on reading outside of school through our March Madness Reading Challenge. Please help us to meet our goal of reading over 100,000 minutes by the end of the month by reading with your students and supporting them to complete and turn in their reading logs weekly. They are working to earn dance parties at the end of the month with a live DJ.
Take Care,
Mr. Kaveh
3/6/2023
Hello BEH Families,
Last week was a busy and productive week. It was great to see so many of you come out to Literacy night on Thursday. Hopefully you all found it to be both a fun and informative night. Last week we also had an all-school assembly, Family Friday, and Coffee Chat. Hopefully we don't have our weeks quite as stacked as that moving forward, but it was fun to get back in the swing of having student/family engagement opportunities again.
Here is what to look for this week:
No More SUN School in March:
Our winter SUN School session ended last week. Please make sure and arrange for your students to be picked up, walk, or ride the bus home at 3:00 pm through the end of the month. Registration info for the spring session is further down in this message if you are interested.
Spring Picture Day:
This Wednesday is Spring Picture Day at BEH. Teachers have already sent home packets to families that are interested in ordering any pictures at this time. This picture day is different from our fall pictures, because only students who have order forms will have their pictures taken. If you are not interested in taking pictures, just don't send anything in for your student and they will not get their photo taken. If you do want their picture taken, you can send them with the order form and payment and we will then make sure they get their photo taken that day. If your child is participating in Spring Picture Day, they can have free dress on Wednesday so that they can wear what you would like in their photo. Please make sure that your child's teacher knows whether you are ordering pictures this round or not.
Black History Assembly:
We will come together as a whole building this Thursday to have each grade level share some of what they learned in their work over the past month around Black History. Our classes will continue this focus through the entire school year, but we like to take some time to share with each other what is learned and practiced at different grade levels.
Lockdown Drill this Friday:
Each month we have a practice fire drill and then we rotate our other safety drills throughout the year. This month our additional drill is a lockdown drill and we will be conducting it this Friday. I know that this drill can be triggering for students and families if we are not prepared for it. I wanted to share this letter that has some resources and info regarding this. Our teachers will work with me to decide on the exact timing of the drill on Friday and we will make sure that classroom teachers review the drill and prepare the students for it, so that they know it will be practice.
BEH Food Pantry:
This Friday 3/10 we are inviting families to come shop our food pantry between 2:15-3:00, please come to the school's front entrance and we will help direct you there. We ask that you still wait until the end of the school day to pick up your students. Contact our school counselor, Eileen Spindor: eispindor@pps.net, 503-916-6171 x72125 with any questions.
TAG Quarterly Newsletter:
Here is a districtwide TAG newsletter with the most recent TAG updates and info for anyone that is interested.
SUN Morning Support:
We have been working with SUN to think of a way to support families with the transition to school. Starting Monday, April 3rd SUN will have morning support available for families starting at 8:00 AM. This will allow for families to have a larger window to drop students off for school and make sure that they are here on time. If you are interested in what this Boise SUN risers Monday-Friday 8am-8:30am starting in April parents should contact Ms. Ali via email to sign up alshawndam@selfenhancement.org
Spring SUN After School Sign-up:
Spring SUN starts back up on Monday, April 3rd. If you are interested in registering your students please use this link. If families have never participated in SUN before they need to fill out an SEI SUN application that can be found here: SEI Registration - Self Enhancement, Inc. Registration will be open until March 24th on a first come first served basis.
Important Dates:
Whole Month: BEH March Madness Reading Challenge - Turn in your reading logs!
March 8th: Spring Picture Day
March 27th-31st: Spring Break
We are looking forward to another great week and continuing our work with a focus on rigorous and engaging learning across all classes at BEH.
Take care,
Mr. Kaveh
2/27/2023
Hello BEH Families,
This past week has been a wild ride. Hopefully everyone was able to stay safe and find ways to make the best of the snowy situation. Now let's hope that this is the last that we see of that amount of snow for this winter season. It definitely threw our schedules for a loop. Here is what to look towards for this week:
Free Books for Students:
Tomorrow to kick off National Reading Month and our March Madness Reading Challenge we will be having students pick out free books to take home. Thank you Children’s Book Bank!
Run for BEH Awards Assembly:
We had our Run for BEH Assembly snowed out last week and our teachers were feeling like they lost some needed rehearsal/prep time for our Black History Assembly. As a result we will be holding our Run for BEH Assembly this Tuesday at the end of the day and we will shift our Black History Assembly to next week.
Last Day of SUN:
SUN School ends this week. Our last day of SUN school for winter term will be this Thursday, March 2nd. SUN will return for the spring term after spring break in April. Applications information will come out later in March.
BEH Literacy Night:
This Thursday, March 2nd is our BEH Family Literacy Night. Please join us starting at 5:30 for dinner, comic book making, a guest author, and feel free to wear your pajamas. Flyers will be coming home with your students tomorrow.
Successful Schools Survey (Closes on Tuesday, February 28th):
Please raise our response rate! We currently have 42 family surveys completed and our goal is to receive feedback through the survey from at least 50 BEH families. The survey is anonymous and it takes about 15-20 minutes to complete. We use the feedback to help guide our planning and work for next school year. Click this link to complete the survey. Thank you so much!
Family Friday & Coffee Chat:
This Friday is our monthly opportunity to join us in the BEH gym to play games, have snacks and drink some coffee as a community. Doors will open at 8:00 AM and will run until 8:40. At 8:45 any parents that are interested in connecting with me around what we are working on and ask any questions you may have. We will gather by the office and then move to a space that fits our group.
Free Tablets for Families w/ Internet:
Public Wireless has reached out to Portland Public Schools to offer free Lenovo tablets with internet access for student households from our school. These devices are for families to own and use as their personal devices. The devices are not replacing the District's 1:1 chromebook program. These tablets are for their personal use at home. Public Wireless will provide all support and replacement if needed.
There are several ways a family can sign up for the tablet. There is an online registration form or a QRcode to scan to register. The deadline for parents to register is March 17th. I have included links for additional information about the program. PPS Communications will send out these links to families but I wanted you to have them early.

Important Dates:
March 2nd: Literacy Night, 5:30 pm
March 3rd: Family Friday, BEH Gym, 8:00 am + Principal Connect, 8:45 am
March 8th: Spring Picture Day
After today, I hope that we are back onto a more typical schedule moving forward and we look forward to continuing our work and collaborating with you all as we move into March later this week.
Take care,
Mr. Kaveh
2/21/2023
Hello BEH Families,
This week we are coming back from a four day weekend and stepping into a four day week. There are some fun opportunities for engagement this week with our PTA Black Inventors night and we will have an all-school assembly to recognize all of our students who helped to fundraise through Run for BEH earlier this year.
PTA Black Inventor STEAM Night:
Our PTA is hosting this annual event this Thursday, February 23rd starting at 5:00pm. They will have Dr. Arlyne Simon on hand to share about her newest book and share her journey as a Black inventor and entrepreneur. There will also be STEAM activities and dinner provided for all that attend.
BEH Food Pantry this Friday:
This Friday 2/24 we are inviting families to come shop our food pantry between 2:15-3:00, please come to the school's front entrance and we will help direct you there. We ask that you wait until the end of the school day to pick up your students. Contact our school counselor, Eileen Spindor: eispindor@pps.net, 503-916-6171 x72125 with any questions.
Student Cell Phones:
This is just a reminder that students should not have cell phones out during school. If they bring them to school for safety reasons, please remind them that they should be checked in with the teacher to start the day and then they will be returned by the end of the day.
Common Sense Media Resource:
I was at a training about the importance of reducing screen time and monitoring the content that our students have access to through the media last week. At this I was reminded of this resource to help evaluate if the games, movies, shows, etc. are appropriate for your student.
Here is the link to Common Sense Media a site that helps to guide parents around this through their third party research and feedback.
Successful Schools Survey – Family Feedback (Closes on Tuesday, February 28th):
Please raise our response rate! We would really like your feedback around how we are doing in serving your students and family at Boise-Eliot/Humboldt. The survey is anonymous and it takes about 15-20 minutes to complete. We appreciate you taking the time to help guide our planning and work for next school year. Click this link to complete the survey. Thank you so much!
Uno at Lunch:
These past few weeks we have been working to introduce Uno in the cafeteria with our 3rd-5th grade students as a game they can play when they are done eating. It has been great to see the students working with each other to navigate teaching each other the game, agreeing on rules, handling defeat, and taking turns appropriately with each other. Our hope is to continue to build social skills through the introduction of these types of social opportunities throughout their day.
Site Council Recording:
This collaborative team of families and staff met last week to review our latest academic data, review school staffing projections for next year, and discuss possible next steps for our work. Here is a link to the meeting recording if you are interested in reviewing the conversation.
Book Donations:
We have worked this year to offer free books for students to take home and read as needed. There is a bookcase outside the main office (pictured below) that we work to keep stocked. If you have any children's books that you would like to donate to this cause please feel free to drop them in the donation box at the main office (pictured below) and we will get them on the shelves to share with students and families.


March Madness Reading Challenge:
Starting next week, we will be kicking off the March Madness reading challenge school wide. This will be a month long challenge for students to read as much as they can outside of school and track their minutes to return to their teacher. There will be incentives for the students who read the most minutes. We will share out more details next week.
Important Dates:
February 23rd: PTA Black Inventors STEAM Night, BEH Gym, 5:00-7:00 pm
March 2nd: Literacy Night, 5:30 pm
March 3rd: Family Friday, BEH Gym, 8:00 am + Principal Connect, 8:45 am
March 8th: Spring Picture Day
March 9th: Last Day of SUN School
We are looking forward to a great week at BEH. Our 5th graders continue to provide a daily presentation for all of our teachers to share around what they are learning about Black History and our classrooms are working on completing their door decorations as a grade level to display at our PTA Black Inventors STEAM night this week.
Thank you all for your continued collaboration and support.
Mr. Kaveh
2/13/2023
Hello BEH Families,
What an exciting Black History Spirit Week last week! It was amazing to see many students participate in our spirit week, and get to have the talented Jefferson Dancers perform for our entire school last Wednesday.
This week and next week are both shorter school weeks. Please remember that there is no school this Friday, February 17th, due to staff professional development sessions, and no school on Monday, February 20th, in observance of Presidents’ Day.
Valentine’s Day Cards & Candy Grams:
Students may bring Valentine’s Day cards and candy grams for their entire class tomorrow to celebrate Valentine’s Day. All food/snack items must be store-bought and in original, unopened packaging. Due to allergies, please do not send in snacks that contain nuts. Also, please help us remind your students to keep these treats to enjoy mostly after school hours and/or at home.
D.A.D.S Meeting:
We are excited to have Dads Actively Demonstrating Success (D.A.D.S) hold their meeting at BEH this Wednesday, February 15th from 5:30-7:00. This is an opportunity for dads from all over Portland to connect and find ways to volunteer in schools around the city. Dinner and Childcare will be provided for this meeting.
Site Council:
We will be meeting with our Site Council this Thursday virtually to review our most recent assessment results, review our staffing for next year, and discuss plans for the second half of the school year. We will record this meeting and share it out with everyone in next week's message.
OBOB:
The Oregon Battle of the Books has started at BEH this week. Our 3-5th grade teams have begun their battles and plan to have a BEH champion crowned in the next week. The students are very excited and it has been fun to see them practicing in the weeks building up to this.
PPS Successful Schools Survey – Family Feedback (Closes on Tuesday, February 28th)
We would really like your feedback around how we are doing in serving your students and family at Boise-Eliot/Humboldt. As of right now, we have 30 family surveys completed. Our goal is to receive feedback through the survey from at least 50 BEH families. The survey is anonymous and it takes about 15-20 minutes to complete. We appreciate you taking the time to help guide our planning and work for next school year. Click this link to complete the survey. Thank you so much!
Belongings from Home
This is a reminder that students are responsible for the personal property that they bring to school. Boise-Eliot/Humboldt does not assume responsibility for the personal property of students and cannot reimburse students for loss of or damage to their property. Please remind your child to keep toys, stuffed animals, electronics and any other items unrelated to school at home unless the items are related to a current learning activity or are approved by the classroom teacher.
BEH Lost and Found
We have a build up of unclaimed items in our lost and found. If you think perhaps your items could be one of the many coats, sweatshirts, hats, etc. we have accumulated, please stop by and retrieve your item.
Jefferson High School Modernization
The next phase of the Jefferson High School modernization is underway. Please join us for the first in a series of design Open House meetings and Public Workshops on February 16, 2023, 5:00 pm-7:00 pm., in the Jefferson cafeteria. You can drop in anytime.
These meetings allow members of the public and the new Jefferson Design Advisory Group (DAG) the opportunity to talk with the project team and provide feedback on various design ideas. These may include information on topics such as floor plan layout, landscape design, signage, design of wall graphics/art installations, furniture choices and paint colors.
Exclusion Info and Resources:
Any student who is not up-to-date with their immunizations by the first bell on Feb. 15 will not be allowed to attend school. Students will be allowed to return once we have updated immunization records from their parent/guardian or health care provider. Exclusion letters were sent home last week to all families that are not up to date. If you are looking for ways to get caught up here is a link to some upcoming opportunities.
Soccer League:
The Irvington Soccer Club is starting their spring soccer leagues soon. Here is the flyer to sign up if your child is interested in playing soccer this year. The deadline for signing up is March 1st.
February Events
February 13-16: Battle of the Books
February 16: Site Council Meeting, Online at 5:30 pm
February 17: No School for Students
February 20: No School (President's Day)
February 23: PTA Black Inventors STEAM Night, BEH Gym, 5:00-7:00 pm
Thank you for your continued support and for helping us make Boise-Eliot/Humboldt a wonderful school community. Please reach out through responding to this email or calling the office if you have any questions or thoughts.
Take care,
Mr. Kaveh & Ms. Freeman
2/6/2023
Hello BEH Families,
This week is our BEH Black History Spirit Week. It was fun to see students representing some Black owned businesses and entrepreneurs.
Here is the slide deck sharing the themes for the week and below are the themes for the rest of the week:
Tuesday - Wear your BEH gear. Bonus for anyone that can find some older gear from family members or friends that may be Boise, Eliot, Humboldt, or Boise-Eliot gear.
Wednesday - Wear red, yellow, green, and black to represent the colors of the African flag.
Thursday - Wear an article of clothing or bring an item that depicts or represents your favorite African-American role model, past or present.
Friday - Blackout Day - Dress in all black to show your support and solidarity.
BEH PTA Meeting:
This week our BEH PTA will be meeting on Wednesday at 5:30 pm in the library to discuss their upcoming events and fundraisers. There is a lot coming up and they would love your input and support as they plan for each event.
2023/24 Staffing Update:
We received our staffing projections for the next school year and we are seeing reductions in staffing across all of PPS primarily due to enrollment declines that have not recovered since coming back to school these past couple of years. At BEH we expect to lose three classroom teachers and some support staff as they forecasted us for two classes at all grade levels except for third grade which they projected at three sections for next year. I shared about this at our Coffee Chat last Friday and will dig deeper into it with our Site Council next week as well. We will have our finalized and submitted staffing completed by Wednesday, February 15th.
Family Survey:
Our annual Successful Schools Survey is currently being collected. If you have not had an opportunity yet, please complete the survey at
this link to provide us with feedback around how we are doing in serving your students and family at BEH. We use this information to guide our planning and work for next year.
Exclusion Info and Resources:
Any student who is not up-to-date with their immunizations by the first bell on Feb. 15 will not be allowed to attend school. Students will be allowed to return once we have updated immunization records from their parent/guardian or health care provider. Exclusion letters were sent home last week to all families that are not up to date. If you are looking for ways to get caught up here is a link to some upcoming opportunities.
SEI Movie Night:
SEI will be hosting a family movie night this Friday evening at SEI. Doors will open at 5:45 and the movies will begin at 6:05. They will be playing The Woman King in the gym and The Wiz in the auditorium. There will be free concessions for all that attend.
February Events
February 6-10: Black History Spirit Week: Link to slides
February 8: PTA Meeting at 5:30pm in the School Library
February 13-16: Battle of the Books
February 16: Site Council Meeting
February 17: No School for Students
February 20: No School (President's Day)
February 23: PTA Black Inventors STEAM Night
Thank you all for your continued support as we work on continuing to push ourselves in our practice and grow our students academically and socially. Please reach out through responding to this email or calling the office if you have any questions or thoughts.
Take care,
Mr. Kaveh
1/30/2023
Hello BEH Families,
This week is our first week of the second half of the school year. It is amazing to see how far we have come from the fall and how our students are progressing. This week we are wrapping up our winter assessments and hope to get your students report cards and assessment data sent home on Friday. Here is what we are working on this week:
Successful Schools Survey:
This survey is open to complete from January 23- February 28, 2023
Please share your feedback. We would love to get an accurate representation of families and their perspective of how BEH is doing. We use this data to help guide our planning and work for the next school year. We have nine family surveys completed so far.
Click here to take the survey
More info about the survey
Assemblies:
We had our first assemblies of the year last Thursday. We held PK-2 and 3-5 assemblies to review our core values and practice assembly routines. We are getting prepared for more assemblies in the future. Our next assembly will be next week when we will have a whole school assembly to watch the Jefferson Dancers. It was great to see students as a large community and to have our younger students experience their first assemblies ever.
Family Friday:
This Friday at 8:00 AM we will welcome students and families into the gym to make some valentines, socialize, and enjoy some treats.
Coffee Chat:
Following the Coffee Chat, I will host any families that are interested in talking more about what we are working on at BEH and will answer any questions you may have. We will gather outside the office after the second bell at 8:45.
Black History Spirit Week:
Next week will be our Black History Spirit week. I will share a detailed slide deck explaining the themes for each day later this week. Students that choose to participate in the theme for each day will be able to forgo uniforms. If they choose not to participate uniforms will still be expected Monday-Thursday.
This week we are transitioning into Black History Month on Wednesday. At BEH we strive to have Black History infused throughout the year, but we also try to take it up a notch in February. We look forward to involving our students and staff in many fun events in the coming month and look forward to sharing some of this work with you all as well.
Take care,
Mr. Kaveh
1/23/2023
Hello BEH Families,
This is our last full week of January and the final week of the first semester. This means that after this week we will be shifting to the second half of the school year. It is pretty incredible to think how far we have come this year and hopefully we can see ourselves continue to take productive steps forward as we move into the second half of the school year. Here is what to expect this week:
Assessments Continue:
This week we are continuing our winter assessments. Students will be starting on their math MAP assessments this week. We worked on literacy MAP assessments last week and are hopeful we can complete math this week and begin to move out of our assessment window and begin looking at the data to help guide our work moving forward. Please continue to help make sure that your students are well rested and to school on-time.
No School Friday:
This is the last week of the second quarter and will put us at the halfway point of the school year. As a result, teachers will be working on completing report cards this Friday. There will be no school for students across PPS on Friday so that this can be completed. We will work to have report cards finalized and sent home in backpacks by the end of next week.
Successful Schools Survey:
The window to complete our Successful Schools Survey for this year has just opened. This is a time when we work to get feedback from students (3-5th grade), staff, and families to hear how we are doing and gauge where we need to focus our efforts moving forward. Please take some time and provide us some honest feedback around how we are doing as a school. We really do value and utilize this data every year. Here is the link. It takes about 15-30 minutes to complete, but I promise we will not only look at the data, but we will use it to help make improvements from this year to next.
Assemblies:
We are working to get assemblies going again to begin working on getting students back in the practice of how to attend them and to reinforce our core values across the building. This year we will be splitting them into PK-2 and 3-5 for our assemblies and we will be conducting them in the library. This will help us to prepare for future whole school assemblies and allow us to reduce the disruption of PE in the gym for these smaller assemblies.
Attendance/Tardies:
With the new grading period starting next week, one of the areas we would like to improve is our attendance/tardies. Please help us reinforce the importance of being at school every day from 8:45am-3:00pm (Every minute counts). If you have to keep your student home for an illness, appointment, or any other reason, please make sure to call the office to let us know and excuse the absence. Thank you for your support.
Mark Your Calendars:
January Events -
Friday, January 27th: Staff Work Day, No School for Students
Coming Up in February -
Black History Month
February 6th-10th: Black History Spirit Week (More details to come!)
February 13th-16th: Battle of the Books (For OBOB participants)
Thank you all for your continued support and collaboration. It was amazing to see the large turnout for math night last week and I am hopeful that families left with some great ideas and resources to support your students at home with their math work. Thank you to our math team for planning a fun and engaging family event.
Take care,
Mr. Kaveh
1/17/2022
Hello BEH Families,
It was great to be back at BEH this week. I spent far too much time in airports last week working on getting to and from the school conference we were attending. It was great information, but I always struggle with not being in the building when students are present. Here are some of the things we are focused on this week:
Honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.:
Our students and teachers have spent the last couple of weeks learning about the life and legacy of Dr. King and Mr. Todd put together a short video to share some of the students' work around this with the community.
Here is the link to the video on our Youtube Channel.
SUN School:
Our winter session of SUN School started today and will run Monday-Thursday until March 9th. If your child is enrolled in SUN, please make sure that teachers know what the pick-up plans are for Fridays, as there is no SUN School. Enrollment for SUN is closed for this term, but we will send home enrollment for spring session with all students in March.
BEH Family Math Night:
Our math team is looking forward to hosting a family math night this Thursday, January 19th from 5:30-7:00. We will have pizza for all, games, and math fluency activities that you can practice at home with your students. Please join us for fun and learning as a BEH community.
Student Assessments:
This week we are focused on testing all K-5th grade students in literacy. This will help us to see how we have progressed since the fall assessments. We are doing student testing for the entire month of January, so please help us by reinforcing the practice of pushing through difficult tasks and trying your best. Additionally, please help to encourage getting some good rest and eating well this week so that students can show their best on these assessments.
Immunization Exclusion:
Students that are not up to date on their immunizations across PPS will be required to provide proof of immunization or exemption by February 15th this year. Our School Health Assistant has been reaching out to families that are not current so that they are aware. If you are looking for a convenient way to get up to date,
here is info about upcoming clinics.
We are looking forward to another productive week at BEH. Thank you for your ongoing collaboration and cooperation in supporting our students.
Take care,
Mr. Kaveh
1/9/2023
Hello BEH Families,
This week will be a bit of an odd week for me. Our leadership team was asked to attend a training in Oklahoma City with six other schools from PPS and some central office administrators that takes place this week. This means that both Ms. Freeman and myself will not be here Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday. We will be back next week. This is the first time that I have ever been away from BEH for more than one day while students are in school. Luckily, we have someone who knows BEH coming to support in our absence. Mr. Bacon (our previous principal) will be in the building for the three days that we are gone this week. He is excited to be back at BEH for the week and is looking forward to connecting with students, staff, and families.
January is Assessment Month:
Each week this month, we will be working on different assessments to evaluate student progress since our fall assessments. This information will help to guide our instructional plans moving forward. Here are the focuses for each week:
1/9-1/13 iReady (Math) Diagnostic (K-5)
1/17- 1/20 MAP English Language Arts (K-5)
1/23- 1/26 MAP Math (K-5)
1/30- 2/3/22 Successful Schools Survey (3-5)
Healthy Snacking:
Just a reminder that we have been working to eliminate chips, candy, and soda at BEH this year. Coming back from the break, we have seen an increase in the amount of these coming to school again. We wanted to ask you to help us reinforce that these can be treats for after school, but we would like to see them choose other options while we are at school and have many other healthy choices available.
SUN School:
SUN School registration is closed and SUN school will have their first day for winter term this coming Tuesday, January 17th after school. That means no SUN school for the remainder of this week and then it will be every school day Monday-Thursday starting next week.
PTA Meeting:
The January BEH PTA Meeting is this Wednesday at 5:30 PM in the BEH library. Join them to hear what they have been working on and get updates on the upcoming opportunities to support their work.
No School Monday:
Monday is Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day. As a result, there is no school for any students in PPS. Our classes have been working on some activities to learn about and honor Dr. King's legacy. We will share some of that work with students and families next week.
Math Night:
Our math team is working on preparing for a fun and informative family math night that will be held on Thursday, January 19th in the BEH gym at 5:30 PM. We will share more specifics in next week's family message, but we wanted to get it on family calendars before then.
Secret Roller Disco:
I got word that there will be another Secret Roller Disco out under our covered basketball courts this Thursday at 7:00 PM. They hosted one of these on our playground last month and it looked like a fun time for families to gather and roller skate to music with disco balls and lights setting the mood. I thought I would pass it along for those that may be interested in checking it out and learning more.
We are looking forward to another great week and hope that your students are feeling supported and successful at school each day. Please reach out if you have any questions or thoughts as we move further into 2023.
1/3/2023
Hello BEH Families,
It was great to be back in school today. The students were all so excited to see each other and their teachers this morning. For the first time in a while it felt like a long winter break for me, so I was very ready to see all of your amazing students and get back into our routines together. We will be jumping back into the work this week. Here are the updates for the week:
Family Friday:
This Friday we will have family Bingo in the gym starting at 8:00 and running until the first bell at 8:40. Feel free to come in the main entrance and join us for some family fun, prizes, and some morning treats.
Coffee Chat:
As soon as school starts at 8:45, I will meet any families that are interested in connecting around all things BEH. I will be available to answer any questions you may have, hear any feedback, and share some of the work that we are focusing on at BEH in the coming weeks.
Safety Patrol:
I will be meeting with all of the 4th and 5th grade students who turned in safety patrol consent/interest forms before the break to review the expectations and ensure that they are still interested in the responsibility. We will be finalizing their schedules this week and we plan to have them start their shifts beginning next week.
SUN School:
SUN School will start Tuesday, January 17th. The registration is closed, but if you have questions or wanted to see if there is still space feel free to email Ali Martin at
AlShawndaM@selfenhancement.org
We are looking forward to continuing our work in 2023 and are very excited to collaborate with you all as we keep pushing our students academically. Thank you for your ongoing support in getting your students here everyday.
Please don't hesitate to reach out if you have any questions or thoughts.
Take care,
Mr. Kaveh
12/12/2022
Hello BEH Families,
This week will undoubtedly be a busy week, with many things to get done and students feeling a lot of emotions as they near the winter break. We are working to bring as much consistency as possible for them this week in hopes that it helps to bring some level of calm for everyone.
No SUN School:
SUN School ended last week and will start again in mid-January. If your student typically attends SUN school, make sure that their teacher knows what the plan is for dismissal this week.
Food Drive/Distribution Update:
Classrooms are continuing to accept food donations this week for the holiday food drive. The pick-up for families that have reached out for holiday help has been shifted from this week to Monday, December 19th due to some delays in supply delivery. Gifts and food will be available for pick-up on the playground and PTA will be reaching out with more specific info later this week.
BEH PTA Meeting:
Our PTA will be meeting this Wednesday at 5:30 in the BEH library to discuss upcoming events that the PTA will be working on and hear updates on what has been accomplished since the last PTA meeting in October.
BEH Sing Along:
This Thursday, under the covered area on the playground right after school - hot cocoa, candy and song-singing! Mr. Todd will be hosting a short-but-sweet singalong with your holiday requests! Stick around for fun and melody-making this Thursday! Add songs to the request list by emailing : tfadel@pps.net
Student Health Center Winter Break Option:
The Parkrose Student Health Center will be open over the winter break for families that need access to their services. Here is
a flyer with the info around their hours. All other Student Health Centers will be closed during this time.
This is our final week of school before winter break. The building will be closed starting Friday night through Monday, January 2nd. We will return to school on Tuesday, January 3rd.
Hopefully everyone gets the chance to spend some time with family and gets some time to relax between all that you may have going on.
Take care,
Mr. Kaveh
12/5/2022
Hello BEH Families,
This week we are jumping into our second of three weeks before heading into winter break. I know we had a little visible snow coming down yesterday, but luckily it did not stick with any consistency. I know that many of you likely received the same "snow route" messages that I got today, but know that this doesn't change anything with our school schedule and we are fully in session these days. Only 2 hour delays or closures will change anything for our school schedule.
Picture Retakes:
Anyone who missed picture day earlier this fall or purchased pictures and was unhappy with them will have retakes this Tuesday morning. They will have someone to run and get the students who need to have pictures taken from their classes that morning. If you are unhappy with your pictures, please make sure that your student brings in their previous pictures on Tuesday to give them when they get the retakes.
No SUN School Tuesday:
Due to staff shortages on Tuesday, December 6th (tomorrow) there will be no SUN school at BEH. Please make sure that your students and their teachers know what they are doing after school tomorrow.
BEH Holiday Food Drive:
Our PTA has started our annual Holiday Food Drive. The food collected for this will go towards stocking our family holiday food boxes. Flyers will be going home this week, but here are digital copies about the food drive and outlining what types of food they are looking for. THE PTA will be sponsoring a pizza party to the grade level that collects the most food. Additionally, if your family is in need of support for the holidays here is a link to a form to complete around what support you are needing. The PTA expects to have the capacity to support 40-50 families this winter.
Last Day of SUN:
This Thursday, December 8th is the last day of SUN for the Fall term. Please make sure your students and their teachers know what the plan is at the end of the school day for next week. SUN will begin again after winter break.
BEH SUN & PK Winter Craft Night:
Our SUN and PK support staff are collaborating to host a Winter Craft Night on Thursday, December 8th from 5:00-6:30 to close out SUN this term. Join them in the library with your SUN and PK students for some winter crafting and cookie decorating.
Harriet Tubman Band Performance:
The Harriet Tubman Band would like to invite BEH families to attend their concert this Thursday, December 8th at 7:00 PM in the HTMS Cafe.
Internet Resource:
In case you have not seen this message from Multnomah County Library:
The Multnomah County Library has free WiFi Hotspots for students who need them.
My name is Alonso Melendez and I work at the Multnomah County Library. I’m writing to you today to share the library’s free Tech Lending Program: WiFi hotspots are available now, without fees or bills, even if lost, stolen or broken.
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The hotspots provide an unlimited internet plan that is unthrottled and can provide internet connectivity for several devices simultaneously. Students will be able to do their homework, and stream music or video without worrying that they will run out of data.
We currently have approximately 400 hotspots designated for students ready to borrow. With a Multnomah County Library card, eligible students can borrow a hotspot for the rest of the school year, due back on June 30, 2023.
Students must be low income, attending school in Multnomah County Residents, and have a library account in good standing, i.e. no bills over $50, or library exclusions.
You can request hotspots from the Tech Lending Program for students using this referral form, or you can provide students or their family/guardians my contact information:
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and I will respond quickly to connect the student and their family with a hotspot.
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Site Council Update:
Our Site council met for the second time last week and discussed the plan for the rest of the meetings this year and got the opportunity to meet our newly elected student council. Here is the link to the meeting recording for those that are interested in hearing what they are working on this year and seeing who our student council is and what they would like to work on this year.
Looking forward to another productive week at BEH. Thank you for continuing to work to get your students here everyday, ontime, and staying until the end of the day.
Take care,
Mr. Kaveh
11/28/2022
Hello BEH Families,
It was amazing to welcome back our students after a week away from school. We are looking forward to a few full weeks in a row before we get to winter break.
Giving Tuesday on Mississippi Avenue:
Tomorrow is giving Tuesday and many of the businesses on Mississippi Avenue are donating a portion of their proceeds tomorrow to BEH to support our STEAM programs this year.
Here is a flyer that shows which businesses are participating. If you have spending to do at any of these businesses, tomorrow is the day to get it done and support BEH in the process.
Dine-in Night tomorrow at Por Que No:
In connection with Giving Tuesday, any family that eats at Por Que No tomorrow will have 10% of their cost donated to BEH for tomorrow.
Family Friday:
This Friday at 8:00 AM join us in the gym for some hot beverages, pastries and some holiday card making/crafting. Families are encouraged to join us until the morning bell rings at 8:40.
Coffee Chat:
Come and join our assistant principal; Ms. Freeman at 8:45 for our monthly coffee chat. This is an opportunity to hear what we have been working on, ask any questions you may have and connect with our amazing assistant principal.
Last Day of SUN & Winter Craft Night:
The school calendar has these events on two dates in December. I wanted to clarify that both of these will be next Thursday, December 8th.
Picture Retakes:
Next Tuesday, December 6th, is picture retake day. This is for anyone who missed picture day and wants to get their picture done or anyone who ordered pictures, but would like them retaken. This will be in the morning next Tuesday.
Pickups and Last Chance for Holiday Greenery are this week!
If you've ordered holiday wreaths from our BEH PTA sale, PICK UP will be Thursday, December 1 from 3:00-5:30pm and Friday, December 2 from 3:00-3:30 (behind the school, by the shed/basketball court). There is limited inventory left—order now while supplies last!
https://beh-pta-wreath-shop.myshopify.com
As we get nearer to the winter break, our PTA and SUN will be coordinating to get gifts and food support for families. Please let your students' teachers, SUN staff, or a PTA officer know if your family could use support for the holidays and we will work to get a list compiled leading up to the break.
Take care and have a great week,
Mr. Kaveh
11/21/2022
Hello BEH Families,
First, a friendly reminder that there is no school this week for students. Teachers are working Monday and Tuesday to hold conferences with all of you. If you missed the chance to register for one, feel free to call or email and see if they can still add you to their schedules. We will return to school on Monday, November 28th.
Last Chance for Lost and Found:
Conferences will be your last chance to look for anything that your children may have misplaced at school. We will be donating any unclaimed clothes/coats to the district clothes closet on Wednesday.
Book Fair:
The Scholastic Book Fair will be in the library during conferences on Monday and Tuesday this week. Stop by if you are interested in purchasing any books to support our library.
Hall Bulletin Boards:
If you come to the building for conferences, take a minute and walk the halls to see the student work and displays that our staff and students have been working on this year.
Student Council Elections:
We completed our student council elections last week and held our first student council meeting of the school year. Our 3rd-5th grade students elected three fourth grade students; Kyndall, Amari, & Rahf and four fifth grade students; Elma, Victoria, Jah'bria, and Akyla. I am excited to work with this new team around the projects they are excited to explore for BEH this year.
Picture Retakes:
Dorian will be returning on Tuesday, December 6th for picture retakes for anyone that missed or was not happy with the photos that their child took on our earlier picture day. More info and a flyer will follow in the next couple of weeks.
I hope you all have an enjoyable week with family and are able to continue the conversations around thankfulness with your students this week.
Thank you all for your continued collaboration and support this year.
Take care,
Mr. Kaveh
11/14/2022
Hello BEH Families,
This week is our first and only full week of school in November. Keep in mind that next week we are off for conferences and Thanksgiving, so there is no school all of next week for students. Following the fall break, there will be three full weeks of school before we head into winter break.
Report Cards:
Student report cards will be sent home with students this week. You can expect to get them in the family communication folders this week. If you have any questions feel free to reach out to their teachers or save them for conferences next week.
Conferences:
Monday and Tuesday of next week are conference days for our students. If you have not signed up already, please connect with your teacher and get a conference scheduled to review your student's progress.
Student Council Elections:
We have begun our final round of student council elections and will have them completed this week. By the end of the week we will announce the three 4th grade students and four 5th grade students that are elected to student council for this school year.
Safety Patrol:
We are working to reestablish a student safety patrol this year. We will be connecting with 4th and 5th grade classes around information about how to participate and send home information to families in the next week or so. These students will work with our staff around safely guiding students and families across Fremont before and after school this school year. Those students that participate regularly all year will have the opportunity to go to Oaks Park in the spring to recognize their hard work.
Run for BEH Fundraising Due:
The deadline for students to turn in their completed fundraising forms from Run for BEH to Ms. Smith was last Thursday, November 10, 2022 to be eligible for prizes. If you missed it and still want to get your fundraising in, Ms. Smith is holding off until tomorrow to figure out calculations for prizes. Please write checks out to Boise-Eliot/Humboldt, or check out the link to donate to your sponsored child. https://www.schoolpay.com/link/Run-for-BEH-payment
COVID Research Study:
Kaiser Permanente is conducting a research study. The study offers opportunities for weekly COVID-19 testing to families, the added benefit being that CHR coordinates the distribution of supplies through our research clinic, and weekly samples are picked up at participant homes, so hopefully it provides a nice alternative for both families and school staff. There is also compensation for study participation. Here is info in English and Spanish.
Middle School Lottery:
This is a reminder that petitions for the 2023-2024 school year will be accepted starting tomorrow, November 15, 2022 at 8:00 AM. The window ends on December 16, 2022 at 5:00 PM. For more information regarding programs you are interested in, please visit the schools’ websites to find out the dates and times of their information nights. If you have any questions about this process, please do not hesitate to contact Ms. Spindor at 503-916-6171 ext. 72067 or the PPS Enrollment and Transfer Center via email enrollment-office@pps.net or call 503-916-3205. Link to PPS Lottery and Transfer Information: https://www.pps.net/Page/2343.
Lost and Found:
This is another reminder to please collect your lost coats, jackets, and any other items from the lost and found by Tuesday, November 22nd. Our school's lost and found is located in the hall just outside of the main office. Items left after November break (11/23-11/25) will be sent to the PPS clothing closet at Marshall High School.
PTA Holiday Wreath Fundraiser:
Holiday Wreath Sale - Presales are closed, but there is still great holiday greenery available on our website. Check out https://beh-pta-wreath-shop.myshopify.com if you'd like to order wreaths or greenery for the holiday season and support BEH PTA! While supplies last! PIckup of items will be December 1 & 2.
Book Fair:
The Book Fair will be set up in the library during conference days on Monday, November 21st and Tuesday, November 22nd. The hours will be:
Monday, November 21st: 9:00am-12:00pm, 1:00-5:00pm, 6:00-7:00pm
Tuesday, November 22nd: 9:00am-12:00pm, 1:00-6:00pm
We are still looking for volunteers to help with the Book Fair. If you are interested in volunteering, please email Ms. Kali at kcardenas@pps.net.
Mark your Calendars:
November 15: Middle School Lottery Window Opens
November 21-22: Parent-Teacher Conferences (Please connect with your child’s teacher.)
November 23-25: Holiday Break; No School
Thank you all for your continued support this year as we maintain our focus on engaging students in high quality grade level instruction everyday at BEH. Everyday our teachers are getting more comfortable with the new curriculum and I anticipate we will only get stronger and more creative with it as the year progresses.
Have a great week,
Mr. Kaveh
11/7/2022
Hello BEH Families,
This is yet another four day week of school. There is no school this Friday in order to honor Veterans Day. Here is what to expect this week:
PTA Wreath Fundraiser:
Our Annual BEH PTA Wreath Sale is happening now! Online ordering ends November 12. Order your holiday greenery for local pickup, or ship across the US for gifts to friends and family! All proceeds go to the PTA, directly benefiting students, teachers and community. Check out the flyer here.
Run for BEH Fundraising Due:
Students need to turn in their completed fundraising forms from Run for BEH to Ms. Smith by this Thursday, November 10, 2022 to be eligible for prizes. Please write checks out to Boise-Eliot/Humboldt, or check out the link to donate to your sponsored child. https://www.schoolpay.com/link/Run-for-BEH-payment
Family Food Resource:
A new program, Family Backpack, is being piloted at BEH. To help serve families rather than just students Portland Backpack wants to provide the foods you need as a family that may not be always available in the Friday food sacks. Students who receive Friday food sacks brought home a form last week. Forms are available in the office and at SUN school pick up. Please contact our counselor, Eileen Spindor for more information or assistance in filling out the form.
Middle School Lottery:
Petitions for the 2023-2024 school year will be accepted starting November 15, 2022 at 8:00 AM. The window ends on December 16, 2022 at 5:00 PM. For more information regarding programs you are interested in, please visit the schools’ websites to find out the dates and times of their information nights. If you have any questions about this process, please do not hesitate to contact us or the PPS Enrollment and Transfer Center via email enrollment-office@pps.net or call 503-916-3205.
Link to PPS Lottery and Transfer Information: https://www.pps.net/Page/2343
Lost and Found:
Here is a photo of what has accumulated so far in our lost and found this year. It is located in the hall, just outside of the main office. Please collect your lost coats and jackets from the lost and found before 11/22. We will be sending any clothing left after Thanksgiving week to the PPS clothing closet at Marshall High School.
OSU Nutrition Educator Update:
Snacks are a great way to fuel your brain throughout the day! Check out these snack ideas on the School Snacks Food Hero Monthly that will be sent home with students this week. You can also find even more snack recipes on FoodHero.org. Our OSU Nutrition Education partnership will be coming back in person later this year, where students will get to learn more about healthy eating habits and prepare some foods in their classrooms together.
Land Use Proposal Near BEH:
One of our BEH parents (Allan Rudwick) has been working on a proposal for the past 3 years to take land that is being used for industrial uses in the Boise and Eliot Neighborhoods near the east end of the Fremont Bridge and the overly-long and wide on- and off-ramps to N Kerby street. This proposal has been fairly well received so far, but action is needed to take it to the next level. Allan is going to present the idea again Monday, November 14th at 7pm at the beginning of a neighborhood land use committee meeting over google meet. He would like to invite you to attend and hear the latest updates to the proposal and how you can help move this forward towards a reality.
Mark your Calendars:
November 10: Run for BEH Fundraiser Due Date
November 11: Veterans Day; No School
November 15: Middle School Lottery Window Opens
November 21-22: Parent-Teacher Conferences (Please connect with your child’s teacher.)
November 23-25: Holiday Break; No School
We are looking forward to another great week at BEH. This week, we are working to align our student council election process with the state elections.
Have a great week,
Mr. Kaveh
10/31/2022
Hello BEH Families,
I wanted to get out this week's message early since there are a few announcements pertaining to today. Additionally, I wanted to remind everyone that this week we are back to a typical uniform week for students. This means that this week, everyday is a uniform day, as we do not have school on Friday and contrary to student rumor we are always in uniform on Thursday, regardless of whether there is no school on Friday.
No SUN School Today:
There is no SUN school today due to Halloween and the participation of many of our staff in the preparation for the SEI Halloween event and other Halloween festivities. Please make sure that your students and their teachers know what the plan is for them at the end of the school day today.
Community Halloween Events:
If you are looking for some family friendly events for your children to get some safe treats and have fun, here are two events to fill your time after school today:
The Mississippi Business Association is hosting a Trick or Treat Event up and down Mississippi Avenue starting at 3pm and running until 6pm.
SEI is hosting a Harvest Fest Disney Event at the Center for Self Enhancement starting at 4:30pm and running until 7:30pm. In addition to the many treats, they will have free flu shots and COVID Vaccines for anyone interested.
BEH Music Night:
PTA presents: BEH Music Night THIS THURSDAY @ 5:30 SHARP! Free PIZZA and live music by JPRODIGY and FOUNTAINE! Every age is invited, so bring your big families! It’ll be a fun night of singing and dancing! We’ll get you home before bedtime!
No School Friday:
There is no school for students on Friday, teachers will be working on report cards for the first quarter. This is the end of the first quarter of the school year.
Report Cards:
For the past several years, PPS K-5 educators have used conference forms instead of the K-5 report card to communicate with families about student progress in the first quarter of school. This year, however, we are returning to the use of first quarter report cards for all grades. This means that K-5 families will receive a first quarter report card for their children in mid-November. K-5 families will not also receive a separate conference form when they meet with their teachers for conferences later in November. Instead, conference conversations will use student work, fall assessment data, and the report card to discuss and share student progress. Please look for communications from your child’s teacher about how to sign-up for a conference on November 21-22.
Jackets & Sweaters:
As the season changed quite abruptly, please remember to send your students with a jacket/coat each day, as we will likely be outside for recess on most days regardless of rain. In doing so, I would suggest that you write your child's name someplace inside the coat so that we can reunite them with it more easily if it is misplaced. If your child has lost a jacket or other clothing item, there is a lost and found rack of clothes in the hallway just outside the office.
Run for BEH Update:
Thank you to all of you that came and supported our Run for BEH fundraiser last week. Our students did amazing. Ms. Smith will be sharing out the results in the next few weeks as she works to tally up the laps and the fundraising. As a reminder; all money is due back to BEH by Thursday, November 10, 2022 to be eligible for prizes. Please write checks out to Boise-Eliot/Humboldt, or check out the link to donate to your sponsored child. https://www.schoolpay.com/link/Run-for-BEH-payment
Site Council Meeting:
Last week, we had our first BEH Site Council meeting of the school year. We continue to have our meetings online and record them so that we can share the recording out with everyone following each meeting. This month we reviewed our School Improvement goals, MAP test results from this fall, state test results from last spring, and discussed future plans.
Thank you for all of your continued collaboration and support. We look forward to continuing to work with our amazing students to help them to continue to strive towards their limitless potential.
Take care,
Mr. Kaveh
10/24/2022
Hello BEH Families,
This week should be a fun week of activities for students and families. We have our annual fall spirit week, Run for BEH, and Harvest Fair all happening this week. Read further for more details around each event.
Spirit Week:
This week is spirit week for students at BEH. Each day has a different theme that students have an option of participating with. If students choose not to participate in the themed day, they are expected to be in uniform Monday-Thursday as usual.
Here are the themes for the week:
Monday - Pajama Day
Tuesday - Dress Your Best
Wednesday - Wear your favorite color(s)
Thursday - Athletic/Sports Day
Friday - Dress as your favorite character
Site Council:
We have worked with our PTA and our site council members from last year to get our first Site Council meeting of this school year scheduled for this Wednesday evening. We will continue to meet virtually and record these meetings so that we can share them out with everyone.
Run for BEH:
We will have our annual Run for BEH Fundraiser this Thursday during the school day. We will be running around the block that SEI sits on and each grade level will be running at their own dedicated times throughout the day.
Harvest Fair:
Our PTA is hosting our annual Harvest Fair at BEH this Thursday at 5:30 PM. There will be food, games, costumes, prizes and fun.
PTA Volunteers:
The BEH PTA is excited for all the upcoming events this week and throughout the fall. We are still looking for volunteers for several events this week and next, if you are interested in helping out at Run for BEH, Harvest Fest, or Family Music Night please sign up by following this Volunteer Link.
If you are interest in learning more about the BEH PTA and receiving updates you can fill out our info form at, PTA Sign Up
TAG Nomination Window:
The window for nominating students to be evaluated for Talented And Gifted (TAG) is open. Teachers and/or parents are able to nominate a student that they feel should be considered for TAG support.
Here is a document that helps to review the process and has a link to the
nomination form. The window is open until November 29th.
SEI & Mississippi Ave. Events:
On Monday, October 31st there are neighborhood events for families around safe options for Trick or Treating. The Mississippi Business Association is hosting a trick or treat event down Mississippi with participating businesses. The event is from 3pm-6pm and any business that has an orange balloon is participating. Additionally SEI is hosting a Harvest Fest Disney Experience from 4:30-7:30 on Monday at the SEI Center.
Here is the flyer for the Mississippi Event and
here is the info for the SEI event.
Events to Look Forward to:
10/27 Run for BEH (Throughout the School Day)
10/27 Harvest Fair (5:30 pm)
11/3 Music Night
11/4 No School - Teacher Planning/Grading Day
11/10 Run for BEH Fundraising Due
11/11 No School - Veterans Day
11/21 & 11/22 Parent-Teacher Conferences
Thank you all for your continued support and collaboration this school year. Next week is officially the final week of our first quarter of the school year. It is amazing how fast this school year is moving along. We are continuing to work on improvements and adjustments each week and hope that you and your students are feeling supported. If you have other ideas or feedback for us please respond to this email and we can connect about possible shifts or adjustments.
Take care,
Mr. Kaveh
10/17/2022
Hello BEH Families,
It was great to see students back in SUN school after school last week, have our PTA meeting and connect with some families around TAG and Title I info last week. Bringing back more family resources and involvement opportunities is something we are continuing to prioritize this year. Please connect with our PTA or with the front office if you are interested in volunteering with any of these events/supports. Additionally, don't forget to complete the volunteer process if you are hoping to join any field trips or support in classrooms in the coming weeks.
Picture Day:
Tomorrow (Tuesday, October 18th) is fall picture day at BEH. Each class has a scheduled time to take pictures starting first thing in the morning and going until the end of the school day. Our fall picture day is a uniform day. This means all students should still be in uniform tomorrow. We will offer spring pictures where students will have free dress. If you would like to volunteer to help out with the organization and support of picture day, please call the office and let them know. We do have a few free photo vouchers for those that are able to volunteer and help during picture day.
BEH Grief/Loss Support Night:
On Thursday October 20th, our Equity team along with our BEH School Counseling Team (Mrs. Eileen Spindor, School Counselor and Mr. Troy Loker, Qualified Mental Health Professional) and our community resource partner, Lines for Life will provide an opportunity for families to learn about and share experiences with others who have recently experienced loss. Lines for Life provides an array of professional resources, from grief and loss support, to suicide prevention, substance abuse support, and racial equity support. If your family has experienced a recent loss of a loved one or close friend, this evening will be an opportunity to learn more about grief and also how to sign up your child for our upcoming BEH School Counseling Team's 6 to 8 weekly Grief Group sessions, a safe space at BEH to help small groups of students process grief and loss. While not therapy, families who join us on Thursday 10/20 will learn about the combination of activities that participating students will be guided through during Grief Groups to help them share thoughts and feelings as much or as little as they feel comfortable. Dinner and childcare will be provided to support this important BEH community event. Click here for our Grief & Loss Support Night flier.
Parent-Teacher Conferences:
Remember to sign-up for a time to meet with your child’s homeroom teacher. These conferences are scheduled on Monday, November 21st and Tuesday, November 22nd.
Tree to Tree Reading Challenge:
Tree to Tree Adventure park is offering an exciting educational challenge for students ages 7-17. They are challenging students to reach 24 hours of reading to receive a FREE* admission to Tree to Tree Adventure Park!
Attached below is the take-home flyer with more information on how to join the challenge. Here is the link to register the readers for their free admission ticket
Their hope is to encourage more students to read while offering them adventure in return!
Spirit Week:
Next week is BEH Spirit Week. Here is the flyer that will go home with students this week. The themes for each day are as follows:
Monday - Pajama Day
Tuesday - Dress Your Best
Wednesday - Wear Your Favorite Color(s)
Thursday - Athletic/Sports Day (Run for BEH)
Friday - Character Day
Run for BEH Fundraiser:
Next Thursday is our annual Run for BEH Fundraiser. Information went home with students last week. Fundraising will run through the race and be due by November 10th to be eligible for prizes. Here is a link to share with those that may want to support your child with this fundraiser. The funds raised for this will go to support our STEAM programming (field trips, project based learning supplies, STEAM projects/family nights, etc.) We will share more info about the schedule for the event in next week's message.
Upcoming Events:
10/18 Picture Day; wear uniform
10/20 Grief and Loss Support Night
10/27 Run for BEH! & PTA Harvest Fair
11/3 BEH Music Night (New Date)
11/4 No School - Grading Day
This week is looking like it may be one of our last warm weeks in the foreseeable future. Please don't forget to get your students name in their coat/jacket when you start sending them to school with it. This makes it much easier to get them back to you when they get left on the playground, in gym, or in various other spaces around the school.
We are looking forward to another week of progress at BEH. Thank you for continuing to support our students in getting here on time and staying until the end of the day.
Take care,
Mr. Kaveh
10/10/2022
Hello BEH Families,
There is a lot of info to share this week. Please look for the bold headlines to see if the info is something you want to explore more.
Monthly BEH PTA Meeting:
Our PTA will host their monthly meeting this Wednesday, October 12th @ 5:30 in the BEH library. This is an opportunity to connect with other parents, hear about events that our PTA is supporting moving forward and opportunities to support our work at BEH. I will share more specific details via email before the event.
Title I & TAG Info Night:
We will be sharing our Title I and TAG info with families this Thursday, October 13th in the library at 5:30 PM. Here is the slide deck for Title I info and the slide deck for TAG info in case you are not able to attend or want to preview the information before the meeting.
Jefferson Modernization Workshop:
Please join your friends and neighbors at the Reimagining Jefferson Community Design Workshop on Saturday, Oct 15th from 9:00a.m. to 4:00p.m. in the Jefferson Cafeteria. We encourage everyone to drop by anytime to learn about the design options for a new Jefferson High School and to add your experience and ideas to the process. View the Design Workshop flyer |Español
Racial Equity & Social Justice Advisory Committee:
PPS is currently seeking membership applications for the district’s inaugural PPS Racial Equity and Social Justice Community Advisory Committee (RESJ CAC). This committee will advise both the Superintendent and School Board about the racial equity and education impacts of policy decisions and work collaboratively to increase understanding and progress towards the PPS Racial Educational Equity Policy and the PPS RESJ Plan and Framework, PPS reimagined, and the PPS Strategic Plan.
We are seeking to fill the remaining 12 positions from a diverse pool of applications from students, staff and PPS parents with lived experience to be able to provide critical advice and feedback to ensure that PPS meets its mission and vision to prepare students to lead a more just world.
Information about the RESJ CAC can be found in the PPS RESJ Community Advisory Committee charter. You can visit our website to find additional background information as well.
Here are links in different languages for the application: English, Spanish, Somali, Vietnamese, Chinese, Russian. Applications are due by October 20th and will be reviewed by PPS Staff, Board and the Superintendent with a recommendation for membership made to the PPS School Board for approval at the November 1st School Board Meeting.
If you have any questions or would like more information, please contact: Lidia Lopez Gamboa at llopez@pps.net or at 503-916-3354.
Middle School Lottery Dates:
The Middle School Application Window opens on November 15th, but there are some schools hosting info nights this month. daVinci Middle School has an information night in-person tomorrow (Tuesday, October 11th) from 5:00-6:00 PM. There is also a virtual info night on Wednesday, October 19th from 5:00-6:00 PM. You will want to reach out to daVinci if you want further info. There are other middle school info nights that occur after the window opens in November. We will share those out in the next few weeks.
Picture Day:
Our school picture day is Tuesday, October 18th. This picture day is a uniform day. All students will be expected to be in uniform as usual on this day. Our spring picture day will be free dress.
No School This Friday:
This Friday is a state-wide inservice day. There is no school for all PPS schools.
BEH Grief/Loss Support Night:
On Thursday October 20th, our Equity team along with our BEH School Counseling Team (Mrs. Eileen Spindor, School Counselor and Mr. Troy Loker, Qualified Mental Health Professional) and our community resource partner, Lines for Life will provide an opportunity for families to learn about and share experiences with others who have recently experienced loss. Lines for Life provides an array of professional resources, from grief and loss support, to suicide prevention, substance abuse support, and racial equity support. If your family has experienced a recent loss of a loved one or close friend, this evening will be an opportunity to learn more about grief and also how to sign up your child for our upcoming BEH School Counseling Team's 6 weekly Grief Group sessions, a safe space at BEH to help small groups of students process grief and loss. While not therapy, families who join us on Thursday 10/20 will learn about the combination of activities that participating students will be guided through during Grief Groups to help them share thoughts and feelings as much or as little as they feel comfortable. Dinner and childcare will be provided to support this important BEH community event. Click here for our Grief & Loss Support Night flier.
We are excited to have SUN school start today and look forward to continuing to bring back our community engagement opportunities in the coming weeks.
Take care,
Mr. Kaveh
10/3/2022
Hello BEH Families,
We have officially made it to October and somehow it looks like we are going to keep the warm weather coming. I guess we have to start getting used to this. This week we will be working to wrap up our MAP assessments and working to shift into data reflection. The district will be mailing home assessment summaries from last year in the next week or two, so this round of MAP assessments should give you another point of comparison around how your student is progressing academically.
SUN School Update:
SUN registration is now closed. If you have any questions about fall SUN school feel free to reach out to Ms. Ali at 503-753-2642. SUN school starts on Monday, October 10th. Confirmations will be sent home this week out this week to confirm enrollment and share the class schedule.
Family Friday:
This Friday, join us at 8:00 AM in the gym for some family Bingo complete with some snacks, prizes, and friendly competition. Bingo will run until 8:40 when the bell rings for the start of school.
Coffee Chat:
Following Family Friday, join Mr. Kaveh for our monthly BEH Coffee Chat. This month Mr. Kaveh is planning on sharing info about our Title I program with parents, sharing what we are working on this year, and will answer any questions you may have. We will meet in front of the office after you drop your students off and then we will head to a room to meet based on the size of our group.
Hiring Update:
We have finished interviewing for the remaining open positions that we had at BEH and are working on getting our selected applicants processed and should have them started in the next week or two. We are adding two paraeducators to our Special Education Focus Classrooms, an educational assistant to our PK classroom, and a 4th grade teacher that will take over the language arts work for the remainder of the school year.
Lost & Found:
If your child has misplaced a coat or any other article of clothing, please check our Lost & Found rack that is located in the hall, just outside the main office.
Here is a picture of what you can currently find on the lost & found rack.
Upcoming Events:
October 7th @ 8:00am: Family Friday, 9:00am Principal Connect
October 10th: First day of SUN School
October 12th @ 5:30pm: PTA Meeting
October 14th: No School; Teacher PD Day
It is exciting to think about finally getting our building to a place of being fully staffed this year. Having gaps in our classrooms results in us needing to shift support staff to cover those areas and makes it difficult to provide all the support that we have planned daily. We should see us turning the corner to even more proactive work as we get our new staff started. Thank you all for your patience as we continue to progress through this challenge.
We are looking forward to another great week at BEH.
Take care,
Mr. Kaveh
9/27/2022
Hello BEH Families,
I apologize for the tardiness of this weekly message. Things got a bit away from me yesterday and I did not realize I missed this until it was a bit late in the day. This week we are working on continuing to interview for our remaining vacant positions and are hopeful that we will be able to get fully staffed in the next few weeks.
MAP Testing:
We have been working to complete our academic assessments to start the year. This week we are continuing to work on completing reading and math MAP assessments. Our hope is to complete our MAP assessment in the next week. This will help us to track our academic progress this year.
PK Book Resource:
One of the kindergarten teachers shared
this resource with me that mails free books to students monthly from birth to 5 years old. It is easy to sign-up for and the books are mailed to you at no cost.
Bell Hours:
Please continue to help us to reinforce the importance of being at school every day from 8:45-3:00. We continue to have staff come outside to meet students starting at 8:30 every morning and the parking lot door will remain open until 8:55 to help with the drop-off. Breakfast will be served in the halls upon entry until 9:00 AM daily.
Tuesday Folders:
Tuesday Folders will be going home today. Please make sure to check your child's backpack for this folder every Tuesday. The folder has two sides: "Keep at home and bring back to school. Teachers will be sending home their weekly grade level newsletters, worksheets, event flyers and other information. Please help us with reminding your child to bring their Tuesday folder back to school the next day.
Volunteer Background Check:
I have continued to get some new field trip request forms for the coming months and wanted to provide the links again for families to ensure that they are cleared to volunteer in our school in case you are going to want to attend a field trip with your student's class this year. This also covers you, if you want to volunteer in a classroom. Here is the link to the volunteer process and here is a direct link to the background check steps.
Upcoming events:
10/7 @ 8:00am - Family Friday
10/7 @ 9:00am - Principal Connect
10/12 @ 5:30pm - PTA Meeting
10/14 - No School
Thank you all for your continued support. Our teachers and students are doing some amazing work getting accustomed to our new curriculums. We are excited to see the increased student dialogue and consistent practices across grade levels. The more experience our students and staff get with these new curriculum, the more growth we anticipate with our students academically.
Have a great week,
Mr. Kaveh
9/19/2022
Hello BEH Families,
We completed our first full week of school with all of our grades present (PK-5th grade). It was great to see our PK students join us and get settled into the new school year. This week we will again have a four-day week, as there is no school on Friday for teacher professional development.
Student Score Reports for 2021-2022 OSAS and MAP Testing:
The district will be mailing Individual Score Reports to families in the next few weeks. The reports will have results from OSAS and MAP testing for 2021-2022.
Student Illness:
As expected, we have seen an increase in student and staff illness as school has come back in session. We just want to remind you to keep students home when they are ill both from COVID and other contagious illnesses. Recently, we have been hyper focused on whether a student has COVID or not as the determinant of whether they can come to school. Remember to also keep students home if there are other symptoms that get in the way of their learning.
Here is a short health reminder.
COVID Testing Update:
Through OHSU's LabFinder portal, parents within PPS are able to sign up their students for continued COVID test kits that are mailed to the homes and then dropped at BEH.
According to the district schedule the BEH testing day will be Tuesdays, so once you are signed up, have your student bring their test to school on Tuesday mornings and drop them off in the office to be stored in the cooler awaiting pick-up.
Additionally, if you want our School Health Assistant to be able to test your child for COVID if they demonstrate symptoms at school, please complete this form and return it to the office.
Volunteer Background Check:
No School this Friday:
There is no school across all PPS schools this Friday, September 23rd for a teacher professional development day.
Thank you to all of you that were able to join us for our Back to School Night last week and to the many grandparents & special friends that were able to attend our Grandparent/Special Friends day. We had over 200 people attend Back to School Night and nearly 100 Grandparents & Special Friends came on Friday as well.
We look forward to many more community engagement events moving forward this year.
Take care,
Mr. Kaveh
9/12/2022
Hello BEH Families,
We are excited to welcome PK today, as the last of our students start officially this week. Please continue to remind families, particularly in PK and kindergarten that we have started school this year and that we would love to have them enroll at BEH. We are still a bit low in enrollment, particularly in kindergarten.
There are a lot of opportunities to connect this week, here is a rundown of what is coming up:
BEH PTA Meeting:
Our first PTA meeting of the new year is this Wednesday, September 14th at 5:30. The PTA will be meeting in the library at BEH to discuss upcoming events, volunteer opportunities, and any other school/community related topics that may interest you.
Back to School Night:
Our teachers and staff will be in the building from 5:30-7:00 on Thursday, September 15th to welcome families that would like to come and connect around our work this year. Our teachers will be in classrooms to share what they are working on, answer questions, and connect around communication systems. In addition, we will have several other resources, supports, and information available in the gym for families. Additionally many of our support staff and specials teachers will be available to connect in their spaces with families. Check-in at the front of the school when you arrive and we will provide you with a rundown of all that is available.
PTA Grandparent & Special Friend Day:
Our PTA will be hosting this annual BEH event outside under the covered basketball courts starting at 9:00 AM this Friday, September 16th. Grandparents and special friends will meet there and we will bring out students from class to participate in a fun craft activity and some light refreshments.
Job Opportunities:
Paraeducator Positions -
We have multiple paraeducator positions currently open at BEH and the district has several opportunities for employment in this area as well. These positions are supporting our students who are served by Individual Education Plans through Special Education.
Here is a flyer about the district recruitment and opportunities.
PK .5 Educational Assistant -
We have a half-time educational assistant position still available in our PK classroom. This position is typically from 10:00 AM - 2:00 PM every day. Please visit the
PPS hiring page to apply. Additionally, there are PK EA substitute positions posted there as well.
Neighborhood House -
Our before and after school care is looking for people that would be interested in joining their team in supporting our students and families through providing child care before and after school for BEH students at BEH. They have additional sites at other schools as well if there is a location that is closer for families as well.
Here is their website to apply if interested.
We are working to get ourselves fully staffed at BEH, so any help you can provide in spreading the word around these opportunities would be greatly appreciated. If people are interested in working specifically at BEH and they do not see that as a choice, let them know to inform the hiring team and they can also reach out to me and let me know to flag their name for one of our positions.
Looking forward to another great week,
Mr. Kaveh
9/6/2022
Hello BEH Families,
Thank you to all of the families that were able to join us for our first Family Friday Morning and Coffee Chat on Friday. It was great to connect with you all and fun to see the games going on in the gym before the school day started. This week, we are excited to welcome our kindergarten students to their first days as an entire class.
Every Minute Counts:
Thank you so much for your support with getting our students to school by 8:40 AM and picking them up at 3:00 PM. We saw a noticeable decrease in late students last week compared to our trend last year. Our teachers are focused on teaching from the morning bell at 8:45 all the way until the dismissal bell at 3:00. If there are rare occasions when you will need to drop off late or pick-up early, please communicate that with the teacher and the front office.
Backpacks:
We will be handing out backpacks with school supplies in class today. Students will be unpacking their supplies to keep in the classroom to use this year. We will send backpacks home with students. Our goal is that students get in the habit of bringing their backpacks to and from school daily. If you do not want a backpack sent home with your child, please let your child's teacher know and we will keep the backpack at school for students that may need them later in the year.
Lunch Menu:
Here is the
September Lunch Menu. The district will not be putting out a nutrition calendar this year, but instead sharing out monthly calendars.
Caring School Community:
We are excited to be using a new social-emotional curriculum this year called Caring School Community to help us further build an environment where each student feels safe, accepted, encouraged, and happy. We hope this year will be one of joyful learning and rewarding friendships for your child as we build upon our core values of Perseverance, Community and Integrity. Each day begins in Morning Circle, where the students greet one another and do a fun activity to start the day.
To continue conversations between school and home, teachers will be sending home weekly Home Connection Activity Sheets. Please take a few moments to use the conversation starters and help your child complete and return these activity sheets each week.
PTA Volunteer Sign-Up:
Here is a link for families to sign-up to volunteer and join our amazing PTA with some of their upcoming work.
Cell Phones:
Please remind your students that if cell phones come to school they should be turned off and put away so that nobody sees them during the school day or they should be checked in with the teacher at the start of the day. If students have them out during the day they will be collected and returned to them at the end of the day.
Backpack Food Program:
There will be a form coming home with all students later this week for families to identify that they would benefit from a food backpack on Fridays. We will begin sending home food on Fridays in the next couple of weeks and we want to make sure that we are serving all families that need it and that we have the correct number of food bags on hand to send home every Friday.
Mark your calendars:
9/8/22 Site Council
9/14/22 PTA Meeting
9/15/22 Back to School Night
9/16/22 Grandparents & Special Friends Day
9/23/22 No School
We are looking forward to another great week and continuing to get students into the routines for this school year. Please reach out if you have any questions moving forward.
Take care,
Mr. Kaveh
8/29/2022
Hello BEH Families,
Tomorrow is the first day of school for our 1st-5th grade students for the 2022/23 school year. It was great to see many of you out at the Community Care Day and PTA BBQ. We were able to accomplish a lot and finally got up nearly all of our kindergarten fish from the past few years.
School Hours:
Our school doors will open at 8:40 AM every school day. The tardy bell will ring at 8:45 AM. School is out at 3:00 PM every school day. We would love all of your support this year to have our students here on-time and staying for the entire day. We are very excited about the new curriculums we are using this year and need to maximize all of the school day to get to all that we are teaching, so please help to ensure your children do not miss portions of these lessons. If your child is sick or has an appointment that cannot be avoided, please contact the office and let them know ahead of time.
Drop-Off Doors:
We will continue to have grade level doors. Staff will be out at doors starting at 8:30 and the doors will open at 8:40. Doors will close at 8:45 so that staff can get to classrooms to support student learning.
PK - Drops off at exterior classroom doors.
K - Enter through the SW doors near the small playground.
1st & 2nd - Enter through the parking lot door on the east side of the building.
3rd & 4th - Enter through the SE doors near the parking lot and back drive way.
5th - Enter through the west door on Borthwick near the bakery.
Breakfast Update:
We will be shifting our breakfast routine this year. Students that are planning to have a school breakfast will be able to grab a breakfast on their way to class starting at 8:40 when the doors open. Students will be directed to take their breakfast to class with them and their teacher will have a plan on how and when they eat it each morning. Breakfast will no longer be served after 9:00 AM. So please ensure that they get here on time to get a breakfast and if you will be later than 9:00 AM for any reason please plan to ensure they eat befor their arrival.
Food & Drink Expectations:
At BEH we are not allowed to have any other breakfast options other than what is provided at school. If your student needs or wants to eat something other than the school breakfast, please make sure it is consumed before their arrival. We will also be letting students know that soda, chips, candy, etc. will not be consumed at school. These can be saved for after school, but we will not be having these at school. If students have them out during school, we will simply remind them to put them away until the end of the day or we will help them find a spot to save it until the school day is over. Students can always bring their own lunch, but cannot bring other foods to add to the school lunch.
Pick-Up:
Dismissal starts at 3:00 PM and we will be having PK-2nd grade pick up from their classrooms and 3rd-5th will bring their students out to the covered basketball courts. If you have someone picking up your student other than yourself please make sure the teachers know. Any students not picked up by 3:15 will be escorted to the office to be picked up.
Bus Routes:
AM Routes -
Route 231 -
8:14 - N Haight & Killingsworth
8:17 - NE Alberta & Cleveland
8:24 - NE Sacramento & Rodney
Route 208 -
8:04 - N Fessenden & Calhoun
8:07 - 9469 N Van Houten Ave
8:10 - N Willis Blvd & N Druid
PM Routes -
Route 211 -
3:10 - NE Sacramento & NE Rodney
3:17 - 5250 NE Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd
3:20 - NE Alberta & Cleveland
3:24 - N Killingsworth & N Haight
Route 208 -
3:22 - N Willis & N Druid
3:25 - 9469 N Van Houten Ave
3:34 - 9930 N Smith Ave
3:39 - 10000 N Burr Ave
Uniform Reminder:
We are a uniform school, which means that all students should be wearing a blue, yellow, or white plain shirt with a collar and khaki or dark blue pants/skirts/shorts. Friday is our free dress day each week. This means on Friday students do not need to wear a uniform, but do need to still follow the
PPS dress code.
Cell Phones:
Please remind your students that if they bring a cell phone to school that it should be off and away or they should check it in with their teacher. If a phone is out and in use during the school day the teacher will collect it and save it to return to them at the end of the school day.
Upcoming Events:
9/5 No School - Labor Day
9/6 First Day of School (Kindergarten)
9/8 Site Council Meeting
9/12 First Day of School (Pre-K)
9/15 Back to School Night
9/16 Grandparents and Special Friends Day
All of this and much more is covered in our calendar and student handbook, which you will be getting a hard copy of this week.
We are very excited for this school year and cannot wait to see the students back starting tomorrow. If your children are in PK or Kinder, you will be hearing from those teachers to set up visits and schedule their first day of school. Please reach out if you have any quesitons.
See you all very soon,
Mr. Kaveh
8/23/2022
Hello BEH Families,
I hope you are all enjoying the last few weeks of summer "break." Today we are welcoming back many of our teachers and in one week we will be excited to start welcoming back students. The coming week will bring a few opportunities to connect before students return. Here is some of that information and a few details about logistics for the start of the school year.
First Days of School:
PK - First day of school is Monday, September 12th. If your student is already registered, you will start to hear from your teachers before the first day and will have opportunities to come in and connect with our PK staff.
Kindergarten - First day of school is Tuesday, September 6th. If your student is already registered, you will hear from your teachers next week and they will schedule all students for a "practice day" on either Thursday or Friday of next week. This will be an opportunity for students to attend a full school day and experience the routines with fewer students in the classroom.
1st-5th Grade - First day of school is Tuesday, August 30th. All students should report to their grade level doors at 8:30 to receive breakfast. Doors will open at 8:40 so that students can get to class by 8:45 for the start of the school day.
Grade Level Doors:
Our entry doors for this year will remain the same, but as your student went up a grade level, their door may have changed.
PK - Enters through classroom doors
K - Enters through the SW Doors on the bakery side by the playground.
1st & 2nd Grade - Enter through the east doors that are facing our parking lot
3rd & 4th Grade - Enter through our SE doors near the parking lot, facing the playground
5th Grade - Enters through the west doors facing Borthwick and the bakery parking lot
Dismissal Routine:
PK-2nd grade will shift back to families picking up their students from the classroom at 3:00. 3-5th grade will continue to bring their classes out to the covered basketball courts to excuse their students. School will end at 3:00 and we ask that families wait to pick up until that time.
Community Care Day & PTA Back to School BBQ:
This Saturday we will be hosting our Community Care Day on the playground at BEH from 9:00-12:00. We will be working on spreading bark chips, pulling weeds, clipping ivy, hanging our kindergarten fish on the fence, etc.
Following our Community Care Day, our PTA will be hosting our PTA Back to School BBQ from 12:30-4:00. They will have resources on site for families (school supplies, uniforms, etc.). Additionally, they will have hot dogs and hamburgers for families. This is an opportunity to connect with other BEH families, our PTA, and other community collaborators as well.
School Supplies:
You do not need to purchase any school supplies or backpacks if you do not want to. We will have school supplies and backpacks for all students available on the first days of school and our PTA will have those resources available at the Back to School BBQ this Saturday as well. If you want to provide specific supplies for classrooms, reach out to your students' teacher to see what they may need.
Uniforms Reminder:
We continue to be a uniform school. As a reminder, all students should be in uniform Monday-Thursday. A uniform at BEH is a plain collared shirt that is yellow, blue, or white, pants, skirt, dress, shorts, that are khaki or navy blue and can also include any BEH or SEI shirts. We will be working with our PTA to offer additional BEH shirts for purchase this school year as well.
Popsicle Social/Meet your teacher:
On Monday, August 29th, we will have an opportunity to come and meet your students' teachers from 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM. They will be out on the back playground with popsicles to meet families and students before the first day of school on Tuesday.
Kindergarten and PK Registration:
Our PK is getting closer to being full at 18 students in each classroom. If you know families that are planning to apply, please remind them to complete the application soon.
Our kindergarten is still low in enrollment. Please encourage anyone who has a kindergarten student who has not enrolled at BEH yet to come in to the office and register them. The sooner we get these students enrolled, the sooner we can accurately create the class lists.
We look forward to welcoming you all back to school in the coming weeks. Please reach out if you have any questions before school starts.
Take care,
Mr. Kaveh
8/15/2022
Hello BEH Families,
The first day of school is rapidly approaching. We have about two weeks until we will see students back in the halls of BEH. I wanted to give a few updates and share some of the happenings planned for the coming weeks.
First Day of School:
PK - The official first day of PK is Monday, September 12th. The PK teachers will be reaching out to families well before then to arrange individual meetings with students/families and there will be some events leading up to the first day. Teachers will reach out and schedule these individually with families in the coming weeks.
K - The official first day of Kindergarten is Tuesday, September 6th. Teachers will reach out the week before Labor Day to arrange for classroom visits and we will have full school days for half of each class on the Thursday and Friday before Labor Day Weekend so that students can attend for a full school day with fewer students to learn the routines and get to know their teachers. Which day your child attends will be arranged with your kindergarten teacher in the coming weeks.
1st-5th - The first day of school for 1st-5th grade is Tuesday, August 30th.
School Day Hours:
As a reminder, our school day starts at 8:45 and ends at 3:00. We begin to welcome students at our doors with breakfast at 8:30AM everyday and we will excuse students at 3:00 PM every day. One thing we really want to work on this year is getting all students to school every day both on time and for the entirety of the school day.
Classroom Assignment:
I have enrolled nearly all of our students 1st-5th grade into their homeroom classes in Synergy. If you check ParentVue you should be able to see the teacher assignment. Keep in mind that all students in 1st-5th grade will have all teachers at the grade level due to our departmentalization model. PK and Kindergarten are not yet enrolled in classes as we are still working to get students enrolled in school. I will have them enrolled in the next week or so.
Register for Kindergarten:
If you know anyone that needs to get their kindergartner registered for school, please let them know that our office is open from 8:00-3:30 Monday-Friday to come in and register or they can register online at the district website.
Kindergarten Connect:
We will be hosting another Connect to Kindergarten event this Thursday at BEH at 5:30. If you already attended one of these or already have a student at our school, you do not need to attend this event. If you know families that will be new to BEH and have not yet been able to attend one, let them know to join us at BEH this Thursday at 5:30.
Community Care Day:
Saturday, August 27th from 9:00 AM-12:00 PM we will be hosting our annual Community Care Day. We will be working on spreading bark chips, weeding, pruning, and hanging our kindergarten fish on the fence. If you are available, bring the family to the school playground for some community service and commuinty building as we get the grounds spruced up for the first day of school.
PTA Back to School BBQ:
Our PTA will be hosting our annual Back to School BBQ from 12:30-4:00 on Saturday, August 27th, following the Community Care Day. This is a great opportunity to come and meet other families, get to know more about our PTA, get school supplies and other resources for the school year, and enjoy some hamburgers and hot dogs courtesy of our PTA.
We look forward to seeing you all back at BEH soon and please reach out if you have any questions in the coming weeks. You can expect to see this weekly message with updates and reminders every Monday from me moving forward.
Take care,
Mr. Kaveh
6/14/2022
Hello BEH Families,
It has not yet sunk in for me that the school year is over and that our amazing students will not be walking through those doors tomorrow. I assume it will take a bit warmer weather and some time before it fully hits me. I hope that you are all set for a fun and productive summer and that you were able to find the opportunities you were looking for around summer engagement for your students. Here are a few more details about summer and a few things to look back on:
5th Grade Promotion Slide Decks:
Mr. Todd created two slide decks for 5th grade promotion and wanted me to share them out for anyone that wanted to take a look at them. One is the
group slide deck that played before the promotion and one is the
individual student slide deck that played when the students walked out. Thank you for making 5th grade promotion such a special moment for our class of 2029.
Summer Technology Access for Students:
Students will have access to most PPS Digital Toolkit applications during the summer. Students who enroll in summer school may notice changes in some applications once summer school begins. Most PPS Digital Toolkit applications will remain active throughout the summer. Applications may be temporarily unavailable at the beginning of August as PPS shifts to the 2022-2023 school year.
Please note that during the summer months, teachers are not active inside the digital tools and applications. Parents should be aware of what students are doing online. Parents may find the Securly application and digital and civic literacy resources helpful.
Report Cards:
Teachers are wrapping up report cards today and they will be mailed out by the end of this week. You can expect to receive them in the mail at some point next week.
Info about Parks & Rec Opportunities for Summer:
Our community has the opportunity to register early for Portland Parks & Rec classes that begin on July 25th. Early registration opens for us on June 17th. Here are flyers with details of what is offered and how to sign-up: English & Spanish.
Yearbooks:
Our amazing PTA was able to pull together a BEH Yearbook to capture some memories from this amazing school year. They were handed out to many students at the end of the day on Friday, but if your child missed it and you want a copy for them, give us a call and let us know when you can stop by to pick one up this week. We will typically be in the office between 8:00-4:00 through Friday of this week.
Food Boxes:
If you would like/need a food box please call the school and find a time to come and pick one up this week. We will be in the office 8:00-4:00 this week and can have them ready for pick-up if you call and let us know ahead of time. Following this week, we will no longer be in the office on a consistent schedule until mid-August.
Jefferson Modernization Meeting Info:
On Wednesday, June 15th from 5:00p.m. to 6:00p.m. you are invited to a Town Hall meeting at Jefferson High School Library to learn the latest information about the Jefferson Modernization project. Food and drinks will be provided as will translation services in Spanish. Come share your thoughts with the Design Team that is helping transform Jefferson High School.
This meeting is the third in a series of regular town hall meetings designed to keep the community informed about the progress of the Jefferson modernization project.
The agenda for the Town Hall includes a review of the information covered in the first Comprehensive Planning Committee CPC meeting from June 1st; (Design Process Overview & Design Justice Training.) Plus the design team will talk about the items that will be explored in the next CPC meeting (Project vision, mission, and goals). That meeting will immediately follow the open house at 6:30 and the public is welcome to stay. Time for public comment is available at the end of the CPC meeting.
For more information or to apply for the Jefferson Master Planning Committee please visit the Jefferson Modernization website https://www.pps.net/JeffersonBond.
Thank you all for your continued support and collaboration. I will not be sending out messages as frequently and I will have periods where I will not be checking my emails as frequently, but if questions or thoughts come up, please don't hesitate to send me a message and I will get back to you as soon as I can.
Take care and have a great start to your summer,
Mr. Kaveh
6/6/2022
Hello BEH Families,
We have entered the last week of school for the 2021-22 school year. This year has brought us so many new challenges in education that we had to work to try and overcome while also presenting us with opportunities to improve and adjust our approach. While we will be excited to have the break and opportunity to reset for next year, we will also be faced with the anxiety of having some of our students move on and trust that we have prepared them for their next steps.
5th Grade Promotion:
Our fifth grade promotion ceremony will be held on Thursday, June 9th at 5:30 PM in the BEH gym. We will transition out to the covered basketball courts after the ceremony for pictures, information, and swag from our community partners. The ceremony will start promptly at 5:30, so we encourage families to arrive early and bring their students with enough time to get staged and ready.
PK Promotion:
Our PK promotion will be held on Friday, June 10th at 9:00 AM in the BEH gym. This ceremony will be for our PK students that will be transitioning to kindergarten next year.
Kinder Promotion:
Our Kindergarten Promotion will be on Friday, June 10th at 10:00 AM in the BEH gym.
Lost and Found:
We have a large collection of student jackets and other clothes that are in our lost and found. We will be working to roll these outside for families to claim before we go on summer break. Any items that are remaining after the last day of school will be donated to the district clothes closet.
Food Resource:
If you are in need of a food box for the start of the summer break, please connect with Brenda Eads at
beads@pps.net or (503)916-6171 x72053 before June 9th.
Last Day of School:
The last day of school for this school year is this Friday, June 10th. We will have staff in the office for a couple of weeks to answer phones and support any questions you may have, but most staff will be off for summer break the following week.
Report Cards:
Teachers will be completing report cards next Monday and Tuesday. We will begin mailing them out next Wednesday.
Thank you all for the ongoing collaboration and support through this year. We look forward to building on the lessons that we learned this year and coming back even stronger in the year to come.
Take care,
Mr. Kaveh
5/31/2022
Hello BEH Families,
There are less than two weeks until summer break begins. If you have not already figured out what you are looking to get your students involved in, I would suggest looking back at my previous messages for some links and resources, checking your email for an email from
summeracceleration@pps.net, or checking your students backpacks, as we have been sharing options over the past few weeks that you may want to consider.
No SUN School:
SUN school has officially ended for this school year. The students and staff put together
this amazing music video that they shared at the conclusion of SUN school last week featuring a song that two of our 4th graders wrote together. Check it out. It is an amazing testament to the family atmosphere that is created through this partnership. Don't forget to arrange and communicate pick-up plans for your children that were typically in SUN school for the next two weeks.
Field Day:
Our BEH Field Day is finally upon us. This Friday is our Field Day. Thank you to all the volunteers that signed up to help make this day possible. There will be many stations around the school grounds that will have activities run by our amazing family volunteers, while teachers travel to stations with their students and supervise the free-choice time for their classes. If you want to remember when/if you signed up to volunteer on Friday,
here is a document that shows the list and schedule for volunteers at Field Day. We will have PK-2 participating in the morning and 3-5 participating in the afternoon with a break for our lunch/recess in the middle. Please remember to send your students with clothes that are OK to get wet and preferably with a change of clothes in their backpacks in case they get too wet and want to change after they are done with the event.
We are looking forward to an amazing event and lots of fun physical activity for our students.
Storybook Parade:
In case you missed the amazing and fun BEH Storybook Parade on May 20th or you just want to revisit it. Mr. Todd was able to put together a compilation
video of some of the photos and videos that staff had captured of the day that we wanted to share with you all.
Site Council:
Our Site Council met for the final time this past week to review our Successful Schools Survey data, discuss planning for next year and reflect on our work this year. We wanted to share
the video of the meeting for anyone that would like to review it or learn about some of the work we are working on. If this is a team that seems interesting to you in the future, let me or our PTA know, as we will be working to identify our members at the start of next school year.
Thank you all for your continued support and collaboration throughout this school year. We are looking forward to closing it out in a positive and momentum-building way as we prepare for the summer and the beginning of our next school year.
Take care,
Kaveh
5/23/2022
Hello BEH Families,
Last week we were able to hold our annual Storybook Parade for the first time in three years. It was so much fun to hold an event that brought back some of the normalcy of a school year. The students did so amazing and their costumes looked great. Mr. Todd is working on compiling the videos and pictures that staff took of the event to put together into a culminating video for anyone that was not able to watch it. We hope to share it out in the next week or so.
Last Day of SUN School:
This is the last week of SUN school. That means that Thursday, May 26th, will be the last day of SUN school for this school year. The last two weeks of school there will be no SUN school after school, so please communicate with teachers about what the end of day plan will be for your students on those days.
Site Council:
Our final Site Council Meeting of the school year is this Thursday at 5:30 PM. Our collaborative team of parents, staff, and admin will review our school's Successful Schools Survey data, look at any other new data that may be available, reflect on what we worked on this year, and plan for our Site Council for next year. As always, we will record this meeting and share it out with everyone in next week's family message.
Field Day:
BEH PTA is looking for lots of volunteers to help at this year's Field Day. Ms. Smith has lots of fun planned but could use some help from the community to make it the best Field Day ever! If you are interested in volunteering on Friday, June 3rd, please sign up
HERE!
5th Grade Promotion:
Our fifth grade promotion will be held on Thursday, June 9th, at 5:30 pm this year. This is our opportunity to celebrate all that our 5th grade has accomplished since coming to BEH and send them off to middle school in a positive way. We will hold the ceremony in the gym and transition out to the covered basketball courts for treats and photos.
Kindergarten Promotion:
We will hold our kindergarten promotion ceremony on the last day of school; Friday, June 10th, at 10:00 AM. This is our opportunity to celebrate our students transitioning to first grade and recognize all that they accomplished in their first year of transition to elementary school. We will hold this ceremony in our gym as well.
PK Promotion:
We will have a promotion for our PK students who are transitioning to kindergarten next school year. We plan to celebrate our students through a promotion ceremony on the last week of school. The PK team will finalize the date and time by the end of this week and I will get out the information in next week's message.
Last Friday, not only did we celebrate as a school with our Storybook Parade, but we also got to celebrate with families at our annual PTA social/fundraiser. It was great to connect with families and staff alike. We look forward to planning more social events together in the coming year.
Take care,
Mr. Kaveh
5/16/2022
Hello BEH Families,
The next few weeks are going to be busy ones. Here are some of the events and topics to keep an eye on this week.
Connect to Kindergarten:
This Friday we will be hosting incoming kindergarten families in our library for a chance to hear about BEH and what kindergarten looks like, take a tour around the school, and ask any questions they may have. This meeting will begin at 9:00 AM this Friday, May 20th.
Storybook Parade:
Our annual Storybook Parade will take place this Friday, May 20th starting at 1:30 PM. Fliers went home with students and will be handed out along the route. Students will be marching from BEH down to Mississippi, up to Shaver, by SEI, and down Haight back to BEH. Feel free to line the route and cheer on our students who will be wearing their own creations based on the books they have read this year.
PTA Social/Fundraiser:
Our PTA is hosting their annual spring fundraiser/social this Friday, May 20th from 6:00-9:00 PM at Brandlive on Mississippi. Below you will see the flyer. You can
RSVP here as well.
Student Bikes:
Self Enhancement Inc. is hosting a free bike drive for students that will take place at The Center For Self Enhancement On June 8th after school.
Here is the flyer with info and how to register.
Additionally, we have a resource that is willing to provide bikes to kindergarten and first grade students who do not have one as well. If you are interested in getting your child a free bike and helmet, please connect with your kinder/first grade teacher to let them know you are interested.
Field Day Volunteers:
BEH PTA is looking for lots of volunteers to help at this year's Field Day. Ms. Smith has lots of fun planned but could use some help from the community to make it the best Field Day ever! If you are interested in volunteering on Friday, June 3rd please sign up HERE!
Summer Acceleration Academy:
If you are curious to see if you were invited to Summer Acceleration Academy please check your email and look specifically for a message from
summeracceleration@pps.net The district team that has been working on the invites for this have been focusing primarily on email invites and have sent many of them out already. Check to make sure that this did not miss your attention or end up in a junk/spam folder.
As we work on closing out this school year, we will be having promotion events for PK students that are moving to kindergarten next year, Kindergarten students, and 5th graders. Connect with your students' teachers at each grade level around when and what those look like and how you can help to prepare for them. I will share details to all families in the coming weeks as well.
Thank you all for your continued support and collaboration,
Mr. Kaveh
5/9/2022
Hello BEH Families,
Thank you to all of you for showing your appreciation of our staff last week through your own gestures and through support of our PTA and their staff appreciation days last week. The partnership between families and staff is so crucial to the development of our students both academically and socially. Thank you for partnering with us in supporting all of these amazing young scholars.
PTA Meeting:
Our PTA will be holding their final PTA meeting of the school year this Wednesday, May 11th @ 5:30 PM. There will be updates around the family social/fundraiser, elections for next year's PTA, and other topics/discussions.
BEH March Madness Reading Challenge Celebration:
This Friday, May 13th, we are celebrating our students' reading milestones, especially during our Reading Challenge in March. Every student will receive a goodie bag for their participation from our partner organization, ACMS Northwest. Thank you so much for encouraging your child to read every day.
PTA Social/Fundraiser:
There will be a PTA social/fundraiser next Friday, May 20th from 6:00-9:00 PM.
Here is the flyer with more details.
Ockley Green Middle School Info Night:
The majority of our families transition to Harriet Tubman Middle School after 5th grade. The second most attended middle school for our students is Ockley Green Middle School. Ockley Green MS will have their Family Info Night this week, May 11th from 6-8PM. Here is the link to their digital flier and RSVP link for any families who anticipate their student will attend there:
https://www.pps.net/cms/lib/OR01913224/Centricity/Domain/107/SaveTheDate.pdf
5th Grade Promotion:
Speaking of our 5th graders, their promotion ceremony will be on Thursday, June 9th at 5:30 PM in the BEH gym. Reach out to our PTA or 5th grade teachers if you are interested in supporting the planning of this event in the coming weeks.
Student Enrichment/Engagement Opportunities:
Here are some links to possible enrichment opportunities for the summer and other times that PPS has sent out for us to share with our families.
Thank you all for your continued support and collaboration. We are looking forward to getting into many of the annual end of year events that are coming in the last month of school. If you are looking to volunteer or support in any way with any of these events, please connect with your student's teacher or reach out to the office and we can help you to get the volunteer process completed.
Take care, Mr. Kaveh
5/2/2022
Hello BEH Families,
We are now in May and have seen our first few field trips go off amazingly over the past week. I am excited to see more grades get out on field trips in the coming months and am hopeful that next year we can get back to our usual level of field trips across the school year.
Teacher/Staff Appreciation:
This week is Staff Appreciation Week at BEH. Our PTA has some amazing plans to support our staff through an amazing breakfast and lunch this week. Each day of the week we will work to have appreciation for our staff through fun treats and meals. This is a nice week to encourage your students to write a nice note or draw a picture for their teacher to show their appreciation of the work that they do.
Site Council:
Last week we had our April Site Council Meeting and discussed our end of the year, summer, and fall planning.
Here is the recording of the meeting for those that would like to review. If you watch the video and have feedback or thoughts around any of the discussion, don't hesitate to respond to this email or call the school to share your perspective.
State Testing:
This week our 3rd-5th grade students begin state testing online in their classrooms. Please check with your child’s teacher for their specific testing times.
OSAS (Oregon Statewide Assessment System):
ELA (English Language Arts)- May 2- May 6
Math- May 9- May 13
Science (5th only)- May 9- May 13
Link to more information about the test- PPS OSAS (Oregon Statewide Assessment System) Info
Family Friday/Coffee Chat:
This Friday is our monthly Family Friday Morning. You are invited to come with your student and join us under the covered basketball courts at 8:00 AM to play some family Bingo complete with prizes. Bingo will end at 8:40 so that students can get to class on time. Following student transitions into class by 8:45 Kaveh will come out to connect with any families that are interested in discussing some of our end of the year plans and ask any questions they may have.
Field Day Volunteers:
BEH PTA is looking for lots of volunteers to help at this year's Field Day. Ms. Smith has lots of fun planned but could use some help from the community to make it the best Field Day ever! If you are interested in volunteering on Friday, June 3rd please sign up
HERE!
May 20th Events:
Connect to Kindergarten - 9:00 - We will host our second in-person Connect to Kindergarten family event. This is an opportunity for families of incoming kindergarten families to come and see the school, hear about what we do, and ask any questions they may have.
Storybook Parade - 1:30 - We will host our annual Storybook Parade down Mississippi. Each grade level has been working on art projects/costumes to wear/display for this parade around the community. We hope that families are able to help line the streets and cheer on our amazing students. Be watching for information around route and plans for this in the coming week.
PTA Community Social/Fundraiser - Our PTA is hosting an adult only fundraiser/social event starting from 6:00-9:00 in the Brandlive building at 3303 N. Mississippi Ave.
Here is a Save the Date that the PTA shared with me.
Thank you all for your continued support and collaboration. It has been great to see more family members coming in to volunteer at school and chaperone field trips this past week. If you are interested in volunteering or coming on a field trip with us, please make sure and complete the process on the
PPS website to get your background check completed and get registered as a volunteer.
Take care,
Mr. Kaveh
4/25/2022
Hello BEH Families,
We have officially started our last week of April. It is hard to believe that after this week, we will be turning the calendars to May. May will likely fly by, as we move into state testing, field trips, and our many end of the year activities.
Talent Show:
In case you missed the video that was sent out over the weekend; Mr. Todd recorded many student's talents over the past few weeks and created a
BEH 2022 Talent Show Video to share with families. This format allowed for the inclusion of many talents and created a fun compilation of the variety of talent that was shared.
State Testing:
Next week our 3rd-5th grade students will begin state testing online in their classrooms. Please check with your child’s teacher for their specific testing times.
OSAS (Oregon Statewide Assessment System):
ELA (English Language Arts)- May 2- May 6
Math- May 9- May 13
Science (5th only)- May 9- May 13
Link to more information about the test- PPS OSAS (Oregon Statewide Assessment System) Info
Site Council:
This week our site council will meet to review our plans for summer programming and planning for the fall. We will discuss some of the systems we have been planning for the coming year and get feedback around schoolwide decisions and plans moving forward. As always, we will share the recording of this meeting with everyone in next week's message.
COVID Cases Notifications:
After a few weeks of silence, you have likely noticed that we have seen more reported positive COVID cases in our community the past couple of weeks. Please remember to encourage safe practices with your students and keep them home if you notice any symptoms.
Thank you all for your continued support and feedback this school year. We are hopeful that we can continue to progress positively to close out this school year.
Take care,
Mr. Kaveh
4/18/2022
Hello BEH Families,
Hopefully this week will be a little less eventful weather wise. Now we just have to figure out how to dodge the rain a bit. As a reminder, we rarely have inside recess due to the fact that we only have one gym that serves as our cafeteria as well, so please ensure that your students are dressed appropriately for at least one outside recess daily.
PK Enrollment for Next Year is Now Open:
You can access the 2022-23 PK application through
this link. We have two PK classrooms at BEH and they now serve students that are 3-4 years old by September 1st. If you have any questions, please connect with Brenda Eads at (503)916-6171 ext. 72053.
Connect to Kindergarten:
We had our first Connect to Kindergarten last week. This is an opportunity for incoming kindergarten families to come and see our school, meet our staff, connect with other incoming families, hear what we do as a school, and ask any questions you may have. We will have our next Connect to Kindergarten event on Friday, May 20th @ 9:00 AM. This is also an opportunity to hear about our Early Kindergarten Transition Programming that will take place in person at BEH this summer for incoming kindergarten students.
Talent Show Update:
Mr. Todd (Music Teacher) and Ms. Ali (PTA/SUN) have been collaborating to organize the talent show this year. This year, the talent show will be shared through video. Students have been completing their audition videos over the past week and will continue to submit their talents this week. Mr. Todd will share the final video by the end of this week. Most likely, we will share this via a family message, as many of the songs that students are wanting to sing are copyrighted and would not be able to be posted on our
YouTube Channel.
Thank you all for your continued collaboration. We are looking forward to the coming weeks and increased opportunity for family engagement in our academic days. As we get ready for some upcoming field trips and school events, we will be looking for some family volunteers to support. So, please remember to complete the volunteer process through the
PPS website so that you can join us if it works for you.
Take care,
Mr. Kaveh
4/11/2022
Hello BEH Families,
Well this is an interesting start to our week! This is the first time I can remember having a snow day this late in the year. In case you didn't get the message yet, there will be no school for PPS today, due to the growing power outages across the city. Barring more snow related challenges, here is what is coming up this week at BEH:
Report Cards:
Third quarter report cards will be sent home with students at the end of this week. They will be coming home in student backpacks by Friday. Please reach out to the classroom teacher if you do not receive them or if you have any questions.
Talent Show:
Auditions for the BEH Talent Show begin this week. Auditions will occur during the school day with Mr. Todd (music teacher) and Ms. Ali (PTA President) coordinating.
PTA Meeting:
We only have two PTA meetings left this year and this will be the last PTA meeting before our elections for our open PTA Executive positions for next year. If you are interested in supporting our PTA in the coming year in a more active role, I would highly encourage you to attend this week's meeting on Wednesday, April 13th at 5:30 PM. This meeting will be held in the BEH gym. In addition to electing officer positions, they will also be looking for parents to lead some committees for the coming year.
Kinder Connect:
Our first opportunity for our incoming kindergarten families to come and meet our staff, see our building, and hear what we are focused on at BEH will be this Thursday, April 14th at 5:30 PM. This meeting will be in the BEH library. If you know families that are planning on enrolling their kindergartener at BEH next year, please let them know about this meeting. Families that cannot attend this meeting are welcome to attend our next event Friday, May 20th at 9:00 AM.
State Testing is Coming in May for students in 3rd-5th…
OSAS (Oregon Statewide Assessment System):
ELA (English Language Arts)- May 2- May 6
Math- May 9- May 13
Science (5th only)- May 9- May 13
PPS OSAS (Oregon Statewide Assessment System) Info
Thank you all for your continued collaboration and support. We are looking forward to an amazing end of this school year and many opportunities to celebrate all that we have accomplished at BEH despite the challenges we have faced.
Take care,
Mr. Kaveh
4/4/2022
Hello BEH Families,
We are beginning our final week of the third quarter and the first full week of April. This has been quite a year to this point and though it is amazing to think that we are three quarters of the way through this school year, we still have a lot ahead of us in the final ten weeks of this school year.
SUN School Starts April 11th:
Previously, SUN was listed as starting this week, but it will begin again on Monday, April 11th. If you already applied for SUN, you can expect to hear back about enrollment this week.
March Madness Reading Challenge:
March Madness has concluded and all reading logs and story entries were due today, Monday 4/4. Please share minutes with your child’s teacher even if you don’t have the actual reading log. Thank you for participating! And more importantly continue your reading routines at home!
Vaccine Clinic @ BEH this Thursday:
The county will be sending a team of healthcare professionals to provide not only COVID vaccines, but also flu vaccines for any of our students, staff, and families that are interested. They will be on site from 10:00-4:00. Those that want their student to get the vaccine during the school day can complete and return the consent forms and return them prior to Thursday, April 7th. Flu shots were not in the original form, but we are lucky to have a parent in our community running these teams and she was able to get them added for anyone that is interested as well. Call the office if you have any questions or if you want a new form with the flu vaccine option.
Grief & Loss Family Support Night:
This Thursday (4/7) @ 5:30 in the BEH gym, our PTA will be hosting a family night to help provide support and an opportunity to connect and process around the loss that many of us have experienced over these past two years. This will be in partnership with the Dougy Center and Lines for Life.
Site Council Meeting:
Your Site Council met last week to review our academic data around reading and math. We recorded this virtual meeting and it can be watched
here for anyone that would like to review the data and hear some of the discussion.
No School this Friday (4/8):
This Friday is a grading day. There is no school for students. Teachers will be working on completing report cards and other school staff will be in training, meetings, or completing other projects.
Paper Bag Collection:
As we continue to prepare for the Storybook Parade on May 20th. Ms. Jenn is working with all of our classes on their costumes/art projects that align with their books. One item she could really use a large donation of is paper grocery bags. If you have a supply of clean paper grocery bags that you are willing to part with, please drop them by the office or send them to school with your student to give to their teacher. She could use around 300, but if we all can find even one or two and bring them in, we should get there rather quickly.
Thank you all for your continued support and collaboration in this continually evolving school year.
Take care,
Mr. Kaveh
3/28/2022
Hello BEH Families,
It is great to be back in the building with all of our amazing students again this week. We are looking forward to getting back into our routines.
Uniform Reminder:
Please help to remind your students to be in uniform Monday-Thursday. This means that they should be wearing dark blue or khaki colored pants, skirts, or shorts and white, blue, or yellow collared shirts or BEH themed shirts. If students need uniforms please reach out to the office and we can help support as needed.
Student Badges:
We are working to reinforce our core values (integrity, community, and perseverance) with our students and reminding them what it looks like to demonstrate these across our school settings. Students are working to set goals with their teachers around these core values and then complete the badge process to earn their badge. I will be meeting with students who complete this process weekly and handing out badges on Fridays through the end of this year. There will be many incentives for students who are able to earn and maintain their badge, starting with an additional day of free dress weekly (Wednesday) for students who wear their badges.
Site Council:
Our Site Council will be meeting virtually this Thursday at 5:30 to review our data from our recent MAP assessments and the Successful Schools Survey. We will record this meeting and share it in next week's message for anyone who would like to review what we discuss.
Family Friday/Coffee Chat:
This Friday starting at 8:00 AM we will have games, snacks, and coffee under the covered area for families that are interested in playing some games together before school starts. Once school starts, students will head to class and families are encouraged to stay and connect around what is going on at BEH and ask any questions you may have.
March Madness Challenges:
The last day to record reading minutes is Thursday, March 31st. Remember, Every minute counts! Our school total after 2 weeks is 47,323 minutes!
Writing Challenge Stories (final drafts) are due to Mrs. Cardenas by Wednesday, March 30th.
COVID Vaccine Clinic @ BEH:
We will be hosting a COVID vaccine clinic at BEH on Thursday, April 7th from 10:00-4:30. We will be sending information about this home with students this week.
Grief & Loss Support Night:
SEI and BEH are collaborating with the Dougy Center and Lines for Life to provide support and an opportunity to connect with other families that have experienced loss. This will be held at BEH on Thursday, April 7th at 5:30. Here is a flyer about the event.
Storybook Parade:
Our annual Storybook Parade will be back again this year. Ms. Cardenas was able to get us approved for the permit with the city and get the fire department lined up to join us. If you have not observed this before, this is a student parade from BEH down Mississippi and through the neighborhood. Each grade level will be creating themed art/costumes based on a book their classroom is reading. The parade will start around 1:30 on Friday, May 20th. We will share out more information as we get closer to the event.
Summer Enrichment Option:
“Avid4 Adventure offers kids summer-time enrichment focused on empowerment in the outdoors. Since 2003 our programs have encouraged kids to try new things, develop connections to peers, build environment awareness, and grow their skills outdoors. Whether beginners or experts, we live the mission of inspiring kids to choose active outdoor lifestyles.
We have a camp close to YOU and would love to see you this year. We have a robust financial assistance program and would love the opportunity to support your child in their outdoor pursuits. Please check out our program offerings and submit an application for Financial Assistance! Deadline for applications is 4/1.”
Thank you all for your continued collaboration. We look forward to continuing our work this spring and ending the year with continued positive momentum going into summer.
Take care,
Mr. Kaveh
3/14/2022
Hello BEH Families,
This week we will be continuing our push to ensure that students are in uniforms Monday-Thursday and focus on working towards setting and meeting their goals while demonstrating our core values (perseverance, integrity, community) so that they can earn their BEH Self Manager Badges.
Mask Update:
Students and staff began optional masking starting today. We will still offer masks for those that are interested in wearing masks at school, but no students or staff will be required to wear masks. This guidance extends to school buses and outdoors as well. PK is the only exception to this rule. Our PK program is still following the state guidance for Head Start to continue masking since the majority of those students cannot yet be vaccinated.
5th Grade Parent Meeting for Harriet Tubman:
Please join us for Parent/Guardian Info Night on Tuesday, March 15 from 5:30pm - 6:30pm! This event is intended for parents/guardians of our in-coming 6th graders (current 5th grade students). We’d like to invite you to join some Harriet Tubman Middle School (HTMS) staff members to learn about transitioning to middle school, our school curriculum, elective offerings, and to get your questions answered. Please join us virtual at 5:30pm here:
This event is intended for parents/guardians only, please. 5th grade students will have an opportunity to tour HTMS, with their feeder schools, and talk with staff and current students in the spring (May 24 and 25); more details will be provided to 5th graders through their feeder schools.
Thank you,
Ms. Drew & Ms. Katie, school counselors
Tubman Relocation Meeting:
There is a virtual meeting for our BEH community to hear what planning has been done so far and share perspective around the relocation plans for Harriet Tubman Middle School (HTMS). This meeting is relevant for all families at BEH that are considering attending HTMS, as they will be considering plans around what to do until the new site is opened and where/what to consider for the relocation.
Spring SUN Registration:
SUN applications will be handed out in-school tomorrow and will be due back by Tuesday, March 29th to be registered for spring term. If you have already registered with SEI, you will only need to complete the application and Ali will get back to you on registration. If you have never participated in SEI/SUN programming you will need to complete
this online application as well. Spring term will run for SUN from April 11th - May 26th.
SEI Family Resource:
Here is a link from SEI for BEH families to request any assistance they may need. They can help with resources around; rent, utilities, food, clothes, household supplies, domestic violence, baby supplies, PPE, etc.
Spring Break:
Next week is our spring break. This means that there is no school and the building will be closed from Saturday, March 19th until Sunday, March 27th.
Thank you all for your continued support and collaboration. Please don't hesitate to reach out if you have any questions or thoughts moving forward.
Take care,
Mr. Kaveh
3/7/2022
Hello BEH Families,
With each week of February, we have seen ourselves getting closer and closer to a more typical school year both academically and socially. We are working to continue to get more of our systems back in place in the coming weeks and identify more students who are demonstrating our core values, have set and met their goals, and are ready to earn their BEH Badge.
No SUN School:
Last week was the final week of SUN for the winter term. There will be no more after-school SUN activities until after spring break. Please make sure and communicate with your child's teacher around after-school plans for the weeks that SUN is not in session.
PTA Meeting:
This week our PTA will be hosting their monthly meeting in-person. This meeting will be on Wednesday, March 9th, at 5:30 PM. This will take place in the gym at BEH.
March Madness Reading Challenge:
March Madness Reading Challenge- The first reading log was due today. All students who turn in their reading on time with an adult signature will receive a prize. We can’t wait to see how many minutes we have read as a school so far!
The Writing Challenge starts this week. It will be introduced in the library by Ms. Cardenas. See these slides for more information.
Spring Picture Day:
This Wednesday (3/9) is spring picture day. These pictures are optional and families have to turn in an order form in order to get their pictures taken. Dorian is interested in having a couple of parent volunteers to help during this from 9:00-12:00 if anyone is interested. They will give parents that volunteer a free photo voucher for their student. Just let us know if this is something you are interested in.
BEH Uniforms:
We were able to restock our clothes closet with uniforms and we will be working to more diligently monitor and enforce the uniform policy moving forward. Please make sure and send your child with navy blue or khaki pants, shorts, skirts etc. and a navy blue, yellow, or white collared shirt or a BEH shirt. If you need some additional uniform support, please let someone at BEH know and we can see how we can support. Additionally, if you have old uniforms that your children have outgrown, please consider donating them to BEH so that we can distribute them to families that need additional uniforms moving forward.
Family Support Needs:
Here at BEH we want to make sure that we take care of our community, so if you are in need of resources (food, clothing, etc.), please fill out this survey (https://forms.gle/ymarDNNPD2weuXK28) and someone from our care team will get back to you shortly. We are especially interested to hear from you if you will need food for the upcoming Spring Break.
Tubman Planning Update:
The district is committed to finding a new site for Harriet Tubman Middle School in partnership with the community and within a timeline that protects the environmental health of our students. We hope to partner with members of the community to identify sites for the future of Harriet Tubman Middle School.
Join the Team Shaping the Future of Harriet Tubman Middle School
We invite you to participate in a selection team open to families, staff, and community members. The team meets 3-4 times between March - early May to help provide the Board of Education a recommendation on a future site for Harriet Tubman Middle School. The virtual team kick off is Monday, March 14th at 5pm. To join, reach Shanice Clarke at sclarke@pps.net.
Join an Input Session
In addition, an opportunity for Boise-Eliot/Humboldt families to provide input on potential sites for Harriet Tubman Middle School will be Thursday, March 17th at 7:00pm. Join at: https://pps-net.zoom.us/j/88188903929
Fifth Grade Black History Month Presentations:
Our 5th graders created daily slide decks to share with the school around the research and learning they did around Black History. Mr. Todd captured these presentations and shared them on our
YouTube Channel for anyone that is curious to see some of the work that they did. All of our school reviewed these each day of February with the fifth graders sharing about them over the intercom.
School Start Time:
We are finding that we have over 60 students regularly showing up to school after 9:00 AM daily. I wanted to remind everyone that our doors open at 8:30 AM to start handing out breakfast and students start heading to class at 8:40, with instruction starting at 8:45 AM. Our buses are now running consistently daily. If this is something that could help with your morning routine, take a look at our three routes and their scheduled stops at
this link.
Masking Update:
Starting next week, masks will be optional in schools . At BEH we will continue to offer masks to those that would like to wear them and encourage masks in large gatherings (i.e. assemblies), but K-5 students that would rather not wear masks will be allowed to forgo masks moving forward. Pre K students do need to continue to wear masks based on state guidance, particularly because they are still not able to be vaccinated.
Thank you all for your continued support this school year. We are looking forward to pushing forward and working to make the end of this school year engaging and productive for all of our students.
Take care,
Mr. Kaveh
2/28/2022
Hello BEH Families,
This week is our transition from February to March. This week we will be working on sharing out much of the work that classrooms have been doing around Black History Month and getting ready to launch into our March Madness Reading Challenge. Here are the updates for this week:
Door/Bulletin Board Tours:
Our 5th graders lead class tours of the bulletin boards today, sharing some of the info behind the displays. Additionally, we will be offering an opportunity for families to take a walking tour of our halls this Friday at the end of the day to see some of the displays. We will still have our typical dismissal routine on Friday, but then will offer an opportunity for families to come back into the building and walk in a directed way through the halls with your student(s) to see all the work.
March Madness Reading Challenge:
The March Madness Reading Challenge starts this week. For more information check out these slides from our student council.
Home Digital Reading Resource:
Vooks is based out of Portland, Oregon, and it's important to us to support our local community, including giving back to schools in the Portland area. That’s why Boise-Eliot Elementary School has been selected to be one of the recipients of a free one-year subscription to Vooks.
Any teacher, student, or parent in the Boise-Eliot community can redeem a completely free year of Vooks using their email and the code: VOOKS4KIDS
Here is the link to redeem this free year using the code above.
Successful Schools Survey:
Site Council Meeting:
Last week we had our monthly Site Council Meeting and discussed our upcoming events and thoughts around which direction we should go with them.
Here is the recording of this meeting for anyone that is interested in hearing about these discussions and thoughts.
Coffee Chat:
This Friday morning, I am planning on holding an in-person Coffee Chat under the covered basketball courts. I will be sure to have some hot coffee and chairs/tables set up to visit with anyone who is interested and available to connect. I will be out there around 8:45 AM.
Family Empowerment Cohort:
The Urban League of Portland shared out several empowerment workshops and training available for families that may be interested.
Here is the flyer.
Spring Picture Day:
This is an optional picture day through Dorian. These are often referred to as "personality pictures." Flyers went home last week and only students whose families want pictures need to get photos taken. This day will be March 9th at BEH.
Here is a generic flyer with information from Dorian if you are interested.
Thank you all for the continued connections, collaboration, and support as we continue to take steps towards getting back to a more "normal" school year and begin planning for events, field trips, and assemblies in the coming weeks/months.
Take care,
Mr. Kaveh
2/22/2022
Hello BEH Families,
Happy BEH Black History Month Spirit Week! We are looking forward to another fun week of community building and recognition of Black excellence.
BHM Spirit Week:
This week is our Black History Month Spirit Week. Below are the themes for each day and
here is the slide deck with more information. This was a collaboration between our student council and our staff to plan the themes for the week.
Monday - Support Black owned businesses
Tuesday - Wear your BEH gear
Wednesday - Wear BHM Colors (red, yellow, green, & black)
Thursday - Wear clothes or bring an item that shows an African American Icon
Friday - Wear black to show support and solidarity
Site Council Meeting:
This month our site council will be meeting to discuss events for the remainder of the school year and begin planning for how these could look and what needs to be done to pull them off. We will be meeting virtually at 5:30 on Thursday. We will record this meeting and share it out with you in next week's message.
Rhonda Shelby Virtual Visit:
KATU Meteorologist Rhonda Shelby will be taking students on a virtual tour of her studio, sharing about her job, and answering questions students may have. She will be meeting virtually with K-2 and then 3-5 starting at 10:30 on Friday.
Staffing:
If you have been following the Oregonian information about the PPS budget and staffing, you have seen that the district enrollment has dropped over the past two years. BEH luckily has not dropped at the same rate as the rest of the district. As a result our staffing will stay relatively steady moving into next year and we should be able to retain the same level of staffing moving from this year into next year.
Successful Schools Survey:
Please take some time and complete the Successful Schools Survey for our school. This data helps to guide our work moving into next year and gives us data to share with our district teams around what we are doing well and what we could do better at.
Here is the link if you have not seen it in your inbox.
Daddy/Daughter Hair Class:
One of our community members shared
this flyer with me about an opportunity for a Daddy Daughter Hair Class. I thought I would share it for anyone who may be interested.
BHM Door Decorating Update:
Our teachers have been working with their students around creating the decorations for their classroom doors and will have them all up this week. Each grade level chose a different theme for the contest and we will be taking students on tours of the doors by the end of this week. We are working on planning out how we can have families come and see the doors and other displays up in the building. We will likely work to make this happen on the last day of February (Monday). I will share more details around logistics before then.
It has been amazing these past couple of weeks to start meeting with students around their goals, our core values, and how to demonstrate them in our school day. We have officially handed out our first badges at 4th and 5th grade and are excited to see this continue to expand through all of our grades. For those families that are newer to our school, feel free to start discussing our core values; community, integrity, and perseverance with your students in preparation for this process.
Thank you all for your continued collaboration and support. Please reach out if you have any questions, concerns, or thoughts you would like to share with me.
Take care,
Kaveh
2/15/2022
Hello BEH Families,
Sorry for the delay in this message. The day got away from me a bit yesterday. All the excitement around Valentines day and the excessive level of sugar intake led to an overly active day. Here are the updates for this week:
Successful Schools Survey:
The annual PPS Successful Schools Survey window opens for students in grades 3-12, families, and staff on February 14 and closes on March 4.
Please take the family survey and provide feedback on our school’s climate at www.surveys.panoramaed.com/portlandor/ppsfamily.
Do parents/caregivers with multiple children complete the survey more than once?
What if a child has more than one parent/caregiver? Should both parents/caregivers complete the survey?
Report Cards:
Report cards were sent home in student backpacks last week. Hopefully you were able to review your students' progress and connect with teachers around any questions you may have. They were sent home in envelopes that provide a space for feedback and/or questions. Feel free to return the envelope for teachers to review and reuse for next quarter.
SEL Update:
This week, classes will continue discussion around Growth Mindsets, its relationship to our Core Values, and its importance with pursuing challenging goals. Here is an excellent Growth Mindset video we will be using to discuss the value of making mistakes for the learning process and for building our growth mindsets.
PTA Meeting:
In case you missed the BEH PTA Meeting last week and wanted to catch up on what you may have missed, here is a recording of the meeting to review.
Youth Baseball & Softball:
If you are interested in getting your students signed up for a baseball or softball team, take a look at this flyer with info around how to sign them up.
Badge Update:
We officially handed out our first BEH Badges last week. I was able to meet with each of the students one-on-one to quiz each student on their goals, growth mindset, our core values, and some specific scenarios. I look forward to meeting with more students each week, as we work to review badge applications, meet with potential badgers, and present new badges each week moving forward.Feel free to ask your student what goals they are working on and what our core values are as they work to earn their badge.
Please reach out if you have any questions or thoughts about our work at BEH.
Thank you all for the ongoing collaboration,
Mr. Kaveh
2/7/2022
Hello BEH Families,
February is off to a busy start. We are in the midst of launching some new academic units, diving into Black History Month, completing academic testing, OBOB is ramping up, and we have refreshed our school wide expectations. Here are some of this week's updates:
Report Cards:
You will see report cards coming home with students in backpacks this week. Teachers completed them last week and we are now printing them and stuffing them in envelopes to be sent home with students. Grade levels will likely come home on different days, but they should all be coming home by the end of this week.
Black History Month Update:
Our 4th and 5th grades have been sharing daily announcements in the AM & PM to share information with the whole school around Black History, prominent figures they have been learning about. Mr. Todd is working on putting together a video slideshow to share the 5th grade announcements and slide decks that are being shared everyday at 9:00 AM.
Additionally, I wanted to share some of the art and informative bulletin boards that staff has been working on getting up all around the building. Here are just a few examples of the displays around the halls;
2nd grade hall,
PTA Board,
4th Grade Hall,
Gym Door, and
the wall outside of Music. In addition to these, all of our classrooms will be competing in a door decorating contest around the Black History Month topic that they chose. Our hope is to be able to have families come into the building for a hall walk at the end of the month to see all the work that will be on display around the building.
PTA Meeting:
Our monthly PTA meeting is this Wednesday starting at 5:30. This is an opportunity to connect with fellow parents and hear what the PTA has been working on, get any updates from the school, and ask any questions you may have.
Here is the link to the virtual meeting.
OHSU Weekly COVID Testing:
If a student has had a positive test, they will not be getting a test kit sent home for 90 days after the positive test date. Call Elissa in the main office with any questions.
COVID Update:
Over the month of January we saw our numbers of positive COVID cases in our school community showing up at a rate of around 2 per day. Since February has begun we have had 8 positive cases that we have learned about in the school community and we are closing out the 7th day of the month. This is a sign that the cases are slowing, but a reminder of the continued importance to reduce spread through our consistent practices of spacing, masking, and staying home when we do not feel well.
Thank you all for your continued collaboration and support as we continue to navigate these ever changing times.
Take care,
Mr. Kaveh
1/31/2022
Hello BEH Families,
Today was a much needed planning time with staff around ensuring consistency across our building moving into the second half of the school year. We are optimistically looking forward to this second half of the year as an opportunity to do much of the work that has been slowed by the many COVID related hurdles we have faced this year. Though this will still be a factor, I am hopeful that we will see the numbers and in turn, the restrictions reduce in the coming months and we can end this year with a spring that has increased opportunities for engagement and community building.
Site Council:
Last week our BEH Site Council met and reviewed our work on our school-wide goals for the first half of the year, discussed plans for the second half of the year goals, reviewed what we have planned for Black History Month at BEH, and looked at a road map for the rest of our monthly meetings.
Here is the recording of the meeting for anyone that is interested in reviewing.
SEI Family Resource:
Here is a link from SEI for BEH families to request any assistance they may need. They can help with resources around; rent, utilities, food, clothes, household supplies, domestic violence, baby supplies, PPE, etc.
Black History Month:
We work hard to ensure that we are celebrating and recognizing Black excellence throughout the year at BEH, but we are putting together a couple of fun activities this month as a building to celebrate Black History Month.
- Our fifth graders have prepared a different slide deck and audio recording that will be shared each morning school wide at 9:00 AM this month that will highlight some of the learning they have done about prominent Black figures or moments in history.
- Each of our grade levels has also selected a different topic to study this month and they will be sharing their art and work around that theme through their door decorating displays at the end of the month.
- We will be collaborating with various Black scientists, authors, inventors, etc. to speak with our students virtually and/or in person throughout the month.
- Many classrooms are also doing independent projects and activities to celebrate the month.
Keep an eye on our
YouTube Channel, as we will be sharing some of this work in the coming weeks. If you haven't already, you may want to consider subscribing to the channel so that you get notified when new content is posted.
SEL Update:
We will be teaching the 12th of our 12 Tools this week: the Patience Tool, which aligns with our Core Value of Perseverance. Our Learning Target for students is “I can use my Patience Tool to be strong enough to wait.”
We invite you to review this Patience Tool Home Letter for more ideas on how to support each other with having the Perseverance to overcome challenges of not getting what we want when we want it. Families can also watch our Patience Tool Mini-Lesson, and a related Read Aloud story--Waiting is Not Easy!
Coffee Chat:
This month we will host our "coffee chat" virtually on Thursday (2/3) at 5:30pm. Click on
this link at that time to connect on what we have been working on at BEH, ask any questions you may have, and hear from other families at BEH. I am hopeful that for March we will be able to host a Coffee Chat in-person, but I will keep you all posted on that as it gets closer.
Thank you all for your continued patience and support as we have continued to navigate these continual challenges. I am excited to see us taking more steps over these past weeks to move our work forward and shift our attention from reacting to COVID and the challenges that come with it, to proactive planning with a focus on academic and social/emotional growth.
As always, please don't hesitate to reach out if you have any questions or thoughts around the work we are doing at BEH this year.
Take care,
Mr. Kaveh
1/24/2022
Hello BEH Families,
It has been great to start seeing more of our students this past week and we are hopeful that we will continue to see increased attendance in the coming weeks. I was excited to start getting my first completed badge applications today and I am looking forward to having our first badges awarded in the next week.
SEL Update:
This week, we are reviewing the Courage Tool in class, which aligns with our Core Value of Integrity. Our Learning Target for students is “I can use my Courage Tool to do the “right” thing.” We invite you to review this Courage Tool Home Letter for more ideas on how to support the use of courage at home. Families can also watch our Courage Tool Min-Lesson to discuss this important tool further.
COVID Update:
The district is sending out a COVID update tonight around the adjusted protocols. At BEH we have seen our attendance start to increase. We went from around 60% attendance the week before to around 80% attendance last week. I anticipate this will continue to climb in the coming weeks and we will likely be close to our typical numbers by the end of February.
Math Night:
We had a math night on the calendar for this week, but we will be holding off on that at this point. We have found this event most helpful in person, but we are looking at options around creating a recorded or virtual option in replacement if we do not see ourselves coming towards the potential of in-person in the coming months.
Site Council:
Our site council met last month and continued our discussions around student/family engagement and creative ways to bring our STEAM work into the school day as well as creating opportunities for community engagement with this while we are still unable to meet in person. We will record these meetings as we continue to move this work and engage in these conversations and share in next week's message.
Friday, January 28th:
There is no school this Friday, so that teachers can work on completing 2nd quarter report cards. These will be fully completed and sent home in early February.
Monday, January 31st:
There will also be no school this coming Monday. The district announced this day last week and we will be focused on building wide professional development and planning time for teachers to prepare for the second half of the school year.
I am looking forward to another amazing week and appreciate all of the ongoing communication and support from you all. If you have any questions or thoughts moving forward, please don't hesitate to reach out.
Take care,
Mr. Kaveh
1/17/2022
Hello BEH Families,
I expect that this week we will continue to see increased absences, but it will be interesting to see if we see some bounce back due to the shift in the quarantine guidelines. Moving forward, we are shifting from a 10 day quarantine to a 5 day quarantine. We are still working as a staff to learn the new guidelines and will continue to work closely with the county and specifically our school nurse to ensure that we are applying the new guidance correctly. Thank you for your patience with all of these ongoing shifts in guidance.
Honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.:
Mr. Todd, Ms. Tiara, and our student council worked this past week on creating a school wide video to honor Dr. King and his work. Thank you to all the teachers, staff, and students that contributed to this video as well. Typically we would have had an assembly to allow students to share their work with each other and honor Dr. King. Given our current reality, this team worked collaboratively to gather some video of just some of the work that students have been doing to learn about and honor the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Mr. Todd posted it on our school YouTube Channel. If you have not already, you may want to consider subscribing to the channel so you don't miss any of the work that is posted there.
COVID Update:
As I shared last week, we have seen an increase in the number of positive COVID cases in our community since returning from winter break. Due to the increase across all schools, it seems like the community letters were not able to be kept up with. As a result, we made sure to call every family whose student was deemed a close contact as soon as we learned about the possible exposure. Last week we averaged around four positive cases per day. This means that we learned about an average of four new positive cases each day. Some were found from our weekly testing, some through our test to stay testing, and others through outside testing that families informed us of.
Schoolwide Academic Testing:
The district testing window begins this week. We will likely hold off on starting our testing for a couple of weeks, as we hope to start seeing more of our absent students return. Our testing will likely be focused in February, but you may hear teachers and students start talking about it and preparing for it in the coming weeks.
I am hopeful that everyone is staying safe and healthy through this ongoing pandemic. If you find your student is needing to stay home for an extended period of time, don't hesitate to reach out with any questions around how to keep your students engaged academically. There are many programs available through their school account to help keep them engaged academically.
Take care,
Mr. Kaveh
1/10/2022
Hello BEH Families,
This week we continue our work to come back from winter break and remind students of our school expectations and ensure that we have consistency across classrooms. In the office we have been inundated with COVID related tasks; contact tracing, rapid testing, calling families of potentially exposed students, etc. I am hopeful that we will start to see a leveling off of this new variant soon.
SUN Update from Ms. Ali:
Hello Everyone! I just wanted to give a SUN check-in. Please make sure that you get your registration forms turned in by Tuesday, January 11th. Due to the rising number of Covid cases, schools may need to transition to distance learning for a few days to a few weeks. We will follow the school schedule in the event that we transition to distance learning. Programming will stop and we will resume when students return to the building. Please look for updates from Messenger. I will be sending confirmation letters home on January 14th, so please check your students' backpacks. If you have any questions, please contact me at Alshawndam@selfenhancement.org or 503-753-2642. Thanks, Ali Martin, BEH Sun Manager
Lost Coats:
This week, we are working on gathering up all of the coats that have turned up in our lost and found and rolling them out to the playground for parents to claim. If your student is missing a coat, please look for the rack on the back playground and claim any coat(s) your child may have misplaced over the past few weeks. It will be out on the playground around 3:00 and we will leave it out until around 3:20 starting tomorrow (Tuesday).
PTA Meeting:
Our PTA has their monthly meeting this Wednesday, January 12th at 5:30. It will be virtual again this month and you can join by clicking on this link.
COVID Update:
We have seen a significant uptick in COVID cases across Portland and through our BEH community over the past two weeks. As a result, there have been delays in some of the notification letters that we are able to get out to the community. We have been working hard to contact trace, inform families of students that were deemed exposed, and test those unvaccinated students who were exposed. We continue to work on ensuring safe practices in school with students wearing masks appropriately, maintaining distance, and maintaining cohorts wherever possible.
Coffee Chat:
Last week was supposed to be our monthly Coffee Chat. With all of the additional COVID tracking/communication work that we have had I had to postpone this month's meeting for the time being. I will be in attendance at the BEH PTA meeting this Wednesday if you would like to connect or have any specific questions for me. Additionally, always feel free to reach out via email or phone if something comes up before or after that time.
No School on Monday:
Remember, there is no school on Monday to honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Mr. Todd, our equity team and teachers have been working on putting together a video to honor Dr. King and share some of the work that our students have been doing. We hope to share that out next week.
I hope you are all staying healthy and safe through the continued challenges that come our way. I appreciate everyone's patience and collaboration as we work to navigate this new variant and do our best to continue to serve our students and community as best we can through it.
Take care,
Mr. Kaveh
1/3/2022
Hello BEH Families,
Welcome back! We were excited to have the students back in the building today and kick-off the 2022 portion of the school year. As we return, I wanted to remind everyone to send your student(s) with a warm coat as we will continue to have recess outside and the weather is looking wet and cold this week.
Return from Break:
This week we are focusing on reteaching our expectations and reminding students what the routines of school look like. Teachers are spending time in class reviewing classroom expectations and all staff are working together to ensure consistency across common areas. This work will set the stage for our academic routines and expectations for the rest of the school year. Any conversations and support you can add in building those school routines is always much appreciated.
Student Council:
We completed our student council elections on the Friday before winter break and our 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders elected a new student council for this school year. If you have not seen the speeches from this election, they are on our YouTube Channel and worth checking out. We have some amazing leaders at BEH and this is just a small sample of that. After tallying the results of the election, the students selected three fourth graders and four fifth graders for the student council. Our 4th grade representatives are Elma Wilson-McCalmont, JJ Sims, and Kingston Vercher. Our 5th grade representatives are Iris Land, Michael Brooks, Minor Reynoldson, and Wynter Forbes. Thank you to all of the amazing candidates that ran and to all of our students that participated in the election process. We look forward to having these students help us to bring more student voice to our decision making process this year.
Harriet Tubman Listening Session:
The district is holding community listening sessions at all of the feeder schools to share and hear ideas around what they will do for the relocation of Harriet Tubman Middle School. They were originally planning for these to be in person, but have shifted to virtual and plan to share out the links and information for our session in the next day, as our meeting is scheduled for this Wednesday, January 5th from 6:00-7:00 PM.
SUN School Update:
SUN school will host their "Registration Day" this Thursday, January 6th from 3:00-5:00 in the gym. Applications can be completed on site or picked up and taken home to be completed and returned. This will take place in the gym. Parents can come and pick-up/complete applications in the gym with Ms. Ali. The back doors from the playground to the gym will be open with signage to indicate the entrance and exits. Tables will be spaced out and set-up for families to complete the apps on site if preferred.
Test to Stay Update:
The district is shifting to a "test to stay" model for unvaccinated students to reduce quarantines. Here is the link with the details of this in various languages.
Portland Parks & Recreation Early Sign-Up:
Portland Parks has invited our community to sign-up early; starting today for their winter session. Open registration starts next week and these often fill fast. Info in English & Info in Spanish
Thank you all for your continued support and collaboration.
Take care,
Mr. Kaveh
12/13/2021
Hello BEH Families,
We are now one day into our last week of school in 2021. Following this week, we will have two weeks off for winter break. Here is what is on the radar for this week:
SEL Update:
In morning meetings, we will be teaching the 8th of our 12 Tools this week: the Personal Space Tool, which aligns with our Core Value of Integrity. Our Learning Target for students is “I can use my Personal Space Tool to say I have the right to my space. You have the right to yours.”
We invite you to review this Personal Space Tool Home Letter for more ideas on how to build awareness about the space around them. Families can also watch our Personal Space Tool mini-lesson and two related Read Alouds of Hands Off Harry and We Don’t Eat Our Classmates to learn more.
Site Council:
Last week we had our monthly Site Council Meeting. Here is the recording of the meeting if you are interested in following the discussion and work of the team. This month's focus was around expanding our STEAM/project based opportunities and finding connections between home and school.
BEH Sing Along Night:
Mr. Todd and I were working with our PTA to try and organize an outdoor in-person event for this, but with all the other events happening right now and the coordination of our Food Drive it is not going to work out for this winter. As a result, Mr. Todd will be hosting a Virtual BEH Sing Along Night at this Google Meet. Click on this at 5:30 this Thursday and join for some singing, games, and prizes.
Middle School Transition Info for 5th Grade Families:
I am sharing this again for 5th grade families as the window for the middle school lottery closes this week, on December 17th.
Information about Da Vinci Arts Middle School and other focus option programs, their informations nights, and the application process can be found on the middle school enrollment and transfer page at: https://www.pps.net/Page/2349
On the same page you will find information about all PPS neighborhood middle schools. If you plan on having your student go to your neighborhood middle school then you don’t need to do anything.. If you are unsure of what neighborhood middle school your student is assigned to please reach out to me anytime.
If you have any questions about the transfer and enrollment process, need help filling out a lottery application, or just want to know more please contact our school counselor (Eileen) and she will be happy to help in any way she can.
Phone: 503-916-6171 x7206
Email: eispindor@pps.net
Text: 503-941-0812
Free Tickets to PDX Jazz Shows:
The PDX Jazz Bright Moments Fund provides access to live jazz performances for under-served and under-represented youth across greater Portland. We are offering a limited number of FREE tickets to the shows listed below. Each student is eligible for 2 tickets, 1 for the student and 1 for an adult guardian. To request tickets to a performance, please fill out this form by Wednesday, February 2, 2022.
Test to Stay Update:
Following the winter break the way in which we handle COVID exposures with unvaccinated students will be changing. Here is an update from PPS in a few languages that helps to explain it and has information for families around the steps that are going to be involved.
As we wrap up our 2021 calendar year, we will be looking forward towards the second portion of the school year and are already working as a school team to prepare and plan for our return. I am excited to see all that we will be able to accomplish in the remainder of this year.
Thank you all for your continued support and collaboration as we continue to work to navigate this challenging school year.
We hope you are all able to take some time and be with family and friends over the winter break.
Take care,
Mr. Kaveh
12/6/21
Hello BEH Families,
This week looks like it will be a wet one, so please remember to send your child with a coat that has a hood. If you need support in getting a coat for your child(ren) let us know and we can work to get that need met. Additionally, if your child has misplaced a coat this year, feel free to stop by the office before or after school and you can look through our lost and found. We will be working to get it outside next week so that families can have easier access to it before winter break.
Coffee Chat:
Last week we held our monthly Coffee Chat virtually on Thursday Evening. Here is a recording of the meeting if you want to review any of the topics discussed and hear what we have been working on at BEH. Please reach out if you have any questions or thoughts after reviewing it.
No SUN School:
There is no SUN school this week or next week. SUN will return the second week of January. They will likely be sending out new registration forms the first week that we return from winter break.
Family Support:
Here at BEH we want to make sure that we take care of our community, so if you are in need of resources (food, clothing, etc.), please fill out this form and someone from our care team will get back to you shortly: https://forms.gle/6FJ7ywB3y4CACAdz9
SEL Update:
We will be teaching the 7th of our 12 Tools this week: the Apology & Forgiveness Tool, which aligns with our Core Value of Community. Our Learning Target for students is: “I can use my Apology and Forgiveness Tool to admit my mistakes and work to forgive yours.” We invite you to review this Apology and Forgiveness home letter. Consider modeling this tool by finding something to apologize for or offer forgiveness to your child. Families can watch an Apology and Forgiveness Tool mini-lesson and a related Read Aloud of the book “Matthew and Tilly”.
Ms. Eileen (School Counselor) and Mr. Loker (QMHP) will also continue facilitating weekly SEL lessons. This week continues practice with mindful listening. Our mindfulness learning target “I can be alert and aware of what’s happening around me and inside me.” Focusing on mindfulness is a foundation for building skills with self-awareness and social-awareness.
Picture Retakes:
Our picture retakes will be tomorrow (Tuesday). If your child missed the first picture day or you would like their photo retaken, this is the day that this will happen. Please let your child's teacher know if you would like to make sure that your child is included in this. We will work to catch the students that were missed from our October picture day.
OHSU COVID Testing:
Just a reminder that our weekly COVID testing for students that are opted in, go home in backpacks on Tuesday and need to be returned on Wednesday to get results by the end of the week.
BEH Vaccine Clinic #2:
We will be holding our second (and final) COVID Vaccine clinic this Wednesday from 3:00-7:00 PM. They will be offering second doses to those that attended the first clinic and will have a limited supply of boosters for adults and first doses for those that need them. Here is a flyer with all of the information and links to make an appointment.
BEH PTA Meeting:
Our monthly PTA meeting is scheduled for this Wednesday at 5:30 and will be virtual. Our PTA will be meeting to review what they are working on and discuss planning around supporting families for the holiday break. Here is the link to join for this Wednesday.
Site Council:
Our team of parents and staff will meet this Thursday to continue our work around assessing our progress towards our annual goals and look at ways we can support the work and ensure that it is working for students, families, and staff. We will record the meeting and share it out in next week's message.
No PK this Friday:
PK will not have school on Friday, December 10th. All other grades will be in school as normal, but PK has an additional professional development day for all of their staff.
As we move towards winter break, please reach out if you need any food or holiday support. Our PTA, SEI, and Social Emotional Support Team are working in collaboration to ensure that families are supported as needed.
Take care,
Mr. Kaveh
11/29/21
Hello BEH Families,
I am hopeful that you were all able to find some time to connect as a family and enjoy the loved ones that surround you. I know the break was a nice change of pace for our staff but we are looking forward to a more typical schedule for the next three weeks.
Giving Tuesday is November 30th:
Tomorrow is Giving Tuesday on Mississippi. Check out the flyer to see all the businesses that are donating a portion of their proceeds on that day to BEH. If you have any purchases you were thinking about making at Mississippi businesses this holiday season, that would be the perfect day to get out and get those done.
Final Week of SUN for 2021:
This week is the last week of SUN school for this term. This means no SUN for the last two weeks of school in December. SUN will start again for the winter term on Monday, January 10th. They will get out new registration papers before the start of winter term.
SEL Toolbox Lessons:
We will be teaching the 6th of our 12 Tools this week: the Quiet/Safe Place Tool, which aligns with our Core Value of Perseverance. Our Learning Target for students is: “I can use my Quiet/Safe Place Tool by going to a real or imagined quiet place.” We invite you to review this Quiet/Safe Place home letter, share with your children what your own quiet/safe place looks like, and help them identify a personal real or imagined quiet/safe place. Families can also watch a Quiet/Safe Place Tool mini-lesson to learn more.
Ms. Eileen (School Counselor) and Mr. Loker (QMHP) have also begun facilitating additional SEL lessons on a weekly basis in classrooms. Their focus over the next month will be building skills in mindfulness. Before break, they will teach deep belly breaths as a foundation to mindfulness. This week will center around mindful listening. Our mindfulness learning target “I can be alert and aware of what’s happening around me and inside me.”
Free COVID Vaccine Clinics For 5 and Older:
There are several sites around Portland that have weekly COVID Vaccine clinics. Here is a flyer sharing some of those options for those that are interested.
Winter Craft Night:
Due to not being able to gather in person at this point, SUN is going to have their craft project within their SUN programming this Thursday. This means there will be no family event this year.
We are looking forward to another amazing week of growth and progress at BEH. You may hear your students starting to come home talking about "badges" this week and student council in 4th and 5th grade. We are launching into both of these in the coming weeks and are looking forward to getting students excited for their return.
Thank you all for your continued support and collaboration,
Mr. Kaveh
11/22/21
Hello BEH Families,
It is incredible to think that we are near the end of November at this point and only have three more weeks of school in 2021 before heading into winter break and coming back in January and kicking off 2022.
No School This Week:
We have no school for this entire week. Hopefully you have been able to schedule and attend your virtual conference with your students' teachers. If not, don't hesitate to reach out to them and connect. We will have students back next week for three full weeks of school.
Last Week of SUN:
Next week is our last week of SUN school for this quarter. Following that Thursday there will be no SUN for the last two weeks of school before winter break.
Family Friday/Coffee Chat:
Our Family Friday/Coffee Chat will continue to be virtual as we are not able to gather in the building and the weather continues to get colder. Due to this it is very difficult for families to attend these events virtually at drop off. For December we are going to try and hold this event on Thursday evening rather than Friday. The hope would be that we could catch more families that would like to attend during that time. I will send out a Google Meet link next week for Thursday, December 2nd at 5:30 PM.
Middle School Transition Info for 5th Grade Families:
It is already time to start planning for your student’s transition to Middle School. PPS should have sent a flyer to your home address this past week. The PPS Middle School Lottery will be open on November 29th and closes on December 17th.
Information about Da Vinci Arts Middle School and other focus option programs, their informations nights, and the application process can be found on the middle school enrollment and transfer page at: https://www.pps.net/Page/2349
On the same page you will find information about all PPS neighborhood middle schools. If you plan on having your student go to your neighborhood middle school then you don’t need to do anything.. If you are unsure of what neighborhood middle school your student is assigned to please reach out to me anytime.
If you have any questions about the transfer and enrollment process, need help filling out a lottery application, or just want to know more please contact our school counselor (Eileen) and she will be happy to help in any way she can.
Phone: 503-916-6171 x7206
Email: eispindor@pps.net
Text: 503-941-0812
Vaccine Clinic #2:
We held our first vaccine clinic for students and families last week and were able to get students their first dose and families/staff their booster. We will be holding the second clinic on Wednesday, December 8th. Students can come and get their first or second dose and families that need a booster are also welcome. No appointments necessary. I will share the details as we get closer.
Giving Tuesday:
We still have one more week until Giving Tuesday, which will occur on Tuesday, November 30th. Mark your calendars. If you are thinking about making any purchases at Mississippi Avenue businesses this holiday season that would be a great day to do it.
I hope you are all able to take some time and connect as a family this week. We look forward to seeing you all back at BEH next week.
Take care,
Mr. Kaveh
11/15/2021
Hello BEH Families,
We have begun our one and only full week of school in the month of November. Next week we have no school, but the week after that we will return for three consecutive five day weeks before we make it to winter break. Here is what we have coming this week:
Parent/Teacher Conferences:
This year all conferences are virtual and they are able to be scheduled this week and Monday/Tuesday of next week. Many teachers have been working to get all of their conferences scheduled this week after school so that they can take the time off next week. If you have not already scheduled your conference, don't hesitate to reach out to your child's teacher and get it on the calendar.
Weekly OHSU COVID Testing:
Tomorrow we will be sending home our weekly COVID tests for families that opted into the OHSU program. They will come home in backpacks and need to be returned to school on Wednesday. OHSU only picks these up from BEH on Wednesdays each week.
Student Council Elections:
The calendar has the student council elections happening this week, but we will be pushing this back into December so that we can spend some more time getting our 4th and 5th graders ready for it.
BEH Student/Family Vaccine Clinic:
This Wednesday from 3:00-7:00 we will host a walk-in COVID Vaccine Clinic at BEH for our students and their families. There will likely be about 100 doses on-site for vaccination and we expect to get through all of them. Here is the info. There will be signage in the BEH parking lot to direct families around where to go.
BEH Music Night:
WHAT'S HAPPENING, BEH MUSIC COMMUNITY?
Bring your friends and family to this fun, interactive ONLINE music time! Mr. Todd will be spotlighting talented students and giving a review of what our music program has looked like so far. We'll be playing games and awarding prizes, so you won't want to miss it! Log-in ready to sing, play percussion and share your moves!
Site Council:
We have our November Site Council Meeting on the calendar for this coming Thursday. I will be connecting with the Site Council Team to see if we are prepared to move forward with this meeting or push it back.
Pictures:
Student pictures came in today for those who placed orders. If you did not get them sent home today, they will likely get sent home in student backpacks tomorrow. As a reminder, retakes are scheduled for Tuesday, December 7th.
Coffee Chat:
We had our monthly Coffee Chat last Friday. Here is a recording of what we discussed if you were unable to make it, but are interested in listening.
Ruby Bridges Walk to School Day:
Safe Routes to School invites you to honor Ruby Bridges Walk to School Day with us on November 17th. We've shared some history and resources below on this important day!
With gratitude,
Safe Routes to School Team | Dana, Janis, Abra, Lale, Xao, Shaina & Corrine
Giving Tuesday:
The Tuesday of Thanksgiving is Giving Tuesday on Mississippi and many of the amazing businesses on Mississippi are donating portions of their proceeds to BEH for our STEAM programming. Here is this year's flyer.
Thank you all for your continued collaboration and support. We could not make it through this year without all of you.
Take care,
Mr. Kaveh
11/8/2021
Hello BEH Families,
This week we are kicking off the second quarter with a short week. Don't forget that PPS has shifted this Friday to a planning/training day for staff and as a result our last day of school this week is Wednesday. Here is what to expect this week:
SEL Update:
Site Council:
Last week we had our second Site Council Meeting of the year. We continued the discussion around students' academic data and began looking forward to future topics and work we want to focus on. Here is the recorded meeting if you are interested in listening to some of the work. We will be meeting again later this month to continue this work.
PTA Wreath Fundraiser:
Information about this year's Wreath Sales was sent home last week in backpacks. Shop online at https://beh-pta-wreath-shop.myshopify.com/. Orders are due this Wednesday, Nov 10th. All net profits benefit the BEH PTAm who directly serves the BEH students, staff and community by providing funding for community events, the BEH Food Pantry and Backpack Program, Holiday Food Drive, teacher supplies and funding requests, SUN School and MORE!
PTA Meeting:
This month's PTA meeting will be virtual. It is coming up this Wednesday at 5:30. Here is the link to join if you are able to make it. This is a great opportunity to collaborate with other parents and hear more about the work the PTA is doing.
OHSU Weekly COVID Testing Update:
It looks like we got many more of our labels this week. As a result, tomorrow we will be sending home testing kits with over 100 students. Don't forget to check your student's backpack, follow the steps, and return it with your student on Wednesday morning to get their COVID test results.
BEH Virtual Book Fair:
Nov. 1 - Nov. 14
To shop click the link: https://www.scholastic.com/bf/boiseeliotelementaryschool1
Our Book Fair is online and helps our students discover new books, favorite characters, and more! Every purchase earns our school rewards for much needed resources. Plus, shipping is free on book-only purchases over $25.
Thank you for instilling a love of reading and supporting our Book Fair!
Giving Tuesday:
The Mississippi Business District is continuing their annual fundraiser for our school with Giving Tuesday coming up on Tuesday, November 30th. Check out this flyer to see the many businesses contributing a portion of their sales to BEH this year. Feel free to start spreading the word or plan some pre-holiday shopping for that day on Mississippi.
Coffee Chat:
With the district shifting the focus for this Friday, I am going to move forward with a virtual Coffee Chat for any families that are interested at 9:00 AM. This is an opportunity to hear some of what we have been working on and ask any questions you may have for us. Here is the link to join. If you are not able to attend, we will record it and share it out in next week's message as well. Our goal for the December Family Friday/Coffee Chat is to look at options more in the evening to connect virtually.
Thank you all for your continued collaboration and support.
Take care,
Mr. Kaveh
11/1/2021
Hello BEH Families,
As you all know by now, this week has started off with some new levels of challenge and adventure. Now let us all just hope that it can only get more smooth from here. Here are the updates for this week:
Building Closure Today:
We closed the building today after we came in and found a sulfur-like odor in many areas of the building. I made the decision to evacuate the building of staff and meet all students outside until we were able to find out what it was. The fire department and the gas company determined that it was not gas, but there were some unusual low levels of carbon monoxide in the air. It was coming from one of our boilers that was not operating correctly. This level of carbon monoxide was not a huge risk, but in the interest of safety, I decided to close the school for the day until we could get the boiler repaired and the air circulated.
They were able to identify the problem, repair the boiler and confirm that there is no longer any detectable level of carbon monoxide in the building. As a result, we expect to be open and on our typical schedule tomorrow.
New Assistant Principal:
I am excited to announce our new assistant principal; Roma Freeman. As many of you know, we have been working hard to find the right fit for BEH. As a result, we spent a good amount of time reviewing possible candidates and working to encourage people to apply. I am confident that Mrs. Freeman will be an amazing addition to our team and her dedication and work ethic will be felt across our entire community. She comes to us from the district office, where she worked the past few years as a Teacher on Special Assignment (TOSA) supporting the Humanities work across the district. Before that she was a 2nd and 4th grade teacher at Woodlawn school. She will be working to meet staff and families over the coming weeks and will quickly be stepping into a leadership role in championing our academic and community focused work at BEH.
Lunch Moving Indoors:
We will be starting our indoor lunch this week. We will continue with seating charts in order to track if we have any positive COVID cases. The weather has just become too cold, windy, and upredictable to continue with outdoor eating. We will continue to have recess outside, but now the covered area will be freed up to allow for students to stay dry if they choose to.
Site Council:
We rescheduled our Site council meeting to this Thursday at 5:30. We will record this conversation and share it with families so that anyone who is interested is able to review.
Grandparent & Kinship Caregiver Meeting:
There will be a virtual conversation targeted for grandparent or kinship caregivers on Wednesday, November 17th. I know that we have a number of students who are being cared for by their grandparents or other family members and I wanted to make sure that you were aware of this community and support. Here is a flyer with more detailed information.
Picture Retake Date:
I had some families asking when picture retakes would be. Retakes are scheduled for Tuesday, December 7th.
No School Friday:
There is no school for students this Friday. Staff will be working on completing conference forms, in meetings, and doing planning for the second quarter.
Thank you all for the continued support through this year. Please don't hesitate to reach out if you have any thoughts or ideas that you would like to share.
Take care,
Kaveh
10/25/2021
Hello BEH Families,
We officially survived our first in-person spirit week that included both our picture day and run for BEH. The energy levels were through the roof at times, but students seemed to enjoy the festivities.
Here are our updates for this week:
OHSU COVID Weekly Screening Update:
It sounds like there are some continued challenges with launching this program across the district. Here is an update that we were asked to share out with our community.
SUN Update:
Our amazing SUN Coordinator; Mr. Robert announced last week that he will be transitioning to a new position in the next few weeks, working at the county level supporting SUN programming. He will still be around to support with the transition, but we will be working with SEI to find a new coordinator to oversee our SUN programming moving forward.
Family Support Contact:
Our Community Agent at BEH, Brenda Eads wanted me to share this flyer with all of our families.
Harvest Fair:
OUR PTA will be hosting the annual BEH Harvest Fair again this year on Thursday, October 28th from 5:30-7:00. This will again be an outdoor drive/ride/walk through event. You can participate by bringing your family back in costumes and drive/ride/walk through our parking lot between 5:30-7:00. They will have stations throughout the parking lot handing out treats for any students that participate. This is an opportunity for students to show off their costumes and come and safely get some treats while staying relatively dry and warm in their cars. Here is the flyer that the PTA will be sending home in backpacks tomorrow.
Site Council Meeting:
Our monthly Site Council Meeting was set for this Thursday at 5:30, which conflicts with our PTA Harvest Fair. As a result, I will be reaching out to our Site Council to work to find a different day/time for us to meet. We will continue to record and share out the meetings when we hold these meetings as well.
As we are moving toward more cold and wet weather, we are getting to the point where we are going to be looking at officially moving indoors for meals. To this point, we have had two confirmed COVID cases at BEH and no evidence of spread at school. It is because of this, that we have been trying to stretch this out as long as we can. We will however be assessing the weather in the coming weeks to consider whether a move in-doors needs to happen for meals. I will keep you all informed of when this decision happens.
We are looking forward to a productive week to close out October.
Take care,
Mr. Kaveh
10/18/2021
Hello BEH Families,
This week is a busy week, filled with spirit week and many other events to keep us all busy and hopefully add to the fun.
Spirit Week:
We started today with pajama/comfy day. If you want to see the whole week in detail you can look at this Google Slide. Students can always opt to stay in uniform if they would prefer to rather than follow the themes.
Picture Day:
Tomorrow is picture day at BEH. To align with this, the theme for spirit week is ¨Dress Your Best¨ Our hope is that this allows students and families to have flexibility in what they would like students to wear for their pictures. Pictures will be done during the school day and teachers have a schedule of when their class gets their photos taken. If you have not ordered and are interested, you can still order online or through the form that went home.
OHSU Weekly COVID Testing:
We have still not recieved the labels for the take home tests, but I am working on figuring out how we can get them here before the end of the day tomorrow so that we can send them home. Only families that have completed the application to opt in to this process will be getting kits to test at home. These would then need to be returned to school Wednesday morning. If we get the labels in time, these will be sent home in student backpacks tomorrow. If we are not able to get the labels in time, I will send out messaging around what I find out from OHSU.
Run for BEH:
Thursday is our Run for BEH fundraiser. Here is a Google Doc with the times and info for the run. This will also occur during the school day. Each grade level will get 30 minutes to run as many laps as they can. We will be running around the block that SEI sits on. Each lap is about 1/2 mile. If you are looking for an easier way to fundraise, we had one of our families create a QR code that you can have your students use/share to get to the online pay site.
SEL Update:
We will be discussing the third of our 12 Toolbox Tools this week: the Breathing Tool, which aligns with our Core Value of Perseverance. Our learning target for the week is I can use my Breathing Tool to calm myself and check-in. We invite you to review this Breathing Tool home letter and to practice taking deep belly breaths with your child. To learn more, you can also watch this Breathing Tool video lesson from our SEL team and a Read Aloud of Anh’s Anger from our librarian Ms. Cardenas.
In addition to all of this, we will also be having an earthquake drill this week. Typically we do this at the same time as every other school on the same day at the same time for the Great Shakeout. This year, that fell on Thursday, October 21st. As a result, we will be doing this a day early so that we do not conflict with our Run for BEH.
Looking forward to another amazing week.
Take care,
Mr. Kaveh
10/11/2021
Hello BEH Families,
We are looking forward to another productive week at BEH and launching our SUN after school program for the first time in over a year. I know those students that are enrolled were very excited to see it return and our staff are excited to begin offering it again.
PTA Meeting:
Our PTA will be holding their next meeting; Wednesday, October 13th at 5:30 pm. This meeting will be held at the playground on the covered basketball courts. There will be plenty of room to spread out. Free Chipotle dinner will be provided. Dress warmly, it will be a little chilly. Kids are welcome at the meeting or can be on the playground, but there will be no childcare available.
PTA Chipotle Fundraiser:
Chipotle School Fundraiser is also this Wednesday, October 13th from 4pm to 8pm at the 704 NE Weidler St. location. See flyers in English & Spanish for details. 33% of all sales from this evening will be donated to BEH. Be sure to let the restaurant know you are part of the BEH fundraiser or order online for pickup using code GJCX7MN
SEL Update:
We will be teaching the second of our 12 Tools this week: the Garbage Can Tool. We invite you to review this Garbage Can Tool home letter and to have conversations with your child this week about letting the little things go. You can also watch this Garbage Can video lesson from our SEL team, and a Read Aloud of You Get What You Get from our librarian.
Battle of the Books:
Ms. Kali began introducing the books for this year's Oregon Battle of the Books (OBOB) to the 3rd, 4th & 5th graders this week and is sending permission slips home. Her plan is to collect all permission slips of those wanting to participate by next Monday, October 18th.
COVID Weekly Screening:
The OHSU weekly COVID screening is still not looking ready to launch, as we have not yet received the coolers or the tests to support the weekly distribution or collection. The coolers sound like they are currently out for delivery. The district is reaching out to OHSU around the expected arrival of the tests. At this point, I would assume that it will not get together in time for being sent home tomorrow, but I will let you know if this changes. I would think it should be fully ready to launch no later than next week.
Next week will be spirit week at BEH and some of our students have been working with staff to plan the themes for each day. I will share information regarding this and any other updates at the end of the week so that everyone is prepared for the first day.
Thank you all for your continued collaboration and support,
Mr. Kaveh
10/4/2021
Hello BEH Families,
We are now fully into our second month of school and what a journey it has been. Currently we are working to figure out the logistics of the roll out of COVID screening tests for those students that have opted in. Currently OHSU has been shipping us the materials (coolers, ice packs, etc.) to get ready for it. I have not heard a solid start date at this point, but I would assume that they will begin next week. I will send out info as I figure it out in the coming days.
Lunch Calendar:
The district has not released a yearlong monthly menu this year. Instead they are releasing the menus monthly. These can be found on the district website, but if you are looking for October´s menu you can click here to access it.
TAG/Title I Info:
Typically we have a TAG info night and a Title I info night for parents to attend and hear info and ask questions. This was scheduled for this Thursday. Instead of doing a live meeting this week to discuss these, I will be working on getting a pre-recorded video out for both of these with the information. This will allow families to watch them at a time that works best for them. If you have questions following the videos feel free to email me here, give us a call, or catch me at the school during drop-off or pick-up.
MAP Testing:
Just a reminder that we will be continuing our MAP testing with students this week and next, as we work on getting all of our students assessed. These assessments will help us to get a better idea of where everyone is academically and will allow us to track progress as we continue with MAP assessment again in the winter and spring.
Site Council:
We had our first Site Council meeting last week and I wanted to share the recording of it for anyone who is interested in reviewing it and hearing about what we worked on and plan to continue to work on with that team. It is generally a relatively small team, but we want to make sure and keep everyone informed of our work.
SUN School Update:
Boise SUN School registration for the Fall Session is now closed.
If you have turned in your student(s) SUN School Application, then you should’ve received a text message or letter sent home in your student(s) back pack. Students place on the waitlist will be priority for our Winter SUN Session and also be considered for our Fall session (if a student(s) unenroll).
SUN school starts: October 11th
Programming Days: Monday - Thursday
Programming Times: 3:00pm to 5:20pm
Dental Sealants:
Our second and third graders that opted in for getting dental sealants will be getting them on Wednesday and Thursday during the school day this week. They have to have all of their permission slips turned in to participate.
No School Friday:
This Friday is a statewide in-service day. As a result, there will be no school for anyone across the state. Instead many of our staff will be volunteering, attending training, etc.
Dawson Park Concert:
The Eliot NA is hosting their final concert this Thursday 10/7 4-7pm at Dawson Park. They will be having a DJ this time instead of a live band. There will be food for purchase and a vaccination station.
Thank you all for your continued patience and understanding as we work through the bumps of coming back to school after 18 months away and getting our students used to the routines and expectations. This has been a busy, but productive first month of school. To see all that we have accomplished in such a short time is motivating after so much time having to be virtual with students.
Take care and have a great week,
Mr. Kaveh
9/27/2021
Hello BEH Families,
We have reached the last week of September and the rain has officially arrived. Today was a wet and challenging day for all of us, as we worked to navigate the weather, keep students spaced and safe, while also trying to ensure students could get the movement they needed. We decided to continue to have outdoor recess and covered lunch due to the need for spacing and the hope to minimize potential COVID spread.
The covered lunch area actually continues to work well as the temperatures are still not unreasonably cold, the only challenge is the short walk through the rain to get there. At recess, we will want to make sure that students bring their coats and use them during this time, as we do not have any covered areas during the 15 minute lunch recess time.
SEL Update:
Continuing our focus on identifying feelings and emotions, we will be discussing the Zones of Regulation this week, which are divided into four colors: Blue, Green, Yellow and Red. In the blue zone our bodies feel low and slow in energy. In the green we feel calm and focused ready to listen to our friends, classmates and teachers, we can sit or stand comfortably. In the yellow our bodies can feel wiggly and excited, our hearts may be beating a little faster- we may feel good but it is hard to focus- we are distracted by our feelings. In the red zone our bodies feel out of control- we want to run, yell, hide, we may feel really hot, sweaty, our hearts may be racing. Being able to do a Zones of Regulation check-in helps us recognize how our body and emotions feel in the moment. With this knowledge, we are better able to pick tools that support us in that zone.
COVID Screening:
If you would like your child included in the OHSU Weekly COVID Screener program please complete and return the paperwork that was provided last week. You can also access the information from the front page of our school website.
Uniforms:
Just a reminder, we would like to see all students in uniforms Monday-Thursday weekly and Friday is the free dress day. We will be starting to circulate and help students to change into uniforms out of our clothes closet if they do not come to school in uniform when available. Our uniforms are white, blue, or yellow polo shirts and khaki or dark blue pants, skirts or dresses. Closed toed shoes are important for our PE and recess times as well.
Things from Home:
We have many students bringing items from home that are not needed during the school day and they often become distractions or lead to trading between students. If you can remind your students that most days we don't need to bring anything, other than maybe a lunch and/or school work that would be very helpful for our teachers.
Site Council:
This is a team that consists of a few parents, staff, and community partners to help look at the school's data and help to guide the direction that we are moving around our academic and climate work. We will be holding our first meeting this Thursday.
Family Friday:
We will be holding our second Family Friday this week at 8:00 AM under the covered basketball courts this Friday. Ms. Morgan will be leading a traditional game of BINGO for any families that are able to attend. We will close up by 8:40 to allow for students to get to classes.
Coffee Chat:
Following our Family Friday, I will come to the covered basketball courts to discuss what we are currently working on at BEH, answer any questions, and hear any thoughts that families may have. I will likely start after 8:45 when students should have entered the building for the start of the school day
We are continuing to work to build school skills and catch students up academically after the past 18 months of very little in-person learning opportunities. In addition to the academics that were missed we had many students who missed out on the opportunity for social skill building opportunities and we had many students who experienced significant trauma through this time. It has been amazing to see all that we can do now that we are back in-person with our amazing staff, but we still have much to do in our work to get us where we know we can be.
I wanted to thank you all for your patience and understanding as we work out the logistics of all of the new challenges we have faced this year. Our staff and students are working very hard and we appreciate your support in getting your children here ready to learn every day.
Take care,
Mr. Kaveh
9/20/21
Hello BEH Families,
Last week was a busy week that culminated with our Grandparents/Special Friends Day. The turnout for this event was incredible and it was so amazing to connect with all of the amazing family we have supporting our students at BEH. Thank you all for coming out and thank you for your patience, as our PTA worked hard to serve the many families that were able to attend.
This week will be our second full week and with each day this year we have been able to continue to work out our systems and continue to get our students in the rhythm of being back at school in person for full days.
Here is what to expect this week:
Districtwide Academic Testing:
The testing window for administering the Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) is from 9/13-10/15. Our K-5th grade students will be completing the math portion of this assessment and our 3-5th grade students will be completing the reading portion of this assessment. Some of our classes are starting these this week and others will begin next week. This assessment is given three times a year and helps to guide our instruction. This first assessment will serve as more of a benchmark for the year, to help us to see where students are currently and will allow us to look at where we can look to improve moving forward. Here is a student resource link if you are interested in learning more about how to support or prepare your student.
SEL Update:
This week our school will be discussing feelings and emotions. Naming feelings and identifying emotions helps us uncover hidden needs, develops self-awareness, and helps in resolving conflicts. Emotions provide important missing information that leads to the use of many Toolbox tools we will be discussing throughout the year. We encourage families to practice naming feelings with your children at home, and asking the questions like "What emotion is getting in our way right now?" when faced with challenges.
Student Goal Setting:
We are beginning to dive into goal setting with our students so that we can set the stage for relaunching our badger program and focus students around our three core values; Perseverance, Integrity, and Community. I started my day today setting the stage with our fourth graders and helping to focus on how we can help each other achieve our goals. In conjunction with this, we often weave in conversations around growth mindset and the fact that mistakes are important and something that we work to learn from.
Backpacks/Supplies:
We handed out backpacks and supplies to students/families that needed them last week and we will be storing the remaining backpacks to handout as needed. If your child missed getting one and you would like the backpack and/or supplies, please let your student´s teacher know and we can get it for them.
SUN/SEI Applications:
SUN School registrations for the upcoming 2021 Fall Term have been sent home with students in their backpacks today (9/17). If you have any questions concerning registering your student for SUN School, please contact, Mr. Robert (Boise SUN Manager).
Please have yourself or student(s) return their SUN School registration form into the main office or to Mr. Robert. They can also return their registration form to their teacher.
Thank you all for your continued support and collaboration this year. We could not do this work without the support of all of our amazing families.
Take care,
Mr. Kaveh
9/13/2021
Hello BEH Families,
Today we got to welcome our PK students for their first day of school. It is amazing to see us back in person with all grades present for full days. If you have applied to PK and have not been enrolled yet, know that we are working on streamlining this process. Our PK program is enrolled at the district level rather than the building level, so it takes a few extra steps. Our staff however is working with them to help make this process more timely and supportive for families.
Backpack Distribution:
Starting today, we will be handing out backpacks with supplies to all students that need/want them. We will have a table on the back playground after school each day this week for students and families to get backpacks if interested. If your child does not need a new backpack, we will save the extras for new students who enroll in PPS throughout the year or students who have their backpacks break during the year. If your child rides a bus and you want to make sure they get one, please let their teacher know and they can pick one up on their way to the bus this week.
SEL Update:
This week, teachers will begin discussing our Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) curriculum, Toolbox. Toolbox offers a common language for the 12 tools inside all us that help solve-problems and build positive relationships with others. Here is an overview of each Tool. Each week, our school will focus on a Tool or related SEL focus for the week, and we invite families to continue the discussion at home to reinforce the concepts and common language.
PPS Device Update:
PPS is working on ensuring that all students have access to Chromebooks. BEH is in a relatively unique situation with the number of Chromebooks we have for our students, as in many cases we have one for students to use from home and one for them to use at school. We are still working out these logistics, but here is the flyer from PPS describing their plans for ensuring that all students get access to devices.
Back to School Night:
This Thursday from 5:30-7:00 we will be hosting our virtual Back to School Night. We will begin as a whole group at this link. I will share schoolwide information and answer questions that families may have. From there we will share links to join grade level teams, specialist teachers, SUN/SEI support, and other support staff.
Grandparent/Special Friend Day:
This Friday, our PTA will be hosting our Grandparents/Special Friends Day on the playground at 9:00. This will be an outdoor event, where we will have students come out and decorate some shirts with their Grandparent/Special Friend. If you have someone that is planning on attending, have them meet under the covered basketball courts and we will call the students down from classrooms to participate with them.
Concerts in Dawson Park:
The final two Dawson Park Concerts will be September 16 (5pm) and October 7th (4-7pm). They will have vaccinators (with gift cards) at both events. More details here: https://eliotneighborhood.org/concerts/
Thank you all for your continued collaboration as we continue to navigate these constantly evolving times.
Take care,
Kaveh
9/7/2021
Hello BEH Families,
We are entering our second week with students in-person and it has been amazing to have them all back together. Our staff has been working so hard to ensure safety while still ensuring that we can provide engaging academic opportunities in our departmentalized model. Tomorrow we will have all of our kindergarteners coming together and next week we will have our PK classrooms starting as well. Here are the BEH updates for the week:
PTA Meeting:
Our PTA will be holding their first PTA meeting tomorrow, Wednesday, September 8th at 5:30 pm. This first meeting will be held on the playground on the covered basketball courts. They will have tables down and be able to provide space for families to space out.
Entrance Routine:
I am working with the district to try and get some additional flexibility with where we serve breakfast. Currently they will only allow us to serve food from the building, but we are exploring options that may allow us to serve breakfast outside and further allow for some distance while eating breakfast.I will update you around whether we are able to make this happen.
Exit Routine:
We are working on increasing some spacing and systems to end the day as well. Starting this week, we will be having each grade level exit out of their own door to end the day. Here are the grade level doors that students will exit at the end of the day:
PK - Exit their own classroom doors
K - Exit out the SW corner doors (the same doors they enter)
1st - Exit out of the front ramped accessibility door on Fremont
2nd - Exit out of the parking lot doors (the same doors they enter)
3rd - Exit out of the SE corner doors (the same doors they enter)
4th - Exit out of the main doors on Fremont
5th - Exit out of the bakery side doors (the same doors they enter)
From these doors all classes will walk towards the covered basketball courts. If you want to pick your student up you can either wait near the doors that they are exiting or you can wait by the covered basketball courts. We are trying to reduce the crossing of multiple grade levels while parents are picking up. We are hoping this will allow us to track student pick-up more easily.
Parents in the Building:
In the interest of maintaining safety and reducing the number of people in the building we are asking that parents drop off all students at the door and pick them up from outside. If you come early to pick up your child, please come to the front door and buzz the office. We will then get your child to you as quickly as we can.
Bus Changes:
The district sent out some messaging that our AM routes are shifted a bit due to a lack of bus drivers. Temporarily route 101 and 136 will be shifting their pick-up times in the AM. This may change back soon if they can get more drivers hired or if transportation can work out some more creative solutions. As of now however, they are telling me that these will be the pick-up times for those routes in the AM.
Bus 101 -
NE Killingsworth & MLK Jr pick-up @ 7:49 AM
N Rosa Parks & N Albina @ 7:54 AM
N Killingsworth & N Haight @ 7:58 AM
N Vancouver & N Sumner @ 7:59 AM
Drop-off at BEH @ 8:05 AM
Bus 136 -
NE Cleveland & NE Alberta @ 8:17 AM
NE Thompson & Rodney @ 8:24 AM
Drop-off at BEH @ 8:30 AM
For those students riding bus 101, we will have staff on site that will be able to supervise them on the playground until staff are at the grade level doors. The PM routes are not impacted by these changes and there is a possibility that these shift back soon if transportation can remedy the situation.
Screening Testing Info:
PPS is ready to provide this screening testing option to your students. However, the Oregon Health Authority has yet to provide the complete details of this screening option.
Here is what we do know:
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Unvaccinated staff who are enrolled in this regular screening testing will be sent test kits to their homes. They will administer the test in their home and mail it in. They will receive the results within 24 hours.
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Students whose families sign a consent for testing (17 years and under) will be provided the screening kit to bring home one time per week. The following morning, the family will administer the test and send it to school with their child. Collection sites will be at each school. A courier from the Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU), who is administering the program, will pick up the kits on specific days for each school. Families will receive the results within 24 hours.
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OHA and OHSU will first focus on students in grades K-5 for PPS, since there is no vaccine for this age group at this time. As they build their testing capacity, they will increase the number of tests they can run daily.
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For both students and staff, if a positive result is received, families and/or staff will be asked to contact their school. This will help us limit exposure and begin the process for contact tracing and quarantine.
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PPS will also receive confirmation of a positive result from the Multnomah County Health Department who will begin the process for contact tracing and quarantining.
Vaccine Clinics:
There are several weekly vaccine clinics being offered at local high schools starting this week. You can view the flyer in English and Spanish if you are interested in spreading the word.
Thank you all for your continued support. Feel free to reach out if you have any questions or thoughts for us.
Take care,
Mr. Kaveh
8/31/2021
Hello BEH Families,
Tomorrow is the big day! We are excited to welcome all of our 2nd-5th graders back to school in-person for a full day of classes tomorrow morning. I wanted to share the logistics for the start of the school year with everyone before our first day tomorrow.
1st Grade Start:
Our first graders with last names starting with A-L will start tomorrow (9/1) while the rest of the first graders stay home. Our first graders with last names starting with M-Z will start on Thursday (9/2) while the rest of the first graders stay home. All first graders will begin attending on Friday (9/3).
Kindergarten Start:
Teachers are calling to schedule family meetings for Tomorrow (9/1) and Thursday (9/2). During those phone calls & meetings they will be connecting with families to schedule the students' start day based on family needs. Half of our kindergarten students will start on Friday (9/3) and the other half will start on Tuesday (9/7). All kindergarten students will start on Wednesday (9/8).
PK Start:
Our PK classrooms are still working on completing enrollment and reaching out to families. They will be setting up family meeting times for incoming students over the next couple weeks. The first day for PK students is Monday, September 13th.
Bell Schedule:
Our school hours remain the same this year; 8:45-3:00. We will however have staff out at doors early to hand out breakfast before school each morning. Here is what our daily routine will look like:
8:30 - Staff at grade level doors with breakfast options for students to eat outside
8:40 - Doors open and students that are done eating may start entering the building
8:45 - Doors will close and breakfast will be brought in.
8:45-3:00 - School day
3:00 - Staff will drop students at buses and bring students to the back playground for pick-up.
Drop-Off Routine:
We will continue to have specific doors assigned for grade levels:
PK - Enter through their exterior classroom doors.
Kindergarten - Enter through the SW doors (near the bakery)
1st & 2nd Graders - Enter through the East doors (parking lot doors)
3rd & 4th Graders - Enter through the SE doors (back driveway doors)
5th Graders - Enter through the West doors (on Borthwick)
Parents can wait with their child at the doors, but will not be entering the building. We will have staff at the doors and in the halls to help them transition to their classrooms.
Pick-Up Routines:
Teachers will bring students out to the playground at 3:00 daily. We will ensure that bus riders get on their assigned buses and then we will excuse students to families from the playground. We request that families spread out on the playground to wait for students to arrive and get the attention of the teacher before leaving with your student(s). Also, do not forget to bring and wear a mask, as there will likely be several people on the playground together at pick-up time.
Bus Routes:
We will have our usual three bus routes for this school year, but a few of the stops may have shifted a bit, so please look closely at the stops and times. If you plan on having your student ride the bus, please complete our bus info sheet during the first week of school.
BEH Route 101 -
N Rosa Parks Wy & N Albina Av - Pick-up @ 8:19 AM - Drop-off @ 3:21 PM
N Killingsworth St & N Haight Av - Pick-up @ 8:23 AM - Drop-off @ 3:17 PM
N Vancouver Av & N Sumner St - Pick-up @ 8:24 AM - Drop-off @ 3:12 PM
BEH Route 109 -
N Fessenden & Calhoun - Pick-up @ 8:04 AM
9930 N Smith Av - Drop-off @ 3:35 PM
10000 N Burr Av - Drop-off @ 3:40 PM
9469 N Van Houten Av - Pick-up @ 8:07 AM - Drop-off @ 3:26 PM
N Willis Blvd & N Druid Av - Pick-up @ 8:10 AM - Drop-off @ 3:23 PM
BEH Route 136/112 -
NE Alberta St & Cleveland Av - Pick-up @ 8:17 AM - Drop-off @ 3:11 PM
NE Thompson St & NE Rodney Av - Pick-up @ 8:24 AM - Drop-off @ 3:21 PM
5250 NE Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd - Drop-off @ 3:13 PM
Lunch:
We will be prioritizing eating outside for all students for the start of the school year. We will be running a similar lunch schedule as a typical year, but will be having students eat under the covered basketball courts. Students will have the same choices that they normally do for lunch and are able to bring their own lunch if they prefer as well. We will be working out indoor lunch plans for when the weather gets colder and eating outside becomes more of a challenge. Even in these first few weeks we may have some chillier days, so you may want to make sure that your student has a light coat to wear for when we are at lunch or on recess.
What Students Need:
We will provide students with school supplies and backpacks this week. If you have a water bottle that you can send them to school with that would be helpful. We will work to have extra water bottles for any students who do not bring their own. Please work to limit any personal items being brought to school this year. All we would like to see coming to and from school are backpacks, water bottles, a jacket, and a lunch if you choose to send one.
Family Friday/Coffee Chat:
We will be holding a Family Friday "Mingle" this Friday, September 3rd at 8:00 under the covered basketball courts. We will have tables out with coffee and pastries for families that would like to come by and say hi and meet some other BEH families. At. 8:30 we will transition to supporting breakfast and entering the building, but I will come back to visit with any families that are able to stay following students entering the building at 8:45. I will stay to connect, answer questions, and share our planning.
Preventing COVID Spread:
I just wanted to remind us all as we come back to in-person learning this week that there are many steps that we can all take to decrease the likelihood of spreading COVID among our community.
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Keep your student home if they are not feeling well. Each day, before coming to school, please screen your students and ensure that they are not demonstrating any symptoms of COVID prior to their departure. If they are, please call the school and let us know and keep them home for the day to be monitored and ensure that they do not get worse.
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Ensure that your child has a well fitting mask (not loose and covers the nose and mouth). If you need masks for your child let us know and we can provide them as well.
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Maintain space. We will be encouraging space through seating charts and space reminders throughout the day, working to keep students at 3 feet spacing whenever possible. If you can help reinforce this when outside of school it will help us establish this practice during the school day and minimize exposure across their day.
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Wash hands frequently and use sanitizer when washing is not an option. We will be directing students to wash hands after major transitions and practice washing habits (soap up to the wrist, count to 20, rinse thoroughly).
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Vaccinations for any household members that are 12 and older and able to be vaccinated. In addition to reducing the spread of COVID, there are clear indicators that vaccination drastically reduces the likelihood of hospitalization in the event that a person gets COVID.
If we can all work to protect each other and remind students of the routines, we can help to keep each other healthy and safe. There is so much excitement among our staff to see our students back in person tomorrow and the preparation and thought that has gone into getting ready for them to come back safely is incredible.
I look forward to seeing and collaborating with you all again as we embark on this new school year.
Happy first week of the 2021-22 school year,
Mr. Kaveh
8/23/2021
Hello BEH Families,
As we are getting closer to our first day back in-person, I wanted to share some of the relevant updates and start to get back in the habit of sending out weekly updates. It seems like this year will be a continuation of uncertainty and working to safely educate our children during a time when COVID continues to be at the forefront.
PPS PK Open House:
Tomorrow (8/24/21) from 5:00-6:30 PPS will be holding a PK open house at Faubion School for families to meet PK staff, register, and ask any questions you may have. Though this will be at Faubion, staff from other PPS PK sites will be on hand as well. Here is the flyer for those that are interested and want to know more.
Back to School Social:
Friday, August 27th from 2:00-3:00 we will have all of our staff out on the back playground at BEH to meet students and families. This is an opportunity to meet the teachers for the coming year, ask any questions you may have, and connect with other families. Masks are expected to be worn at this event. As this is typically our "Popsicle Social" we will hand out popsicles to students who would like them as they are exiting the event.
Community Care Day:
Saturday, August 28th from 9:00-12:00 we are inviting families, students, staff, and community members to join us in cleaning up the school grounds. This will consist of weeding, pruning shrubs for visibility, spreading bark, raking leaves, cleaning up debris, etc.
BEH PTA Community Celebration:
We will have our family back to school event immediately following the Community Care Day on Saturday, August 28th from 12:00-3:00. Our PTA will be sponsoring hot dogs and snowballs from Hana's Food Truck for the first 150 BEH students/family members. Adidas, Eric Harris-Private bank Investor, Multnomah County, and Citywide will be sponsoring free haircuts, backpacks, and school supplies for all BEH students. In addition Mr. Todd (our amazing music teacher) will be there providing the music and opportunities for students to make music to share during the event as well.
First Days of School:
- 2nd-5th Grade - First day of school is officially Wednesday, September 1st
- 1st Grade - Half of the grade will attend on the 1st, the other half on the 2nd, and all 1st graders start on Friday, September 3rd.
- Kindergarten - Teachers will be scheduling visits with families for September 1st & 2nd. Half of each class will attend on Friday, September 3rd, the other half will attend on Tuesday, September 7th, and all kindergartners are in school starting on Wednesday, September 8th.
- PK - Teachers will begin reaching out and scheduling meetings and visits starting as early as September 1st. The first day of school for PK is Monday, September 13th.
Teacher Assignments:
Just another reminder, that we are departmentalized, which means that if your child is in 1st-5th grade they will have all teachers at that grade level. Here is a rundown of those teachers:
- First Grade Teachers
- Casey Rodhey
- Lauren Kimlinger
- Sheila Hallinan
- 2nd Grade Teachers
- Diana Peters
- Heather Casciato
- Jerry Wahl-Stephens
- 3rd Grade Teachers
- Kennedy Hutsell
- Pat Porter
- 4th Grade Teachers
- Jenny Miles-Gonzales
- Kristina Blanton
- 5th Grade Teachers
- Craig Switalla
- Sky Peterka
If your student is going into PK or kindergarten those teachers will reach out with your teacher assignment in the next week to connect.
Lunch Plan:
As we transition back to our school year, the time of day that was bringing me the most anxiety around protecting students and reducing spread was lunch. Having multiple grade levels of students in the cafeteria unmasked eating together seemed to be our highest risk time for spreading COVID. As a result the task was whether to find a way to eat in individual classrooms spread out, add more lunch periods, find additional lunch space, or find a way to eat outdoors. Given the logistics of making staffing work and the fact that we have a permanently covered outdoor space, at least our 1st-5th grades will be eating lunches outside to start the school year. Our Kindergarten and PK lunch plans are still being worked out, as they do not typically eat lunch in the cafeteria, but instead from their individual classrooms. We are assessing the spacing and possibilities for those students.
I anticipate there will continue to be shifting around our plans as we stretch ourselves to think outside the box and find ways to keep students, staff, and families safe and in-person for the coming school year.
Please reach out if you have any questions or thoughts as we move forward. I will continue with weekly family messages moving forward into the new year.
Take care,
Mr. Kaveh
8/12/2021
Hello BEH Families,
Yesterday was the first day of meetings for all PPS administrators to discuss the start of the school year and get on the same page as a district. Similarly, our secretaries are in training together at the end of this week as well. As a result, there will likely be less responsiveness from me and the main office as we focus on this work these next few days.
I wanted to share a couple of updates with everyone and start the conversations as we get ready for teachers to return (August 25th) and students (September 1st) in the very near future.
Summer School:
We just completed our three week Summer Acceleration Academy. It was an amazing experience. We had students from BEH, Irvington, Beach, and some charter schools as well. We had students attend BEH in-person from 8:30-3:30 Monday - Friday and participated in academic work from 8:30-12:30 with our PPS staff and then had lunch and enrichment from 12:30-3:30 with our SUN/SEI staff. It was amazing to have students back and engaged in a full day of engagement.
With our systems and our focus on safety, we were able to provide this three week experience for students and staff with no confirmed COVID cases throughout the entire program. I am excited to take what we learned from this and apply it to our plans and follow through for the coming school year.
Popsicle Social:
We are planning a popsicle social for students and families to come to the BEH playground on Friday, August 27th at 2:00. Our teachers and staff will be out and organized by grade level and subjects so that students and families can come and meet their teachers for the coming year.
Community Care Day:
Saturday, August 28th from 9:00 AM - 12::00 PM we will have our annual Community Care Day. This is when families, community members, and school staff are able to come together and work to clean-up the grounds before the new school year starts. Typically this involves; pulling weeds, spreading bark dust/chips, clipping suckers off trees and shrubs, trimming ivy, etc. I will be out on the back playground with tools, snacks, and water for those that are able to attend.
Back to School Social:
Following the Community Care Day, we will have a Back to School Social event on Saturday, August 28th from 12:00-3:00. During this event there will be free food provided by our PTA, free haircuts, free backpacks and school supplies, and music with some opportunities for students to make and share some music of their own. Here is a flyer from Citywide, who is providing the haircuts, backpacks, and supplies.
If you would like to come and plan to get your students' haircut, please either respond to this email and let me know how many students you would like to get haircuts for or complete this quick survey. Citywide wants to ensure that they have enough barbers/hair stylists there to meet the demand during the event.
First Day(s) of School:
2nd - 5th Grade - The first day of school is Wednesday, September 1st
1st Grade - Half of first grade will attend school on Wednesday, September 1st and the other half will attend on Thursday, September 2nd. All of first grade will attend on Friday, September 3rd.
Kindergarten - Teachers will schedule times with families to come and see the school and meet the teachers on September 1st and 2nd. Half of kindergarten students will then attend their first day of school on Friday, September 3rd and the other half will attend their first day of school on Tuesday, September 7th. All kindergarten students will start attending together on Wednesday, September 8th.
PK - Teachers will be connecting individually with families and scheduling visits during the first two weeks of September. The first day for PK students will be on Monday, September 13th.
Hiring:
Assistant Principal - As you all heard in her earlier announcement, Ms. Turner was selected to move into a principal role for this fall at another building in PPS. Just this week, they announced that she will be the interim principal at Rosa Parks Elementary School. I am excited for her to take the next step in her career and look forward to continuing to collaborate with her in the coming year through our work at a district level.
As a result, I am working this week to gain some clarity around potential candidates for our assistant principal. The district has to first screen and approve candidates for this position before they can be considered for the role. I plan to work with our teachers, PTA, and SUN/SEI partners in the coming week to identify and recommend a candidate for this position.
Counselor - Our previous school counselor (Ms. Dawson) retired at the end of July. As a result we conducted interviews this week and recommended an amazing candidate that will be joining our team for the fall. I will introduce her officially once all of the logistics are cleared with HR.
PK Educational Assistants - We were able to officially hire Ms. Abigail into the position she had "temporarily" filled for us over the past two school years. In addition we just posted two new half-time PK Educational Assistant positions that will help with mealtime, nap time, and free choice in order to cover staff lunches in both PK classrooms. These positions will follow the school schedule and have consistent hours from around 10:00-2:00. These are posted on the PPS employment website if you know anyone that may be interested in applying.
Logistics:
School day -
- Doors open at 8:40
- Tardy bell rings at 8:45
- School ends at 3:00
Uniforms -
We will continue uniforms this year Monday-Thursday with free dress Fridays. This means Monday-Thursday students should be wearing a blue, yellow, or white shirt with a collar and khaki or navy colored pants, skirts, shorts, or dresses. If you need uniforms we can provide some from the office and will have some available at the back to school events.
Departmentalization -
If you have a 1st-5th grade student, they will not have one specific teacher, but instead will have all of the grade level teachers who will specialize in teaching specific subjects. PK and Kindergarten students will have one assigned teacher and we will communicate that with families in the next two weeks as we work to get all of our incoming students registered and in our systems.
At this point, PPS plans to provide full day in-person instruction for all students, with many safety precautions in place. You can learn more about the specifics of those safety precautions here.
If there are any adjustments to plans or additional offerings made available, I will make sure and get the information out to all of our families.
Take care and see you all soon,
Mr. Kaveh
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Kaveh Pakseresht, Principal
Boise-Eliot/Humboldt School
620 N Fremont St.
Portland, OR 97227
Ph. (503)916-6171
Fx. (503)916-2611
7/15/2021
Hello BEH Families,
As we near the halfway point of our summer "break" hopefully everyone is feeling like they have found time to relax and figure out a summer routine. We wanted to share some quick information about some upcoming opportunities to get together as a community.
Free Mad Science Shows at BEH:
Mad Science is hosting several upcoming shows on the BEH playground.
Here are the session titles, dates, and times:
- Spin, Pop, Boom - Monday, July 19th @ 6:30pm
- Observation, Hypothesis, Experimentation, and Conclusion - Tuesday, July 27th @ 6:30pm
- Space Science Show - Wednesday, August 11th @ 6:30pm
You can register for these events here. If you are not able to get registered ahead of time, don't sweat it, you can still show up. It just helps them to plan if they can get some idea around attendance to expect. These shows are offered at other school sites on other dates as well if any of those work better for your family.
Free Concert @ Dawson Park:
The Eliot Neighborhood Association is hosting a free concert @ Dawson Park on Thursday, July 22nd from 5:00-8:00. There will be music, food, storytelling, and much more. Here is a flyer with more details and dates of future concerts as well.
Opt-In Family Contact Information:
We just wanted to remind any parents that would like to share their contact information with other interested BEH families who have students in the same grade level, you can complete this form. We started this in the fall and those that complete the form are added to a spreadsheet of contacts for the grade level that their child is in and are given access to the sheet to see contact info for any other families that opted in. If you already completed this, you can search your email or Google drive for the shared Google sheet or feel free to just email me and ask.
Tina and I have been in Virginia this entire week at a training with many other PPS leaders learning and planning for our work in the coming year. We will both be back in the building more frequently starting next week and look forward to getting more summer programs going at BEH starting on Monday.
Take care,
Mr. Kaveh & Ms. Turner
6/29/2021
Hello BEH Families,
I don't know about you, but I could use a bit of reprieve from the heat at this point. I hope that everyone is continuing to find ways to stay cool and safe through the continued elevated temperatures.
Here are just a couple of quick notes for the week:
Drop-in Vaccinations @ Roosevelt Tomorrow:
We want to make you aware of an upcoming opportunity to receive the COVID-19 vaccine at no cost:
- When: Wednesday, June 30 (first dose) and Wednesday, July 21 (second dose)
- Where: Roosevelt High School, 6941 N. Central St.
- If you would like to schedule ahead: Call 503-988-3392. Drop-in vaccinations will also be given from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. No appointment necessary.
- Who’s eligible: Anyone 12 or older. However, those 12 to 14 will need to be accompanied by and have the consent of a parent or guardian.
The vaccinations will be administered by the Multnomah County Student Health Center. We encourage anyone who has not been vaccinated to take advantage of this free-of-charge opportunity to protect yourself and your family.
Meal Distribution @ BEH:
We just wanted to make sure and remind everyone that we will resume having free meal distribution at BEH for students ages 1-18. Just come by the BEH parking lot Monday-Friday from 3:00-4:00 PM to pick-up these free meals.
Playground Clean-Up:
Thanks to the amazing turnout on the first of our 100+ degree days, we were able to get the weeds pulled and the wood chips spread for all three of our play structures on the playground. Thank you to all of the families and volunteers that showed up to help us get that accomplished this past weekend. We could not have got that done without your help. We will look at a date later in the summer to work on getting the fence cleared and our student's salmon back on the fence.
Thank you all for your continued support and don't hesitate to reach out if you have any questions or thoughts as the summer moves along.
Take care,
Mr. Kaveh & Ms. Turner
6/22/2021
Hello BEH Families,
I hope everyone is enjoying the start of summer and finding creative ways to stay cool. I wanted to make sure and share out a couple of updates and reminders.
Summer Engagement Opportunities:
PPS released their Summer Enrichment Catalog yesterday. There is information around summer opportunities/classes for students PK-12th grade. You can check out the catalog here. There are several options that will be hosted at BEH, but you likely want to register as soon as possible to get a spot.
Playground Clean-Up:
They are forecasting some extreme heat for this coming weekend, but we will still be hosting a playground clean-up this Saturday (6/26) from 9:00-11:00. We will make sure to have some cold beverages and snacks for those that attend and we will end promptly at 11:00 to try to avoid the peak heat. Our primary goals will be to; pull weeds from the playground areas, spread the wood chips, clip/pull ivy off the fence, and hang the wooden fish from the past several years.
BEH Office Hours:
We have reached that time of summer where we will not have consistent office staff on-site. Our staff are taking their vacations, participating in professional development, and working adjusted schedules. As a result, we may not answer your calls consistently until we are back in the building. We will however be checking emails and voice messages throughout and will do our best to get back to you. If you are thinking of coming by the school to pick anything up or check-in, you are going to want to confirm the time you are planning to ensure that there is someone here to meet you.
Calendar Planning:
We have been working on getting our 2021/22 calendar drafted and it is looking like we will be coming back together for our usual back to school social/kick-off events the last week in August, with the first day of school for 2nd-5th graders on September 1st. PK-1st graders have staggered starting dates that come progressively after that date.
I will continue to send messages as relevant updates come out, but don't hesitate to reach out if anything comes up before then.
Take care,
Mr. Kaveh & Ms. Turner
6/14/2021
Hello BEH Families,
It is officially the first week of summer break! The weather does not appear to be aligning with this today, but we can use the rain and it looks like that will shift in the coming days. I hope that everyone had a great end to the school year last week and are starting to get their summers mapped out.
I only have a few items to review today, but will share more as I hear it this summer.
Summer Options:
Steps PDX - There are various options for dance classes and camps in 1-4 week increments from July 5th - August 4th. Here is the sign-up info.
Young Audiences - July 12th - August 6th there will be week long art camps for elementary students at da Vinci. Info is here.
PPS Full Summer Offerings - We were told that PPS will be releasing our full summer catalog of offerings this week. I will send info as well, but keep your eyes peeled if you are looking for programming, as they will likely book up quickly upon release. I expect there to be several offerings at BEH during the summer.
Playground Clean-Up:
We will be hosting a playground clean-up event at BEH on Saturday, June 26th from 9:00-11:00 AM for anyone who is around and interested in helping us to pull weeds, spread wood chips, pull ivy, and hang up wooden fish.
Uniforms:
Next year we will be going back to our school uniforms. This means a white, blue, or yellow collared shirt and dark blue or khaki colored pants, shorts, or skirts for all students. I wanted to give everyone time to look for them over the summer if needed. We will also have an event in August before school starts where we will have uniform options available for families to take home as well. If you have uniforms from previous years that you would like to donate, feel free to drop them by BEH between 8:30-3:30 or bring them to our August event.
Item Drop-off/pick-up:
If you still have instruments, Legos or other items that you would like to drop by the school feel free to bring them by so that we can get them inventoried and prepared for next year. Also, if you have not picked up your end of the year bag and summer workbook, please feel free to stop by the school as well. It helps to call in advance, but we are in the building most days from 8:00-4:00pm. Just come to the main entrance and ring the bell and we will come and get them for you.
We will continue to provide updates throughout the summer, but they may not be every week, depending on our schedules. If you have any questions or need any clarification do not hesitate to send us an email, as we will be checking email regularly.
Take care,
Mr. Kaveh and Ms. Turner