Franklin Families and Students:

This week started the Season 2 for athletics and it was amazing seeing student athletes back on campus;  training and practicing as they prepare for their upcoming seasons.  I want to thank our student-athletes and coaches who since October, kept the faith and braved the cold, rain, and even snow in anticipation for the upcoming sports season.  I’d also like to thank our Athletic Director Scott Santangelo for his leadership  and continued support of our student athletes and coaches.  This has been an evolving process and one that has required  tremendous patience and understanding from our students, coaches, parents, and staff.    We are excited about the opportunity for our students to return to activities which bring them joy and wish them much success this season.

Franklin STRONG,

Chris Frazier   

Updates/Reminders/Highlights

Successful Schools Survey

We are only a few weeks away from closing out the Successful Schools Survey window.  To date we’ve only had 88 responses from our parent community.  I sincerely ask that if possible you complete this survey.  Your feedback is vital as it is used to inform our school wide goals for the upcoming school year. It's a small survey but has a big impact. 

Take the survey today 

You can complete the survey from a computer, tablet, or smartphone. It should only take 15-20 minutes of your time. Select the school your child attends (Franklin) and answer the questions for our school. If you have children at more than one PPS school, please complete one survey for each school your children attend. If you need help taking the survey please contact at school at (503) 916-5140.

2020-21 PPS Successful Schools Survey FAQ 

What is the Successful Schools Survey? 

The Successful Schools Survey is our annual district-wide school climate and feedback survey. These surveys provide students, families, staff, and leaders an opportunity to provide feedback on their school’s climate and their experiences at school. 

Who will be surveyed? 

This year students, families, and staff will be surveyed. Every student in grades 3 through 12 in PPS will be given the opportunity to take the survey. All families in the District will have the opportunity to take the survey regardless of their students’ grade level. The survey will be available in English, Spanish, Russian, Somali, Vietnames, and Chinese. A school leadership survey will also be provided to building leaders. 

How is this different from other surveys in PPS? 

There are many district wide surveys that serve various purposes. The Successful Schools Survey provides students and families an opportunity to share their feedback about their school environment, learning environment, and their safety while at school. We do not have any other surveys for students that serve this purpose. The questions in the staff and leadership surveys will align to the student and family questions. 

What will be covered?

 For students, topics that will be covered are: teacher-student relationships, sense of belonging, school safety, school climate, engagement, cultural awareness, and diversity and inclusion. For families the topics included will be: school fit, school climate, barriers to engagement, and school safety. The SEL survey will measure: Grit, growth mindset, self-efficacy, self-management, social awareness and emotional regulation. The staff and school leader surveys will align to topics in the student and family feedback surveys. 

What is the timeline? 

The current launch date for the Successful Schools Survey is set for February 8th. The student survey window will be open for 2-3 weeks and the family survey will be open for 3-4 weeks. 

How will students, families, and staff take the surveys? 

All student surveys will be administered online, anonymous, and not tied to students or teachers. School-based staff and leaders will receive the survey link via their work email. Families will take the survey online as well, but paper surveys will be made available when needed. All surveys will be translated into PPS’s five supported languages: Spanish, Russian, Somali, Vietnames, and Chinese. 

What will be required of schools? 

Surveys will be done electronically, so it will require coordination of technology. The survey should take no more than 20 minutes to complete. Principals will provide time for staff to take the survey during the work day, however the survey can be completed at any time during the survey window. 

How will participation be monitored? 

The goal for participation is 50% for the family survey and 100% participation for students, staff, and leaders. This will ensure results are representative of our students and families. System Planning & Performance will provide weekly updates on response rates for survey coordinators and school principals.

 How will the results be used and shared? 

These data are longitudinal and, when paired with professional learning, will help inform PPS planning and continuous improvement. PPS leadership will facilitate professional development opportunities to train staff on how to use the data. The results will be available by Mid-April, which will support school and District level planning for the coming year. Results will be posted via an online dashboard. School principals, staff and school climate teams will be able to use survey results to communicate with families and staff about goals for the coming school year.

Successful Schools Survey Communications Packet

Successful Schools Survey Flyer

Successful Schools Survey FAQ - Spanish

Successful Schools Survey FAQ - Russian

Successful Schools Survey FAQ - Vietnamese

Successful Schools Survey FAQ - Chinese

Successful Schools Survey FAQ - Somali

Credit Recovery Options for Students

We greatly appreciate our staff’s continued engagement with how to put into action our collective belief at Franklin of "maximizing evidence of student ability".  This school year, there has been a continuation of meaningful conversations in our Professional Learning Communities, our Equity/Climate work and other ongoing professional learning opportunities about instruction and grading, especially within the context of our current distance learning environment.

For the past few weeks, a team at Franklin has been analyzing data from last Spring and Semester 1 to identify emerging credit recovery (CR) needs and add new supports to address these.  I’d like to share with you the multiple ways we are working to continue to support your student with credit retrieval.

• Academic Centers

• Students eligible are contacted by school staff to determine their interest in taking this class to finish up outstanding work from an English, Science, Social Studies or Health class.  Once enrolled, they will have the support of a teacher to work towards completing a course.

• Math Credit Recovery

• Specific math recovery support for Geometry and Advanced Algebra.  This is similar to the Academic Centers, but serves the area of Math.

• Individual Teacher support of students from Semester 1 classes

• Through our District Credit Recovery funds, we are able to support teachers with extra hours to work with students that are working on outstanding work in the course they took with that teacher.  This includes identified sessions not during Synchronous class time where the teacher is holding small group sessions to support students.

Students can reach out to their counselor for assistance with accessing Franklin or other credit recovery opportunities.

Career Learning Opportunities:

Future You 2 Go are PPS sponsored events, hosted by the PPS Office of Career & Technical Education. Students’ attendance will be tracked and reported to schools to excuse students for missing Office Hours, Applied Learning, or Small Group Instruction times. If you have any questions please contact Martin Rodriguez mrodriguez5@pps.net.

• Wednesday, March 3, 2021 from 1:00pm-1:45pm: Post-Secondary Presentation-PCC CADD (Computer Aided Design and Drafting). 

• The design drafter is a skilled technician who starts with a concept and develops the working drawings and digital models required to guide the production of items such as machines, consumer products, structural details, and important tools. The Portland Community College Computer Aided Design and Drafting (CADD) program teaches you the skills to help launch a successful mechanical design and drafting career. Connected Careers: Design, Technology, Computer Science, Business, Construction, Architecture and Engineering

• Wednesday, March 3, 2021 from 2:00pm-2:45pm: Career Presentation-Cara Snow, Chief of Staff and Community Engagement Officer-Technology Association of Oregon. 

• Meet Cara Snow, Chief of Staff and Community Engagement Officer for Technology Association of Oregon. When Cara was in high school she was interested in becoming a Marine Biologist. Find out how after changing her majors several times, she ended up finding that technology was a great fit for her. Learn about how she uses her positive attitude to serve technology professionals across the state. Connected Careers: Technology, Computer Science, Business, Outreach

• Wednesday, March 3, 2021 from 3:00pm-3:45pm: Career Presentation-Kristel Wissel, Sports & Philanthropy Professional. 

• Meet Kristel, a Sports & Philanthropy Professional. When Kristel was in high school, she hadn't yet decided which career she would pursue. After graduating from Linfield University and working in several [position relating to sales, accounting and advertising, Kristel started her own business. One of her clients was the Portland Timbers. This connection led to a position with the Timbers that lasted ten years. Find out how Kristel's positive attitude and being a team player helped her to have great work experiences. Connected Careers: Sports Industry, Marketing, Business, Sales, Community Outreach

Parent/Guardian and Family Resources - Safe Return to school

Is it safe to send kids back to school? Below are district provided resources for families to help keep everyone informed as we move closer to students returning to school.

Family Resources