For a downloadable PDF of PPS's 2021 Annual Asbestos Notification, please click here 

From Portland Public School's Office of Risk Management:

Date: January 21, 2021
To: All Portland Public School Principals
From: Risk Management Department, Environmental Health & Safety Section
Subject: 2021 Annual Asbestos Notification

Each year, as a requirement of the federally mandated Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act (AHERA), the District must notify the community of the existence and location of the Asbestos Management Plan (AMP). This letter accomplishes that requirement. A description of the location, quantity, and condition of all asbestos-containing material (ACM) and presumed asbestos-containing materials (PACM) is in the AMP located in the main office and in the District database.

Among others, asbestos is often present in the following building materials:
● Gaskets
● Ceiling tile
● Cement board
● Thermal system installation (TSI)
● Vinyl asbestos floor tile
● Spray-on textured ceiling
● Spray-on fireproofing
● Sound attenuation material
● Wall and ceiling material plaster
● Magnesite cementitious flooring

Employees shall not disturb or damage these materials in any way unless expressly authorized. Any damaged ACM should be reported to Risk Management Department, Environmental Health and Safety Section immediately. In addition, it is required that the information in this letter be shared with the parents and faculty of the school by including it as agenda item for faculty, PTA, and safety committee meetings or other appropriate means.

The Risk Management Department, Environmental Health & Safety Section is currently conducting a six month periodic surveillance of ACM. A copy of the results of that surveillance will be included in the AMP. In addition, a 3-year re-inspection was completed by EPA-certified inspectors in 2018. The next 3-year re-inspection is scheduled to take place this year in 2021. Thank you for your attention to this important regulatory compliance matter. If you have any questions or want additional information regarding the District’s asbestos management program, please feel free to contact the Risk Management Department, Environmental Health & Safety Section.

PPS is continuing its partnership with Remind to support connection needs. Please know that the Remind sign-up email is not phishing and it's free to use the web version or mobile app. Resources for families are available on the Remind App for Students and Families page. Hosford will continue to send school wide messages via email and text, and teachers will primarily use Remind and email to contact families.

As families are learning about technology, we want you to balance your learning with patience and grace for yourself and educators. We are all doing our best to learn and grow during a pandemic. Visit https://www.pps.net/familyresources to access a full set of orientation videos and other resources, translated into PPS district-supported languages. Here are some links if you are interested in digging in.

PPS Password Portal

Create your password manager account where you can change your password, and get access to all PPS learning programs with one sign-on. 

While meals are served at no cost to children ages 1-18 at several Portland Public School sites through December, there are several benefits for eligible families to submit a meal application this school year.

• To ensure eligible students who qualify for free and reduced-price meals continue to receive meals at no cost for the entire school year (past December)
• Families approved for free and reduced-price meals may be eligible to receive future potential government assistance such as Pandemic EBT benefits
• Families may be eligible for other benefits such as school related fee reduction or waivers, low cost internet and health coverage

 Families have the following options to submit a meal application:

• Online at www.schoolcafe.com/pps
• Print, complete and mail back a paper meal application (https://www.pps.net/Page/2464) to PPS Nutrition Services, 501 N. Dixon St., Portland, OR 97227
• Request a paper meal application be mailed home from mealbenefits@pps.net or call 503-916-3402

 Families do not need to submit a meal application if any of the following apply:

• A meal application has been submitted and approved for the 2020-21 school year
• The household received a 2020-21 Direct Certification Approval letter
• All students in the household attend a Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) school (list located online at https://www.pps.net/Page/2088) where students eat meals at no cost
• The household does not meet the Oregon Expanded Income Guidelines

 For meal benefits related questions, please call 503-916-3402 or email mealbenefits@pps.net.

What is the listserv? It's a message board that allows families to connect to the community regarding school, PTSA and extracurricular events throughout the year.

Why did we move to Google? Last year, Yahoo stopped supporting their "Groups" feature. Yahoo Groups still exists but in a limited capacity, and it has disabled some key features such as photo attachments and archived messages. Google Groups provides us with a more robust message board.

How do I sign up? Request to become a member at https://groups.google.com/g/hosfordmiddleschool/. Your request will be approved within 24-48 hours and you'll receive an email with a link to information about how to read and post messages.

When is this happening? Our Google Group is live now! The Yahoo Group closed for good on Friday, September 18.

**Please note: If you are a returning family and have been a member of the Yahoo Group Listserv, you must submit a new request to join the Google Group. Follow the link above to become a member!

Attendance will be taken each day and you will be contacted by HMS if your student misses three consecutive days of a class.

To report your student's absence please email attendance-hosford@pps.net

Please click here for more information about the Free & Reduced-Price Meal Program 

Portland Public Schools is thrilled to announce the availability of $10 million to support partners who provide summer safety and enrichment programming for students this summer. 

Dear PPS Community,

As we continue welcoming our students to hybrid in-person learning, today we want to share a new resource that is available to you. For this project, we ReImagine a Digital Experience – an experience that is easy to navigate, multilingual, user-friendly and welcoming for ALL.

Dear PPS Families,

We have been working hard to put the finishing touches on the safe return of students to our schools for hybrid learning, and are excited to see students in grades 6-8 starting next week! For families whose students will participate in hybrid instruction, we have included information and reminders to help you prepare for the first days of in-person learning this school year. 

We are excited to welcome our high school students back into buildings starting April 19. It will be great see students, hear the voices in the hall and connect with one another in person. The last few weeks we have been preparing for students to return and wanted to share a few reminders to students and families.