Mon, 1/27 NO SCHOOL, Teacher Planning Day

Wed, 1/29 Dine & Donate, Por Que No?

Wed, 1/29 Dessert & Donate, Ruby Jewel

Tue, 2/4 PTA Mtg, 6:00-8:00

Thur, 2/6 5th Grade Info Night, 6:00-8:00

Thur, 2/13 Valentine's Dance, 4:00-5:00

Mon, 2/17 NO SCHOOL, Presidents Day

Wed, 2/19 Vaccination Exclusion Day

Thur, 2/20 Student vs Staff Basketball Game, 4:00-5:00

Dear Mt. Tabor Families, 

Happy Friday! I hope your student had a great week.

This week in Homeroom we continued Social Justice Soars at Tabor, exploring personal identities and sharing stories. We delved into these areas to create community awareness of our experiences and to build our empathy muscles. We're using the Speak Up at School guide from Teaching Tolerance, a publication from the Southern Poverty Law Center, which is a major social justice organization in the US. 

This week we also continued our racial affinity groups and diversity-responsive professional development from East Ed. Next week, Professor Renauer from PSU, a criminologist, will teach us more about unintentional racial bias. 

PTA

Stay up on the latest PTA stuff at our school PTA site as well as the standalone PTA site.

8th Grade Franklin Families

From Counselor Galen Dickstein:

Franklin Forecasting happened this week in your student's social studies classroom. All students went home with a course guide and forecasting form to discuss with their parent/guardian. The high school counselors need all forms returned to Mt. Tabor by the end of the day on Tuesday 1/28. Please direct any questions to your student's school counselor. Thank you!

Immunization Exclusion

From central office:

Exclusion day for state required vaccinations is Wednesday, February 19, 2020. Letters will be mailed to parents whose children are not up to date or whose records are incomplete. Should you receive a letter, please provide updated information to the school as soon as possible. Children who are not current for vaccinations by February 19^th will not be able to attend school until records are complete. If you need assistance in locating a health care provider or clinic site, please contact your school nurse.

SUN

From Jeff Persell, SUN coordinator:

After-school SUN resumed last week. Please get your forms turned in to the main office. If you still need an application, they are available in the main office and outside the SUN office.

Library Help

From our librarian, Annie Licurse:

Love libraries? We need some help shelving books! Mt. Tabor students love to read! Please contact Annie Licurse at alicurse@pps.net

Have an awesome weekend, everyone! Welcome to the third quarter!

Sean

Mon, 1/6 School Resumes

Mon, 1/20 NO SCHOOL, MLK Day

Mon, 1/27 NO SCHOOL, Teacher Planning Day

Tue, 2/4 PTA Mtg, 6:00-8:00

Thur, 2/6 5th Grade Info Night

Thur, 2/13 Valentine's Dance, 4:00-5:00

Mon, 2/17 NO SCHOOL, Presidents Day

Dear Mt. Tabor Families, 

Happy Friday! I hope your student had a great week!

Racial Equity and Social Justice at Tabor

We continue our RESJ work at Tabor, taking our restorative practices to deeper and deeper levels. We now conduct RJ every day at Tabor. It's taken us three years of focused work, but we are now practicing this ancient, human-centered, collectivist approach to learning and justice in a deep way. We have schoolwide community-building circles every week in our Homeroom, and we conduct restorative work whenever we can, at every level of discipline, from simple misunderstandings to suspension-level events. 

Speaking of suspension, we have not had to suspend a single student out of school this year. If we do suspend, we do all we can to keep the student here with us so we can continue the learning, counseling, and guidance process. This allows things to heal and restore, and it gives us a chance to build rapport and trust between adults and kids. I am very, very proud of all the hard work our administrators and counselors have done to reach this incredible goal.

Of course, we will continue this work in the new year with our racial affinity groups; Homeroom lessons on having difficult conversations, being an upstander, and responding to hate speech; and staff professional development on diversity-responsive pedagogy and implicit bias. 

Families in Need Drive

Thank you so much for your generosity! We raised over $1,600 for families in our community who need just a little bit of help this holiday season. I especially wish to thank the families in Mr. Ackerman-Harvie and Mr. Groom's Homerooms. Collectively, they raised more than $700--nearly half of all the money raised! So awesome.  

Japanese Research Residency Fundraiser

As you might know, our 8th graders in the Japanese Magnet Program travel to Japan each spring to conduct a two-week academic research project in various cities in Japan. In order for all students to go, the community pulls together to make it happen. This includes raising funds, such as this very cool Winterhawks fundraiser:

Saturday, February 1 is JMP night with the Winterhawks. All families, friends, and neighbors are welcome to join us. Tickets are just $17, and the JRR gets $5 for every ticket we sell using the discount code JAPAN at https://oss.ticketmaster.com/aps/winterhawks/EN/buy/browse  when you enter the discount code JAPAN to join us!

Thanks!

Amy Seaholt

FHS Cutting Boards

Looking for a unique holiday gift and a way to give back to schools? Check out the FHS Industrial Arts Cutting Board Project:

The annual cutting board sale is under way! I am hoping that you can help pass the word. The price is $50.00 (but I am willing to deduct some from the smaller ones). This year's boards are end-grain orientation, which means they are more durable and resistant to knife cuts. Here is a link to pictures: https://www.flickr.com/photos/50328683@N07/albums/72157712075572512

Thank you so much! Just email Dan at dsilvernail@pps.net

Dan Silvernail, FHS Teacher

Donation Drive for Refugees

Help refugees this winter by donating cleaning supplies and toiletries!

Portland Refugee Support Group works with more than 70 refugee families in the Portland area, helping families adapt to life in the US. One of the services we provide is monthly supply bags containing necessities like laundry soap, shampoo and toothpaste. We're always looking for help to gather these supplies.

Donation box at Mt Tabor (across from the office). Donation drive ends Friday 12/13.

Most needed items: laundry soap, dish soap, spray cleaner, shampoo, Fred Meyer gift cards.

For more info, contact Mt Tabor parent Kirsten Burt: donations@pdxrsg.org 

Have a restful and rejuvenating winter break, everyone!

Sean

Dear PPS Family,

In response to the continuing COVID-19 health crisis in our state, today Governor Brown and the Oregon Department of Education announced that our school campus doors will not open again for the remainder of the 2019-20 school year. We all miss seeing our students in school buildings, but the health and safety of our students, educators, staff and the broader community, remains the highest priority. 

The District is offering a second round of Chromebook device pickup. Even if you did not already fill out a device loan survey, you may still pick up a device. We will begin distribution to high school students on Wednesday, April 8 and then to all students on Thursday, April 9. Please visit www.pps.net/devices for more times and locations.

Dear PPS Parents and Guardians,

We know this is a time of transition as we move from school buildings to home-based distance learning for the duration of this closure. In order to continue to work in similar ways with our students as we did in our buildings, principals, teachers and counselors will need to be able to communicate with you and your students while maintaining safety and privacy for all. Because of this situation, we are partnering with Remind to provide a simple platform for all of us to engage together. 

The disruption to daily life during the coronavirus crisis has hit all corners of society. For students, it has meant not being able to attend school. Staff in the PPS Student Success and Health department have gathered tips to help you help your student cope: