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

Due to weather, all schools and offices will open two hours late this morning. Buses are also on snow routes and will arrive approximately two hours later than regularly scheduled.

In this week's PPS Pulse: Roosevelt, Madison use support from Damian Lillard to help students take positive steps; advice for parents to help high school students cope with finals

If you’re the parent or guardian of a high school student, you surely know what’s coming next week: final exams. It can be a stressful time for students, but there are ways you can help. Here are some tips on ways to assist your student during finals week, courtesy of Portland Public Schools’ Student Success and Health Department: 

Students and staff, packed in a high school gym, cheer wildly as Portland Trail Blazers star Damian Lillard enters the building – that is probably the prevailing image of Lillard’s RESPECT program on local news. But if you look closer at the details, you’ll see just how much the program means to the two PPS high schools that are partners in it.