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For the 2018-19 school year, Rieke Elementary School will have a new child care provider – Champions. Champions will provide high-quality before- and after-school child care services. This is a known and well-regarded organization, providing child care in schools in the Portland area and across the country.

Dear Rieke Rocket Community,

I hope everyone can find time to rest and reflect this weekend and on Monday as we honor the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. May his message of hope and call for social justice inspire all of us to help make our world a better and more equitable place for all.

There is also no school Monday the 27^th as teachers work on report cards and planning for the second half of the year. We will be sending home report cards at the beginning of the week of February 3rd.

Thank you for your continued support and enthusiasm as we all work together to raise and educate these fine children. Our volunteer numbers continue to grow and we are grateful. December was our best month yet with 112 volunteers giving 394 hours of their time. That was about 25% higher than November. Can we again grow by at least 10%? What a fun challenge!

Here are some upcoming volunteer opportunities: The Science Fair will be held here on February 20^th. We have Entry Forms in the office that help us know how many tables and volunteers we may need. The Oregon Battle of the Books is starting soon, the organizers are looking for volunteer moderators. We have four rooms of competition and need a moderator for each room. The first dates are Tuesday, February 4, and February 11, from 5-8pm.

Our web site continues to slowly grow as a resource and source of useful information. Please check out Site Council notes and equity resources we have shared. Did you know you can watch the Rieke Way video news show on our website each week? Check it out on the front page at https://www.pps.net/rieke. We are happy it includes our first segment of Kindergarten Corner! We are having fun with the show and welcome ideas and feedback!

On Friday January 24^th at 9:00 we will host our next Rieke Way assembly to celebrate students demonstrating the trait of determination. We know school is great but it is also challenging and it is important to acknowledge how students rise above these challenges. Families of students being honored should get classroom invitations but all families are welcome to join us! Then stay to volunteer if you have time too!

In February we will be hosting a Peruvian dance artist in residence. She will work with each class for four sessions over the month and then all students will have a performance. More details will come soon!

With new state money entering PPS next year we are looking to best position ourselves to bring more families and students in so we can grow and lower class sizes next year. On this front there are some important events and dates upcoming. The PPS Enrollment and Transfer petition process opens February 5^th and is open until March 6^th. This is for families not living in our attendance area, those wanting to return to us as their neighborhood school, or to help with other hardships. If you know families looking to possibly transfer to Rieke we can certainly help with the process. On Wednesday, February 19^th we are hosting a Connect to Kindergarten, the Rieke Way, an informational night here at the school. The event is intended for adults and runs from 6:30-7:30. We are asking for your help in getting the word out about this event (open to any possible incoming families) and the positive community spirit here at Rieke.

Information from the nurse about immunizations:

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.

The following is a message from Filip Hristic, Principal of Wilson High School:

It is very important that Wilson High School is added to the November 2020 Bond. Please encourage your PTAs and parents to contact our school board with the following message: “The time has come to modernize Wilson, Jefferson, and Cleveland.” And of course you can add modernizing and improvements to the Rieke community. Cheers!

Have a wonderful weekend,

Jon Jeans-Principal

Dear Rieke Rocket Community,

We hope everyone had a relaxing and fun filled break from school over the holidays. Can you believe it is really 2020? Here at Rieke we are very excited for 2020 as we believe it holds great promise for the fine young students in our community. We are continuing to grow in our integration of the new reading and writing curriculum, which gives us momentum in reaching our goal of Rieke being a model of instructional excellence. With new state money entering PPS next year we are looking to best position ourselves to bring more families and students in so we can grow, add teaching staff, and lower class sizes next year.

On this front there are some important events and dates upcoming. The PPS enrollment and transfer petition process opens February 5^th and is open until March 6^th. This is for families not living in our attendance area, those wanting to return to us as their neighborhood school, or to help with other hardships. If you know families looking to possibly transfer to Rieke we can certainly help with the process. On Wednesday, February 19^th we are hosting a Connect to Kindergarten, the Rieke Way, an informational night here at the school. The event is intended for adults and runs from 6:30-7:30. We are asking for your help in getting the word out about this event (open to any possible incoming families) and the positive community spirit here at Rieke.

In case of extreme weather this is the link PPS has provided. https://www.pps.net/Page/124  We have also put informational links about this on our website, https://www.pps.net/rieke. Speaking of weather, we have an ever growing collection of fine clothing in our lost and found. Next week we will also have a new student video news episode up on our website. Check it out, new episodes featuring your kids every Tuesday!

On Wednesday the 15^th the PTA and I are hosting a Rieke community equity meeting in our library. Our theme for this discussion will be inclusivity and welcoming of all of our community at Rieke. If you are able to join and share your perspective and ideas that would be excellent. Childcare will be provided across the hall by PTA. If you cannot attend but still want to add to the conversation, here is the link to the Rieke equity  survey.  At your convenience please fill out this google survey regarding our successes and needs, in order to help us address equity issues within the Rieke community.

Finally, there is no school Monday January 20^th in honor of Marin Luther King Day. There is also no school for students on the 27^th as teachers begin preparing student report cards. We will send them home with kids to all families the first week of February. In February we will be hosting a Peruvian dance artist in residence. She will work with each class for four sessions over the month and then all students will perform for the parents and students. More details will come soon!

Thank you all for helping make Rieke such a special school. Stay musical, creative and strive to be your best.  Cheers!

 Jon Jeans-Principal

PS. This is from Wilson High School.

Dear Wilson Community,

 

Earlier this week the PPS School Board decided to place a construction bond on the November Ballot.  The Board has not determined yet how big the bond should be or which schools should be included on the bond.  Wilson is one of three remaining PPS high schools that is not modernized or is not in the process of being modernized.  For those of you who have spent any time in our building you probably know our facilities have not changed much since 1957.  Please join me in encouraging district leaders and school board members to include Wilson on the 2020 Bond   We have done some preliminary work to determine what a modernized Wilson could look like.  We welcome your ideas and suggestions as well.  We also need your support.

 

With Gratitude,

Filip Hristić, Ed.D.

Principal, Wilson High School

Dear Rieke Rocket Community,

On behalf of the entire Rieke staff, affectionately called Team Rieke, I would like to thank you all for an amazing start to the 2019-20 school year. Your support, spirit of generosity, inclusivity, and ever increasing volunteer energy truly inspire us as we continue to strive to be a model of excellence in public education. 2020 holds so much promise and potential for your children. We hope you can help us spread the positive message of the Rieke Way as we aim to gather more families and students so that in 2020-21 we are not only an excellent school, but an excellent school with smaller class sizes. Together I believe we can do this.

We wish you a happy holiday and New Year. May you find time to spend with your families and be thankful for the gifts we all share. Cheers!

Team Rieke

Jon Jeans, Principal

December 6, 2019

 

Dear Rieke Rocket community,

Can you believe we are only 2 weeks, 10 school days, away from winter break? Thank you for all you do to support us here at Rieke! As we look to grow our community and position ourselves to increase staffing next year at Rieke please keep spreading the word of the positive learning environment we are continuing to grow at Rieke. We truly appreciate all the volunteer energy and spirit the community (and the kids!) provide to make this work so rewarding.

 

Our Rieke Way theme for December is patience. This can be a challenging time of year for kids to be patient and wait to see the fruits of their hard work and kindness. But we all know they can be patient and learn its valuable lessons. We will have an all school assembly on 12/19 at 9:00 AM to celebrate some special patient students.

 

We continue to work to provide some supervision for students who arrive early before school or stay later after school on our playground. But we are understaffed. I have decided to allow more access to students on fitness devices (scooters, bikes, skateboards) given certain parameters. All students on wheeled vehicles need helmets and should only ride in the covered area. From 8:25-8:40 and 3:00 to 3:15 we have many younger siblings in these shared spaces who need a safe place to play and wait. We are asking students to not ride around on wheels between 8:25 and 3:15 in any area.

 

Are you interested in participating in the Rieke community equity committee? Here is the link to the Rieke equity  survey.  At your convenience please fill out this google survey regarding our successes and needs, in order to address equity issues within the Rieke community. We have scheduled our next community equity meeting for Wednesday 1/15 in the evening. Childcare will be provided.

 

Our PTA sponsored garden education program has begun! Denise Manzi, our lunch sustainability coordinator (and literacy EA) is helping teachers teach gardening and natural art work! If you would like to volunteer to help, please let Denise (demisajo@yahoo.com) or your child’s teacher know. If you would like to join our Green Team please email jjeans@pps.net. Our recycling efforts at lunch in the café and in the building continue to expand as we welcome new ideas.

 

We are supporting a group of Wilson HS students who are starting a tutoring/mentoring program here at Rieke. The group of 8-15 high school students will be here on Mondays in Room 21 from 3:00-400 to provide tutoring and cooperative game time. If you are interested in your child participating please email me jjeans@pps.net for more details.

 

As winter approaches please send students to school with enough warm layers to keep them toasty and dry. In general, unless rain is heavy, students will spend time outside during the day at 2 or 3 recess times including lunch. Keeping an extra sweatshirt and/or hat in a backpack is a great strategy. If you write your student’s name on the item it is easy for us to return to them rather than place lost items in lost and found.

 

This is an update from our school nurse regarding Immunizations for December. If your child is still incomplete in their immunizations, please make arrangements to obtain vaccinations and to provide this information to the school.  Exclusion day for state required vaccinations is Wednesday, February 19, 2020.  Students who are not current will not be able to attend school until current immunization records are provided to school staff. Please contact the office with any questions.

 

Cheers!

Jon Jeans-Principal

Seven community members with connections to Portland Public Schools were honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award on Monday as part of the 35^th annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Tribute event at the Highland Christian Center.

Substance use and addiction are confusing and difficult issues for the person experiencing it and for those who love and care about the person who is impacted. To help Portland Public Schools families of students dealing with substance use, we will host our first district-wide Family Information Night.

A Wilson High School senior was honored for her efforts in saving a woman’s life last summer. Rivkah Zigman received the Red Cross Lifesaving Award for Professional Responders last week at a ceremony during an American Red Cross Cascades Region board meeting. 

Next week Portland Public School will begin the annual survey that allows us to gather data to make informed decisions about school climate and culture. The Successful Schools Survey begins on Monday, Jan. 27.