Hello Rider family,

Please Click Here to view this week's edition of the Rider Family News, our weekly newsletter to families.

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Hi Riders,

As we settle into Distance Learning, I want to take a moment to reinforce our racial equity and social justice framework we use as a district and a school.  We left last spring after the killing of George Floyd and we have seen more Black men and women killed by the police, more violence at protests, and more division as a country.  

The grand jury decision yesterday for Breonna Taylor’s killing is weighing heavy on my heart.  Her death was the result of a system that has failed to support members of our community for too long.  

The announcement that the Proud Boys will hold a rally on the site of historic Vanport is weighing on my soul.  Having a hate group who openly supports violence, gather where the largest African American community in Oregon once stood is a reminder to us that that we have more work to do in creating an anti-racist society.  Our district and school are committed to  upholding values of inclusion and social justice, and still we have folks from our community gathering together at Delta Park this weekend to support hate.  These demonstrations affect all of us, but especially our students and families of colors.

The over 100 days of protests in Portland is weighing heavy on my mind.  As our students stand up for justice and practice their first amendment rights, they have been tear gassed along with other protesters through the summer.  These are all reminders that now, more than ever, we need to be focused on racial equity, social justice, and care for our entire community.  

At Roosevelt High School, Black Lives Matter.  We will continue work to better support our Black students and colleagues.  This year, teachers and staff will spend time in our professional learning focusing on how to better connect with and serve our BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) students and how to support our BIPOC teachers and staff. 

I stand with, and will support, our students in continuing to voice their concerns about the systemic racism in our Roosevelt High School system and the larger community.  We will continue to empower the Student Equity Council (SEC) to be a voice for our students on issues within our school and larger community.  This group is  instrumental in helping to make our teaching and support staff reflect the diversity of our students.  All summer long, teachers, students, and administrators worked together to interview and hire teachers.  Working with students and watching them ask teacher candidates pointed questions about Black Lives Matter and the school to prison pipeline was the highlight of my summer.  As one student said in the interviews she participated in, “Nothing about us, without us.”  I think about that statement a lot as we revisit the demands our Black students shared during Hoodies Up Day.  Demands for racial justice, and creating a school and a system that addresses the harm done and finds ways to move forward to dismantle the racism we see.

Last spring, we created a video letting our students know how we support them during these times of racial unrest.  I am sharing it with the community again to remind everyone about the commitments we made to our students.  

I support Black Lives.  I support our students and teachers of color, and I support all of our students and staff who are working together to make our school and community less racist and more just.  

I’m so proud of the work our students and staff have done for years to focus on inclusion and issues affecting our school, community, and world.  I’m so proud to be a Rider and serve as your Principal.  

“Nothing can stop the power of a committed and determined people to make a difference in our society.”    ~John Lewis

Go Riders!

Hi Riders,

We hope everyone found time to breathe some fresh air this weekend.  There are a few updates for this week and next week, so we wanted to make sure you marked your calendar for these different activities:

Textbook Pick Up

Students who are Sophomores, Juniors, and Seniors can come to get their textbooks (and a few school supplies) this Thursday and Friday from 2:00pm - 5:00pm.  Click here for more information about times for those grade levels. Freshman will be picking up any textbook or supplies next week with Materials distribution (see below).

If art materials are not available this week, they will be here next week (see below).  If your student is in art, and you want to make a donation for the materials, you can do that on School Pay.  

We want to make sure that everyone has some limited school supplies.  Buying 1350 of anything is expensive, and we are happy to make sure everyone has a few pens, pencils, highlighters, and spiral notebooks.  If you want to donate to our general school supplies account, please log in to School Pay and make a donation.  We will use this money to pay for more supplies for all of our students at the beginning of second semester.  

Materials / Supplies Pick Up

We will also have time next week to come and get your textbooks and other materials on Wednesday from 2:00 to 4:00p. Because of the fires and the pandemic, a few of our supplies were on back-order.  If you are in math or art this semester, some of your supplies won't be in until next week.  We will begin to have regular materials pick up times through the month of October. 

Chromebooks and Hotspots

We have chromebooks and students can come to the building each afternoon from 1:00 to 3:00 to get a chromebook.  We are hoping that Hotspots will be available by today (Tuesday) or Wednesday.

Back to School Night

We are going to try a virtual back to school night on Thursday, October 1st.  We will start at 5:30 with a short welcome, and then you will have the chance to visit each of your students' classes and listen to / watch a short video or live google meet about the class.  This is time to learn a bit about your students' teachers and classes.  If you have specific questions or concerns, please reach out to the teacher before or after back to school night.  We will share more information and meeting links in the coming week.  Make sure you have downloaded the Trivory App (or go to trivory.com/roosevelt).  That is where the meeting links will be.  

Crazytown

(That isn't a reference to this year, it's a play our theatre department is putting on).  Join our Roosevelt Alumni Theatre Group for a production of "Crazytown" at 7:00pm on Thursday, October 1st.  You need to buy tickets at www.playscripts.com if you want to attend.  You can see your students' teachers at back to school night and then head to the online production.

Please let us know if you have any questions.  

Hi Riders,

We made it through the first week of school!  It's been great to pop into classes and see students and teachers working together to figure out how to learn in Distance Learning.  Just a couple of updates for everyone today.

Attendance

We are still working on attendance.  You might receive a call with the recording that your student did not participate in class.  Attendance is marked everyday for every class.  Students have all day (midnight to midnight) to connect with teachers, come to live class, or turn in an assignment to be marked present for the day.  This is great for students who have other responsibilities and miss class, but it is definitely more complicated for our teachers.  We are still working on the best way to capture this information.  If you do get the phone call saying your student was absent, you can contact the teacher.  We are finding that often the teacher has already fixed the attendance, but didn't do it in time for the computer to not make the phone call.  Again, we'll be making some changes, and we appreciate your patience as we figure out this new system.

Social Workers

Thanks to everyone who came to the information sessions from our counselors, social workers, and community partners this week.  Our social workers wanted to make sure that all families get more information to let you know about their work and how they can help families. Here is their introduction information  If you have questions or don't know who to connect with, please contact your student's counselor.  

I'm glad the rains have come and the air is clearing up.  We will resume chromebook distribution each day between 1 and 3pm.  If you need a chromebook or a hotspot, we can make that happen next week (hotspots will be available soon - we'll keep you posted).  

Go Riders!

KD

Mensaje de la Directora

Hola Riders,

A medida que nos acercamos al receso de otoño, esperamos que hayan tenido algun tiempo para conectarse con su estudiante y sus maestros para hablar sobre cómo le va este año. Para continuar leyendo por favor haga click aqui

Mensaje de la Directora

Hola Riders,

Espero que todos hayan pasado este fin de semana abrigados y sin mojarse. Hay un par de actualizaciones para las próximas dos semanas.

Para continuar leyendo por favor haga click aqui.

Dear Families of PPS Secondary Students,

During Comprehensive Distance Learning, opportunities are built into the schedule for all families to be able to connect with teachers during office hours. As in a traditionally formatted year, we will also be offering Parent-Teacher Conferences (morning to evening) on November 23-24. 

Dear PPS Families and Staff,

Earlier today Governor Brown announced that the State of Oregon is relaxing the criteria and thresholds for schools to re-open to in-person instruction, starting with hybrid models that combine distance learning and on-campus learning.

Dear PPS Families,

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a significant decline in children accessing preventative medical services such as vaccines and well child checks. We’re happy to announce that we have re-opened two of PPS’ school-based health centers to provide access to medical services for students while the district continues to hold classes remotely. School-based health centers offer quality, affordable health care by doctors and Family Nurse Practitioners for children and youth with no out of pocket cost.

Dear PPS Families,

We want to update you on the Enrollment and Program Balancing (EPB) progress. As we’ve shared, the initial work focuses on schools in Southeast Portland in anticipation of the reopening of Kellogg Middle School. The Southeast Guiding Coalition has held six meetings aimed at creating a common understanding of the Coalition’s charge and the process for developing proposals and a final recommendation. The process is starting with a focus on grades 6-8 now, and will expand to grades PK-12 next spring.