Sellwood Principal's Newsletter - August 29, 2025 

Greetings Sellwood Community,

It has been a great first week of school (aside from the sweltering heat)  Our new 6th-graders are now able to navigate our three-story building, and most of them are now experts at opening their lockers!

Next week is predicted to also be very hot.  Our PTA Ice Cream Social was scheduled for Thursday evening, September 4th.  Unfortunately, that day is predicted to be 95 degrees in the afternoon.  We have made a joint decision to change the date of the Ice Cream Social to Wednesday, September 10th.  I know you have already marked your calendars and I apologize for the change.  However, moving the date to more comfortable weather appears prudent at this time.

Enjoy the long weekend and try to stay cool.

Sincerely,

Jeandré Carbone

Sellwood MS Principal

jcarbone@pps.net

Dear Sellwood Community,

It was wonderful to see so many of you at Sellwood's Showcase Night last night. What an uplifting, joyous event! Thank you to everyone who came to celebrate students' accomplishments and learning. We thank our hard working staff for their hard work in making the evening a huge success. I think it was the best Showcase Night in my experience at Sellwood. The event exemplified what makes the Sellwood staff, students, and community so great!

In addition to the amazing band and choir performances, beautiful student artwork displays, science inquiry projects and math projects, Project Green's lovely Rosemary Price Garden with delicious donuts for all, dancing from Spanish class, the debut of our Digital Portfolios was also a hit. I can only imagine what our students' portfolios will look like when they are juniors in high school and applying for post-secondary opportunities.

On Wednesday, June 11th, we will have our end-of-year locker clean out, followed by yearbook distribution. All student will receive a yearbook! Please remind your child to bring home any valuables or prized possessions, including the contents of their gym locker, if they have one. Each summer we have to cut locks on gym lockers and we find nearly new expensive athletic shoes and clothing. These items are either donated or thrown out. Anything your child wants or needs must be brought home on the last day of school. We may possibly be able to help find items a few days after school ends, but our custodians begin summer cleaning immediately after students depart for the summer.

Finally, a reminder that the last day of school will be a half-day, ending at 12:30 PM. Due to the half-day schedule and 8th grade promotion, we will not have a scheduled lunch/recess. School buses will be run their afternoon routes at 12:30.

Please read on about next weeks events: Oaks Park, Promotion, and the last day of school information.

Sincerely,

Jeandre Carbone

Sellwood Principal

Dear Sellwood Community,

On Wednesday night, we attended the Spring Choir and Band Concert at Cleveland High School. What wonderful performances! Congratulations to Mr. Patterson and the impressive musicians in Sellwood's Beginning Band, Intermediate Band, Jazz Band, and Advanced Band. Sellwood's Choir performance was equally impressive. Congratulations to Ms. Nowak and the young vocalists in Choir. The evening was a reminder of how hard work pays off, resulting in beautiful art we can all appreciate.

Here are two Sellwood Performing Arts links for you to enjoy:

Choir at Cleveland

Jazz Band at the Assembly

Sincerely,

Jeandre Carbone

Sellwood Principal

Congratulations to Lincoln High School students Richard Deng and Coral Platt! Both were awarded National Merit Scholarships of $2,500 toward their college studies.

They were chosen from more than 15,000 finalists nationwide. Richard plans to pursue a career in politics and Coral is looking at a future in the legal sector.

Two exceptional PPS educators, Ricardo Barber and Hang Jones, were recently named OnPoint Educators of the Year for 2025.

As part of this prestigious honor, both teachers will have their rent or mortgage paid for an entire year, and their schools also receive a $2,500 donation. 

Ricardo Barber teaches third grade at Faubion, and Hang Jones serves as a social worker at Marysville Elementary. 

The OnPoint Prize for Excellence in Education celebrates educators who embrace innovative teaching techniques that ignite enthusiasm in their students. 

Congratulations to Ricardo Barber and Hang Jones! And thank you both for everything you do to make a difference in the lives our students.

The assignment their teacher gave them was simple – make a short film that begins with a phone call and ends with someone hanging up. Benson first-year students Dylan Martinez-Torres and Dariel Soriano Zamora ran it all the way to a small city populated by two very big and rather iconic monsters – Godzilla and Hedora.

The result, Sorry, Wrong Number, is one of the more than 90 films entered into the annual Best of PPS Film Festival. The festival is a celebration of exceptional student filmmaking that includes a showcase at the historic Hollywood Theatre. 

The fourth annual installment of the festival took place on May 21 and included a screening of 13 standout films. The films came from all over PPS and ran the gamut from Dylan and Dariel’s monster short to documentaries, film noir, and broadcast journalism. 

If you are a passionate student or community member that wants to make a difference at PPS, apply to join the Climate Crisis Response Committee! This is a committee that reports to the PPS Board of Education.

On the committee you will learn about how PPS is making progress towards our climate justice and sustainability policies, provide input and recommendations to the PPS Board on how to better support PPS staff as we advance these policy goals, and connect with other passionate members of our PPS community from diverse backgrounds, knowledge areas, and lived experiences.

No previous professional experience in climate change or sustainability required! Students can apply via this form. Community members can apply here.

Deadline to apply: June 6.