¡Sí Se Puede! or Yes, we can! is an opportunity for students to celebrate and inspire one another, build relationships outside their schools and share the rich diversity of their talents and experiences with the greater Portland community.

Dear PPS staff and families,

Summer has started, but we want to let you know that the PPS Task Force on the Superintendent Recruitment is continuing to meet on a regular basis and work is happening daily to advance our efforts to find and recruit our next superintendent. We have a final position description and are still actively recruiting candidates.  We appreciate the feedback and candidate recommendations we have received from the community to date.  Below are highlights of our last meeting. We will keep you informed as we go forward. Thank you.

Julia Brim-Edwards, Chair, Superintendent Recruitment Task Force

SEI and Oregon Seal of Bi-Literacy awardees were honored at the June 13 Board meeting. PPS celebrated 13 years of partnership with Self Enhancement Inc. (SEI) Academy. Libra Forde, SEI Chief Operating Officer, Timothy Rodgers, SEI Academy Principal, and Linda Harris, 2006-2010 SEI principal, were presented with plaques honoring this partnership. SEI Academy was named a model school by the Oregon Department of Education in 2013 and 2014.

Dear PPS Families,

Over the summer, crews will be working in schools throughout the district to address health and safety issues, using funds from the bond that voters approved in May. At the same time, planning is under way for bigger projects to rebuild three high schools and a middle school. We wanted to give you an update on what is coming up. 

The Jackson Jaguar Marching Band, under the direction Kristin Cywinski, won 3rd place in the Junior Rose Parade, Thursday, June 7. The 80-member middle school band from southwest Portland, is composed of a broad range of students, including beginners.

Over 300 people attended Woodlawn's STEAM celebration Thursday, May 18th. Families enjoyed an evening of engineering challenges, art explorations, music, and robotics demonstrations at the second annual event.

Dear PPS staff and families,

As you may know, the district has been working to develop a new middle school model to implement district wide over the next several years. Part of the purpose is to address inequities in the middle grades that have resulted as an unintended consequence of the K-8 model. This is a longer term initiative to bring our middle schools under a new model of excellence through a phased approach.

Portland Public Schools honored around 125 Latino high school graduates at the first Orgullo Latino or Latino Pride celebration. District-wide there are more than 400 Latino graduates in the class of 2017. The event was held on June 2nd in the new Roosevelt High School Auditorium.

PPS’s very own David Valenzuela, a science teacher at Madison High School, is one of OnPoint Bank’s 2017 Educators of the Year. This accolade is part of the OnPoint Prize for Excellence in Education which awards around $50,000 to local schools and teachers. As part of its commitment to education, OnPoint bestows this windfall because they believe, “investing in education is one of the best ways to build thriving communities.”