Cleveland High School

Dear Cleveland Families,

As we enter the second quarter of the semester, I want to highlight the academic support for students and activities that are happening at Cleveland.

Quarter 1 Grades
Teachers submitted their Quarter 1 grades on Monday and you should be able to see them in ParentVue. These grades do not appear on the transcript. Rather, these grades indicate the progress that your student has made in achieving the learning standards in each of their classes. Students have ample time to raise their grades before the end of the semester. Good communication with the teacher will always be an avenue for working on an academic plan to improve. I noticed on some teacher comments that students needed to complete a project or paper or make up a test to improve their grade. Our Flex periods allow students access to teachers to get that extra help or to work on assignments. Please encourage your students to use Flex and communicate with their teachers. In addition, we have tutoring opportunities on campus which are advertised throughout the school. Your student’s counselor is another great resource for students building an academic plan for success.

Attendance
We have noticed a dip in attendance as the school year has progressed. While we know students may need to be absent for appointments or illness, we also know that attending class is paramount to student success. One trend that occurs is students returning late from lunch. I hear students comment on the length of the lunch period. The school bell schedule is determined at the district level to ensure that all schools have the correct number of instructional hours per the requirements of the Oregon Department of Education. Our lunch period is the same length it was last year. When students are more than 23 minutes late to class, they are considered absent. If you see that trend in your student’s attendance with periods after lunch (periods 3 and 7), please consider working on a lunch plan with them to be to class on time. 

Fall Musical
Our fall musical, Zombie Prom, opened last night and there are still opportunities to come see it. The play runs tonight with a showtime of 7:00 PM. There are two showings on Saturday - a Matinee at 3:00 PM and an evening show at 7:00 PM. I get the privilege of hearing the rehearsals from my office, and I can assure you that the play will be fabulous. Tickets are sold at the door: $10 for adults and $5 for minors, cash only. There will also be concession sales.

Family Conferences
We are happy to host conferences this year with in-person options. Monday, November 21 will be in person with drop-in sessions available as well as scheduled times to meet with teachers. On this day, scheduled appointments are throughout the day with drop in options from 10:30 AM - 12:00 PM. Tuesday, November 22 will be virtual with meetings held with teachers using Google Meet. There will be three sessions of appointments each day: morning (8:30 AM - 12:00 PM), afternoon (1:00 - 4:30 PM) and evening (5:30 - 8:00 PM). We will publish the appointment sign-ups on Wednesday, November 16. These appointments will be ten minutes in length to allow both time to meet with the teacher and time for transition to the next appointment. Conferences are a great way to connect with your student’s teachers and discuss strengths as well as areas of growth for your student. The conference schedule simply does not allow enough appointment slots for every parent to meet with every teacher. Please think about which teachers you most want to connect with to support your student. Conferences are one opportunity to connect, but you can also reach out to teachers and counselors at any time to discuss your student’s academic needs.

Traffic Safety
Last month, a community safety forum was hosted in our auditorium to address pedestrian, cyclist and car safety at the intersection of SE 26th Ave. and SE Powell Blvd. Representatives from ODOT, PBOT, Trimet and PPS were available to present ideas and listen to feedback. State Senator Kathleen Taylor has formed a workgroup to monitor the progress of improvements. We have representatives from our staff, including me, and the PTA. Please continue to share any concerns you may have about the intersection with me, and I will be sure to bring them up at the workgroup meetings.

Hate Speech in the Neighborhood
Instances of the ‘n’ word are still occurring in the neighborhood around the school. While the instances have not recently occurred on our campus, we do clean the graffiti near the school campus when we see it and make a record of it. I know some of you have also been involved in cleaning the graffiti that you have found. Please continue to send me pictures of the graffiti which I will pass on to the police. I filed a police report earlier in the school year, and the case has been assigned to an officer with whom I am in contact. If you happen to witness the actual act of this hate speech being written or have an image from any exterior cameras you may have at your homes, please report those to the police or send them to me to give to the officer working on this investigation. The continuous onslaught of seeing this word harms our students and staff of color. We will continue our work to address this hate speech, and thank you for your vigilance and attention to reporting and cleaning it in our neighborhood.

Jo Ann Wadkins
Principal
Cleveland High School