• 1/2/2022

    1/2/2022

     
     
    a message from portland public schools
     

    January 2, 2022

    校長から
    From the Principal

    Dear Richmond Community - Happy New Year, 明けましておめでとうございます, Akemashite Omedetou Gozaimasu! I hope you've enjoyed the wintery weeks of break and are feeling rested and ready to return to school tomorrow for our first Monday of 2022!

     
    If you’re looking for a few more ideas for fun kiddo things to do at home to extend the spirit, I encourage checking out some of the many read-aloud eBooks we have access to until January 15th included in Mr. Waters’s slides or maybe making a DIY snow globe! This Winter SEL Bingo Card might also be helpful and fun at home over the next couple of weeks of transition back to school (even tho it mentions Break a bunch). In this unique return-to-school year in which our children are learning and re-learning how to be in-person with one another, we’ll spend time these first weeks back re-teaching our BEX 4Be's Expectations - Be Safe, Be Respectful, Be Responsible, and Be Kind - and always appreciate families reviewing them with kiddos at home!
     
    We’ll have the same schedule & routines all this week (please be sure to gear kiddos up for the weather and check out the PTA’s Konstella Volunteer Sign-Ups if possible!) and will be discussing schedule changes in Tuesday’s Staff Meeting. We also look forward to having information from the PPS/PAT labor partner bargaining to share that will further impact scheduling starting in February with Quarter 3. As always, we remain focused on our children's growth as global citizens who will manifest the PPS Graduate Portrait, prepared to Lead Change and Improve the World with multiple perspectives in their hearts and minds, and as always we thank everyone for all of their support as we work together in this great New Year of the Water Tiger - strength, vitality, and growth - 2022!

    THANK YOU, ありがとうございます, Arigatōgozaimasu!
    Alicia sensei

    学校から
    From the School

    CALENDAR Items of Note - see below areas for meeting links & detail:
    ✩ 1/3/2022 Monday - Back to School
    ✩ 1/15 Sat morning - PTA's Virtual     Japanese New Year’s Festival (see below)

    SCHOOL NEWS, NOTES & Reminders
    WELL WISHES & WARM WELCOMES
    We shared best wishes and a fond farewell (but hopefully not goodbye) to two autumn staff members as they left Richmond just before break. The amazing Alisha Schwartz, who generously served Richmond as our Interim AP since October, had to return to her TOSA role with the district's Multi-Tiered System of Support Department. She left this note to share with everyone, “It has been such a pleasure to be part of this community - if only for a short time - and I hope our paths cross in the future.” We also wished ESL Teacher Sue Ko well on her journey beyond PPS. In this New Year, we are welcoming two new members to staff. Sarah Centerwell will be our new full-time PPS English Language Development teacher working with our students identified with ESL services. We are also welcoming Ethan Tiffany onto our admin team as Interim AP. Ethan comes to us with extensive experience supporting student needs in and out of Special Education services. Ethan and Sarah are both slated to be out front in the mornings with Sarah now supporting Grab&Go breakfast distribution, which we have moved to the Southern end of the front facade - near the south gate to the field to even out access for families and students. The other Grab&Go Breakfast cart remains located on the blacktop near the breezeway doors on the NE side of campus.

    ONGOING FAMILY IMMUNIZATION CLINICS
    The Multnomah County Health Department is offering twice-weekly Immunization Clinics for families and children to obtain COVID-19 and school-required vaccines. Clinics will be held on Wednesdays from 11 am - 2 pm & 3 pm - 6 pm at the Gateway WIC Building, 131 NE 102nd Ave., Portland; and on Saturdays from 9 am - 12 pm & 1 pm - at the NE Health Clinic, 5329 NE Martin Luther King Jr Blvd. #322, Portland. Appointments are required for children aged 5 - 11. No appointment is required for family members to receive the COVID-19 vaccine and flu shots. Call 503-988-8939 to make an appointment. More info is available at: multco.us/vaccineclinics.

    COVID SAFETY REMINDERS We hope that families enjoyed a safe and healthy Winter Break and want to remind everyone to Gear Up for Outdoor Dining, Wear Well-Fitting Masks, and keep using the Family Daily Illness Screening tool each morning before coming to campus & refer to this document as a guide on when to Stay Home If Ill. If you have not bookmarked them yet, smart to do so now : ) Also, please read PPS email and refer back to messages on the PPS District News Site for all kinds of PPS Updates, including the Test to Stay program and How to Register Children's Covid Vaccines (choose month from right bar & scroll through to find topics of interest)

    コミュニティから
    From the Community

    PTA

    Japanese New Year’s Festival 2022
    Let’s celebrate 2022 together! Save the date! Japanese New Year’s Festival will be on Zoom Saturday, January 15th 10:00-10:45 AM.  

    Join us for traditional Japanese new year’s games and more. More information, including Zoom link, coming soon, so stay tuned! ~From Cultural Committee 

    PTA Focuses on Equity
    Please visit our newly created equity page. This is the place where we will share the Equity Term of the Week with Learn More links, as well as information about gatherings and previously posted equity terms and links.

    Equity term of the week: Intersectionality

    Oya No Kai　
    おやのかい

    Take Oya No Kai’s Westwind Survey
    Do you miss Oya No Kai’s annual community-building weekends at Westwind? Are you a newer JDLI family who wants to know more about it? Are you interested in attending in 2022? This is for you.

    We are considering hosting three weekends again in May 2022 after a two-year hiatus. Please read the information below and complete this short two-question survey to help us gauge interest.

    What is a Westwind Weekend?
    Westwind is a non-profit camp on the Oregon coast where Oya No Kai has hosted family weekends for more than 20 years. In the past, we’ve booked three weekends for the JDLI community to come together and build friendships through fellowship, relaxation, and fun. Learn more about Westwind.

    Westwind Updates & COVID Protocols
    If we go this spring, Westwind weekends will be different due to COVID. Changes include: 

    ✦ Weekends available in 2022: May 13-15, May 20-22, May 27-30 
    ✦ Vaccination required: Proof of vaccine will be required for all attendees, including eligible children.
    ✦ COVID protocols: Masks are required when you’re indoors and not eating. You don’t need to wear a mask when you’re sleeping in your cabin. It’ll be up to you and your cabin-mates if you want to use masks in the cabin when not sleeping.
    ✦ No barge; hiking is required: You and your family will need to take a two-mile hike into the camp from the parking lot. Trucks will transport your belongings.
    ✦ Shared cabins: Families will continue to share cabins. You will not be able to request staying with certain families. 
    ✦ Costs have increased: The cost to attend will be $100/person on May 13-15 or May 20-22 and $140/person on May 27-30. 
    ✦ You don’t have to cook: Parents will not need to sign up to help prepare food. 
    ✦ Dish duties are still a thing: Parent volunteers are still needed to help clear and clean dishes after each meal.

    What’s Next: Take the survey. 
    Thank you! 

    Oya No Kai General Meeting Recording and Links
    Thank you to everyone who came to Oya No Kai’s general meeting on Dec. 15! If you missed it, you can watch a recording on Zoom (passcode: =6i+Tc=4). 

    Here are a few highlights:

    ✦ We are hoping for 18 Japanese interns to arrive in the spring! That means WE NEED HOST FAMILIES!!!! Contact Midori Yamanaka, our new program manager, at midori.yamanaka@oyanokai.org if you are interested. Learn more about becoming a host family and submit an online application.
    ✦ Auction coordinator needed! We are planning an in-person auction for Saturday, April 16 at the Melody Ballroom. But we can’t make it happen without an Auction Coordinator. If you’d like to help, please email Yumi Wong, yumi.wong@oyanokai.org.
    ✦ Take our Camp Westwind survey.The results will help us decide whether to host three weekends in Spring 2022 with new Covid protocols. Learn more about Westwind.

    If you have any questions or would like to get involved, please talk with any board member or email us at info@oyanokai.org. ありがとうございました！Thank you!

    Community Wishlist for Local Scrip
    We would like to add more local stores and restaurants to our inventory of Scrip gift cards. What are your favorite neighborhood businesses? Please send your ideas to scrip@oyanokai.org, and we will ask them to participate. Learn more about Scrip and place an order at oyanokai.org/scrip/.
    		 
    		 

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