Richmond Elementary School

Dear Richmond Families, 

It is hard to believe that the last day of school is a week from this Friday! It has been a challenging year particularly with the continuing presence of Covid 19. But it has also been so positive having students and staff back at school teaching and learning together for this entire school year.

Sadly, one of our parents was struck by a bicyclist today. She will be okay but was shaken up. Please be watchful when walking or riding near the school as this is a congested area at the beginning and ending of the day. 

Please be sure to check the school calendar and the information below about all of the upcoming events in these next two weeks. There is lots going on!

As mentioned last week our PTA will be hosting a Volunteer Appreciation Celebration event on the basketball court in the afternoon of June 8, from 2:30 to 4 PM. While we have tried to get back to normalcy as much as possible this year one thing we did miss having was the large number of parent and community volunteers helping out in our classrooms and around the school. However, a huge shout out goes to all those who volunteered to help at lunch, either assisting students and/or washing mats. You being here made a significant difference - THANK YOU! Thank you as well to all the volunteers who helped collect the spit test samples every Tuesday. Without your assistance it would have taken up three times as long to collect them all.

Have a great week,
Jill Bailey, Interim Principal and Sarah Lewins, Interim Principal

PPS CALENDAR SITE 
Richmond Items of Note - see below areas for any event meeting links/detail
✩ 6/3 Fri. Community Conversations 9-10 AM
✩ 6/5 Sun. PTA Super Green Team Last Work Party 9 AM-Noon
✩ 6/8 Wed. PTA, ONK & Foundation Volunteer Celebration 2:30-4 PM
✩ 6/9 Thu. 5G Promotion Ceremony 12:45 PM 
✩ 6/10 Fri. Last Day of School
✩ 6/15 Wed. Last Day Office Open for Drop-Ins
✩ 6/18-8/21 Building Closed for Summer (PPS Calendar); Office will respond to email/phone messages starting August 15.

SCHOOL NEWS & NOTES

COMMUNITY CONVERSATIONS Friday, June 3, 9:00 AM Continuing our virtual Community Conversations, this next event is an opportunity for information sharing and question answering with our Interim Principal Jill Bailey. Submit your questions here by noon on Thursday. This is a morning Google Meet event on June 3. Feel free to use your child’s PPS Google account log-in. Access the virtual event using the following URL meet.google.com/qfo-mdri-yqb or join by phone (‪US‬)‪+1 346-314-0304 PIN: 875 764 277#

NEW! LOST&FOUND items want to come home! Our Lost & Found has grown like your child over summer break! Student Council (with help from amazing Volunteer CS & Alicia sensei) has put together these Picture Gallery Slides for you to see some of what’s what. IF YOU SEE an Item in the Gallery, you can:  
- Remind your kiddos to pick-up the item from the L&F Location listed on the Slide OR
- Pick Up out front of school After-School on the last Wednesdays (6/1 & 6/8), OR 
- Fill out this GForm & Student Council will try to get items back to kiddos before next Friday.
We are also seeking volunteers who can wash & donate since our building is closing on the 17th for the summer - email amcmillen@pps.net to help out. Thanks!

FROM our CAFETERIA The last week of school there will only be one entree served per day and there will only be limited quantities of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and yogurt. Here’s the schedule of what is being offered:

Monday:  chicken burgers
Tuesday: mozzarella cheese breadsticks
Wednesday: hamburgers/cheeseburgers
Thursday: pizza
Friday: popcorn chicken

REMINDER From our HEALTH ROOM It's getting close to the end of the school year, which means it's also time to start thinking about picking up your student's medication. If your student has medication in the health room, please pick it up by the end of the school year. Per policy, medication that is not picked up by the last day of the school year will be disposed of.  

Please contact the health staff, Toby Barrow (health assistant) tbarrow@mesd.k12.or.us or Erika Wallin (nurse) ewallin@mesd.k12.or.us if you have any questions. Thank you!

REMINDER From our LIBRARY Students & Families - It’s time to Bring Back the Books to the Richmond Library! Do you have library books at home? Please check your shelves, under the bed, behind the couch, everywhere! for books to return to the library. Please send them to school with your student(s) for return during library class. Help us keep our library materials available for all to use and enjoy.

NOT RETURNING TO RICHMOND NEXT YEAR?  Please email Kirstin at kyamakawa@pps.net if you do not plan to return to Richmond next year. This is important information for grade-level enrollment numbers that may affect our PPS staffing allocations.

**NEW OHSU INFO AS OF 6/1/22*

• If you receive a digital consent form from OHSU, please go ahead and submit it.  OHSU is doing some data cleanup and may be sending out more.  If you have questions, please contact OHSU directly at 833-376-1027 or k12covidtesting@ohsuhealthmarketing.com.
• There is one more test collection day:  Tuesday, 6/7
• OHSU Screening testing will be supported for PPS students July 11th through August 5th. Samples will be collected at Summer Acceleration Academy sites on Wednesdays while Summer Acceleration Academy is in session. Please ensure that your students’ sample is in the office of your identified Summer Acceleration Academy site between 9 am and 11:30 am.
• Your student is still enrolled in the program even if we took them off of the distribution list temporarily.  If you are unsure about your student’s enrollment status, please contact OHSU directly at 833-376-1027 or k12covidtesting@ohsuhealthmarketing.com.
• As soon as we receive new information about OHSU testing for the fall, we will share it.
• OHSU is no longer accepting NEW enrollments for this school year.

COVID REMINDERS PPS strongly encourages families to resume masking in school through the end of the year. ODE/OHA are also encouraging Boosters for 5-11 year olds and PPS is offering a free Vaccination Opportunity with the ongoing heavy case counts. Covid+ cases in PPS.If your child is home ill, they can access this  PPS resource site for learning. Thanks so much for Staying Informed & Using the Tools: Family Daily Illness Screening every day before coming to campus; Stay Home If Ill; communicate all absences/symptoms/positive-test-results to the office asap (503.916.6220 & select Attendance option to leave a detailed message or email Kirstin kyamakawa@pps.net); keep up on the news CDC, MultCo, and MultCo Vaccination opportunity info. These are links to: the 3/13 PPS Covid Update FAQ with answers to many common questions about PPS policy & practice; our Richmond PPS Covid Safety Info & Updates GDoc, and PTA’s Richmond Families Doc. OHSU spit-test drop-offs are Tuesday mornings & please do not turn one in if positive within the last 90 days (it will likely be a positive result no matter what & ties up their system.) THANKS for making your family’s Masking-Optional expectations clear to your child(ren).

Looking for a different Bulletin reminder? Click HERE for the Bulletin Archive on our school website. We’re trying to not repeat ourselves so much : )  Covid - Binax - 5 day - masks - uptick - sub rates

PPS APPROVED FLIERS FOR DISTRIBUTION
Mt. Tabor SUN Summer Camp 2022
Saturday Academy Summer STEAM Camps & Classes
Benson Tech Youth United Multi-Sport Summer Camp (FLIER UPDATED)
Cognizant 360 Arts Summer Camp
VIBE of Portland Art Camps, Classes, No-School Workshops & East Winds Summer Camp
OSU Summer Reading Program
Portland Parks & Recreation Preschool 2022-2023 Registration

Foundation　ファウンデーション

FINAL YEAR-END ASK: Last week of Foundation’s Spring Drive!

This is our last week of the Richmond Foundation staffing direct-ask! Woohoo, together we reached our first goal of successfully funding one entire teaching position and it’s corresponding Equity match amount. With updated numbers from PPS (see below), we are within reach of our 2nd goal - funding the first of two Educational Assistant positions! Together, we can do this!

The EA positions are so incredibly important to our program. Not only do the EA’s help our kinder kiddos & teachers, they support the whole school (think Bus Monitors), and the entire K-12 JDLI trajectory! To remain viable, Richmond must attract and retain enough KG lottery applicants to fill the classrooms that feed upward throughout the JLDI. Staffed KG classrooms (1 Teacher & 1 half-time EA position) double the adult:student ratio in this critical year, setting each of our children up for longterm academic success, which translates into less long-term attrition and so fewer staffing cuts in upper grades. It simply cannot be overstated how important these roles are - even in ways you might not have realized, like help in avoiding configuration changes forced as a result of enrollment decline, ie the 4-classes-per-grade partner teaching model.

Our most current Foundation total is $135,180, and with the $12,200 donation being processed from the Richmond PTA (Thanks PTA!) that’s $147,380… PPS updated our funding goals to reflect Classified Staff’s new PFSP labor contract and the reality that we should be accounting for different individuals having their own specific salary-steps and benefits packages ‘which can vary significantly’ meaning we have a bit of a further stretch to get to the first EA position than we thought - “the approximate total needed for 1 teacher & 1 EA would be an estimated $175,000,” and with the 2nd EA position it’s closer to a 220K total needed. 

It’s a tough situation…but the JLDI community has come together year after year to bridge the funding gap between the State & PPS Staffing Allocations and what we believe our children deserve. If you haven’t already, please join the 150 plus JLDI community members who have, and make your tax-deductible donation today! www.richmondschoolfoundation.org and click on the 'Donate 寄付はこちら' button.

PTA

Volunteer Appreciation Celebration!|
What: The three Richmond Parent groups, PTA, Oya No Kai and Foundation are in awe, and deeply grateful to all the Volunteers who have held up our school during these last two pandemic years, engaging our community and helping our students thrive. Please join us in celebrating YOU! Light refreshments by a local bakery will be available. Hope to see you there!|
When: Wednesday June 8th, 2:30-4pm
Where: Richmond Grounds: on the basketball courts.

ボランティア感謝会！
コロナ禍でもリッチモンド小学校で先生方、生徒達のサポートを継続できたのはボランティアの皆様のご協力によるところも多く、その感謝の気持ちを込めて、リッチモンド小学校PTA、親の会、リッチモンド小学校基金の三団体により、下記日程でお祝いをする予定です。地元ベーカリーの軽食も用意しますので是非、放課後お立ち寄りください！
日時：6月8日水曜日　2:30-4:00pm
場所：リッチモンド小学校　校庭バスケットコート

We are still urgently looking for a PTA President or co-Presidents and Treasurer. More information and a list of duties can be found here. For questions or to get involved, email us at richmondptapdx@gmail.com

End-of-Year Thank You cards for Richmond staff
Classroom Support Reps are organizing an end-of-year show of love, gratitude, and appreciation to all of the staff at Richmond with a Thank You card drive.  All this week, drop off cards to your teacher, assigned support staff member, and anyone else you want to give a shout-out to and the Room Reps will deliver them in large bundles of joy next week!|
Details:

• Drop off cards in the big blue mailbox outside the school office, or Wednesday/Friday at Rich Coffee and after school by the playground– we’ll also have blank cards you can take home to be decorated and personalized
• We are asking students to send a card for their teacher PLUS one staff member assigned to their homeroom – assignments can be found here.  You’re welcome to send any additional cards you want as well.
• We are only collecting cards at this time– no gifts please!  If your family is considering giving a gift to your teacher/staff, please wait to do so personally next week.  If you need gift ideas, here are links to the Favorite lists we asked them to complete earlier this year:  Admin  Teachers  Specialists

And thank you all for your support and assistance this year as classrooms got back to “normal” with field trips, in-room volunteers, and class parties.  Interested in helping out next year?  Email Yukie Bean, richmondclassrooms@gmail.com to sign up or with any questions!  Have a great summer!!

May PTA General Meeting & Highlights Can be found here

PTA Super Green Team
Join us THIS Sunday June 5th 9am-noon for the last work party of the school year!
We will focus on some planting, weeding, and new rocks for the front Japanese garden. We will celebrate our efforts with Coco Donuts and seed sharing!!!

SGT is also hoping to find several families (on standby) that can help when it’s time to inoculate the elms, we’ll need to gently excavate the roots of 5 trees. 
We’re also looking to hire a handy person and seeking families that can help with summer watering. Please reach out if you can help! greenteamrichmond@gmail.com

Online Japanese time every week for all students!
もっとにほんご！オンライン日本語クラスを毎週、全ての生徒さんへ！
Thank you for joining  Motto Nihongo! I had a wonderful time!! I hope you all have a great summer and enjoy Japanese more.

If you missed it, these are the links for recording. 
May 25th Caterpillar https://youtu.be/YcKb9NsEiFk
May. 26th Butterfly https://youtu.be/MWcPqSb3Dlc

From Cultural Committee

PTA Focuses on Equity
Equity Term of the Week: Anti-racist Click on the link to learn about this topic in Japanese and English.

Please participate in this short survey to help the Equity Group learn more about our Richmond community

Oya No Kai　おやのかい

Recording of 5/25 General Meeting 
Did you miss last week’s ONK General Meeting? Here's a recording. Passcode: U7F+5F.T

Kurabu is filling up! Sign up now!
It’s not too late to register for Oya No Kai's Japanese summer camp, Kurabu. But sessions are filling up, so don’t wait! Weeks 1 & 2 are already full. REGISTER NOW

Kurabu offers a bilingual summer camp experience that is rewarding, fun and reinforces Japanese language skills. It is open to children entering kindergarten through sixth grade in fall 2022. 

LOCATION: Mt. Tabor Middle School, 5800 SE Ash St. Portland, OR 97215
TIME: 9:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. Monday-Friday 6/27-7/29 (except July 4).
COST: $275/week for 5-day week, $220/week for 4th of July week. 
LEARN MORE

Help wanted: ONK Assistant Treasurer 
We are looking for a new Assistant Treasurer for 2022-23 with the eventual goal of stepping into the Treasurer position. Please contact ONK Treasurer Tricia Waineo (tricia.waineo@oyanokai.org) if you are interested. 

We always need more help on the board. If you’re interested in joining the board in a different role, please contact info@oyanokai.org.  

Interns available for Japanese tutoring 
Richmond’s 12 new Japanese interns have settled into their classrooms and are available for one-on-one tutoring. Tutoring is $10 for 30 minutes for elementary students. Summer tutoring is available, but each family and intern has to arrange a time and place, because we can’t use the Richmond building. Please email the interns directly to request tutoring. 

Kirine Nishiya sensei (kindergarten), knishiya@pps.net
Airi Uemoto sensei (kindergarten), auemoto@pps.net
Nonoka Kuroda sensei (1st grade), nkuroda@pps.net
Akiho Maeda sensei (1st grade), amaeda@pps.net
Taeka Abe sensei (2nd grade), tabe@pps.net
Ayano Abe sensei (2nd grade), aabe@pps.net
Arisa Matsuki sensei (3rd grade), amatsuki@pps.net
Mirei Nakano sensei (3rd grade), mnakano@pps.net
Mai Noda sensei (4th grade), manoda@pps.net
Kaori Oura sensei (4th grade), koura@pps.net
Takeru Matsumura sensei (5th grade), tmatsumura@pps.net
Mai Watanabe (5th grade), mawatanabe@pps.net