Dear Colleagues, 

As Teacher and School Administrator Appreciation Week comes to a close here at Portland Public Schools, I want to share an additional personal note of gratitude to all our hard-working and dedicated professional educators and school leaders. While your commitment to our students is always evident, this past year with all of its challenges was truly unlike any other in our careers. The impact of this pandemic, economic crisis, and racial uprising, has required incredible flexibility, adaptation, and perseverance on your part. 

I want to recognize that, on behalf of our students, you have capably and creatively met all the challenges we’ve had to confront along the way. You pivoted to distance learning almost overnight, discovering and mastering a new way to both maintain a continuity of learning and a connection and relationship with our students, all so critically important to their health, wellness, and continued education. 

As conditions improved, you all pivoted again, to an in-person hybrid model of instruction, so that students would have the option of receiving their instruction face-to-face and the opportunity to connect with their peers and classmates. And it has been clear from hearing your stories and from visiting schools and classrooms that students have been yearning for this shift to being in person. Each of these transitions has brought us all one step closer to ultimately reopening for full-time in-person instruction and the full reopening of our schools.  

Again, I am grateful for your commitment and dedication, and I know our students and families are incredibly appreciative as well. 

I hope you have had a chance to see the many Appreciation Week profiles we have shared on social media and in The One this week. You can find a number of these profiles on our Teacher and School Administrator Appreciation Week webpage; it’s worth a visit to meet some of our spotlighted colleagues, all nominated by their professional peers for their talented work. 

With much admiration,

Guadalupe Guerrero
Superintendent