Sellwood Principal’s Newsletter – October 12, 2023
Greetings Sellwood Community,
By now, all or almost all students should have their IDs and a lanyard which they can display. It looks like most students are wearing them! If your child does not have an ID or lanyard, they should check with their science teacher or come to the main office for assistance. Please read on for information about wearing student IDs while at school.
WEARING STUDENT IDs WHILE AT SCHOOL
Wearing student IDs is a new thing for students and they will need to develop this as a habit. We are currently reminding students to wear their IDs displayed and also appreciating them for wearing the IDs where they can be seen.
While we have provided students with lanyards, these particular lanyards are not mandatory. If students want to get their own special lanyards to personalize or be more blingy, that is fine. Some students have swapped their lanyards for carabiners or key chains to hang from their belt loops. All of these options are just fine; the point is to get students accustomed to displaying their identification while at school, just as staff already do, and just as students will continue to do in high school.
Students can wear their IDs in a variety of ways, as long as the ID itself is visible.
However, wearing the ID inside the pocket with just the lanyard hanging out is not the right way.
Finally, students must not swap lanyards with a different grade level. If they are wearing one of the school supplied lanyards, it must be their grade level. The ID lanyards are color coded
- 6th grade yellow
- 7th grade light blue
- 8th grade dark blue
Please support our efforts at enhancing school safety and improving efficiency (lunch lines and library check-out) by encouraging your child to wear their IDs in one of the visible, allowable ways.
Enjoy the three-day weekend.
Sincerely,
Jeandré Carbone
Sellwood MS Principal
PTA NEWS
Mark your October calendar!
- PTA Fruit Fundraiser
Calling Apple and Pear lovers!
Please order freshly picked, healthy, and amazing tasting boxes of fruit from Kiyokawa Family Orchards. This local orchard from Parkdale, Oregon is known for its excellent quality fruit and reputation for supporting local nonprofits, like the Sellwood PTA. Last year we raised more than $4,500. Fruit pick-up will be on Wednesday 10/25 from 2:30 to 5:00 pm at the Sellwood parking lot (located at the intersection of SE 15th and SE Harney). Orders need to be placed by Wednesday 10/18. Don’t delay, get your order in today at: https://www.schoolpay.com/
- Sellwood Dines Out: Tuesday, October 17th
Our first Sellwood Dines Out will be with Portland Bottle Shop! Great day for lunch or dinner, grab a gift, or stock up for the holidays!
- Thank You Thursday for Teachers and Staff: October 19th
Treat our teachers and staff to a delicious lunch to show our appreciation for all they do. Sign up at this link on Konstella for October 19...seeking soups, salads, bread and desserts. Thank you for helping to make Thank You Thursdays a success!
- Next PTA meeting: Tuesday, October 24th, 7:00 pm
We are excited to welcome a guest speaker at our October meeting.
‘Navigating social media for the middle school parent’
Dr. Craigan Usher
Professor of Child Psychiatry, OHSU
This will be an interactive session for parents to give practical advice to support your child to a safe and supportive use of social media.
- Important links
Join the PTA: www.schoolpay.com/link/
Join Konstella: https://www.
Instagram: @sellwoodmiddlePTA
Facebook: https://www.
PEAK AFTER-SCHOOL PROGRAM
Sellwood PEAK New Classes! Babysitter Training, First Aid, Chess Club
The PEAK Program is a series of in-person after school classes open to all Sellwood students. The PEAK program is totally independent of Sellwood Middle School and is under the jurisdiction of PTA. Scholarships are available as the PEAK goal is to include every SMS student.
Register for classes at https://tinyurl.com/
Scholarship request form is here: https://tinyurl.com/
Please email sellwoodpeakprogram@
Classes open for registration
- Chess Club (NEW)
- We play chess after school on Mondays! We improve our chess skills by playing as much as possible, solving puzzles, and learning basic strategies. Our after-school program focuses on basics but we hope to develop a more competitive program. We meet on Mondays that school is in session. Note that this is a year-long club.
- Red Cross Babysitter Training - One Day Course (NEW)
- One-day training offered on 11/3/23, 4/5/24 and 4/5/24, 9am-4:30pm (no school days)
- Registration will open Sat, 10/21/23 at 9am
- If you are interested in a scholarship, please fill out request form by 10pm on Wednesday, October 18th.
- Designed for young people to gain the knowledge and skills necessary to safely and responsibly give care to infants and children in a residential setting.
- Participants receive a certificate of completion for Babysitter’s Training
- Pediatric First Aid/CPR/AED Red Cross - One Day Course (NEW)
- One-day training offered on 1/26/24, 9am-2pm (no school day)
- Registration will open Sat, 10/21/23 at 9am
- If you are interested in a scholarship, please fill out request form by 10pm on Wednesday, October 18th.
- The Pediatric First Aid/CPR/AED course equips students with the knowledge necessary to recognize and care for a variety of first aid, breathing, and cardiac emergencies involving children and babies.
- Students will receive a Red Cross Pediatric First Aid/CPR/AED Certificate.
- Choir
- This is a student-led choir class provided by the Cleveland Choir Department, and the Cleveland Youth Choir (CYC) team. With the support of the Cleveland Choir director, Cleveland Choir students will lead a class filled with fun singing activities, practicing musicality skills, and learning about other cultures and stories through song! It is not only an educational opportunity, but a performance opportunity. Students who participate will have an opportunity to perform with the Cleveland Choir at one of our events.
- FULL - Speech and Debate
- FULL - Python Coding
SOCK-TOBER
We have collected 57 pairs of socks to donate to those in need. Our goal is 150 pairs by the end of October! The Leadership class knows that students will need help to reach this goal, so thank you, parents and caregivers. We're increasing the number of drop-off locations, and still rocking our FUN SOCK FRIDAY!
SELLWOOD MIDDLE SCHOOL FOUNDATION UPDATES
Last year, our Blue Bag program generated an astonishing $6,000 for our school, all thanks to your incredible support. With your help, we hope to beat that number this year!
What's Blue Bags? Blue Bags is an easy and impactful way to contribute to our school's success. Simply fill the bags with cans, bottles, or any deposit-marked containers. These versatile bags can be used at home, in the office, at sports events, or any gathering where beverages are served.
Effortless Drop-Offs Forget about waiting in long lines for payment slips. Drop off your filled Blue Bags hassle-free at numerous local BottleDrop locations, including convenient spots like New Seasons, Trader Joe's, and QFC.
Grab Your Blue Bag You can pick up your Blue Bags at the Main Office or from select neighborhood locations.
Let's make this year's Blue Bags program an even bigger success! Your continued support means the world to us and enables us to provide enriching experiences for our students.
CLEVELAND YOUTH BASKETBALL CLINICS
Please see the linked flyer for information about Cleveland Youth Basketball Clinics.
MAIN OFFICE NEWS
Parents/Guardians: It's that time of year again to update your child's emergency contact information in ParentVue. This is very important and helpful for your child. This provides us with up-to-date information in case of an emergency. Please use ParentVue for updating. The deadline for parents to submit Yearly Verification before being locked out of ParentVue is October 31st.
PIL YOUTH SPORTS
PIL sports registration, schedules and calendar found HERE. Sellwood falls under the "Cleveland Cluster". If your student is playing a sport or any extracurricular activity outside of the PIL, we would love to support them as well. Send an email to Mr. KB (akennybrew@pps.net) including the schedule, including playoff information, and team pictures. Thank you
THE MASKED VILLAIN OF SELLWOOD
Writer/director/actor Randy Sean Schulman (Grimm, Wild) in Portland, OR -- wrote and directed a silent movie for the nonprofit Rogue Pack, which serves at-risk youth throughout Oregon.
The short silent film THE MASKED VILLAIN OF SELLWOOD is inspired by poems and stories told from teens in Oregon Youth Authority custody. The film was shot entirely in Sellwood.
The world premiere sold out at the Moreland Theater. And because of its initial success there will be another screening at Moreland Theater on Sunday, October 15 @ 12PM.
Here's the trailer: https://www.facebook.
Info. on next screening: https://www.
Rogue Pack: https://www.roguepack.
SELLWOOD YEARBOOKS FOR ALL
Who wants a yearbook at the end of the year? It turns out, pretty much everybody wants one! Each year, we set aside some time for students to commemorate the end of the school year with a yearbook signing ritual. However, not everyone orders a yearbook, often because they are busy and don’t realize until after the ordering deadline. Sometimes students don’t think they want a yearbook, but when they see them, they realize they really do want one. The truth is, there are many reasons why families don’t order yearbooks, and we never have enough yearbooks for everyone who wants one. We do not like to disappoint students and families. So, what if we ordered yearbooks for every student? In fact, if we order more yearbooks, the price per book will go down. We envision the last day of school when every student has a yearbook to sign! However, we will need your support in order to make this sustainable. We are requesting a suggested $20 donation to our Sellwood Yearbook Donation account in School Pay (the price for a yearbook was $25 last year). You can donate more, especially if you have more than one child at Sellwood. We hope that our “Yearbooks for All” plan will make for a more enjoyable and equitable end of the year experience for all. Thank you for your support.
Here's the link to SchoolPay. If you need assistance with SchoolPay, the SchoolPay parent help
phone number is 833-731-2600.
COUNSELING CORNER
Students with last names A-H: Mr. KB – akennybrew@pps.net
Students with last names L-Z: Ms. Katie – kfrancis@pps.net
MAIN OFFICE
The best way to reach us is by email.
- Melissa Whiteside (mwhitesi@pps.net) is our school secretary and registrar.
- Claire Howard (choward1@pps.net) is our principal’s secretary and bookkeeper.
- Our Sellwood website (pps.net/sellwood) has many “Quick Links” to help you immediately.
The Office Phone Number
The office phone number is 503-916-5656.
When prompted:
- press 4 for Melissa;
- press 3 for Claire
- press 2 for all Attendance matters.
- press 5 for Records, Registration.
- press 0 for the front counter; however, students may answer this line. Do not discuss anything confidential or leave any confidential messages.
Secured Building
Sellwood is a locked and secure building.
Please ring the doorbell to the right of the main doors to reach the office. We will guide you accordingly.
Parent/Student Requests:
Please email both Melissa and Claire for student pick up or if you must get a message to a student. For student pickup, advance notice is strongly recommended to minimize classroom interruptions. No pickups/dismissals will be allowed after 3:30 pm.
Guides to Help you:
To access your student’s attendance in Synergy: Log into ParentVue.
To make changes to your student’s registration in Synergy: ParentVue/StudentVue
Please email Melissa Whiteside (mwhitesi@pps.net) for:
- Passwords: If you have forgotten your password, have been locked out of your account, or do not have login credentials
- ParentVue (if your account has been disabled).
Please email Claire Howard (choward1@pps.net) for:
- School Pay/Bookkeeping/accounting issues.
- Administrative Support: Messages or matters of support to the principal or assistant principal.
IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER
- October 13: No School – State In-service Day
- October 25: Cleveland Arts Assembly
- November 2: End of Quarter 2
- November 3: No School for Students
- November 8: Picture Retakes
- November 10: No School – Veteran’s Day
- November 20-21: Parent Teacher Conferences
- November 22-24: Fall Break
- December 12: Band Winter Concert
- December 18-22: Winter Break
