Sellwood Principal’s Newsletter – November 5, 2023
Greetings Sellwood Community,
I apologize for not sending the newsletter till today. I was hoping for some news to share, but as of right now we still do not know with certainty whether school will be in session tomorrow or not. PPS Communications has promised to send out an email and text tonight at 7 PM. That being said, I would be prepared for the strong possibility that school will not be in session. Principals do not have advance notice, so I will be getting my news at the same time as you.
Last week was quite strange and lonely at the school, with Ms. Collins, me, Ms. Melissa, Ms. Claire and our custodians by ourselves in a very quiet building. We very much miss our students and teachers. Please know that at Sellwood we love, cherish, and value our students and our teachers, and we look forward to everyone’s return.
Here is the link again to the PPS strike resource page.
https://www.pps.net/
We hope to see you again soon!
Sincerely,
Jeandré Carbone
Sellwood MS Principal
PHOTO RETAKES (date subject to change)
Hello families. Hopefully you have received your student's school photos. If you have any issues or questions, please contact LifeTouch studio directly as the office has no information with regard to photos. Their contact information is below:
Their website is mylifetouch.com or call them directly at 1.800.736.4753
Also, a reminder that photo retakes are Nov. 8th.
CLEVELAND YOUTH GIRLS CROSS COUNTRY TAKES 3RD IN STATE
Please help us congratulate them!
ATTENTION 8Th-GRADERS BENSON INFO NIGHT CHANGED TO NOV 28
If your 8th grader is interested in Career & Technical programs like:
- Health sciences
- Automotive
- Manufacturing/Engineering
- Digital media
Benson might be the perfect fit! Come to the 8th grade information night to learn more.
November 28th, 6:00-7:30,
Benson @ Marshall Campus in the Gym
3905 SE 91st Ave
Portland, OR 97266
2024-25 High School Lottery window is open from November 15, 2023 - December 15, 2023.
Students from across Portland Public Schools can apply to lottery slots at our three focus options high schools:
- Benson Polytechnic High School
- Jefferson High School-Middle College for Advanced Studies
- Metropolitan Learning Center
OREGON BATTLE OF THE BOOKS
Oregon Battle of the Books is coming back to Sellwood Middle School and will be organized by parent volunteers for the 2023/24 school year. Now is the time to start organizing a team. Once you have a team, you can register them here. If your student would like help finding a team or an additional team member, fill out this form. If you have questions, email OBOBatSellwood@gmail.com
OBOB is a program where teams of students read an amazing selection of books and then compete with other teams in Battles to recall details from the stories. Battles will be organized at the school level in February 2024. Teams are usually made up of two to four members, with one optional alternate, for a total of no more than five members.
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
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-L: Mr. KB – akennybrew@pps.net
Students with last names M-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
- 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
