Principal's Newsletter 5.20.2024
Sellwood Principal’s Newsletter – May 20, 2024
Greetings Sellwood Community,
My apologies for the delayed newsletter. Last week, I was out of town caring for my elderly mother (95!) who has been doing poorly.
I was also sorry to miss the PTA Garden Tour yesterday. I heard that it was a lovely event, as usual, and a great success. Thanks to all that attended and supported our wonderful PTA!
This week, we will be conducting state testing on Tuesday (ELA) and Thursday (math). Please make sure your child gets a good night’s rest and arrives to school on time with a fully-charged Chromebook.
Have a great week!
Sincerely,
Jeandré Carbone
Sellwood MS Principal
STATE TESTING
OSAS testing is on May 21st and 23rd. We will have a different bell schedule for these 2 days; please see below. Please note that any opted out students will stay in class for the duration of the class, working silently. To prepare for these important tests, please make sure your student:
- gets a good night sleep
- eats a healthy breakfast
- brings a snack to eat during the testing break
- brings a fully charged Chromebook
PTA NEWS
PTA General Meeting - May 28
Please join us for our final PTA meeting of the school year on Tuesday, May 28 at 7:00 pm in the SMS library. We will have an update from Principal Carbone and will approve our budget and board for the 2024-2025 school year. We look forward to seeing you there!
8th Grade Graduation Volunteers Needed: June 14
Please check Konstella for opportunities to help with set up & decorations, refreshments, handing out certificates, and clean-up. This is a special day for our 8th graders and we need your support to make it happen!
SMS PTA Board opportunities - 2024-2025
We are looking for new PTA Board members for the 2024-2025 school year. We will have several member-at-large vacancies on the board and want to ensure all feeder schools are represented. Please consider joining us to and helping with important committees like Sellwood Dines Out, Staff Appreciation, PEAK programs and other important events throughout the year. Reach out to sellwoodpta@gmail.com with any questions.
Important links:
- PTA email: sellwoodpta@gmail.com
- Join the PTA: www.schoolpay.com/link/
sellwoodpta - Join Konstella: https://www.konstella.com/cd/
AXC2Z9 - Instagram: @sellwoodmiddlePTA
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/
SellwoodMiddleSchoolPTA/
SELLWOOD SPRING SHOWCASE NIGHT, JUNE 6th
Save the date for Sellwood’s Annual Student Showcase on June 6th. The Showcase is a fun, drop-in event with displays of student work throughout the school, plus music and drama performances. We will have an art show, science displays, math & games, language arts and social studies projects, and food carts. Please see below for more details.
OAKS PARK FIELD TRIPS – PERMISSION SLIPS WERE DUE MAY 3rd
All students should have received the Oaks Park permission form to sign and return. If you have not submitted your child’s field trip permission form and the $18 payment, please do so right away.
Here are the details of the field trip.
- When:
- 8th graders - Monday, June 10th, 2024, 9:30am – 2:30pm
- 6th/7th graders – Tuesday, June 11th, 2024, 9:30am – 2:30pm
- Transportation: We will be walking both to and from the park. Make sure to wear comfortable shoes! All students will return to Sellwood for school dismissal; no exceptions.
- Cost: $18.00 will include Adrenalin Peak Roller Coaster, Go-Karts, Atmosphere (new ride).
- Preferred payment on-line with School Pay.
- If this presents a financial hardship, scholarships are available. Let us know by emailing Ms. Collins dcollins@pps.net or Claire Howard choward1@pps.net
- Lunch: Students may: 1. Bring a sack lunch, 2. Request a Sellwood sack lunch, or 3. purchase lunch at OAKS Park. Please note that there can be very long lines and waits for purchasing food at the park. We have reserved a Picnic Area (students can leave their lunch here during the day).
- Other Costs: Students can bring extra money for snacks, games. etc.
- Due Date for Permission Slips: Friday, May 3rd. (extended to May 17th)
- Expectations: In order to make sure this experience is safe and enjoyable for everyone, students attending Oaks Park are expected to be on their best behavior and must be responsive to adult direction. We are also expecting that as we come closer to the end of the year, that students will continue to meet behavior expectations while at school.
- If a student were to receive a serious stage 2-3 referral that would merit suspension, between now and the end of the year, that student may be suspended from attending Oaks Park with their class. Examples of incidents that may merit suspension: fighting, serious disruptive conduct, violation of the PPS drug/alcohol policy, bullying and harassment, physical attack/harm, property damage (intentional), etc.
8TH-GRADE PROMOTION
Friday June 14, 8th Grade Promotion
Sellwood Field, 10:30-11:30 am
Please join in celebration of our Sellwood Middle School 8th grade class with a promotion ceremony at the Sellwood Middle School Field. We will have our amazing Sellwood Middle School band performing, with a photo booth and light refreshments for families and graduates.
Thank you to Sellwood PTA for sponsoring this event! If you would like to volunteer, please look on Konstella for Sign Ups or email Liz: supere@ohsu.edu.
ANNUAL SUCCESSFUL SCHOOL SURVEY
Our district values your feedback! We are currently surveying PPS and Sellwood families in order to gain insight into your perception of our school and district effectiveness. To ensure we continue to provide high quality, rigorous learning experiences that meet the needs of our learners and prepare them for college and career, we need your feedback. We want to know what you think.
To administer these surveys, we have partnered with Panorama Education to conduct our 2024 Family Survey. Panorama safeguards your privacy, keeping your responses
confidential. The survey shouldn’t take more than a few minutes to complete, and will be a valuable source of information for us as we work to make our schools and district as
good as they can be.
You should have received an email on May 6th with a link to the survey. You may complete the survey online between May 6th and May 31 using a computer, tablet, or smartphone. If you didn’t receive an email, you can complete the survey by visiting the following website
https://surveys.panoramaed.
- For more information, please refer to the attached SLIDES.
We thank you in advance for your thoughtful responses. If you have any questions about the survey administration, please don’t hesitate to contact School Climate Specialist at mmortensen@pps.net
LOST OR INTENTIONALLY DAMAGED CHROMEBOOKS
As we are nearing the end of the 2023-24 school year, questions are surfacing about students who have lost or intentionally damaged their Chromebook or their charger/adapter. In October, the School Board updated the board policy on instructional materials, 6.40.010-P, to include charging students for lost or damaged equipment. Parents/guardians will pay the school and the school will purchase replacement Chromebook using the PPS IT Purchasing process. Chromebook replacements are $515 and lost chargers are $11.50.
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
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
- May 21: OSAS Testing - ELA
- May 22: Spring Band Concert – 6PM
- May 23: OSAS Testing - Math
- May 27: Memorial Day – NO SCHOOL
- May 28: PTA Meeting 7PM
- June 6: Showcase Night 5:30 – 7:30 PM
- June 10: OAKS Park – 8th Grade
- June 11: OAKS Park – 6th and 7th Grades
- June 12-14: Make-up Days
- June 14: 8th Grade Promotion 10:30 – 11:30 AM
- June 14: Last Day of School – Half Day