Principal's Newsletter 12.6.2024

Dear Sellwood Community,

 

I hope you all had a wonderful fall break and enjoyed some quality rest & relaxation.

 

Next week, we are excited to host our Winter Choir & Band Concert at the Cleveland High School Auditorium, from 7:00 to 9:00 PM, on Thursday, December 12th. That morning, we will also hold a Choir and Band Assembly, so that Sellwood students get to experience a performance by our band and choir programs, and hopefully get inspired to get involved themselves.

 

8th grade families, if your child is interested in attending Benson Polytechnic High School or another focus option high school next year, please be aware that the application window closes Monday, December 16th -- Learn more: Application and other information

 

I hope you have a lovely weekend,

 

Sincerely,

 

Jeandre Carbone

Sellwood MS Principal

 

PTANEWS

Join the PTA

Please join the PTA and contribute your voice to the conversation on making this a great school year for our kids and SMS community. Here is the link to join!

www.schoolpay.com/link/sellwoodpta

 

Join Konstella

The PTA uses the Konstella app to keep the parent community up to date with scheduled events, the school calendar, volunteer sign ups and PTA announcements. Here is the link to join!

https://www.konstella.com/cd/AXC2Z9

 

PTA Annual Campaign

THANK YOU Sellwood Community for supporting the PTA Annual Campaign! Thanks to our amazing community, we raised over $15,900 to support our school! We are grateful to every individual donor and our generous matching donor who made this happen.

 

If this is not the right time for you or your family, you can donate to the PTA anytime this year by clicking this link. https://pps.schoolpay.com/pay/for/Donate-to-the-20242025-Sellwood-Middle-S/SNMAwb

 

Thank you again for your support!

 

Spirit Wear Sale

The PTA is pleased to present Sellwood Middle School Gear! On sale now through December 2nd, at midnight at the following website:

STORE LINK: https://stores.inksoft.com/sellwood_middle_school_spirit

Get your Beanies! T-shirts! Hoodies! Zip Hoodies! Sweatpants!

This is a spirit raiser, not a fundraiser, with prices set close to production costs. We look forward to seeing this gear out in the community!

Items will be available for pick-up at Sellwood on Thursday, December 19th and Friday, December 20th. Details to come closer to that time.

Questions? Send a message to SMSGearShop@gmail.com and we will get back to you ASAP.

STORE LINK

https://stores.inksoft.com/sellwood_middle_school_spirit

 

Sellwood Dines Out

Thank you to the Portland Bottle Shop for hosting SDO in November! Stay tuned for new locations starting in January and thanks for your attendance and support.

 

OBOB

Oregon Battle of the Books is coming back to Sellwood Middle School and will be organized by parent volunteers for the 2024/25 school year. Now is the time to start organizing a team; the deadline to register will be Friday, December 6th. Once you have a team, you can register them here. If your student would like help finding a team, fill out this form. If you have questions, email sellwoodobob@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 2025. Teams are usually made up of two to four members, with one optional alternate, for a total of no more than five members.

 

November Volunteer Opportunities
All current volunteer opportunities will be posted on Konstella. Please sign up there or email us at sellwoodpta@gmail.comWe are looking for committee chairs for some of our winter/spring events, including PEAK, Drag Queen Bingo, and the Garden Tour. If you have experience with event planning, fundraising, and/or leading teams please take a look and sign up! Feel free to reach out with any questions.

 

We are kicking off plans for Drag Queen Bingo in February and looking for volunteers to support this fun event! Please join us at Smitty's Taphouse on Monday 12/16 at 7:15pm for more information, and reach out directly if you are interested but cannot attend. We need as many people to help as we can to continue the success of this event. Thank you!

 

OBOB-OREGONBATTLEOFTHEBOOKS

OBOB - 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 2024/25 school year. Now is the time to start organizing a team; the deadline to register will be Friday, December 6th. Once you have a team, you can register them here. If your student would like help finding a team, fill out this form. If you have questions, email sellwoodobob@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 2025. Teams are usually made up of two to four members, with one optional alternate, for a total of no more than five members.

 

2025-26HIGHSCHOOLLOTTERYWINDOW

November 13, 2024 - December 16, 2024

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

 

Learn more: Application and other information

 

SUCCESSFULSCHOOLSURVEY-OPENUNTILDECEMBER16

Dear families,

Today Portland Public Schools begins the annual Successful Schools Survey. The Successful Schools Survey is an opportunity for students, staff, and families to provide important feedback on their school environments, learning experiences, and sense of well-being and safety at school.

The survey is conducted once every school year to provide timely information to schools, district leadership, and the community, allowing us to make informed decisions about school climate and culture. This year, the survey window is open November 1 to December 16.

Portland Public Schools highly values the input and opinions of its families, and we welcome all PPS parents and guardians to complete this year’s survey. We use the data to help improve our schools, providing targeted feedback and training on how to create healthy school environments that are welcoming for all.

You can complete the Successful Schools Survey online using the link provided below. Please complete one survey per household. If you have more than one student at PPS, we ask that you complete the survey considering the experiences of your eldest child.

The survey will take approximately 15-30 minutes to complete and is available in English, Spanish, Russian, Somali, Vietnamese and Chinese.

https://surveys.panoramaed.com/portlandor/fall24family

 

For more information about the Successful Schools Survey, please go to pps.net/sss2024.

 

PEAKAFTERSCHOOLPROGRAM

 

PEAK is a parent-run program that organizes afterschool programs at Sellwood Middle school. We are in search of new volunteers to help us keep this program going, and (hopefully) expand it!

 

See here for additional details: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1knsFI__iI4sZz6aoX0pY2NWQ3NxiOQtHa4i3wE3offM/edit?tab=t.0

 

If you are interested in volunteering, please email sellwoodpeakprogram@gmail.com

 

 

CLEVELANDHIGHSCHOOLWINTERMAKERSMARKET

MAINOFFICE

The best way to reach us is by email.

Willa Grund is our new school secretary. wgrund@pps.net

Claire Howard (choward1@pps.net) is our principal’s secretary.

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 Willa Grund (“Records/Registration”).

press 3 for Claire (Principal’s Secretary).

press 2 for any “Attendance” matter. It’s a designated line just for attendance.

press 5 for Records, Registration.

press 0 for the front counter – answered by students; not a confidential line.

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.

Picking up your student during the day:

While we understand it is sometimes necessary to pick up your child from school, please try to limit your student’s daytime appointments. If necessary, please ring the bell at the main door and expect to wait while your child is located.

Guides to Help you:

To correct your student’s attendance: Log into ParentVue.

For changes to your student's registration profile in Synergy: ParentVue/StudentVue

Quick Links found on Sellwood’s website (pps.net/sellwood)

Please email wgrund@pps.net for:

Passwords: If you have forgotten your password, have been locked out of your account, or do not have login credentials.

Registration, Enrollment.

ParentVue (if your account has been disabled).

Please email Claire (choward1@pps.net) for:

School Pay.

Bookkeeping/accounting issues.

Administrative Support: Messages or matters of support to the principal or assistant principal.
 

IMPORTANTDATESTOREMEMBER

December 12: Winter Band & Choir Concert @ Cleveland Auditorium

December 18: Early Release at 1:45

December 23-January 3: Winter Break

January 16: PTA Meeting

January 16: STEAM Show

Link to PPS Calendar for 2024 - 2025

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