~ View the FULL District Calendar for 2024-2025 here ~

January 19, 2025

Go Wolfpack!

Jill Hunt, Principal
Ben Keller, Assistant Principal

REMIND FOR COMMUNICATIONS
We’ve outlined some important information below, and weekly Family Communication newsletters are sent through the REMIND app, typically every Sunday evening. This year, REMIND will be the main communication tool for all District and school notifications. If you have not signed up for Remind access, please read through the steps here, and update your notification settings so that you receive all communications. Also, be sure to update your contact information through westsylvanoffice@pps.net throughout the year, if your email or cell phone number changes, as all Remind communications are connected to your information in ParentVue. Please note: installation of the mobile apps is not required to receive texts/phone calls.

EARLY STUDENT PICK-UPS
We encourage families to try to schedule appointments outside of school hours, whenever possible. Our office gets quite inundated with early pick-ups, so if you must pick up your student before the scheduled end of the school day, please do so by 3:30PM. School ends at 4:00 PM, and your Scholars will miss critical learning each time they are removed from campus early.

LOCKER SECURITY
We are reteaching our student body, and please remind your Scholars that they must lock their lockers. They should never leave their locker combination in the “open” position after opening it (many do, as they don’t want to fumble around with the combination throughout the day). Additionally, we have many students who are deciding to share lockers with multiple other students throughout the day, meaning that they are also sharing their combinations with a number of students. This is also not a recommended practice because then many people may have access to various lockers. As a reminder, we do not recommend taking on liability or devoting time to searching for items such as phones or other expensive electronics that we have already advised students not to have on campus. Scholars bring these items at their own risk.
All students are assigned a locker that is shared. Backpacks and large bags must be stored in lockers throughout the day. Our hallways are small, and large backpacks only increase the crowding during travel from class to class. We advise the use of a tote bag or a handle folder in place of any backpacks. All PPS Middle Schools with lockers share the same expectations related to backpacks. The lockers negate the need to carry large backpacks around all day.

RESTORATIVE JUSTICE PROCESS
Restorative Justice is a philosophy grounded in the belief that positive, healthy relationships help us thrive. When we do things that impact others and create harm to those relationships, it is our individual and collective responsibility to make things right. Restorative justice is about building, maintaining, and repairing relationships to form healthy, supportive, reflective, and inclusive communities. Restorative justice supports schools to maintain those healthy relationships and encourages equitable access to culturally relevant and meaningful education. If you would like to make a request for a Restorative Justice meeting with our RJ School Success Advocate, Alonzo Parnell [aparnell@pps.net], go to this link.

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ADVISORY
To continue the amount of time dedicated to building connections for our scholars with adults and to increase opportunities for academic and Social-Emotional learning, all Middle Schools in PPS have continued with having an Advisory within the school day. During this time our scholars engage in Social-Emotional work and community building. Advisory content will occur during an extended 6th period for every student. For Social-Emotional learning activities, we use Wayfinder, a curriculum that can be viewed here. 

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NEIGHBORHOOD KINDNESS

Our neighbors have reported concerns about the following:

• Parking in front of their driveways

• Parking in areas labeled as “No Parking”

• Driving onto their property to turn around

• Leaving cars idling while sitting in front of their homes.

Please help us maintain good relationships with our neighbors by following the posted signs and respecting their property. Beaverton PD is informed by neighbors of violations.

CANVAS
Our PPS Educators use Canvas, which is a learning platform where Educators upload materials for classes. For information on accessing Canvas, please visit this link: PPS Canvas Quick Guide. Teachers who have set up a Canvas class give a class code to students. Students then have to share their code with parents for you to be a viewer of the class with them. This requires a bit of collaboration and communication with your Scholars to gain access. You are encouraged to contact Educators directly via email if you are having trouble getting the class code from your Scholar.

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APPROPRIATE CLOTHING AT LUNCH RECESS

We still use our outdoor space for recess when it rains, because it’s Oregon and we are accustomed to rain. We also provide a few limited indoor space alternatives on rainy days. It is important that our families help coach students to dress appropriately, bring a jacket, and have items available for any sort of rainy day recess when students may be outdoors. We have two cafeteria spaces in which to sit during recess, and on rainy days alternate spaces will be available in the Library, a quiet classroom, and the Lower Gym for students with passes. As you can imagine, it takes a number of adults to supervise so many spaces, so we always appreciate family volunteers who want to join us for recess supervision - rain or shine!

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RESOURCES FOR SCHOLARS

School Counselors may be contacted for support with resources needed, when a family may not be able to get school supplies and/or clothing items for students. We have built up a Clothing Closet where we store a variety of slightly used items for scholars to choose from, and communicating with the School Counselor is a private way to get resources. We also have set aside various school supplies for students in need.

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SCHOOL ID CARDS

PPS expects all Middle School and High School students to wear ID badges throughout the school day, just like all adults. On school Picture Day students received their updated picture ID. Students should all have IDs at school each day. Students can wear their own fun lanyard and decorate their lanyard, and we encourage them to find a way to make this feel fashionable for them!
Please help your Scholar by reminding them to grab their ID before leaving for the bus or getting in the car for school. We have temporary sticker IDs we will have students wear if they come to school without their ID badge. We are reinforcing safety by having our IDs visible throughout the day, and it’s also a great way to learn names so that we can personalize our greetings with each other throughout the school community!

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VISITOR POLICY
All visitors have to go through a check-in process when entering our building, which requires scanning your driver’s license/state ID. Please remember your ID if you are entering the school building to visit the office for any reason. You will be asked to show your face/ID at the door camera prior to entering. Appointments must be made in advance to meet with any school staff member.

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ELECTRONICS POLICY

The Oregon Department of Education weighed in on the use of cell phones in school, and the article is linked here. West Sylvan is a NO cell phone zone from 9:00AM - 4:00PM daily. We advise all families to keep scholars’ cell phones at home during the school day. If you determine that you must send your scholar with a device, please use the parent control features to turn off access to all social media and discuss your expectation that they follow school rules. You may also mark the device ‘lost’ during school hours, thus making the phone inoperable during specific hours. The number one cause of all school referrals and school fights are conflicts initially instigated through students’ cell phones. You should have a way to monitor your child’s devices regularly. Know who their friends are, and set up the settings on devices to view and monitor students' accounts for unsafe connections and harmful content. Please do not call/contact your student on their phone during school hours. We will confiscate their phone/watch, even if they tell us they were trying to contact their parents, as we have phones available in the Office for such needs.

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TRANSPORTATION
~ IF YOUR STUDENT IS RIDING THE BUS TO/FROM SCHOOL, PLEASE MAKE SURE THEY KNOW THEIR BUS ROUTE NUMBER ~
Students may take a school bus to and from school, and you may drop off and pick up. Route information can be found at this link. If you are dropping off and picking up by car, be advised that there is significant traffic in and out of campus due to our limited access points and turnaround style parking lot. Please pull all the way forward to the front school doors to drop off; do not stop halfway through the parking lot to drop off/pick up, as you then slow down all the traffic behind you and risk your student's safety. If you are parking in the neighborhood around campus, please do not block any of our neighbors’ driveways, use their driveways as turnarounds, or leave your engines idling while waiting. Our school works in collaboration with the Beaverton Police Department, and the BPD team regularly patrols to be sure that we are respecting our neighbors and their property.
**BUS NOTES: If your scholar IS NOT riding their assigned bus and needs to take an alternate bus route, we must have the request in writing. Please send an email to our Main Office at westsylvanoffice@pps.net and we will print a bus pass for your student to give their alternate bus drive to notify them of the change.

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NUTRITION SERVICES
Students are welcome to bring their own sack lunch and are encouraged to bring a reusable water bottle daily to refill throughout the school day in our water fountains. Scholars do NOT have to pay for school lunch and/or breakfast items, and information about menus and resources are here. We have two separate lunch times, with 6th Graders eating together first, and then a combined 7th/8th Graders’ lunchtime/recess.

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VOLUNTEERS
Become an approved PPS volunteer by following the information here. Once your application is approved, please contact the Main Office to see how and when you can be of service.

 Quick Reference:

We’re thrilled to announce that two PPS teachers were recently awarded the prestigious Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching (PAEMST). 

Krishnan Ranjani,  a teacher of advanced mathematics and Career and Technical Education (CTE) computer systems at Lincoln High School and Nick Nohner, a computer sciences and data sciences teacher at Ida B. Wells High School, were both selected for the honor which is administered by the National Science Foundation (NSF) on behalf of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. The award recognizes outstanding educators for their contributions to the teaching and learning of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

Each awardee will receive a certificate signed by President Joe Biden and a $10,000 award from NSF. Awardees will also travel to Washington, D.C., for an awards ceremony at a future date. 

Congratulations to these two exceptional teachers!

We are thrilled to celebrate an incredible achievement by 96 of our outstanding PPS music students, who have earned spots in the prestigious All-State Ensembles for the Oregon Music Education Association (OMEA). 

This annual statewide competition recognizes the "best of the best" in student musicianship, bringing together top performers from across Oregon to play in cross-district ensembles at the state music education conference this weekend, January 17-19.

PPS is hosting a series of events that focus on belonging, equity and inclusive practices where we will screen powerful, award-winning documentaries that will challenge each of us to consider what is possible in the systems we create for our children with disabilities.

As part of this series, we will be holding a free screening of "Forget Me Not” on Thursday, January 16th at 6:30 PM at Franklin High School.

"Forget Me Not" is a moving story about 3-year-old Emilio whose family finds itself embroiled in a challenge all too common for children with disabilities: that of securing the right to an inclusive education. Filmmaker Olivier and his wife, Hilda, turn the camera on themselves and their child as they navigate an often frustrating system on their way toward ensuring that their son gets the education he needs and deserves.

Staff, families, and community members are all invited. Parking is free and light refreshment will be provided. We hope to see you there!

For families with students entering 6th Grade in the 2024-25 school year

Please complete the survey at this link 
to share some of your course preferences with us
as we plan for next year's schedules.

This next year, all PPS Middle Schools will be using a SEVEN course/day model. Depending on course designs, they will be offered as full year, semester, or quarter-long classes. The following courses will be required, in order to meet our district and Middle Years Programs.

• Language Arts (If DLI, there will be an added ELA course taken in English ) (yr)
• Social Science (yr)
• Science (yr)
• Math  (yr)
• Physical Education (3 qrts) & Health (1 qtr)
• World Language (French and Spanish, 1 quarter each) 

In addition, all electives need to fall under the MYP descriptions for "DESIGN" and "ART". All students will be expected to take at least one elective from each category, which will automatically be included in schedules, excluding BAND, CHOIR, or AVID. 

• MYP "Art" Elective (1 semester) 
• MYP "Design" Elective (1 Semester)
• 'Open' Elective Period ( 1 Semester) 

MYP Elective courses will include ART, S.T.E.A.M., MUSIC, and possibly one or two others that are yet to be determined, based on staffing.  Band or Choir will be taken as a full year elective and count for 2 semesters, leaving one semester of another elective available.