11/25-11/26 - Book Fair (see details below)
11/25 - 11/26 - Parent Teacher Conferences
11/27 - 11/29 - Schools Closed for Thanksgiving Holiday
12/4 - Shu Ren Dine Out: Pure Spice 
12/6 - 6:00-8:00 - PTA Movie Night
12/9 - 6:00 - 8:00 PM - OMSI TAG Family Night
12/11 - 8:30 AM - Chinese Affinity Tea/Coffee Talk
12/12 - 6:00 PM - 3rd-5th Winter Music and Art Program

Portland Public Schools has implemented a new visitor/volunteer management system at Woodstock for the 2019/20 school year. Part of keeping students and staff safe is knowing who is in our buildings at all times. Upon entering Woodstock when school is in session (8:10 AM - 2:45 PM), visitors/volunteers will need to present a government issued identification (ID), i.e. drivers license, passport, consulate card, etc. All names will be automatically checked against the sex offender registry, and registered sex offenders will not be permitted to enter the school grounds (View Policy: Registered Sex Offenders 3.10.015-AD or https://www.pps.net/domain/4814).

Approved volunteers who have cleared a Volunteer Background Check will already have their names in the system; however, they will still need to provide their ID upon their first visit. Upon future visits, they will be able to use their name to pull up their record and sign in. Approved volunteers may chaperone and work with students in our schools, whereas, visitors are only allowed restricted access and for shorter lengths of time. New volunteers should visit www.pps.net/volunteer to complete the online volunteer application. 

Thank you, in advance, for your understanding and support of enhancing school safety protocols in our district. Please bear with us over while we implement this new system, as it may take longer to sign-in with the office staff.

Woodstock Families,

Welcome to the 2018-2019 school year!  It was great to see everyone together for the first time at our Morning Meeting.  With all our new and returning students and staff, I’m really looking forward to this school year.

Please remember that the Woodstock Open House is next Wednesday, September 5, from 6:00 to 8:00 PM.  

Prior to the Open House will be a TAG Information Meeting (this is open to all interested families) at 5:00 PM and there will be an ELL Family Information Meeting at 5:30 PM.  Both of the events will take place in the cafeteria.

If you were at our Morning Meeting today, you may have heard about some changes to our upcoming Open House.  This year, all grade level teams will be doing a presentation in the cafeteria. Here is the schedule for the the grade level presentations:

6:15 PM - Kindergarten
6:30 PM - 1st Grade
6:45 PM - 2nd Grade
7:00 PM - 3rd Grade
7:15 PM - 4th Grade
7:30 PM - 5th Grade

Teachers will not be available in their classrooms during their respective presentations, but will be available to talk with families, on a more personal level, before and after their grade level presentation.

Please note that conference sign-ups will not happen during Open House this year.  We hope you can focus on meeting your child’s teacher, exploring the school, and learning about Woodstock’s instructional program.  There will be more information coming about conference sign-ups in September.

I’d also like to take a moment to remind families to review the updated Arrival and Dismissal Procedures Document.  Specifically, I would like to point out that the cafeteria doors will no longer be open during arrivals. This week, we piloted the additional security of keeping those doors closed and having students and families enter, primarily, through the main school doors.  We discovered that it provided better supervision and safety for students. We understand that this may cause an inconvenience for some families, but believe it allows for a more secure school. If you have any questions about these safety changes, please let me know.

Students and families may enter the building starting at 8:00 AM.  However, there is not supervision and the front doors may be locked prior to 8:00 AM. To make sure your child is safe and supervised, please do your best to plan your morning so that you child arrives between 8:00 and 8:10 AM.

There have also been a few requests from families to allow students in 1st and 2nd Grade to walk to meet a younger sibling at their dismissal door.  Please keep in mind that only students 3rd Grade and up can walk to meet a younger sibling at their dismissal door, but they will still need written permission to do so.  If you have any questions, please talk with your child’s teacher.

Finally, I want to share that our new Kindergarten class has done a fantastic job of transitioning to the rigors of an elementary school.  We hope you have a restful three day weekend and look forward to picking up again next week.

With Woodstock Pride,

Seth Johnson, Principal
Woodstock Elementary

Dear Families,

For the winter holidays, we are offering some assistance for families that are having difficulty making ends meet. We are currently collecting holiday wish lists from families needing support.

Here is how the program works:

We will be taking referrals for families during the month of November. Families wishing to participate in the program will fill out a wishlist for each child in their home. Please return your child’s wish list by November 12th.  Each wishlist item will be coded, written on a tag and placed on the bulletin board across from Room 1. All names of program participants will be left off the tags and kept confidential. Families that are able to give will take one or more wishlist tags from the bulletin board and shop for those items. They will then bring the wrapped gift(s) or gift card(s) to the office with the tag attached. The tags are very important because they will have the family code written on it to be sure that the gifts go to the appropriate families.  I will contact participating families and distribute the gifts
      This is a confidential program. To inquire about participation, please call me at 503-916-6380 or talk to your child's teacher. During the weeks of Nov 12 - Dec 6th, check out the Season of Sharing bulletin board if you would like to fulfill someone's wish! Thank you for your care and concern for our school community.

Sincerely, 

Ponny Kosmas and Shannon Nicolas

School Counselor 

In this week's PPS students receive "Beat the Odds" scholarships; meet PPS's new Programs Manager for Climate Change & Climate Justice

Four high school students from Portland Public Schools who have excelled academically despite hardships have been named Renaissance Scholars and recipients of $16,000 “Beat the Odds” college scholarships.

Earlier this year, Nichole Berg was scrolling through Facebook while visiting family when she came upon something that would change her life: a job description. The life-long Wisconsinite, then a vice principal at a Madison middle school, read about a position in Portland Public Schools she had never heard of before: Programs Manager for Climate Change and Climate Justice.