Panther Parent Update

De Portola welcomes individuality by empowering and developing students’ communication, curiosity, and critical thinking skills through a growth mindset. We are Panthers! Rooooaaaarrrrrrrr!!

10/25 Picture Make-up Day

10/27 Haunted House 5:00-8:00pm

10/31 Halloween (costumes allowed)

11/02 Minimum Day Dismissal at 2:00pm

11/03 Fall Dance during school hours

11/07 DP Foundation Mtg 6:00pm

11/09 SSC 8:00am (Thursday)

11/10 NO SCHOOL

11/20 THANKSGIVING BREAK

12/01 SGT 8:00am

At your next opportunity, we ask you to please sign-in to the Parent Portal in PowerSchool and complete the short 30 second survey, following the steps below:

• Select Forms from the left-hand navigation menu, then select 2023-24 Impact Aid Program Survey Form.
• Follow the prompts and submit the form. Please be sure a confirmation appears before logging off.
• For parents using the PowerSchool mobile app, you can submit the survey using the app.
  
• If you need assistance, or do not yet have a Parent Portal account, please contact Mr. Steven at SFong@sandi.net.

I will continue to report our collection status until we reach 100%. Thank you for your support.

Our Fall Sports had an incredible season. Our Boys Track and Field Team placed first in the division. The Girls Track and Field Team had a great showing with a lot of personal bests. The Boys Basketball Team is advance in the playoffs and The Girls Basketball Team has been undefeated all season. De Portola has represented well. A huge thank you to all the families that support our athletes and coaches!

We will not have any staffing changes at De Portola. We are very grateful to maintain our current staff and keep student schedules in place (insert huge sigh of relief here).

We have entered the time of year when SDUSD makes staffing adjustments across the district based on each site's enrollment and district funding. As of October 1, De Portola is anticipating a staffing reduction based on district funding despite our enrollment growing by 25 students this year. We are reviewing our master schedule to determine the least impact on our students. We will not get final staffing allocation information from SDUSD until October 16. I will be sure to send communication as we finalize details in the next few weeks.

Don't miss Tierrasanta's scariest Haunted House this Friday, October 27 from 5:00-8:00pm in Weiner Hall. All proceeds go to the music department to pay for competition fees and instrument repairs. There will be carnival booths, pizza, and snacks. We have been lucky enough to recruit volunteers from the USS John Canley to support with set up, scaring children, and clean up. We encourage the whole family to attend. All middle school students in attendance without their family must be picked up by 8:00pm or else they will be put to work with clean up.

We love Halloween at De Portola! All students and staff are allowed to wear their costumes to school as long as it abides by our Dress Code. Students may not bring any fake weapons and masks cannot be worn in classrooms. Also, please double check that carrying a backpack does not alter the length of the dress/skirt/costume to reveal a student's backside.

Parents are welcome to attend. Just sign in at the office at 1:00 and we will direct you to the back.

8th: Wed 10/18, Thurs 10/1, Fri 10/20
7th: Tues 10/24, Wed 10/25, Thurs 10/26
6th: Mon 10/30, Wed 11/1, Thurs 11/2

We are experiencing an increase in COVID cases and kindly ask you to keep your students home if they are experiencing symptoms. We know how important it is that your students attend school, but above all else, we prioritize the emotional and physical well-being of our entire student population. If you have any questions or concerns you can email our Nurse Lundy at jlundy1@sandi.net and she will get back to you as soon as possible. We have tests in the nurses office that your students can access at any time during the school day. The current list of COVID symptoms are as follows:

• fever or chills
• cough
• shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
• fatigue muscle or body ache
• headache
• new loss of taste or smell
• sore throat

We currently have a vacancy for our Attendance Clerk. Miss Dora, Finance Clerk, and Mr. Steve, Site Tech, are filling in for now. Please email Miss Dora dbriggs@sandi.net or Mr. Steven sfong@sandi.net to report absences. Please be sure to state your students full name, grade level, date of birth, and specific reason for absence. You can also email them if you need to pick up your student early. Please provide at least a two hour notice to ensure that we can write and deliver a pass for your student. You can also call the school at 619-605-4800 and press 3 for attendance.

For the 2023-24 school year, De Portola Middle School will provide both BREAKFAST and LUNCH for all students. Breakfast will be served from 8:30-8:45 AM. Students just need their four digit PIN number, which can be found on their schedules.

All families must complete a meal application on paper or online even if your student does not eat cafeteria food. Meal Application and LCFF forms are used to determine funding for our schools. Please complete the forms in the packet.

If you want your student to be able to purchase additional items such as cookies and water bottles, please register at PayPams and you can add money to an account that will align with your child's lunch pin number.