Maplewood Memo
October 11, 2023
PRINCIPAL'S MESSAGE
Hi Everyone!
To acknowledge October as Dyslexia Awareness month, we have planned some pretty great things in the next two weeks. Starting on Monday, we are kicking it off with a Parent Reading Information Night on Monday, October 16th at 5:30 in the gym. This is for parents of students in grades K-3. We ask that you do not bring children to this event, if possible, so you can focus on the important information we plan to share. We will present about how children learn to read and why it is so hard! We will also share ways to support your child at home with reading. And… we will also have lots of activities for you to try so you can get an idea of how we are supporting readers here at school. The information is for parents with children who are just learning to read or who may be struggling with reading. I hope we have a big turn out because I think the things we are sharing will be great for all parents with young children to know!
Here is the schedule of events for the reading weeks ahead:
Monday - October 16th
Parent Reading Information night (K-3) - 5:30 in the gym
The beloved Scholastic Book Fair will begin today - open until 7pm for those of you coming to the Parent Reading Information Night.
Tuesday - Thursday, October 17-19
Book Fair continues
Classes read with their buddies
Friday - October 20th
Last day of the Book Fair!
Important members from our community will come to Maplewood to read to different classrooms. (City Commissioner Dan Ryan, School Board Member Patte Sullivin, Portland Police chief Chuck Lovell, US Coast Guard members, etc…) This is a former tradition for Maplewood that we are excited to bring back! (Many thanks to Liberty Looney for organizing this!)
Monday - October 23rd
Read-a-Thon Kick off - This is an important PTA fundraiser!
Tuesday - Thursday
Read-a-Thon continues
Friday
Last day of Read-a-Thon
Dress as your favorite book character day. (Click HERE for ideas) Weather permitting, we will have a parade on the blacktop to show off our book characters to each other! There will be more information coming in your class newsletter - parents are welcome to join the parade. We will begin at 1:15 and will be canceled if it rains.
So the next two weeks will be very busy and filled with lots of great reading! Please mark your calendars and join us!
This is not all that October holds for our school. As part of our commitment to equity, Maplewood has hired Elizabeth Denevi and Randolph Carter from East Ed to run affinity groups with both students of color and white students (separately) in grade 4 and 5. Elizabeth and Randolph join us with years of experience in working with school and equity. Elizabeth is also the author of Learning and Teaching While White: Antiracist Strategies for School Communities (info HERE) and we feel lucky to have their guidance in our equity work at Maplewood.
They will present about affinity groups to grade 4 and 5 on October 17th and 18th and there will be a Parent Information Session about affinity groups for 4th and 5th grade parents in the evening on the 18th at 7pm. This will be a virtual event. This session is only for parents of 4th and 5th graders. Please reply HERE to let us know if you will be joining and then we will send you a Zoom link. (If you are unable to fill out this form, just email your child’s teacher to let them know you want to attend and we will send you the link.) Please mark your calendar for this parent event as I have a feeling your child will come home from school telling you all about affinity groups that day and this will help you have a full picture and ask any questions you may have.
In line with our equity work, we have created an Equity page on our website which recaps the work we have done in the last couple of years. (Click HERE) There is also a link on this page (HERE) where you can fill out a form to let our counselors know if you or your child may need help with a racial issue at school. Even if it feels small, please do reach out. Our goal is for our school to feel safe and welcoming to every child and eliminating microaggressions is part of the work.
Our first Site Council meeting is coming up quickly and we would love to have you join us! You don’t need to be a permanent site council member to join us. Just drop in to get the scoop on Maplewood and ask some questions. Our agenda for this meeting is for us to: create our Site Council meeting calendar for the year, review our school safety plan, and review our fall assessment data and talk about our action plans for the year ahead. Please join us on Monday, October 23rd at 5:30 online. Here is the link: Site Council Google Meet: https://meet.google.com/ssv-azmg-psn Would you like to be on our Site Council? Just email me at kgalloway@pps.net
Lastly, the Successful School Survey has been moved to November 1 - December 8th this year, which is a few months earlier than in previous years. Previously, we have had a very high response rate from Maplewood families and the data we have collected has been very useful. Thank you! You can see our results from the last survey HERE.
You made it to the end of my very long submission! Thank you for reading.
Warmly.
Kit
* "Please click view entire message to read the entire news memo"
SAVE THE DATE
Oct. 16
Parent reading Information Night K-3- 5:30pm - Gym
No children please
Oct. 16 through Oct. 20
Book Fair - School Library
Oct. 17
PTA Mtg. 6:30
Oct. 16 through Oct. 27
Online OBOB Book Fundraiser
ONLINE Swag Sale through October
October 19
Pie Pick up Day - front of school
October 23rd
Read-a-thon, Begins
October 26
Picture Day
October 27
Book Character Dress Up
Kindergarten to Pumpkin Patch
October 27
Online Swag Sale & OBOB Book Fundraiser (Annie Blooms)
STAFF NEWS
ART - More than halfway through our first quarter and WOW - our art students have done a lot!
Kindergarten and first grade students have been working hard on LINES, one of the elements of art. We explored by creating different types of lines, like straight, wavy and zigzag using so many mediums: crayons, markers, paints, water, ruler, and we even risked using Sharpies! Ask them what the word of the day has been! Here are some photos:
Second through fifth have been diligently completing their rock cairns. They are gorgeous!
Five students were selected and are displayed in the Superintendent's Gallery at the Prophet Center.beginning October 4, 2023 and through the end of November. Here are some photos:
And if you haven’t gotten a chance to walk into our building lately, our first all-school collaborative project of the year for International Dot Day has been displayed! It’s massive and here is a photo:
COUNSELING
Hello Maplewood Families!
A few quick requests:
* We keep a small food pantry of items to send home with students. These are either no-cook items (granola bars, crackers) or heat-and-eat items (canned meals, soups) that can be prepared easily. Our food supply is INCREDIBLY LOW. Any donations would be appreciated. Please drop these by the office.
* Is your family struggling financially and stressed by school fees? Please let us know (kknochel@pps.net or kcunninghamparm@pps.net) and your student will be made eligible for resources.
* Over the holidays, our school provides food boxes for Maplewood families while they are away from free meals. Along with these, we provide gift cards to WinCo and Fred Meyer. We are looking for gift card donations in $25 increments. We can also provide tax receipts if requested.
Thanks so much!
Kendall Cunningham & Kate Knochel
Maplewood Elementary School Counselors
LIBRARY & TECHNOLOGY
Students will not be able to select books from our amazing library collection due to the book fair next week. Please keep library books at home until after the book fair (if you want). Students selected an extra book this week, so they should have good things to read at home.
We also have many eBooks (including some OBOB titles) via the Destiny app on their my.pps.net page!
PE
OFFICE
Maria (mbelgrav@pps.net) works Monday through Thursday.
Shannon (sriley@pps.net) works Tuesday Through Friday.
Please be sure to include both of us in your communications regarding your children's plans.
Late Student
The morning bell rings at 7:55am and the tardy bell rings at 8:00am. If your child arrives after the 8:00am bell, please be sure they enter the school through the front entrance doors. All doors will automatically lock at 8:00am. If your child is late they will need to get a tardy slip from the office to take to their teacher so they are not marked absent and parents do not received the automated call.
HEALTH ROOM
Maplewood Community,
Please note that all Cough Drops and cold type meds. are required to go through the Health Office.
What is required is:
1. A simple form
2. All cold medicine; such as drops need to be in original packaging & dropped off at the office by parents/guardians.
Thanks for helping keep Maplewood Safe, Kind & Responsible,
SHA Julie
Volunteering at Maplewood
SCHOOL NEWS
October is Earthquake preparedness month
Did you know?
Oregon averages around 70 earthquakes a year; 15 of those are large enough to be felt. Most are crustal quakes that occur at relatively shallow depths. However, the Cascadia Subduction Zone (CSZ) – a 600-mile fault located off the Pacific coast shoreline – puts Oregon at risk for a 9.0+ magnitude earthquake. A Cascadia quake could cause up to four minutes of shaking or rolling, followed by a tsunami of up to 100 feet in height that will impact the state’s coastal areas.
Are you prepared? Use THIS form to help you create a family safety plan.Room Parent
Our teachers appreciate their Room Parents more than you can imagine! Please reach out to your teacher to see if they need a Room Parent. For more information HERE is a description of the role.
Health in School:
Please see the Family Guide: Preventing Illness and Contagious Disease in School - 2023-24 so you are aware of what individual- and school-level preventive measures can be taken to keep students healthy and in school.
PARENTVUE RACE UPDATE
As we look at our school assessment data, we noticed that there are many students whose race is not correctly recorded in our system. Please be sure to update this information asap so our data reflects our true demographics.
Click on “Yearly Verification”
Click “Verify Online”
Follow the prompts to update your information.
OBOB
Oregon Battle of the Books at Maplewood!
OBOB is a statewide reading competition spanning 3rd to 12th grade. Each year new book titles are chosen by the state OBOB committee and they are always amazing! Grades 3-5 can participate in elementary school (3rd has 8 books, 4 & 5 have 16 books). Students form teams, read books and compete game show style answering questions about the books. It's a great way for kids to be exposed to a variety of great books, practice reading comprehension and demonstrate their sportsmanship.
Maplewood students have already started forming teams and reading books! We hope to have the teams finalized by November 10th. Team forming will be facilitated by teachers and Ms. Kordahl when needed. We will hold battles during recess time starting in February with the goal of sending our winning 5th grade team to regionals!
The book list for this year is available in the library or on our new OBOB webpage. Below is the new official Maplewood OBOB website, as well as Ms. Kordahl's padlet page, both contain all sorts of great info. Teachers will be discussing OBOB in class and the kids will also learn about it during their library time.
If you or your student(s) have questions please reach out to Ms. Elin Kordahl or the parent mOBOB committee.
Your Parent mOBOB Team,
Heather J, Manda B, Darcie G, Lauren C and Christy W
MW OBOB site:
https://www.maplewoodpta.com/obob/
Ms. Kordahl’s Padlet:
Maplewoods Facebook page!
Please join Maplewood’s Facebook page. Just use this QR code and you will find it on Facebook. Or go to Facebook and look up Maplewood Elementary School (Portland, Oregon). This is a great place to connect with others, see what’s happening and stay up to date with the Maplewood community.
BREAKFAST & LUNCH MENUS
School Health Center Information
Elementary and Middle School SHC Informaiton
Student Health Centers are like having a doctor’s office at school. Students can get regular or sports physicals, school immunizations, mental health services, COVID-19 vaccinations and testing, prescription medication refills, and lots of other health services. There are no out-of-pocket costs. The following links describe how students can access their closest MCHD Student Health Center and the Benson Wellness Center at Marshall.
Please click on the following links for more information on Student Health Centers (here and here) and Multnomah County Health Department's ongoing, free Immunization Clinic.
PTA
PTA Current & Upcoming Events
Maplewood Scholastic Book Fair - Our school fair will be held October 16th - 20th for our students and families in our school Library. Students will attend during their library time. You may set up your child's eWallet for a cashless fair starting now - Scholastic eWallet signup. Families, friends and neighbors may attend any day after school. We have LATE hours until 7pm Monday 10/16 and Thursday 10/19! You may also shop our online fair starting October 11th if you can't make it our in person fair. Visit our Maplewood Book Fair page for all the details!
Fall Maplewood Spirit Wear / Swag Sale - Our online spirit wear starts now! Maplewood t-shirts, sweatshirts and hats are available to order via our Maplewood Store. Perfect for the holidays. Delivery of swag items will be in early November. Thank you for showing your school spirit! Want swag as a gift? No worries, pickup options are available. Please email with any questions.
Oregon Battle of the Books PTA Book Fundraiser (3rd - 5th grade students) - The PTA has partnered with Annie Bloom's to make purchasing our Oregon Battle of the Books (OBOB) titles super easy! Books are available now to be ordered through our Maplewood Store and sent home in your child's backpack in early November. Want books as a gift? No worries, pickup options are available. Please email with any questions.
Maplewood Volunteer Opportunities
We still need a few more Book Fair and Pie Sale PIckup Volunteers! For more details or to sign up visit Volunteer at Maplewood.
WANT TO DONATE TO HELP FAMILIES IN NEED WITH SCHOOL SUPPLIES?
Here's the link to donate school supply funds for other families in need.
https://www.maplewoodpta.com/donate/
https://square.link/u/10dXF8gz
October PTA meeting 10/17/23 at 6:30 in the
FOUNDATION
Dear Maplewood Community,
Thank you to those who supported us during our Fall Fundraiser. We raised nearly $3,000! But we have a ways to go towards our goal to be able to fund Educational Assistants for next year. If you have not yet made a donation or asked your family and friends to support us please consider doing so.
Ways to Support Foundation
Donate to the auction
This year's auction will be on March 2nd, 2024. We welcome (and greatly appreciate) donations for our annual spring auction. Please consider donating a service, item, beer, wine, spirits, experience, or vacation property. Our team works very hard to procure amazing donations for the annual auction and welcomes your support. We are also always looking for sponsors for the event Please email us at maplewoodfoundation@gmail.com if you have donations or would like to sponsor or help plan the auction.
Monthly recurring donation
A monthly donation is the most convenient and effective way to give to Maplewood. Even small monthly donations make a big impact over time. Set up your monthly recurring donation here.
One-time contribution
This is a great option for grandparents, extended family, and loving neighbors to support your Maplewood student. Make a one-time contribution here.
By check
We are happy to receive donations by check made out to Maplewood Foundation and dropped off at or mailed to the school:
Maplewood Foundation
7452 SW 52nd Ave, Portland, OR 97219
Matching employer contribution
Ask your employer if they have a matching program for donations to non-profits. Click here for a list of already participating employers.
Fred Meyer Rewards Program Contribution
If you shop at Fred Meyer and are part of their rewards program, you may designate those reward savings to the Maplewood Foundation. It’s super easy and you can learn more here (sign in and search for Maplewood Foundation or IF500): https://www.fredmeyer.com/i/community/community-rewards.
BottleDrop Donations
Individuals can donate funds from their BottleDrop account balance to your Give account by logging into their account and using this link or connecting with the Foundation for bag tags.
School Foundations Are Under Threat
Maplewood Foundation needs your help NOW. The PPS Board is poised to vote on a proposal to eliminate local school foundations. If this proposal is approved, we will not be able to support our school as we have in the past. This year we were able to fund two critical Educational Assistant positions that serve every classroom.
Why is this happening? PPS School Board member Julia Brim-Edwards and a small minority of anti-foundation folks have decided that local school foundations (i.e., parents/guardians) shouldn't be allowed to help hire the staff their schools desperately need due to lack of funding, and PPS has no plan to fund these positions or schools without these funds.
Even with foundation funds, Maplewood receives some of the lowest funding in the entire district AND we have some of the highest average class sizes. We support the RESJ model and its effort to bring up scores of historically underserved and low-income students. However, the funding we raise is critical to our students' success.
Last month, Director Brim-Edwards introduced an anti-teacher and staff proposal to the Policy Committee to eliminate foundations by the end of the school year. The proposal kills foundations, offers no replacement source for the $2.5 million lost, and provides no executable plan to raise or disseminate funds. If this proposal passes the committee, and then the full board, all foundations would be eliminated by June.
Maplewood needs you to email the board and tell them to stop this drastic action. We have until October 11 to make our voices heard. We've included an email template for you.
Thank you for supporting our students and teachers.
Your Maplewood Foundation Team