Clark Elementary Monthly Newsletter

June 10th - Metcalf/Stahlecker's Kinder Celebration, 2-3pm

June 11th - Jenness/Wu's K-1 DLI Celebration, 2-3pm

June 12th - 5th Grade Promotion 2-3 pm

June 13th - Field Day - Volunteers Needed!

June 14th - Last Day of School

June 17th - 3:30 pm Clark Office Closes for Summer Break

August 27th - 1st - 5th Grade Students Return to School

September 3rd - First Full Class for Kindergarten

Clark Families,

As the school year comes to an end, I want to say that I am proud of the hard work our students and staff put in. Although we have had some disruptions to student learning this school year, it has been a great year, and I am very proud of all we have accomplished as a new school community. We are ending our year with several celebrations and events. We have a fun field day planned for the entire school on Thursday, June 13th. Our kindergarten teachers will host an end-of-year celebration on Tuesday, June 11th, with families in Room 5 at 2:00 pm. Fifth-grade students will be promoted and celebrated at school on June 12th at 2:00 pm. If you would like to join us for these events, please sign in at the office.

Our last day of school is Friday, June 14th. Summer break will begin on June 17th. School will resume on August 27th for 1st - 5th grades. More details will be announced for our new Kindergarten students, but their first full day together will be on September 3rd. We will be hosting a fun Clark Elementary Community event before school starts in August, so please check your emails and our school website this summer for more information and other upcoming events/important school information.

I hope you all have a restful summer. Thank you for all you do to support our school and community. I am looking forward to the 2024-2025 school year and continuing to partner with you to make this the very best school environment for our amazing students. Please feel free to contact me during the summer with any questions or concerns. I will be checking my email periodically throughout July and early August. I return to work in the office on August 5th, 2024.

Thank you,

- Tara

Hello Clark Community,

Due to low enrollment, our before and after-school childcare provider, Camp Fire, will no longer be serving the community. We know there is a need for our school to have childcare available. Since PPS does not provide it, we need to work with other childcare providers but to have such services; we need to maintain a specific enrollment. We want to hear from you! Please fill out this short survey to provide feedback so we can work with partners to provide the best childcare possible for our students. SURVEY HERE Survey closes Monday, June 10th, 2024

Thank you, The Clark Office

*Below is the fee schedule for Champions which is an accredited enrichment program with educational curriculum that helps kids with social emotional skills*

2024/2025 School Year

Before-School:
1-2 days: $42 per week
3-5 days: $52 per week

After-School:
1-2 days: $67 per week
3-5 days: $98 per week

Fees & Discounts

Additional Fees:
Registration Fee: $65 per child or $95 per family
Drop-In Before School: $40 per day
Drop-In After School: $50 per day
Drop-In Full Day: $90 per day
Non-School Full Day: $60 per day

Discounts:
Multi-Child, Military, or School Employee: 10%

Financial Assistance Application available upon request.

The Employment Related Day Care (ERDC) program helps families who are working, in school, or receiving Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) pay for childcare, including registration fees.

ERDC is a subsidy program. This means many families still pay part of the childcare cost. This is called a copayment (copay).

Hello Clark Families!

Please consider completing the Successful Schools Survey by TOMORROW June 7th! The survey takes 15-20 minutes and is available in English, Spanish, Somali, Vietnamese, Chinese, and Russian.

The survey can be found here:
https://surveys.panoramaed.com/portlandor/familyspring24/surveys

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.

Thank you for taking the time to share your valuable perspectives and experiences. Please contact the school if you have any questions.

• Link HERE

• Program Information

  Early Kindergarten Transition (EKT) is a three-week summer program to help you and your child have a great start to school.

  • Students attend July 15-26 (Monday thru Friday) from 8 am to 1 pm and July 29-August 1 (Monday thru Thursday) from 8 am to 1 pm.
  • Families/caregivers are provided with educational training twice a week during EKT.
  • Child care for siblings is available during family/caregiver sessions.
  • Students receive free breakfast and lunch, books, and school supplies.
  • Sponsored by Portland Public Schools in partnership with Schools Uniting Neighborhoods (SUN).

  
  

It is currently field trip season! Please make sure that before you volunteer to attend a field trip you have submitted a volunteer background check to PPS. Information can be found here. Security Services needs two weeks to process your check but once cleared, it lasts three years! Volunteers who have not completed this process will not be allowed to chaperone field trips. Please check in with Kelly in the Clark Office if you need more details. kmcknight@pps.net

Join Ridwell and support Clark Elementary

When 10 or more families join Ridwell from this page, Clark will keep plastic film out of landfills for the entire '24/'25 year! CLICK HERE

Happy Spring!

I can’t believe we’re already at the end of the school year! As our school year comes to a close, I'd like to update you all on what's been going on in the garden, give some appreciations to the community, and finally invite parents to volunteer to help out with some garden maintenance for the summer.

In March, we learned about the importance and diversity of seeds and started our first spring plantings (some classrooms planted seeds indoors for transplanting into our garden).

In April, we learned about the important role of pollinators--specifically, the native Mason bee--in our garden. Students had a chance to hold Mason bee cocoons before we put them in their bee house for the season. Finally, our last lesson of the school year is a celebration of all we've done together in the garden.

Earlier in the spring, we planted sugar snap peas, kale, radishes, carrots, spinach, potatoes, and flowers. We are now busy planting our summer-loving crops such as: tomatoes, peppers, corn, beans, squash, and tomatillos, among many others.

I want to send a special thank you to all those of you who came out in the rain for our Spring Work Party. We worked hard (and got very muddy) to prepare the ground for a new Dogwood Tree in front of Teacher Michele’s classroom.

Also, thank you to all the teachers and students who support this work. Mr. Schulze for using his indoor grow lights to teach students about starting plants, Miss Yin for all her help in incorporating Chinese Vegetables in the garden this year, Miss Skye for donating soil, and anyone else who cares for our garden and our lessons. We couldn’t do this without you!

🌺🌿🌷We need you! We need volunteers to water the garden to keep our plants thriving for the next school year. Flexible schedule meets how much you can provide. 🌻🌱🌸

Sign-up to help water the garden this summer by emailing Lacy McKinney in the Clark Office at lmckinney1@pps.net

See you in the fall!

Warmly,

Max Krieger

max@growportland.org

5th grade promotion will be from 2pm - 3 pm on Wednesday, June 12. We will start out with a ceremony in the cafeteria at 2 pm then move to refreshments outside on the playground. Parents and families are welcome! Please sign into the office when you arrive at the building.

Field Day will be Thursday June 13th! Please prepare to send your students to school with sunscreen on, water bottles and a change of clothes in their backpacks. We will be playing outside with with water and there is no covered area. We also need volunteers for this event! If you would like to help us out on field day please make sure you have summitted your background check and email Ms. Flores at aflores2@pps.net

24-25 Calendar Linked Here

Please note that last month PPS released this message about the change to bell schedules for next year.

Next year’s bell schedules will change for many students.

Beginning next school year, we added 15 instructional minutes for elementary and middle school students and provided all middle school students with a seven-period day. Accommodating these changes while supporting 410 minutes per week of teacher planning time and aligning our transportation systems requires us to adopt common start and stop times:

• At K-5 schools, students will now start at 8:00 AM and end at 2:30 PM

• At K-8 schools, all students will start at 8:45 AM.

  • K-5 students will end at 3:15 PM.

  • 6-8 students will end at 3:30 PM

• At middle schools, students will now start at 9:15 AM and end at 4:00 PM

• At high schools, students will now start at 8:26 AM and end at 3:30 PM

More particular variations of these schedules (e.g. early-dismissal or late-arrival) will be available in the coming weeks on your school’s website. Multiple Pathway to Graduation schools (alternative, charter and treatment schools) develop their own schedules and will be sharing those later.

Our summer registration is now open! We are offering 6 weeks of summer camp starting on June 24th! The last day of Summer Day Camp will be on August 2nd.

Stephanie Vera

Hablo Español

she/her/ella
Before and After School Assistant Director

Camp Fire Columbia
Light the fire within

Main 503-224-7800

Cell 503-758-9111

School Starts at 8:45 am Please make sure to arrive on time for school. This helps our classrooms get started on time for the day to not miss instruction and fun activities.

School Ends at 3:00 pm Please make sure to pick up your students promptly at 3pm. The Clark Office will begin calling guardians and emergency contacts at 3:10 pm for students. Our office closes at 3:30 pm.

Find Clark bus schedules here: https://sites.google.com/pps.net/gt-bus-schedule/GT-Bus-Schedules/clark

Office Hours: 8:38 am to 3:30 pm

School Hours: 8:45 am to 3 pm

Doors Open for Students: 8:38 am

Please do not drop off your students prior to school opening unless they are supervised by a parent/guardian. We have no student supervision until 8:38 am. Thank you!

Email: lmckinney1@pps.net
Website: www.pps.net/clark
Location: 1231 Southeast 92nd Avenue, Portland, OR, USA
Phone: 503-916-6561