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!!

10/31 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

ASB hosted a chill on Halloween and we closed out the week with the school dance. It was a great week to be a middle schooler!

Please consider picking up sandwiches from Submarina this week. A percentage of sales that are identified as De Portola families will be given back to the school. The fundraiser runs all week...even Friday, our day off of school.

The teen years are marked by a roller-coaster ride of emotions—difficult for teens, their parents, and educators. It is easy to misread depression as normal adolescent turmoil; however, depression (among the most common of mental illnesses) appears to be occurring at a much earlier age, and the past decade has seen teen suicide rates double. To proactively address this issue, De Portola is partnering with San Diego Youth Services HERE Now program to provide a “Check Your Mood Week” filled with discussions about emotions and ways to help your friends. A parent information meeting will be held on zoom on Thursday, November 16. Zoom info to come.

San Diego Youth Services will present the SOS Signs Suicide® Prevention Program in Mueller, McCormick and Yepiz 7th grade Science classes starting on Nov 27, 2023. Please email Amy Ericson at aericson@sandi.net with any questions.

Federal Impact Aid forms are different than LCFF. Please turn in the blue paper by Wednesday, November 8. Or, complete the form on Parent Portal. Thank you for assisting us with this.

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.

The JS2S Club is sponsoring a food drive. Students can bring their donations to PE and they will receive a free pass to skip the next mile run. Thanks!

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.