West Sylvan Middle School

Dear West Sylvan families,

Happy Friday, WSMS family members! We had some fun this week with school picture day, and our ELA and Math classes have been engaging in their bi-yearly benchmark MAP testing. Scholars take the MAP test (in English and Math) twice yearly. The first test at the start of each year is a baseline to assess skills and gaps in skills. Another MAP test occurs after Winter Break, typically in January, and that second test is intended to measure growth over the first semester of school.

Please calendar the first “Early Release” day this year, which is approaching on Wednesday, September 25th. All Scholars are released at 1:45PM, and Staff are in meetings at 2:00PM, meaning we will not be available to supervise any students who are not picked up on time. Buses will drop students off two hours earlier than usual.

Future Early Release dates are as follows, for your planning:

October 23 - November 20 - December 18 - February 26 - March 19 - April 23 - May 21

CANVAS:

A few family members shared questions about Canvas, which is a learning platform where Educators upload materials for classes. For information on accessing Canvas, please visit this link: PPS Canvas Quick Guide. Teachers who have set up a Canvas class give a class code to students. Students then have to share their code with parents for you to be a viewer of the class with them. This requires a bit of collaboration and communication with your Scholars to gain access. You are encouraged to contact Educators directly via email if you are having trouble getting the class code from your Scholar.

Also, this week, we completed our first round of 10-day drops, meaning if Scholars have not been present at school for ten consecutive school days, we unenroll them, per state law. Our overall school enrollment has reduced dramatically this school year, with far fewer sixth graders enrolling than anticipated. Enrollment by grade and demographic information for our school is below for reference.

Communications related to the upcoming school year will continue to come from both our West Sylvan and PPS district team with regular updates, weekly or bi-weekly.

Jill Hunt, Principal
Ben Keller, Assistant Principal

Outdoor School is part of the Sixth Grade Science education curriculum. For one week, students receive their Middle School curriculum access through Outdoor School. There is no in-school substitution for this one week of learning for Sixth Graders. Students attend an overnight week-long Outdoor School experience, funded by the state, to learn outdoors. Outdoor School is run by MESD, and they determine our dates for attendance after we give them a number of available options. This is a challenging scheduling task for MESD, as they are scheduling every public school sixth grade class in the state of Oregon to attend a handful of camp locations. Our assigned week is October 27-November 1st. We are aware that November 1st is a “no school day” for school sites. The camps still run through November 1st, and students will not be transported back early by school transportation due to Halloween or the PPS calendar. We do arrange for limited school buses to help transport those without family transportation to school on Sunday, October 27th, when buses depart, and we do the same on Friday, November 1st, when buses return students. Families who have the ability and means to drop off and pick-up both days are encouraged to use their own transportation.

Our Sixth Graders are assigned to five different camps, and our students attend with students from other schools in Oregon. Teachers will be updating you on class-specific camp assignments as the dates get closer. The camps will plan a variety of activities for students to engage and participate in Halloween and Harvest Fest items, as desired on October 31st. Sixth grade teachers will be coordinating all information and updates with families about ODS, and we will also hold a virtual meeting to discuss Outdoor School with families and answer questions. Mr. Keller (bkeller@pps.net) is the Administrator point of contact if there are additional questions. As we are still a month away from the Outdoor School learning experience, many of your questions will likely be answered through communications from teachers.

School starts at 9:15AM and ends at 4:00PM every day, with this bell schedule:

The exceptions to these start times are on the following days,

when students have a 9:30AM start time (with building opening at 9:20AM)

due to monthly Staff meetings *(only affecting PPS Middle Schools):

Feb 4th - March 11th - April 8th - May 6th - June 3rd

SEPTEMBER

• Wed, SEP 25th: Early Release for Students at 1:45 PM due to Staff PD from 2:00-5:00 PM
  

OCTOBER

• Thu, OCT 10th: Back to School Night from 5:45-7:30 PM
• Fri, OCT 11th: NO SCHOOL for Students due to statewide Inservice
• Tue, OCT 22nd: Makeup Picture Day (*only for those students who missed Picture Day in September)
• Sun, OCT 27th ~ Fri, NOV 1st: Sixth Graders at overnight Outdoor School all week

We still use our outdoor space for lunch recess when it rains, because it is Oregon and we are accustomed to rain. We also provide a few limited indoor space alternatives on rainy days. It is important that our families please help coach students to dress appropriately, bring a jacket, and have items available for any sort of rainy day recess when students may be outdoors. We also have two cafeteria spaces to sit during recess, and on rainy days, the Library, a quiet space in a classroom, and the Lower Gym will all be spaces available (with passes) for students. As you can imagine, it takes a number of adults to supervise so many spaces on rainy days, so we always appreciate family volunteers who want to join us for recess supervision!

We’ve outlined some additional important information below, and we will make every effort to send weekly bulletins through the REMIND app, typically every Friday. This year, REMIND will be the main communication tool for all District and school notifications. If you have not signed up for Remind access, please read through the steps here, and update your notification settings so that you receive all communications. Also, be sure to update your contact information through westsylvanoffice@pps.net throughout the year, if your email or cell phone number changes, as all Remind communications are connected to your information in ParentVue. Please note: Installation of the mobile apps is not required to receive texts/phone calls.

We encourage families to try to schedule appointments outside of school hours, whenever possible. Our office gets quite inundated with early pick-ups, so if you must pick up your student before the scheduled end of the school day, please do so by 3:15 PM. School ends at 4:00 PM, and your Scholars will miss critical learning each time they are removed from campus early.

We do expect that all Middle school and High school students are wearing ID badges throughout the school day, just like all adults, throughout PPS.

Please help your Scholar by reminding them to grab their ID before leaving for the bus or getting in the car for school. Perhaps suggest they put it in their shoes at night! We have temporary sticker IDs we will have students wear if they come to school without their ID badge. We are reinforcing safety by having our IDs visible throughout the day, and it’s also a great way to learn names so that we can personalize our greetings with each other throughout the school community!

West Sylvan is a NO cell phone zone from 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM daily. We advise all families to keep scholars’ cell phones at home during the school day. If you must send your scholar with a device, please use the parent control features to turn off access to all social media and discuss your expectation that they follow school rules. You may also mark the device ‘lost’ during school hours, thus making the phone inoperable during specific hours. The number one cause of all school referrals and school fights are conflicts initially instigated through students’ cell phones. You should have a way to monitor your child’s devices regularly. Know who their friends are, and set up the settings on devices to view and monitor students' accounts for unsafe connections and harmful content.

Students may take a school bus to and from school, and you may drop off and pick up. Route information is here, and this is the only place to find out about the bus routes. If you are dropping off and picking up by car, be advised that there is significant traffic in and out of campus due to our limited access points and turnaround style parking lot. Please pull all the way forward to the front school doors to drop off; do not stop half way through the parking lot to drop off/pick up, as you then slow down all of the traffic behind you and risk your student's safety. If you are parking in the neighborhood around campus, please do not block any of our neighbors’ driveways, use their driveways as turnarounds, or leave your engines idling while waiting. Our school works in collaboration with the Beaverton Police Department, and the BPD team regularly patrols to be sure that we are respecting our neighbors and their property.

**BUS NOTES: If your scholar IS NOT riding their assigned bus and needs to take an alternate bus route, we must have the request in writing. Please send an email to our Main Office at westsylvanoffice@pps.net and we will print a bus pass for your student to give their alternate bus drive to notify them of the change.

All visitors have to go through a check-in process when entering our building, which requires scanning your driver’s license/state ID. Please remember your ID if you are entering the school building to visit the office for any reason. You will be asked to show your face/ID at the door camera prior to entering. Appointments must be made in advance to meet with any school staff member.

Students are welcome to bring their own sack lunch and are encouraged to bring a reusable water bottle daily to refill throughout the school day in our water fountains. Scholars will not have to pay for school lunch and/or breakfast items, and information about menus and resources are here.

We have two separate lunch times, with 6th Graders eating together first, and then a combined 7th/8th Graders’ lunchtime/recess.

All students are assigned a locker that is shared. There will be time during the first week of school to learn how to use lockers and explore the building. Backpacks and large bags must be stored in lockers throughout the day. Our hallways are small, and large backpacks only increase the crowding during travel from class to class. We advise the use of a tote bag or a handle folder in place of any backpacks. All PPS Middle Schools with lockers share the same expectations related to backpacks. The lockers negate the need to carry large backpacks around all day.

Every WSMS scholar will have access to a PPS Chromebook. However, unlike past years, students will not be issued a Chromebook to take home and keep with them throughout the year. Over the last several years, the amount of loss and damage to Chromebooks by Middle School students in PPS has been an extraordinary cost. To reduce the costs associated with damage and broken devices, and to limit overall screen time for our students, devices will remain stored and used on campus. There will be “check-out” options to help students who have projects necessitating work at home and to accommodate the learning needs of students with identified disabilities. Those individual circumstances will be addressed through Dana Berglund, our School Librarian, through a check-out process. If a student purposely damages a Chromebook and/or loses a device, families will be responsible for the following costs: Chromebooks cost $515 to replace, and $11.50 to replace a lost/damaged charger.

To continue the amount of time dedicated to building connections for our scholars with adults and to increase opportunities for academic and Social-Emotional learning, all Middle Schools in PPS have continued with having an Advisory within the school day. During this time our scholars engage in Social-Emotional work and community building. The updated bell schedule for 2024-25 is on our website, and Advisory content will occur during an extended period 6 for every student. For Social-Emotional learning activities, we use Wayfinder, a curriculum that can be viewed here for any wonderings.

Jazz Band is starting up next week!

Jazz band is currently open to all those who play saxophone, trombone, trumpet, drum set, upright bass, piano or guitar. We meet 3 days a week before school (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday) from 8:00 - 9:00AM. Students do not have to be enrolled in a music class at West Sylvan, but must be able to read music well.

Email Mr. Arce @ darce@pps.net for more information or with questions!

Don't see your instrument listed above? Mr. Arce is looking to expand Jazz Band to have a fourth day for students who play any instruments not listed above, including strings. This option will only become available if there is enough interest from non-standard jazz instrument players, so please email Mr. Arce what instrument you play and if you're interested in joining and he will send you info.

Space may be limited on instruments like piano, guitar, bass and drums.

The 2024-2025 Student Rights and Responsibilities Handbook is live on the PPS and MTSS (Student Conduct & Discipline) website. We are shifting from printing hard copies to electronic versions of the SRRH beginning this 24-25 school year. Every school office will receive one hard copy in the six supported languages. Upon request, we will be able to make additional copies if needed. The Copies for the building should arrive this week.

We have created a Slide Deck with all parts of the Student Rights and Responsibilities Handbook to share with students and families; please use the QR code below to access the slides.

Interested in Volunteering and Being More Involved?

Become an approved PPS volunteer by following the information here. Once your application is approved, please contact the Main Office to see how and when you can be of service.

As we continue on in the school year, we are hopeful that we can have more families involved in regular school activities such as volunteering on campus, taking part in our Friends of West Sylvan (FOWS) organization, and serving on the school Site Council. If you are interested in having a voice in one or more of these school groups, please sign up here.

FRIENDS OF WEST SYLVAN is parent/family organization that supports Scholars and Staff and fosters community connection through fundraising and volunteer opportunities. Join the mailing list and stay connected with other families!

A wonderful way to keep your student engaged and out of trouble is to get them involved in extracurricular activities, such as youth sports. Youth sports programs are run entirely through the Portland Interscholastic League (PIL). West Sylvan is not involved in registration or management of the teams. All information to register students for PIL Youth Sports is located here.

MAIN OFFICE

westsylvanoffice@pps.net

(503) 916-5690

ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT/ PRINCIPAL'S SECRETARY

[Staff / Substitutes / Financial]

Jerda Solonche

jsolonche@pps.net

ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT/ SCHOOL SECRETARY

[Students / Attendance / Enrollment]

Kirsten Crombie

kcrombie@pps.net

Website: www.pps.net/westsylvan
Location: 8111 Southwest West Slope Drive, Portland, OR, USA