The Mt. Tabor Tribune

¿Necesita traducción? Haga clic en el enlace "Traducir Newsletter" a la derecha (cuando haya iniciado sesión en una computadora) para seleccionar su idioma. Para traducir desde su dispositivo móvil, haga clic en el icono de la persona y seleccione su idioma.

翻訳が必要ですか？ 右側の[ニュースレターの翻訳]リンクをクリックして（コンピューターにサインインしている場合）、言語を選択します。モバイルデバイスから翻訳するには、人物アイコンをクリックして言語を選択します。

需要翻译吗？ 单击右侧的“翻译新闻稿”链接（登录计算机后）以选择您的语言。要从您的移动设备翻译，请单击人物图标并选择您的语言。

Cần dịch? Nhấp vào liên kết "Dịch Bản tin" ở bên phải (khi đăng nhập vào máy tính) để chọn ngôn ngữ của bạn. Để dịch từ thiết bị di động của bạn, hãy nhấp vào biểu tượng hình người và chọn ngôn ngữ của bạn.

Нужен перевод? Щелкните ссылку «Перевести информационный бюллетень» справа (при входе в систему на компьютере), чтобы выбрать свой язык. Чтобы перевести с мобильного устройства, щелкните значок человека и выберите свой язык.

Remember, there is no school this Monday (1/27) and Tuesday (1/28)! We will see you all on Wednesday. Enjoy your long weekend!

It is important to PPS that immigrant families feel safe and supported. A number of families have expressed to me and other members of our staff that they are concerned about possible immigration actions under the new presidential administration.

I want to reassure you that our top priority is ensuring the safety and well-being of all students and staff. We continue to work closely with PPS leadership and our community partners to uphold Oregon law prohibiting state and local law enforcement from arresting or detaining people based solely on immigration status. Additionally, Oregon law protects student educational records from use for immigration actions.

In times of uncertainty, it is always beneficial to be proactive and prepared, and it’s crucial that we have up-to-date contact information for you and your student. If you have not done so already, please complete the yearly student verification form to ensure we’re reaching you via the right information and in the right language.

I also wanted to provide the following resources:

• This FAQ and this webpage answer many questions about the steps Portland Public Schools will be taking to safeguard staff and students going forward.

• This page from the Multnomah Education Service District (MESD) includes a family resource hub and culturally specific information for families in the Portland area.

• The Immigrant Legal Resource Center Little Red Card is meant to help people assert their rights and defend themselves in many situations. The cards can be printed out in your preferred language and carried on your person.

• Know Your Rights for Families/Students (Oregon ACLU)

• Immigrant Rights Resources One Pager

• PPS’s Office for Civil Rights offers support addressing discrimination, harassment, and bias-related concerns.

Please contact me at tlongo@pps.net if you have any questions or concerns. I am here for you and your students, and you have my word that, at Mt. Tabor Middle School, we will always stand together to champion our diversity and support the most vulnerable among us.

Dear PPS Families,

At Portland Public Schools (PPS), the well-being of our students and staff are always our top priority. During the winter months, we often see an increase in illness, and we want to remind you of how we manage illness and work to prevent the spread of contagious diseases to keep everyone safe and healthy.

How We Keep Everyone Safe:

• Monitoring Health: We closely track student and staff absences and look for signs of illness, such as vomiting or rashes. If we notice a rise in sickness, we notify our partners at Multnomah Education School District (MESD) and work with Multnomah County Health Department (MCHD) to notify families when someone has been at school while contagious with a school-restrictable communicable disease.

• We offer notifications in multiple languages, including Spanish, Vietnamese, Chinese, Russian, and Somali.

• Sending Sick Individuals Home: If a student or staff member shows symptoms listed in the Symptom-based Exclusion Chart, we send them home to prevent spreading illness.

• Promoting Healthy Habits: We encourage everyone to practice these important habits:

• Wash hands frequently

• Cover coughs and sneezes

• Stay up-to-date with vaccines

• Clean and disinfect shared spaces

• Training and Protocols: PPS develops and trains all schools to follow communicable disease protocols to ensure a consistent and effective response to illness outbreaks.

What You Can Do:

• Keep Sick Children Home: If your child has symptoms like fever, vomiting, or diarrhea, please keep them home. If symptoms worsen, seek medical care for your child.

• Report Illnesses: Let the school know if your child is sick so we can monitor for increased illness.

• Encourage Healthy Hygiene: Teach your child to wash their hands often, cover coughs and sneezes, and avoid touching their face.

• Practice Social Distancing: If your child is mildly ill, encourage them to keep their distance from others at home.

• Stay Up-to-Date on Vaccines: Make sure your child’s vaccinations are current to prevent illness. Students can obtain vaccines at:

• Any MCHD Student Health Center

• The Benson Wellness Center

• Community Clinics such as Multnomah County’s Community Vaccination Clinic

• Clean Common Areas: Regularly clean frequently touched surfaces at home.

To learn more about our health policies, visit the PPS School Health Services website or contact your school’s administrator.

Thank you for helping us keep our schools safe and healthy!

The PPS Health Services Team

The Cleveland Alliance for Racial Equity (CARE) leadership is teaming up with PPS Middle School art students and teachers from Sellwood Middle School, Hosford Middle School and Mt. Tabor MS in setting up a fundraising art sale of student works. The Schnitzer Cares Foundation will match 10 TIMES the total sales. These proceeds will go to CARE, which in turn will gift them to nonprofits to support and hire BIPOC Educators.

This event will take place on January 28, 2025 in the Cleveland High School cafeteria from 5-7pm.

Thank you!

Art students and teachers at Mt. Tabor, Hosford, Sellwood and the C.A.R.E. Leadership

1) Please consider supporting our PTA upcoming dine out DAY.

Monday, January 27th (this is a no school/teacher grading day so kids will be home)

Slappy Cakes

4246 SE Belmont

8am-1pm

20% of profits are donated to the MTMS PTA

Families MUST mention the school MTMS when ordering.

2) SE Portland Public School Funding Forum (from the Portland Council PTA)

Duniway Elementary, February 10 at 6pm
The goal of the forum is to provide an informative space for the community to understand the funding challenges we are facing and convey how essential it is that our legislators to make school funding a priority during their budgetary session. To make the best use of our time, we will be soliciting questions from attendees in advance of the forum and will provide these to our invited guests (SuperIntendent Armstrong, Director Eddie Wang, Senator Taylor, Representative Gamba and hopefully Representative Nosse).

3) Are you interested in serving on Portland Council PTA?

We would love to hear from you! There are several positions to be elected or appointed at our May General Meeting later this year.

Portland Council PTA nominating committee is currently accepting nominations for the following board and committee positions:

Section VP’s for Cleveland, Grant, Jefferson, McDaniel – 2-year elected term

Secretary – 2 year elected term

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion Chair – 2 year appointed term

If you are interested or would like more information about these positions, please contact Portland Council PTA at 503.293.0783 or email: president@portlandcouncilpta.org

Dear PPS Middle Grades families,

PPS is moving to a new Standards-Based Grading System for all 28 middle schools. The purpose is to provide clearer and more meaningful feedback to students. Some of our middle schools are already using this approach, and research supports its benefits. Our K-5 schools have also made progress in this direction with their report cards.

We invite you to visit our middle grades Standards-Based Grading website at pps.net/sbg. There, you can find updates, resources, timelines, materials, and FAQs.

There will be three family and community engagement events in person and virtually at the Prophet Education Center (501 N. Dixon St.) in the PPS Boardroom. We invite all who have current middle grades students or students entering into the middle grades to these presentations where we will provide updates as well as listen to feedback and answer questions.

Family and Community engagement (Virtual and in person)

• February 13, 2025 5:30 PM - 7:00 PM
• March 13, 2025 5:30 PM - 7:00 PM
• May 8, 2025 5:30 PM - 7:00 PM

We believe grades are an important way to communicate with students and families. This new system will make it clearer what students need to do to meet academic expectations.

If you have any questions, please contact Richard Smith at rsmith5@pps.net. Check the website often for updates. We look forward to working with you during this exciting transition.

We are raising $3000 this year to cover the following expenses:

• Band shirts for marching season

• Buses for the district band festival and Jr. Rose Parade

• Marching percussion (cymbals and sticks)

• Quality reeds

• Cleaning supplies

• Sheet music

• Repair supplies

To contribute, you can follow this link, which will take you to SchoolPay.

Thank you so much!

Dear PPS families,

As required by the Oregon Department of Education, we are providing you with the 30 Day Notice and Opt Out Form for Statewide Assessments in English Language Arts and Mathematics. The notice is available in English, Spanish, Vietnamese, Chinese, Russian and Somali on the PPS Research, Assessment, and Accountability website.

Statewide testing is part of our balanced assessment system that offers all students, especially historically underserved students, opportunities to demonstrate their progress. Information provided by student assessments is critical in helping us determine district and school priorities for improving student learning.

If you have questions, please contact your school office.

Thank you,

PPS Research, Assessment, and Accountability Department

Camps, Classes, & After School Programs:

• VIBE PDX No-School Youth Sewing Classes (Jan. 27-28, Feb. 17, Mar. 3, Mar. 24-28)

• Cognizart 31st Annual Young Artists Debut! Concert & Showcase (apply by Feb. 3 – Deadline extended)

• USTA Tennis Afterschool Zone at Maplewood (Jan. 14 - Feb. 25)

• Portland Parks & Rec Teen Force at SW Community Center

• VIBE of Portland Music & Digital Art Classes for Kids

• Portland Parks & Rec Environmental Education Nature Field Trips (flyer for teachers)

Summer Camps:

• VIBE PDX East Winds Band Camp (Jul. 21-25, 2025, recorded audition due Jul. 10)

• Cognizart 360Arts Summer Camps (Jul. 7-11, 14-18, & 21-25, 2025)

• OSU Summer Reading Program (Jun. 14 - Aug. 16, 2025)

Preschool Programs:

• Multnomah Early Childhood Program Peer Preschool Classes
  (Spanish) (Vietnamese) (Chinese) (Russian) (Somali) (Korean) (Arabic) (Persian)

• Portland Parks Preschool 2024-25

Community Events & Information:

• Multnomah County: Common Application

• City of Portland: 311 Non-Emergency Hotline
  (Spanish) (Vietnamese) (Chinese) (Russian) (Somali)

Vaccinations, Health & Wellness:

• Multnomah County Student Health Center Immunization Catch-Up Reminder

• Oregon Health Plan & Oregon Health Insurance Marketplace

• Multnomah County: Free Community Vaccination Clinic (Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays)
  (English) (Spanish) (Vietnamese) (Chinese) (Russian) (Somali)

• Multnomah County: Student Health Centers (fliers in English, Russian, Chinese, and Vietnamese):

• Cleveland HS

• Franklin HS

• Jefferson HS

• McDaniel HS

• Roosevelt HS

On January 27th and April 4th (inservice days), we will be opening up our beautiful studios for a full day of dance, taught by DAF Director Sonia Kellermann, along with several current DAF students. Families can sign up here and they can email danceatfranklin@gmail.com for more information.

Please follow the links to see your student-athletes' game schedules:

Franklin Youth Basketball Schedule

Franklin Youth Wrestling Schedule

Any time a student rides a different bus, is taking the bus for the first time or even wants to get off at a different stop than normal, parents need to write a note to the driver letting them know of this change. The student should bring this note to the office to be initialed by one of the Admin. Assts. before giving it to the driver. Drivers will not accept different riders or any changes to normal stops without parent permission. The drivers do their best to get to know all their riders and their stops so that they can keep everyone safe.

Thank you for understanding!

There are many families that have not yet completed the yearly student verification process. This updates information that we have on file for families. If you haven't done this yet, please log into ParentVue and at the top of the screen, you will see a tab for "Online Registration/Yearly Verification/Transfer Application". Click here and follow the prompts for the yearly student verification. If you do not have a ParentVue account set up yet, please contact me, Ann Pinzelik, at apinzeli@pps.net, and I will be happy to do that for you.

Thank you!

We have learned from a number of families that they had checked the box to not receive Remind messages when they did their ParentVue update at the beginning of the year. Please know that all district and school communication will be coming through Remind, so it is important to go in and check to see if you have checked that box.

In addition, if you are receiving what you feel are too many Remind messages, please go into your settings there and select how you would like to receive PPS communication, i.e. text, email, etc.

Thank you!

Do you enjoy planning a big party while making connections in the generous Oya No Kai community? Please join Victoria and the Annual Benefit planning team! What's the Annual Benefit, you ask? It is the biggest party for our Oya No Kai community where we raise money so that we can support our wonderful Interns, incoming and outgoing Cultural Exchanges, and community activities like Westwind. This year's Annual Benefit will be held on Saturday, March 8th, 2025 at the Melody Event Center in SE Portland. We have an awesome team already for Procurement; the planning team is doing the event coordination. Please email benefit@oyanokai.org!

Stay connected: sign up for an Oya no Kai membership! Now that your kids have moved on from Richmond, it’s time to get on the ONK mailing list. Register your family for free just to get all the news about the JDLI, or sign up for a paid Family Membership ($40) to be able to register your students for exchanges and camps - or just to support Oya no Kai’s mission. More information online at: https://oyanokai.org/membership/

In just the last week, we are seeing a marked increase in students reporting damaged Chromebooks and lost devices.

In this year's back to school packet (and in the Student Verification process in ParetnVUE), families are required to sign the "Required Technology Consent Policy and Acknowledgments form. In that document, it states:

PPS students who are assigned to take home a District technology device are responsible for all damages or loss, whether intentional or accidental and regardless of whether damage or loss occurs on or off District property. Parents/guardians will be fully financially responsibly for any associated cost for damage, loss, or theft, regardless of whether incidents occur at home or at school.

It is important to emphasize with your students the importance of taking care of their devices. This means that binders containing their devices should be kept in their lockers when not in use, and that they use provided tote bags to support transporting those devices around at school.

The current replacement cost for a Chromebook is $515.00 with chargers costing $11.50. Parents are responsible for paying these fees for lost/damaged cords; lost devices or devices damaged beyond repair; and intentional misuse, abuse, willful or negligent damage by the student or any household members.

Dear Portland Public Schools families and students,

As our students embark on another exciting year of learning and growth, we want you to know it is a priority to create spaces where your students feel safe, cared for, and connected to their learning environment. Ensuring a healthy and safe environment for our students, staff, and families is a shared responsibility, and we must continue to work together to prevent the spread of communicable diseases within our school communities.

Prevention continues to be the best health approach to minimize risk for illness and contagious disease. Our 2024-25 Family Guide for Preventing Illness and Contagious Disease in Schools includes practical prevention strategies such as keeping your student up to date with recommended vaccinations and boosters, outlines steps to take if your child is sick and/or diagnosed with a communicable disease, and addresses the current measles outbreak in Oregon. You can expect all PPS schools and facilities to continue regular cleaning and disinfecting, promoting vaccine and booster clinics, providing access to masks and COVID-19 tests, and improving air circulation.

Our schools remain vigilant and work with the Multnomah County Health Department to respond to communicable disease outbreaks and notify affected families if necessary. You may continue to monitor illness activity in our region through Oregon Health Authority’s Respiratory Virus Data dashboards.

We thank you for entrusting us with your students, and for your cooperation in ensuring our schools remain healthy, safe, and productive learning environments. Please contact your school administrator or Let’s Talk with questions about your school’s health and safety protocols.

In service,

Jey Buno, Chief of Student Support Services

Home of the Eagles. Be sure to follow us on Instagram at mttabormiddleschool

Email: tlongo@pps.net
Website: https://www.pps.net/Domain/143
Location: 5800 Southeast Ash Street, Portland, OR, USA
Phone: (503) 916-5646
X: @Tonya_A_Longo