The Guardian Gazette

Greetings IBW Families,

Principal Coning was out of the office today but wowza, we are already at the end of the 1st Quarter! Our students have a 4-day weekend to rest up and get started on Quarter 2 next week. Our teachers will still be working with a grading day tomorrow and then a planning day on Monday.

Information regarding Student/Parent/Teacher conferences will be coming out shortly. In the meantime, do you love fall soups? Our teachers do and you can sign up below to bring one for a STAFF FAVORITE - the soup/salad dinner during conferences. I organized this for 4 years during my tenure as the PTA hospitality chair back in the day and recipe requests are common!

Happy Halloween!

Leanne Van Horn
IBWHS Communications

Mark your calendar for these upcoming dates:

November 1 - No School, End of 1st Quarter, Grading Day
November 4 - No School, Teacher Professional Development
November 6 - Community Equity Council (CEC) Meeting
November 6 - TAG Family Night
November 11 - No School, Veteran's Day Holiday
November 18 - Booster Club Meeting
November 18 - PTA Meeting
November 25-26 - School Conferences
November 27-29 - No School, Thanksgiving/Fall Break
December 4 - Guardian Showcase (8th Grade Family Night)

If you haven't had a chance to look at the newsletters from earlier this week:
The Guardian Gazette, Student News, October 28 https://secure.smore.com/n/9gq5s
IBW Athletics Weekly, October 28 https://secure.smore.com/n/fpdry
IBW Social Work & Counseling Newsletter, October 2024 https://secure.smore.com/n/41uf0

And always be sure and check the Trivory Calendar for more dates!
https://trivory.com/ibw/calendar

Supporting the IBW Booster Club = Supporting our students!
How can you get involved?

Tree Sale

We just released the annual Christmas Tree Sale volunteer spot. Spots are divided by organization, so look for your group, and grab a shift. https://bit.ly/ibwtreesale

Volunteer

We are full for concessions volunteers for our regular season contents. We likely will be hosting some post season matches and will be asking for help on social media when schedules are confirmed.

Buy Merch

Support Booster Club by shopping here. Our latest IBW Merch is available for sale at ComeUnity PDX at 3536 SW Troy St B.

Follow us

Follow us on the socials – Instagram and Facebook

Do you want to help make our school a more inclusive, equitable, and safe place for everyone? Join the Community Equity Council (CEC)! We’re a group of parents, guardians, and community members working together to support our students, staff, and families. Whether you have ideas to share, a passion for equity, or just want to be involved, we’d love to have you with us. Come be a part of something great—everyone's welcome!

Meetings will take place once a month on Wednesday evenings from 7-8:30pm in Room 120. Our next meeting is on November 6th

Ida B Wells PTA strives to keep parents informed, advocates for the entire parent community, and provides you with a way to make a difference. The PTA encourages parents to participate in activities and events designed to improve their child’s school and educational experience.

MEMBERSHIP MATTERS

Join PTA online by visiting the Oregon PTA membership page. Select “Ida B Wells High School PTA (Wilson HS) (PORTLAND)” from the alphabetized drop down menu.

ATTEND

General PTA membership meetings are typically held the third Monday of each month, at 5:30 pm in the IBW Library. Our next meeting is Monday, November 18 with an earlier start time of 5:00pm,

Our PTA Hospitality Chair, Hunter Belgard, is coordinating a dinner for the IBWHS Teachers during Parent-Teacher Conferences on Monday, November 25th. It's a wonderful tradition and a staff FAVORITE of a soup/salad dinner buffet! Please consider bringing one of your favorite soups or salads to share with the staff! Here is the sign up https://www.signupgenius.com/go/8050E4CA9AA2BA1FC1-52865442-idabwells#/

Are you interested in getting more involved in Ida B. Wells HS? We have two weekly volunteer positions available in the main office. We could use help on Monday and Wednesday afternoons (flexible times) in the main office. If you are interested, please email Erica Caldwell ecaldwell@pps.net

Signups are open for parent volunteers for the Class of 2025 Grad Night Party! We have openings for:

• Party board hosts

• T-shirt coordinator

• Yard sign coordinator

• Raffle basket lead and team members

• Purse and wine sale - co-lead and members

• Setup on the night of the event - NON-SENIOR parents

• Chaperones from 10 p.m.-5 a.m. during the event - open to all parents

You can find all these and more at our Signup Genius.

Thank you to all who attended the planning meeting last week or reached out. If you have questions, please feel free to reach out to Jennifer Ellis, Grad Night Committee Chair, at gradnightibwhs@gmail.com. Let's send off the Class of 2025 in style!

Get ready to bring some greenery into your life while supporting our talented music programs! This fall, we’re launching another exciting fundraiser that helps us raise thousands of dollars for essential needs like field trip scholarships, sheet music, game meals, and new instruments.

To order, visit this school pay link and place your order. Please see items available for sale below. Get your order in by November 18th for pick up on December 4th!

If interested in having these items shipped as a gift, please purchase using this school pay link. Shipping is included in the price. The items available for shipping are:

Merry Berry Wreath $56

Cinnamon Wreath $60

Cinnamon Collection ( Cinnamon Wreath and Cinnamon Centerpiece) $95

Mixed Evergreen Wreath $50

Bark Basket Centerpiece $45

Be Merry Centerpiece $32

Yuletide Cheer Swag $34

The following is information about the primary systems teachers use to communicate with students and families:

1) Canvas: a delivery system for course content

2) Synergy - StudentVUE & ParentVUE: reporting assignments and/or progress and overall grades to families

CANVAS

Teachers primarily use Canvas to deliver course content—resources, assignments, quizzes. If you are hoping to support your student’s learning by reviewing course materials or the details of assignments, you should use Canvas. You can sign up to be an observer on Canvas by following these instructions. If you have questions about using Canvas, please contact Jay Rishel, IBW Instructional Coach at jrishel@pps.net.

SYNERGY - STUDENTVUE & PARENTVUE

Teachers use Synergy to report scores on individual assignments and/or overall progress, quarter, and semester grades. If you are hoping to track your student’s progress on their grades or attendance, use ParentVUE. To learn more about using PVUE, consult this PPS website. Please note: if you have never activated your PVUE account you will need an Activation Key. If you do have PVUE access, once a year you need to complete a Yearly Verification. If you do not complete this by the annual deadline, you will be locked out of PVUE until it is completed. If you have questions or need help troubleshooting ParentVUE (including receiving an Activation Key), please contact Kathy Lommen, IBW’s Data Clerk - klommen@pps.net.

Timeline of grade reports:

9/26: Progress: mid-quarter 1

10/31: Quarter 1 ends

12/12: Progress: mid-quarter 2

1/24: Semester 1 ends

2/27: Progress: mid-quarter 3

3/3: Quarter 3 ends

5/8: Progress: mid-quarter 4

6/10 (barring snow days): Semester 2 ends

• We will hold a Talented and Gifted (TAG) Family Information Night on Wednesday, November 6th, 2024 at 6:30PM via Google Meet: https://meet.google.com/vxx-kikg-wtg (or dial: ‪(US) +1 516-274-8319‬ PIN: ‪662 060 224‬#)

• During this meeting we will review the presentation below and answer any questions you may have about TAG. https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1avyBQ16dNgGqbS1Y17hMKycAvOwv-inAgS7tcnJrPQg/edit#slide=id.g2fcc005480a_0_129

If you have an 8th grader or know a neighbor, please spread the word about our Guardian Showcase on December 4th. This is also not just for 8th grade families but for any community member or other grade level just wanting to find out more about what is happening and offered at IBWHS!

IBW parents of Performing Arts Students,

10/31 Update: Thank you to those of you who sent me photos! I could still use a few more to make a complete collage of photos in the hallway!

I just completed a collage of photos in the hallway outside of the Athletic Department (see a not so great photo below). I would also like to create a collage of photos in the Performing Arts hallway but I do not have access to many photos like I do for athletics. If you have any photos from before, during or after band or choir concerts or anything taken during a school play, please email them to my at lvanhorn@pps.net.

Thanks!

Leanne Van Horn

10/31 Update: I checked with Ms. Pearson and she is still looking for more magazines! Please drop off anything you might be able to donate at the Main Office.

Several art students have expressed interest in collage this year. If you have any spare magazines with a lot of pictures that you would like to donate for our artists, please drop them off at the main office and mark with my name.

Thank you,

Marie Pearson
Art Teacher

If you are a family in need of a food box for Thanksgiving please email our social worker Britni Locke at blocke@pps.net. We will have about 20 boxes to give to families.

The SW Portland Community Band has a winter concert coming up on Saturday, December 14 at 5 pm at the Multnomah Arts Center. They will play their usual program of holiday and traditional favorites. Food and beer available, and all proceeds benefit the Ida B. Wells High School band program.

Other great news for the SW Community Bank is that they finally bought and received a beautiful set of chimes for their percussion section. They have been raising funds for several years to purchase this expensive new instrument, long- and much-needed by both the Wells band and our band.

More information about the SW Portland Community Band here: https://www.swportland.band/.

Rotary International Youth Exchange is looking for families like yours to host a high school student for a 3-month period during the 2025-2026 School Year! Hosting a foreign exchange student is a life-changing experience. Your family will have the chance to learn about another culture, broaden your perspective and make lifelong friends from around the world.

If this sounds like something you might consider, please fill out this interest form: https://forms.gle/kxS8nmhFKE923zVH6 . The Youth Exchange Committee will contact you to share more information and, if you'd like, get you started on the application process.

Click here for more information: https://forms.gle/kxS8nmhFKE923zVH6

Start with 311 as your single point of access to help with any questions or local government service needs within Multnomah County.
7 days a week - 7 a.m. - 8 p.m. (excluding federal holidays)
Call: 311 / 503-823-4000
Email: 311@portlandoregon.gov
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