The Cheetah Coalition #1

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Dear Atkinson Community,

We hope you’ve had a wonderful, restful summer! We are so excited to welcome your student back to school next week. As we are busily preparing the school for your students, we wanted to share a few pieces of important information.

Debbie Armendariz

Principal

Atkinson Elementary School

darmenda@pps.net

Please be aware that our schedule has changed from last year!

• Breakfast — 7:45 a.m.
• First Bell — 7:53 a.m. (teachers meet students outside and bring them inside)
• Second Bell — 8 a.m. (students are tardy after 8 a.m.)
• Dismissal — 2:30 p.m.

We will also have early release at 11:50 a.m. on the following Wednesdays: 9/25, 10/23, 11/20, 12/18, 2/26, 3/19, 4/23, and 5/21

• When you arrive at school in the morning, classes will line up behind the school: K–2nd grade students on the upper playground (by the play structures), and 3rd–5th grade students on the lower playground (by the basketball court); see the attached map.
• When the first bell rings at 7:53 a.m., students get in line and enter the building.
• Students that arrive after the second bell rings at 8:00 a.m. will need to sign in on the tardy sheet in the foyer.
• We kindly ask that parents do NOT come into the building during morning arrival. This is an especially vulnerable and important time when staff need to be focusing on student safety and preparing for the school day. If you have business you need to handle with the office staff, please try to wait until 8:05 a.m.

DISMISSAL

Student safety is our top priority. To that end, please observe the following:

• When picking up your K–2 child at the end of the school day, please wait in the upper playground until the dismissal bell rings at 2:30 p.m. Only legal parents/guardians and those listed as emergency contacts in our database will be allowed to pick up K–2 students. If you need to add emergency contacts, please contact Katie in the office (kcarriker@pps.net).

• Students in 3rd–5th grade will be released in the lower playground area. These students should meet their parent/guardian or immediately begin their walk home. We do not provide after school supervision, therefore students may not remain on school grounds without a parent/guardian who is providing line of sight supervision.

• Students riding buses or transitioning to after school programs will be escorted by school/program staff.

• Anyone with concerns about dismissal procedures, please contact the principal or your child’s homeroom teacher.

Atkinson will have two General Transportation (GT) routes this year: 247ATK and 279ATK. Route information is available HERE.

If your child arrives on the bus in the morning, we will assume we should put them on the bus in the afternoon, unless you have communicated otherwise to the office AND your child's teacher.

Any student is welcome to ride the bus. If your child has not been assigned a stop but you would like them to ride, please contact Katie in the office (kcarriker@pps.net).

If you live further than 1 mile from the school and there are no existing stops near your home, we can request a new stop. Please contact Katie in the office (kcarriker@pps.net).

Find out your child's teacher on ParentVUE HERE. If you have not accessed ParentVUE before or are having trouble, please contact kcarriker@pps.net for assistance.

Teacher and staff contact emails are on our website HERE.

Portland Public Schools Nutrition Services is happy to announce all students will be able to enjoy breakfast and lunch at no charge for the 2024–25 school year. One breakfast and one lunch will be provided to all students at no charge each day and families do not need to submit a free and reduced-price meal application. Students will no longer need to enter their ID numbers or scan their badges when going through the lunch line.

Due to this change in services, our kitchen teams will no longer be able to take cash or check payments. If students bring their lunch from home and want milk, they must choose two other foods – such as a fruit and vegetable – at no charge. Milk can no longer be purchased separately. If staff or visitors/volunteers would like to purchase meals, they will need to have an account with SchoolCafé. More info can be found on our website here about setting up accounts.

Will this make lunch lines longer? We anticipate lunch lines will actually go faster since students will no longer need to enter ID numbers or scan badges when going through the line!

If you find your student is needing more time for lunch or they are not getting enough to eat at lunch, please talk to your child's teacher so we can problem solve!

• Sunday, August 25 — PTA Kinder Meetup on the Playground, 10 a.m.–12 p.m.
• Tuesday, August 27 — First Day of School for Grades 1–5
• Tuesday, August 27 & Wednesday, August 28 — Kinder 1:1 Family Meetings (SCHEDULE)
• Thursday, August 29 & Friday, August 30 — Kinder Ramp-Up Full Days with Half Classes (SCHEDULE)
• Thursday, August 29 — Online with the Principal, 7–7:30 p.m.
• Friday, August 30 — Principal's Coffee, 8:10 a.m. in the cafeteria
• Monday, September 2 — NO SCHOOL, Labor Day
• Tuesday, September 3 — First Official Day of School for Kinder
• Tuesday, September 3 — Kinder Parent Coffee, 8:10 a.m. in the cafeteria
• Friday, September 6 — First Running Club at Lunch Recess
• Friday, September 6 — Popsicles on the Playground with the PTA, 2:30 p.m.