Duniway Dispatch

August 5th, 2024

September 13, 2024

Calendar

September and October

September 25: Early release - dismissal at 11:50 a.m.
September 26: Back to School Night, 6-7:30 p.m.
September 30 to October 4: Scholastic Book Fair
October 11: No school for students
October 21: Picture Day
October 25: Principal Coffee, Cafeteria, 8 a.m.
October 23: Early release - dismissal at 11:50 a.m.

2024-25 District Calendar

Principal Message

Dear Duniway Families,

Happy Friday and I hope you all have had a good week. It was nice to enjoy cooler weather this week and to have some needed rain on Wednesday.

We had a good week of school as we had our first full five day week of school (ending today on Friday the 13th!). Clearly students have settled into their routines and were immersed in the school curricula and beginning of the year assessments. We were also excited to honor and welcome our students who are new to Duniway this year (in grades 1-5) . On Tuesday our Counseling team (Monika Soennichen and Rachel Connors) hosted a lemonade party for our new students and they all had a great time. You can read more information about this event below.

I also had the pleasure of joining our PTA meeting this past Tuesday and spoke about various topics related to the start of the school year. During a Q&A session, a parent asked about the current state of our class sizes and the possibility of getting additional staffing for our large class sizes (particularly in 1st grade). I had mentioned this was a possibility a few weeks ago, but unfortunately we were not allotted additional staffing at that time and our enrollment dropped slightly after the first few weeks of school. The table below summarizes our current class sizes in comparisons to the Portland Public School established maximum class sizes for staffing purposes. As you can see, we are below the threshold for requesting additional staffing. In the event our enrollment rises, I will certainly advocate for additional staffing (and I continue to do so even with our current levels). As I have mentioned previously, Portland Public Schools is facing a large budget shortfall in the coming school year and resources are scarce. At the PTA meeting, we did discuss how to collectively raise our voice for adequate funding as a school community and I was excited to hear about the efforts of the PTA advocacy committee. In the end, many of those present emphasized that even with the high class sizes, Duniway will continue to provide a engaging, quality educational experience to all of our students and meet our students' diverse needs (and I agree!).

That is all the information I have to share at this time. I hope you all have a great weekend!

Best,

John Melvin

Principal

From the PTA: After School Activities

Fall activities are starting up over the next few weeks. Check out the schedule to enroll or to find details and contact info for the programs you've signed up for. Please contact providers directly with any questions.

If your 4th or 5th grader is interested in joining MUSE band (after school Wednesdays) they are hosting an Instrument Petting Zoo

Saturday, Sept. 14 at St. Rose School 5309 NE Alameda 10:00-12:30
Sunday, Sept. 15 at Holy Trinity School 13755 SW Walker Rd Beaverton from 2-4 in the cafeteria.
Students can come by and try out some of the instruments. Rental instruments will be available as well.

Duniway Choir for Grades 3-5

Our Duniway Choir is starting for the 2024-2025 school year and we’d love to have your child join! We are a non-auditioned after school club led by Mrs. Adams that is open to all students in grades 3, 4, and 5 that demonstrate responsibility, focus, and a love for singing. Singers of all experience levels are welcome. We rehearse Thursday afternoons from 2:30-3:15pm in the auditorium. Sign-up here!

Student Health

Families should review the Oregon Health Authority’s (OHA) Symptom-Based Exclusion Chart to know when to keep students home based on symptoms.

From Jey Buno, Chief of Student Support Services

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.

Review and Update Your Student's Information

Each year parents and/or guardians are asked to review and update the information on file for their students. This information can be reviewed, edited and submitted online via PPS ParentVUE.

Verify Online

Benefits of verifying online via ParentVUE:

Complete yearly verification of your student's information
Update your communication and language preferences
Ensure your school has the most up-to-date information
Save paper and time

Change of Clothes for All Students

Accidents happen and the rainy season will be coming all too soon. So, we are asking all families to send a ziploc bag with a change of clothes to leave at school for each of your students. The bag should be labeled with your student's first and last names and include a top, bottom, underwear, and socks. Thank you!

Label All The Things

Please label all of your students things with both their first and last names so that lost items can be reunited with their owners. Permanent markers or Sharpies work great!

Things to label may include:

jackets, raincoats, sweatshirts
hats, scarves, gloves
water bottles, lunchboxes, backpacks

Unclaimed items from the Lost and Found in the Cafeteria will be boxed up and donated to the PTA Clothing Closet at the end of November.

Picture Day is October 21st!

Picture day information, online ordering, and our customer advocate team are all at your fingertips. Visit mydorian.com, search for Duniway, and click on the green Order button or yellow Help button associated with our picture day.

You can order online now and for up to four (4) days after picture day.

Note from the School Counselors

Hello! It has been a wonderful start to the year, and students are settling in and learning the new year’s routine. Today’s bright crisp morning was the first one this year that really felt like fall weather! A special fall tradition at Duniway is our Fall New Student Event, held this past week. We welcomed 27 new students from 1st to 5th grade to our community. We shared lemonade, treats, conversation, and connection! It was so fun to get to know one another and soon our “Welcome New Duniway Dragons” bulletin board will be graced with pictures of and fun facts about our new community members.

We will soon begin our classroom school counseling lessons, with Ms. Soennichsen teaching grades 2-5, and Ms. Rachel, Kindergarten and 1st-grade. Ms. Soennichsen is at Duniway full-time, Monday through Friday and Ms. Rachel is here on Tuesdays and serves at Bridlemile elementary on her other work days. We will both be sharing updates about our school counseling program here in the weekly bulletin and you can always consult our School Counseling Website for other related information. We are both here for all of our students and families, so please reach out to us.

Ms. Soennichsen and Ms. Rachel

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Monika Stampf Soennichsen, MS, LSC (she/her)

Elementary School Counselor

Duniway Elementary School

msoennichsen@pps.net

(503) 916-6343, extension 76520

Rachel Connors, MS, LSC (she/her)