Beverly Cleary Connection

Hello families,

I want to start by thanking all of you for your participation with conferences! It's always so fun to have families in the building! I hope your family was able to spend time over break filling your buckets! It's hard to believe in two weeks, we will be heading into another break.

This week, staff reflected on their priorities during the staff meeting and reviewed their current daily schedules. Here's two resources (UDL and Hattie's Effect Size) we used to help drive our conversations- feel free to take a look, but forewarning- they are loaded resources!

This week, we have also been busy finishing up the hiring process for our middle school PE and Health position, so Mr. Hamler can finally return to his role as an adaptive PE teacher across PPS. We will share more about our awesome new addition when we get updates on their start day!

This week, we also welcomed a new long term guest teacher to our third grade classroom. Patti Zinke will be covering Ms. Lee’s class through February. She comes to us with experience in multiple states and countries, and we are excited to have her join the team while Ms. Lee attends to her health!

This week, we also had folks out to deep clean the rooms/chutes/filters/etc. (I'm not good with the technical terms). The team is here for a week with the goal of better air quality as well as temperature control.

Next week, the PTA is hosting their monthly meeting in the cafeteria at 7:00 PM. All are welcome to join as there will be some great topics up for discussion. On Tuesday, there's a PTA sponsored fundraiser at Dara Thai and Teriyaki. I always love trying a new restaurant especially when there's the added bonus of seeing families come through for dinner! Next Wednesday (December 11th), the Cougar Reps are hosting a school-wide assembly in the gym. The focus is on collaboration, and students are encouraged to wear pajamas - be sure to encourage students, so I'm not the only one in pajamas at school that day! Finally, next Friday is our monthly coffee talk in the cafeteria at 9:00 AM. Keersten will be facilitating RJ 101 and answering questions families may have about what that may look like at home, too! Be sure to bring a coffee mug and join in on the fun!

I'm heading into the weekend grateful for the sunshine even if it's a bit chilly. Tonight, I'm taking the bus downtown to meet my husband for some dinner and lights. One of my favorite parts about living in Portland is how convenient public transportation is- it certainly was not my experience in Phoenix! Tomorrow, we'll be locked into the Oregon game. I find the "Ducks Vs. Them" recaps of the week inspiring, and I'm always trying to translate it to school. This week was on U of O being a dream school and what showing up and representing that school looks like for these players. It makes me think about all the wonderful ways we can support our own school being the "dream school" for families, students, and staff.

I hope your family has the best weekend!

This month's Coffee Talk will be on Friday, December 13th at 8:45. Bring your mug, fill it up with coffee or tea and join us to discuss all things Beverly Cleary! Our Restorative Justice Specialist, Keersten Combs, will be hosting this Coffee Talk.

Please remember to support the Library fundraiser at The Children's Place bookstore this coming Tuesday, Dec. 10th and Wednesday, Dec. 11th. 10% of every sale on these days that mentions Beverly Cleary will be donated to our school for the purchase of books for our library. A Children's Place is located at 1423 NE Fremont St., 10 AM-6 PM.

As the year wraps up, please consider sending your old calendars to the Library to be turned into bookmarks. Students love to get new bookmarks!

Calling all BCS Families!

BCS is collecting donations of NEW socks, underwear, gloves and winter hats - sizes 4T- adult to benefit the PTA Clothing Center. More than 2,000 PPS students turn to the Clothing Center every year for support, and every year our BCS community steps up to ensure that the Clothing Center can provide new socks, hats, gloves and underwear to every student who visits. They have already served 600 kids in the last two months!

All donations are appreciated, but this year the Center reports a particular need for these items:

• New Boys and Men’s Knit Boxers sizes men's small, medium and large (preferred over briefs)

• New little boys underwear boxers 4T, 6,

• New Teen boy socks sizes 3-9 and 6-12, ankle/low cut style

• New Women’s bikini and hipster style underwear (variety of sizes)

• Warm winter coats for teens gently used or new (they only have 8 coats)

• Big need for New boys and men's sweatpants and joggers size 4T- adult

• Lots and lots of New Socks and Underwear ranging from 4T-adult sizes boys and girls.

To make it easy, you can go to our Amazon wish list and have it sent directly to the school!

Starting Dec 16th-Dec 20th collection bins (decorated by BCS students) will be located inside the front door of our school and in the cafeteria by the doors leading out to the playground. They will be there all week. At the end of each day students will be counting the items and they will be placed on the stage! At the end of the week the PTA will take all the items to the Clothing Center.

We LOVE a challenge at BCS, and the PTA is challenging the BCS students to beat their generosity from past years. The PTA Clothing Center relies heavily on our donations each year. The goal this year is for our BCS community to collectively donate at least 2,800 pairs of socks, underwear, gloves and hats! Let's come together and help make a difference for so many kids and families in Portland!

Please feel free to reach out to Korwren Peterson community@beverlyclearyschool.org with questions you may have.

Thank you so much for your generosity and willingness to help!

BCS PTA

Hi Families! I am the K-4 School Counselor, here at Beverly Cleary School. I am working on forming small groups for K-4 students. Small groups provide additional social skills learning opportunities. Please click on the link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1lY-QiOgEx-BbuHtDPNmQkzipMxiJ_Zx-20ijPRkSkwI/edit if you are interested in your child participating in a small group for K-4th graders. Questions? Feel free to email me at slannom@pps.net.

Yours In School Counseling,

Samantha Lannom

Ms. L

Yearbook Volunteer Assistant(s) Wanted

Yearbook is looking for 1-2 parents interested in assisting this year's student staff and adult advisors. Yearbook is every Wednesday from 3:30-4:30 pm. Must have a heart and willingness to serve and work with middle schoolers. A background or interest in design, layout, or yearbook experience is helpful.

U of O 8th grade Field Trip Chaperones Needed

When: January 22, 2025

Time: 6 am to 5:30 pm

Cost: $12 for lunch

We need 10 chaperones to attend the field trip with us. Please email Liz Kobs if you can participate this year! Come spend the day at U of O with the 8th grade class learning more about College Career Readiness and touring facilities.

Please fill out this form and attach a baby or toddler picture of your 8th grader for the 2024-25 yearbook and write a short message of congratulations and best wishes. Submission due by Wednesday, December 11th. If you have any questions, please email: beverlyclearyschoolyearbook@gmail.com

CLICK HERE to read the 12/06/24 PTA Newsletter.

This week includes:

- Annual BCS Clothing Drive

- Restaurant Fundraiser - December 10

- Winter After School Enrichment Enrollment

- Next PTA Meeting - Monday 12/9

- and more!

We are looking for both students and parents to help with this year's production of She Kills Monsters. We are looking for students to audition for roles and participate in crew. We are also looking for adults to help with Costume Design, Fight Choreography, or any of the many crew teams!