The Mt. Tabor Tribune

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Hello Families,

With just one full week of school between us and conferences and fall break, I know that many of us (parents, students, and staff) are looking forward to a small respite from school.

As we prepare for conferences next week, I have a couple of important reminders:

• All of our teachers have room to accommodate a student-led conference for each student on their list, so please do not hesitate to sign up for a slot out of fear of taking it from someone else. Please sign up as soon as possible!
• If you need an interpreter, please contact Ann in the office as soon as possible so that we can get one scheduled for you. The longer we wait, the less likely we will be able to find one for you.
• The two days of conferences are the only two days that teachers are contracted for conferences. If you cannot make it during their conference window, please utilize the option listed below.

• If you are unable to make conferences, your student honestly has all they need to be able to do a conference for you at home (without a staff member). I have linked the Student-Led Conference Presentation Guide here for you. It shows students specifically what they need to share with you, and what kinds of questions your can ask them at each point in their sharing. Students have access to their Digital Portfolio directly on their PPS Chromebooks (they are shaved in their Google Drive as a Google Site). This is a fantastic option and gives students the opportunity to practice these presentation skills and engage in deep reflection. If you cannot make it to conference, I highly recommend doing your own at home.

Please do not forget that Wednesday is an early release day! Students will attend classes from 9:15 am- 1:45 pm. We appreciate your flexibility!

And, don't forget that the Successful Schools Survey is still open! Students will be taking their survey on Tuesday here at school, and we would appreciate hearing from our families as well. You can find more information about taking the survey a little later in the newsletter.

All the best,

Tonya Longo

The Successful Schools Survey is an opportunity for students, staff, and families to provide important feedback on their school environments, learning experiences, and sense of well-being and safety at school.

The survey is conducted once every school year to provide timely information to schools, district leadership, and the community, allowing us to make informed decisions about school climate and culture. This year, the survey window is open November 1 to December 6.

Portland Public Schools highly values the input and opinions of its families, and we welcome all PPS parents and guardians to complete this year’s survey. We use the data to help improve our schools, providing targeted feedback and training on how to create healthy school environments that are welcoming for all.

You can complete the Successful Schools Survey online using the link provided below. Please complete one survey per household. If you have more than one student at PPS, we ask that you complete the survey considering the experiences of your eldest child.

The survey will take approximately 15-30 minutes to complete and is available in English, Spanish, Russian, Somali, Vietnamese and Chinese.

https://surveys.panoramaed.com/portlandor/fall24family

For more information about the Successful Schools Survey, please go to pps.net/sss2024.

All OBOBer's should plan to eat their lunch in the library weekly on Tuesdays to prepare for battle. Battles will start in mid-January and finish by the last week of February.

Any questions, please contact parent coordinator Isabel Johnson johnson.isabel@gmail.com or MTMS Librarian Annie Licurse alicurse@pps.net.

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!

1) The January general PTA meeting which had been communicated about in prior emails has been cancelled.

2) PTA Board Seeking Lead Positions

The MTMS PTA board is still looking to fill the following volunteer positions:

Communications Lead

Hard of Hearing Program Rep

Please reach out to Christina Master, PTA president at christinadmaster@gmail.com with interest or questions about the roles.

3) Upcoming Dine Out Night

Wednesday November 20th, 2024

Blind Onion Pizza and Pub

6031 SE Belmont

10% of funds will be donated to the PTA

order in person, online (www.blindonion.com) or by phone at (503) 954-2189

4) Volunteers needed for MTMS's day at the PPS Clothing Closet! We need 6 volunteers Monday, December 6th from 9:30am to 1:30pm to help out at the PPS Clothing Closet. Here's the sign up link PPS Clothing Closet Sign-Up Genius link . Volunteers are needed to help kids receive clothing and sort donations. Last school year, the Clothing Closet assisted nearly 1,400 students. If you aren't able to volunteer, please consider a monetary or in-kind donation. They are looking for teen-adult sized new and gently worn hoodies and winter coats as well size 4-14 boys pants, joggers, and jeans.

Many thanks to the Mt. Tabor Middle School families who opened their homes to our visitors from Nanto City, Japan, at the end of October! We hosted 25 middle school students and 4 adult chaperones over Halloween week, and everyone agrees it was a wonderful time. Families, we couldn’t do it without you - thank you so much for your generosity and for helping keep these international connections alive.

Thanks also to Mt. Tabor teachers and staff for their support! We hope the experience added something special to your classrooms.

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!

ONK needs help to solicit donations by sending emails from a donor list. If asking isn’t your thing, we also need people to help pick up items. We currently have one person doing some pickups and a couple of helpers but we would like at least one more pickup person and 2 more people to help solicit donations. Also, if you have something you can donate to our Annual Benefit held on March 8th, please reach out! Any services, goods, gift cards to shops/restaurants, vacation home, or experiences are welcome! Please email procurement@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.

We are looking forward to meeting all our new incoming 9th-grade students and families on Wednesday, December 4th, from 6:00 pm-8:00 pm.

8th-grade families are invited to Franklin HS to have an opportunity to learn about the transition to high school, activities, academics, and tour our building.

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

For 7/8 football:

7/8 Tackle Football Schedule

6th, 7th and 8th Grade Volleyball:

https://cjvb-pily.web.app/st/games

6th-8th Grade Cross Country Meets:

2024 Cross Country Meet Schedule

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