FIRST DAYS OF SCHOOL
The first day of school ONLY for all 6th Graders and new students to WSMS (7th and 8th Graders) is Tuesday, August 27th, for those students to have a JumpStart orientation. We look forward to having all scholars, grades 6-8, together on campus on Wednesday, August 28th. For those first two days, students really only need the basic items, writing utensils, and paper. Once classes start, Teachers will inform students of any additional supplies that would be beneficial.
AUGUST
- CLASS SCHEDULES will be visible to families in ParentVUE the week before school begins, as we are still making all necessary adjustments to schedules.
- Tue, AUG 27th: JumpStart for 6th Graders and new-to-WSMS 7th/8th Graders only
- Wed, AUG 28th: First day for all returning 7th and 8th Graders. ALL students attend.
SEPTEMBER
- Mon, SEP 2nd: NO SCHOOL - Labor Day Holiday
- Tue, SEP 10th: Delayed start due to Staff Meeting 8:15-9:15 AM *(Students start at 9:30 AM)
- Wed, SEP 11th: School Picture Day
- Wed, SEP 25th: Early Release for Students at 1:45 PM due to Staff PD from 2:00-5:00 PM
OCTOBER
- Thu, OCT 10th: Back to School Night from 5:45-7:30 PM
Please visit our school website throughout the year to stay updated. A suggested school supply list has been posted on the school website throughout summer, and is linked here for your viewing and preparation.
CONSTRUCTION UPDATES
For our returning families, you know that construction has been occurring all Summer on the second half of the roof, hence staff have not been in the building throughout Summer. We will not be able to welcome community members or our staff into the building until it is cleared for safety, so any immediate in-person school registrations will be accommodated after August 20th.
Portland Public Schools is now using Remind for school and class messaging and voice calls. This means text messages, emails, and calls from the school and from your student's Teachers will be delivered via Remind to the contact information currently in Synergy.
Please note: Installation of the mobile apps is not required to receive text/phone calls.
Learn more about the REMIND app and set your communication preferences at this link: Remind App for Students and Families
STUDENT CLASS SCHEDULES
PARENTVUE / STUDENTVUE
Families may not be accustomed to using ParentVUE, and it is a critical resource for tracking your students’ progress. Please click the link here for information on setting up your ParentVUE access. There is a yearly verification for the student and parent app, so please follow this link to update your account access.
WORLD LANGUAGE ELECTIVES AVAILABLE
We still have room in Arabic and Mandarin World Language electives! These classes are for 8th Grade students and are held at Lincoln High School. Sign up here, if your 8th Grader would like one or more of these electives instead of something chosen last year.
EXPLORATORY ARABIC & 1/2
Class occurs at LHS in the morning, several days a week.
Families drop off students at LHS, and a bus returns them to WSMS.
MANDARIN 3/4
Class held at LHS in the morning, and students bus to campus for 2nd period.
Mandarin 3-4 is for native speakers who can leap into a higher level of learning.
If there are novice Mandarin speakers, LHS may consider offering
a Mandarin 1-2 class (High School credit), if fifteen or more of our students
want to take the course. Only 8th Graders may sign up for this class.
ELECTRONICS POLICY
WSMS is a NO cell phone zone from 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM daily. We request and advise all families to keep scholars’ cell phones at home during the school day. If you must send your scholar with a device, please use the parent control features to turn off access to all social media. The number one cause of all school referrals and school fights are conflicts initially instigated through students’ cell phones. You should have a way to monitor your child’s devices regularly. Know who their friends are and set up the settings to view and monitor their accounts for unsafe connections and harmful content.
If a scholar brings a cell phone to school, they will be expected to store their turned-off phone in their locker and have it out of sight throughout the entire school day (including lunches). Important messages can be sent to our main office via email (westsylvanoffice@pps.net), and will be forwarded to your scholars’ PPS email account. Time will be allowed for students to check their PPS email during the last period of the day.
For questions about your scholar’s bus route, district transportation options, or times for pick-up, visit the Transportation Department’s website. The WSMS office is unable to change bus schedules, and all calls regarding buses will be redirected to the Transportation website. There is a note that bus routes will be updated in late August, so stay tuned. On Tuesday, August 27th, only 6th Graders or new to WSMS 7th and 8th Graders should come to campus.
LUNCH / NUTRITION SERVICES
Students are welcome to bring their own sack lunch and are encouraged to bring a reusable water bottle daily to refill throughout the school day in our water fountains. PPS Nutrition Services provides students with a hot lunch and/or breakfast items at a small cost, and information about plans and assistance are here.
We have two separate lunch times, with 6th Graders eating together first, and then a combined 7th/8th Graders’ lunchtime/recess. Menu information and pricing is available here. This will be updated throughout the year. Families needing to apply for free and reduced lunch assistance can also find details on that website.
Every WSMS scholar will have access to a PPS Chromebook. However, unlike past years, students will not be issued a Chromebook to take home and keep with them throughout the year. Over the last several years, the amount of loss and damage to Chromebooks by Middle School students in PPS has been an extraordinary cost. To reduce the costs associated with damage and broken devices, devices will remain stored and used on campus.
Educators will continue to incorporate a variety of lessons that access school technology resources to enrich classroom instruction and to reinforce 21st century skills. Private laptops will not always work with all required programs. Chromebooks will only be available through classrooms or the Library.
BELL SCHEDULE UPDATES
This year, all Middle Schools in PPS have a 7-period schedule for students to access more classes during the day. All students at WSMS will have a World Language in their schedule each year, as we are an IB MYP school. All students can also expect to have 3 Quarters of PE in their schedules, due to Oregon state PE mandates for PE instructional minutes for Middle Schools.
ADVISORY
To continue the amount of time dedicated to building connections for our scholars with adults and to increase opportunities for academic and Social-Emotional learning, all Middle Schools in PPS have continued with having an Advisory within the school day. During this time our scholars engage in Social-Emotional work and community building. The updated bell schedule for 2024-25 is on our website, and Advisory content will occur during an extended period 6 for every student. For Social-Emotional learning activities, we use Wayfinder, a curriculum that can be viewed here for any wonderings.
Returning Educator, Ms. Gwen Campbell will split her day between teaching 8th grade Social Sciences and being our new MYP Coordinator. Ms. Campbell will also lead the 8th grade Community Project work in her role as MYP Coordinator! Ms. Campbell has years of experience in the IB MYP work and unit planning processes, and we are very excited to have Ms. Campbell taking over the next steps in leading our MYP growth as a school community!
Mr. Casey Bartlett is a new P.E. Educator with us this school year, and we look forward to the expansion of our P.E. offerings so that all students will have three full quarters of P.E. in their schedules! For the upcoming year, we will almost meet this goal, with all 6th and 7th Graders having three full quarters of P.E., and most 8th Graders also having those P.E. minutes in their schedules.
Mr. JoJo Arboleda has joined WSMS as our new Lead Custodian! Mr. Arboleda has spent summer learning about our building, and navigating the various construction and upgrade projects around the building. We all know how important our Lead Custodian is to our school’s operations, and we welcome Mr. Arboleda!
Maggie Lombard is joining WSMS as a full-time block teacher (ELA/SS) and ELA Interventionist! Maggie will join both the 6th and 8th Grade teams teaching Block, and she will lead the ELA Interventionist classes at WSMS. Here’s a short message:
Hello! My name is Maggie Lombard, and you can call me Mx. Maggie. I’m so excited to join West Sylvan as an English, Social Studies, and Reading Intervention teacher. Previously, I taught at Vernon K-8, and have been a substitute teacher in the district for three years. I’m most excited about meeting all of the awesome West Sylvan students. When I’m not teaching, you can find me skating, hiking, or baking. I look forward to the start of the school year!
Dr. Lori MacKinder is joining us as our new half-time Math Interventionist! Here’s some information about Dr. MacKinder:
Dr. MacKinder has been an Educator for nearly three decades and has served at Kindergarten, Elementary, Middle, High School, Community College and University levels throughout the United States in both teaching and leadership roles. At the heart of her love for teaching and learning is a foundation of playfulness, mindfulness, a growth mindset and metacognition. She has a passion for teaching and serving that is both inspiring and contagious.
Interested in Volunteering and Being More Involved?
Become an approved PPS volunteer by following the information here. Once your application is approved, please contact the Main Office to see how and when you can be of service.
As we continue to plan for the upcoming school year, we are hopeful that we can have more families involved in regular school activities such as volunteering on campus, taking part in our Friends of West Sylvan (FOWS) organization, and serving on the school Site Council. If you are interested in having a voice in one or more of these school groups, please sign up here.
Get involved, show school spirit, and support WSMS!
FRIENDS OF WEST SYLVAN is parent/family organization that supports Scholars and Staff and fosters community connection through fundraising and volunteer opportunities. Join the mailing list and stay connected with other families!
A wonderful way to keep your student engaged and out of trouble is to get them involved in extracurricular activities, such as youth sports. Youth sports programs are run entirely through the Portland Interscholastic League (PIL). West Sylvan is not involved in registration or management of the teams. All information to register students for PIL Youth Sports is located here.
Next week, August 12-19, all Student Health Centers will be open for sports physicals by appointment. This exam is required for all 7th-12th-Graders participating in a school sport. Schedule an appointment at any center or call the one nearest you. Sorry, no drop-ins.
West Sylvan Middle School
Website: www.pps.net/westsylvan
Location: 8111 Southwest West Slope Drive, Portland, OR, USA