West Sylvan Middle School

For our families who have incoming sixth graders next school year, we started hosting groups from our feeder Elementary Schools this week, with the Bridlemile students joining us yesterday! They had an opportunity to be on campus during a typical school day, tour campus, meet many of our support staff members, and ask questions with our student Pack Leaders. This is always an exciting time of the year, as we get our eighth graders prepared for their final weeks of Middle School and get to meet our next group of Wolves!

We hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Jill Hunt, Principal
Ben Keller, Assistant Principal

MAY

Jewish American Heritage Month

Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month

• MAY: OSAS testing
• Mon, MAY 27th: NO SCHOOL due to Memorial Day holiday

A number of our students will be participating in a Middle School basketball competition for our very own PPS version of May Madness for Middle Schools! The bracket is below, and the first game is next Thursday! Go Wolves!

Each year, our school district collects data from our students, our Educators, and our families in the Successful School Survey. The link opens on Monday and the survey will be available until May 31st. We would love to hear from as many families as possible through this survey, please!

Families will select your site from the drop-down list at the following URL. Families with more than one student can respond for their eldest student, or you may choose to take the survey more than once. https://surveys.panoramaed.com/portlandor/familyspring24/surveys

Support this student-led MYP Project! Join us for a family meeting, led by eighth graders (not school Administrators or Teachers), to talk with Middle Schoolers about bullying and learn how they plan to solve it.

Saturday, May 4th at 12:30 p.m.

Join Zoom Meeting:
https://us05web.zoom.us/j/84350438169?pwd=Lk8oJOWvuz91ThV6C5GPwb9mWLrbV8.1
Meeting ID: 843 5043 8169
Passcode: wsmsbully

Some of our eighth grade students are hosting a Zoom call for families to join. This is part of their MYP service project. The group intends to share strategies and advice with families about bullying and how to help your students at home.

The spring OSAS testing cycle continues throughout May. Please review the list of groups who are testing below, so that your student is prepared for those days. Please send students with their charged Chromebook each day so that they are ready to go! We are moving onto Math and Science (8th graders only for Science) after English testing concludes. Please send students to school rested and nourished for testing.

With just a couple months left in Middle School, we are planning some activities for final memories for our 8th Graders:

• Friday, June 7th:
  8th Grade Pack Party
  Final dance for the 8th Graders together at WSMS *hosted by The Friends of West Sylvan
  
  

• Tuesday, June 11th:
  8th Grade Field Trip to Oaks Amusement Park
  Buses take students for a day at Oaks Park, lunch is served there, and we return to the school in the afternoon.
  
  

• Wednesday, June 12th:
  Class field trip to University of Oregon
  Day trip returning by 6:00PM
  
  

• Thursday, June 13th:
  8th Grade Promotion Ceremonies
  At Lincoln High School starting at 6:00PM in their Gym. Families have an unlimited number of guests, as we will pull out both sides of the bleachers for the event.
  
  

• Friday, June 14th:
  Last day of Middle School!
  We’re working on some fun items for 8th graders who join us after they have their Promotion.

With the goal of improving the mental health of West Sylvan students, two brilliant minds from our West Sylvan 8th grade are on a mission to create a tranquil haven, a Calming Room, as part of their MYP project. But they can't do it alone! We need your generous support to bring their vision to life. Click on the Amazon Wish List link to contribute, and don't hesitate to reach out to Mr. Almeida (ralmeida@pps.net) if you have any questions or ideas. Let's make this project a reality together!

The following groups and spaces have existed all year and continue to be available to students who share the affinity. Students can initiate Affinity spaces with adults on campus who share their affinity, or district-approved volunteers may run Affinity spaces for students during Advisory or lunches.

Asian Student Union: meets weekly on Fridays during Advisory

Black Student Union: meets weekly on Wednesdays during Advisory

Black Excellence Group: (RESJ partners) meets weekly on Thursdays during Advisory

Jewish Student Union: meets weekly on Tuesdays

Students Organizing for Leadership (SOL)/LSU: meets weekly on Tuesdays during Advisory

Gender/Sexuality Alliance: meets weekly at lunch

Neurodivergent Affinity Group: meets monthly

Equity: meets monthly

No Place for Hate: meets monthly

Our bus drivers write referrals for any misbehavior, and then school Administrators address those behaviors with students and inform families of the referrals. Riding the bus is a privilege, and not a right, so if students cannot follow the bus rules, we do have to move toward assigned seats and ultimately, bus suspensions. Suspensions from bus riding put the responsibility of daily transportation back on families, so please reinforce the need for good behaviors on the bus. Here is the link of all expectations so that you may also review these at home.

PPS has created a tutoring option for all students to access! The information is here for how students may access tutoring support through the new PPS partnership with VarsityTutors through their school Chromebooks.

We use critical and creative thinking skills to analyse and take responsible action on complex problems. We exercise initiative in making reasoned, ethical decisions.

After completing community service hours through their Block classes during the first semester, 8th Grade students at West Sylvan should now be in the REFLECTING phase of the International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme (MYP) Community Project, which is an essential component of the MYP curriculum and a capstone project of students’ Middle School education.

The MYP Community Project is a student-led and collaborative project that aims to encourage students to explore and reflect on real-world issues within their local community. This project enables students to apply their learning from their prior service and different subjects to develop essential skills such as critical thinking, problem-solving, communication, and collaboration.

The project has four main components: investigating, planning, taking action, and reflecting. Students should have already identified a real-world need within their community that they are passionate about and wish to address. Now, they are conducting thorough research to better understand the issue and its possible solutions.

Finally, students will develop a plan of action to address the issue, which may involve organizing events, raising awareness, fundraising, or other forms of community engagement. Students take action and reflect on their learning and the impact of their project.

~ Community Project Timeline ~

Investigating: 2/8 - 3/14

Throughout the project, students receive guidance and support from their Advisory and Block teachers, who ensure that their project aligns with the principles and values of the MYP. We believe that the MYP Community Project is an excellent opportunity for our students to develop essential skills and become active, responsible, and compassionate members of their community. We encourage you to engage with your student about the importance of service as they work to make a positive impact in their community.

This year, students will have the opportunity to share their projects with their peers and educators in the MYP Community Project Exhibition, which will take place during the 4th Quarter. They will be assessed based on the Community Project assessment criteria and graded through their Social Sciences classes. This project will be worth 10% of both their 3rd and 4th Quarter grades. Thank you for your ongoing support!

Translation available: Español / Tiếng Việt / Русский / 中国人

Throughout the year, we have still had patterns of late buses to/from WSMS. If you need to contact Transportation in the afternoon because a route is taking longer than expected, please call this hotline to get real-time status on your child’s bus route:

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!

Counselors are best reached and contacted via email. Please refer to the following list for your School Counselor by grade.

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. Our Friends of West Sylvan organization also regularly shares ways to get involved on campus, specifically to volunteer in the Library, monitor hallways, help in the Main Office, help in classrooms, and do recess duty.

Please make every effort to pick up students before or after their grade-specific Lunch period (see below). Once students are scattered around the field playing at recess, picking up during Lunch recess becomes more timely for all involved. Please do not call or text your student to tell them you are here or to tell them to come to the Office. If a student uses their device to check a text and/or answer a phone call, their phone will be confiscated.

6th Grade LUNCH: 11:37 AM ~ 12:07 PM

7th Grade LUNCH: 12:31 PM ~ 1:01 PM

8th Grade LUNCH: 1:25 PM ~ 1:55 PM

Breakfast is available in the hot lunch room at that time. With the colder weather, we are having students who are dropped off early sit in the hot lunch room until 9 a.m. so that they are not sitting in the cold outdoors. Students with Choir before school (appears as period 0 on StudentVue), start school at 8:00 AM each day. Students should ring the bell upon arrival.

Ms. Crombie accepts Chromebooks for repairs between 10:00AM - 3:00PM each day. Damaged devices are picked up for repair each Friday, and are usually returned the following Friday. A loaner Chromebook can be issued to students in the meantime. Remind and encourage your student to take care of their Chromebook, and keep them in protective cases. If they don’t have a protective case, the school can provide one. Chromebooks are used for class assignments daily. Students will need to charge their device each night and bring their charged Chromebook to school each day. We do not have enough loaners to give to students who forget their chromebooks. Students and families will be responsible for paying for replacements for lost chargers throughout the 2023-24 school year. They will be ordered through PPS OTIS, and cost $12/each.

The district IT office has removed access to any non-US based web pages. This is to project student privacy. In addition, students will not be able to access my.pps.net outside of the United States from now on. If this provides a hardship, please contact Ms. Crombie and she will help you ask for an exception.

Please remind your students to bring and wear their school ID daily. We’ve shared out many ways that our students can be safe by displaying their IDs throughout the day through our Advisory videos. IDs are used on campus for quickly identifying students (this is especially helpful for Substitutes). Students use them to check out library books and to buy hot lunch. Bus drivers also look for student IDs to be sure that students are on the correct route.

We do NOT allow students to order items directly from delivery services throughout the day, as they are inviting strangers to our campus, and we have no way of monitoring what they are delivering. There is an unfortunate option where students can order illegal items, such as VAPE devices through delivery services. Students are reminded of this school policy regarding food delivery services when it is violated, and items are held in the office for end-of-day pickup. Family members are also notified when this occurs.

WSMS is a cell phone free zone from 9:00 AM - 3:45 PM daily. We request and advise all families to keep scholars’ cell phones at home during the school day. If a scholar brings a cell phone to school, they will be expected to store their turned-off phone in their locker throughout the entire school day (including lunch periods). Important messages can be sent to our main office via email (westsylvanoffice@pps.net) or phone, and will be forwarded to your scholars. Please do not call or text your student. If your scholar chooses to use their cell phone, smart watch, air pods, tablet, et al, the device will be confiscated. If your scholar uses their device to check a text from and/or answer the phone from you, their phone will be confiscated. Not only will their phone be confiscated, it shows you do not find this school rule important. This sets a bad precedent.

MAIN OFFICE

westsylvanoffice@pps.net

(503) 916-5690

ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT/ PRINCIPAL'S SECRETARY

[Staff / Substitutes / Financial]

Jerda Solonche

jsolonche@pps.net

ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT/ SCHOOL SECRETARY

[Students / Attendance / Enrollment]

Kirsten Crombie

kcrombie@pps.net

Website: www.pps.net/westsylvan
Location: 8111 Southwest West Slope Drive, Portland, OR, USA