The Sabin Star

My goodness you could feel the energy of the sun this weekend! We also felt the energy here at Sabin last week when the 4th graders presented their “Energy Open House.” They also had a chance to go to the Bonneville Dam! https://www.travelportland.com/region/bonneville-dam/

Thank you to all the families who came to the presentation, and thank you to the families who celebrated your “engineer” from afar. We could feel your “energy!”

I also had the honor of hosting “Lunch with Ms. Vawter” for those students who won the Friday Fun-Day Raffle! I am so excited to host the next one! Will your child be the winner?

A big thank you to Ms. Janessa and Ms. Jasmin for organizing and supervising the Student Store last Friday. Donations for the next store are always welcome and appreciated.

I hope you all have an amazing Spring Break. Whether you are traveling or staying close to home, we will be thinking of you! Be safe and have fun!

With love and gratitude,

Ms. Vawter

Staycation Fun in PDX for Spring Break

Smart watches and cell phones are NOT ALLOWED at Sabin. Any student found utilizing a cell phone or smart watch will have them taken and stored in the office. If your child is bringing a device to school please advise them to have the device off and stored away or dropped off at the office.

If your child needs to reach you, a smart watch or cell phone is NOT an acceptable way to communicate during school hours. If your child needs to reach you they need to go through their teacher and/or the office. Please help us to ensure all Sabin students are following this expectation.

• First offense: device taken and stored in office for pickup by student at end of the day
• Second offense: device taken and stored in office for pickup by caregiver at end of the day
• Third offense: device taken and stored in office and a family meeting with administration

Thank you for your cooperation.

We all know that children often need food more than 3 times per day. When students are engaged in learning they use up their available energy pretty quickly and sometimes waiting until lunch is not the best option for keeping students engaged, on-task and happy. Our office works hard to provide, PTA has graciously provided some funding as well as frequent produce donations from Rubinette Produce (thank you Alsburg family!) for our Snacks for All program. This is a simple program that meets a need; providing students with a healthy snack. Many classrooms provide snacks at their morning recess but this program serves all students at school any time of the day. If you would like to donate healthy snacks to this program please bring them by the office. Some examples are:

• pretzels
• Nutrigrain bars
• granola bars
• fresh fruit

Some things to avoid:

• fruit snacks
• peanut based snacks

Thank you.

Many of our students really love and look forward to our weekly Dance Party each Friday under the covered play area at recess. It is a time to practice rhythm, dance, sing and be joyful with friends. We are completing the city's noise ordinance due to a neighbor's concern of the volume level. So, until we get approval from the city, in order to avoid any setbacks, we have had to cancel this event. We hope to have this approved and back up and running as soon as possible. Thank you for your understanding. We always strive to be a good neighbor and this is part of that process.

• If a parent/caregiver requests that their child (3rd-5th) walk home in the middle of the school day they must email the office so we have it in writing lmartin@pps.net, hmaharry@pps.net

• Oregon uses the OHA/ODE Communicable Disease Guidelines for Schools for illnesses including Covid-19. The pages to refer to are 9-11 and more specifically for Covid-19, page 16 (which brings you back to pages 9-11). There is currently no exclusion for Covid-19 positive cases unless they also have excludable symptoms. If there are excludable symptoms (as specified in the guidance), then follow the requirements. It is appreciated to have your student wear a mask to help in reducing possible transmission if they are not feeling well and have respiratory symptoms, but it is not required. Being aware of those you come in contact with that may be immunocompromised, and waiting to spend time with them until you are well, is still very helpful to this population. Finally, if there are adults in your family that get ill with Covid-19, it is advised that you call your provider to have them help determine if you would be a good candidate for Paxlovid, as it is super helpful and underutilized.

Our second Asian American Pacific Islander Affinity Group meeting is this Friday, March 15th!

Meetings will be every Friday in the Spanish room (302). Students will receive invitations to inform them. If your child identifies as AAPI and did not receive an invitation, please reach out to Ms. Jasmin jvillanuevavillarrea@pps.net.

If you would like to volunteer with our AAPI group or share any aspect of your AAPI culture with us, please reach out as well.

As the weather gets nicer, more students and families will choose to stay and play on the grounds before and after school. Remember that the building is only open from 8:30 to 3:30. Staff cannot admit students and families into the building to use the restroom or water fountains, check the lost & found, or pick up non-essential forgotten items.

If you are enjoying the grounds or play equipment, have a plan for restroom breaks: use the bathroom before leaving the school building, walk home, or possibly visit a nearby friend's house with permission. Students can get a drink after class, or bring a filled reusable water bottle. Forgotten items can be picked up the following day.

Students who are participating in on-site SUN activities after school should reach out to the SUN office with any requests after regular school hours. Happy Spring, enjoy the weather!

PTA meetings are held the 3rd Wednesday of every month at 5:30 p.m. The meetings focus on building community and sharing information, and serve as a good opportunity to have face-to-face time with the principal and other administrators. In-person meetings are held in the Family Resource Room at Sabin, and free childcare and pizza are provided in the library for students of attending adults. Meetings are open to everyone. Virtual and hybrid meetings will also be announced.

We are looking for student authors and artists to share their poems, stories, writings and art. If your child would like to share please have them see Mr. Diltz or Ms. Jasmin.

What plant or animal are you most excited to see return in the spring?

What does it mean to be balanced? How do you practice balance?

What amused you recently?

March 19th- Vision and Hearing Screening (K-1)(3rd vision only)

March 21st - IB Assembly ONLINE, Balanced K-2 1:30, 3-5 2:15 Join online: https://meet.google.com/ntx-dgaa-zqp

March 21st- Lockdown drill

March 25-29- Spring Break

Please send any content you would like included to jvillanuevavillarrea@pps.net