Panther Parent Update

De Portola is a welcoming diverse learning community. We foster individuality by empowering and developing students’ communication, curiosity, and critical thinking skills through a growth mindset. We are Panthers! Rooooaaaarrrrrrrr!!

08/07 Office CLOSED for staff meeting

08/08 Panther Orientation 3:00-4:30

08/12 First day of school (FULL DAY)

08/15 MINIMUM DAY with a 1:00 Dismissal (EVERY THURSDAY)

09/03 DP Foundation Meeting 6:00pm

09/05 Back to School Night 5:00-7:00

It was so fun to see everyone at Panther Orientation even though it was pretty warm. There was a lot of excitement about new teachers and it was wonderful to see the students connecting with each other again.

We had a pretty awesome first week. A huge thank you to the parent volunteers who came to support the Library and PE. Textbook checkout and PE clothes were super smooth. We are anticipating a PE clothes shipment by first or second week in September. Throughout the week, students watched videos reviewing our student policies. Feel free to view them here:

First Day & Bathroom Policy

Cell Phones

Dress Code

Second Week & Gum and Hat Policy

Each video is about six minutes long. Moving forward, we show one Principal's Message video each week on Mondays during 4th period before students go to lunch.

Due to the weather, we have asked Kona Ice to join us at lunch this Wednesday, August 21, 2024.

Small - $5

Medium - $6

Large - $7

Refillable - $8

Students can pay with cash. Kona Ice also accepts Apple Pay, so students will be permitted to use their phone at point of purchase. The sales from Kona Ice go directly to the PE Department for equipment.

We had our first day of tryouts for Basketball and Track and Field. If you missed tryouts, you can still attend on Wednesday. Click here to register for tryouts. All sports practice throughout the year will be held on Mondays and Wednesdays from 2:45 - 4:30 with games on Saturdays. Students can only participate in one sport per season. Please review the Middle School Athletics page for more information. Also, email Mr. Steven at sfong@sandi.net for any questions.

Fall Sports: Basketball and Track & Field

Winter: Soccer and Volleyball

Spring: Flag Football, Cheer, and Wrestling

If you are picking up your student at the Rec Center, you must abide by all traffic laws. Do not park in the red zone. Complaints have been filed and police can issue citations.

We do not accept food deliveries for students from outside vendors. Students cannot order pizza from Dominos or anything from Uber Eats. Additionally, parents cannot drop off Subway, McDonald's, or other fast food for their student. If a student forgets their lunch, we offer free lunch everyday. If a parent drops off a student's lunch bag, we will have the student come up to office at 12:00pm. If a parent brings lunch from Cotijas (or anywhere else), we ask that you stay and enjoy it with your student. The student may say "That's not cool" or "That's embarrassing." But, they actually really enjoy it.

While we are on the topic of bringing lunch, we will have our Honor Roll Lunch on Friday, August 30. On this day, all families are invited to bring lunch and enjoy it with your student (honor roll or not). All 7th and 8th graders who made Honor Roll (3.5 or higher, with no Us in citizenship) during the second semester of the 2023-24 school year will receive an ice cream sandwich. We had a huge turn out for this last year, over 100 parents attended. Parents picked up lunch and brought it to school. Be sure to plan ahead because some parents got stuck in an unexpected long line at Popeye's and arrived late to lunch. Upon arrival, parents check in at front office and receive an ice cream coupon. We direct families out to the lunch area to find your student and enjoy lunch together.

Repeated info from last week

School dismisses at 2:30. We only allow early release at 2:00pm or earlier. If you child has an appointment and needs to leave, please email Ms. Charisma at cjohnson7@sandi.net or leave her a message her at 619-605-4800 and press 3. She will send a pass and have your student waiting in the office at the expected departure time. This is not a perfect system, but we do our best to accommodate everyone. If your child has PE at your time of departure and you have not given us prior notice, it can take up to 20 minutes to locate your child, send them to locker room, and head up to office. Planning ahead makes this a very easy process.

Full day absences need to be reported to Charisma Johnson at cjohnson7@sandi.net. Please include your student's full name, DOB, reason for illness and the day or dates they are absent.

For the 2024-25 school year, De Portola Middle School will provide both BREAKFAST and LUNCH for all students. Breakfast will be served in the lunch arbor from 7:30 - 7:50 AM. Students just need to input their six digit student ID number and make their food selection.