Bulldog Bulletin 03.12.25

🌸 The countdown to Spring Break is on and we anticipate our students to feel that excitement as well. For many students it is a joyful time to look forward to a week off from school, but for some students this type of break from their usual routine can create anxiety, stress and even frustration. Our staff will be providing those students with a little extra care leading up to the break.

🌞 Daylight Saving Time presented some bumps early this week with lots of tired kiddos and equally exhausted adults. Hopefully everyone is starting to feel adjusted to the time change, but it certainly can be disorienting for our littles, so please don't feel too worried if your child is struggling more than usual with their bedtime routines and morning routines.

🍀 Monday is St. Patrick's Day, which can be fun for those who celebrate, but if you dress your student in green for this occasion, please be sure to remind them in the morning that we do not pinch others at school who are not wearing green on this day.

This is a friendly reminder to check in with your child each evening and morning about their overall health. Students with symptoms from the attached list that should remain home until they are symptom free for 24-hours also need to meet this requirement without the use of medicine to suppress their symptoms.

I would also like to encourage students to wear masks in school if they have returned to school after being ill and still have lingering symptoms (e.g. cough, runny nose, etc) that may continue to spread germs in the school.

Thank you in advance for your support in keeping the Richmond community happy and healthy. 🙏

Wednesday, March 19th will be an Early Release Wednesday so students will be dismissed from school at 11:50 AM.

• Breakfast and lunch will be served at school.
• Buses will be running, but after school buses will be taking students home at 11:50 AM.
• If your child rides a bus home, you can expect them to arrive at their stop about 3 hours earlier than usual.
• Please plan accordingly for this day and complete the Dismissal Changes Form, if needed.

On Wednesday, March 19th our staff will be engaging in professional learning with me from 12:45-3:45pm. If you would like to donate a snack or beverage for our extended staff meeting day, please sign up here.

Thanks a MILLION to the families who have donated snacks and beverages in the past. It truly makes our day and our teachers feel very appreciated.

This month all PPS schools are practicing the Lockdown Drill. Richmond had theirs on Monday 3/10 and our students and staff did a great job following directions quickly and calmly. Some students feel anxious about lockdown drills, so we took as many precautions as possible to best prepare them for it.

On Friday 3/14 we will be having our monthly Fire Evacuation Drill. Our students and staff have become experts at evacuating the building in under 4-minutes and lining up quickly and calmly on the field.

The Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) visited Richmond to observe the traffic flow around our campus during morning arrival times.

To maximize the safety of our students, staff and families commuting to Richmond each morning, please follow these requests from PBOT:

• Follow the one-way traffic flow around the building from 7:30-8:05 AM on school days. This means the school should be to your right as you drive by; if not, you're going the wrong way.
• Drive very slowly around corners and through crosswalks. Watch out for our Safety Patrol students, parent volunteers and staff, as well as our bikers and walkers.
• Do not use the Staff Parking Lot to drop off students. This limited space needs to be reserved for staff, PPS workers, parent volunteers bringing in heavy/large items (e.g. Rich Coffee), and persons with disabilities that need to park closer to the school.

The PPS school year calendar for 2025-2026 is now available here.

This is a friendly reminder that the school building will be closed for Spring Break on 3/24 through 3/28. School will resume on Monday 3/31. Friday 4/4 is a non-school day for the teacher grading day, and Monday 4/7 is a non-school day for the teacher planning day.

Are you Spring Cleaning? Do you have extra silverware (spoons and forks only) lying around taking up space? If so, please donate them to the Richmond kitchen! We do not use single use plastic utensils in an effort to keep the cafeteria as environmentally friendly as possible.

Richmond parent, Amy Kyler-Yano, is hosting a fun LGBTQ2SIA+ family event for the Richmond community. Please see the flier for more details.

Please check out our ongoing volunteer opportunities: One Off Volunteer Opportunities!

Spring after-school enrichment program registration is happening now. Please see details on the PTA website and in flyers posted on the Richmond JDLI community facebook page, or tap

24-25 Richmond Elementary School After School Activities

Registration for the 2025/26 school year Kindergarten lottery is now open! Help us spread the word by sharing this graphic with your communites on social media.

🚩 Paper flyers are available at the front office and Rich Coffee—perfect for passing along to prospective families, daycares, or preschools you’re connected with.

🔗 Learn more & register: https://www.pps.net/domain/6455

Women in Coffee: This week, we are celebrating National Women’s History Month by putting together a small sample of women owned coffee shops in Portland! Over the next couple of weeks we’ll hopefully be able to interview one of the owners about her experience being a woman in coffee!

1. Marigold Coffee - Women-owned, community-drive, quality-obsessed Coffee Roasters

2. Tea Bar - 1055 NW Northrup

3. Dear Sandy - 2800 NE Sandy

4. Prince Coffee - Prince is a woman-owned specialty coffee shop and natural wine bar in NE and NW Portland, Oregon.

5. Sinister Coffee and Creamery - 301 SW Morrison St

6. Bison Coffeehouse - Portland's only Native-owned coffeehouse, serving the Cully neighborhood with a carefully curated roster of Native and local roasters, locally sourced beverages, and a selection of delicious baked goods lovingly created on premises.

7. Keeper Coffee - 4515 SE 41 st Ave

Bulldog Beats: Thank you for the new songs for our Bulldog Beats Spotify Playlist! The additions include “Robinson” by Spitz (ロビンソン by スピッツ), KODAK by haruno feat. Toaka (this one got me feeling like Summer), Blue Spring by tonun, life hack by Vaundry, and more! Keep em coming. BTW I’m still hoping someone can remind me of the 2000s J-pop song that has a hook that goes something like, “Chotto matte yo ne…”!

Get Involved with the Caffeination Station: If you’re interested in testing the waters of Rich Coffee involvement or even co-leadership, email me at richcoffeepta@gmail.com, message Jason Kyler-Yano on Konstella, or stop by and ask Cass, Isaac, Carly, or Jason about stepping behind the buffalo plaid tablecloth!

See you there every Tuesday in the cafeteria from 8:00 to 8:30.

Japanese Speaking Volunteers! 日本語スピーカーボランティア募集中

５年生の藤原先生のクラスで日本語スピーカーの募集をしています！もしお時間があり、興味のある方、ぜひ下のリンクからサインアップをお願いします！！

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C094FABAE2DA2FEC34-2324#/

Mark your calendars! Registration for the Science Fair opens this Saturday (03/15/2025) at 10 AM. Spaces are limited. Look for a Konstella post with the registration link or use the registration url below. Yay, science!

Register for the Richmond Elementary Science Fair 2025

Lend a hand to make this the most! We are still looking for help for the Spring Festival that’s coming up soon. Contact Marisa@Thyken.com with questions.

Here are the roles that need to be filled and/or shadowed for next year:

• Fun/Entertainment Lead - Get the bouncy houses lined up and coordinate the non-student performances.

• Cuteness Lead/Student Perfomances - Work w/ the teachers and all grades on music performances for the Spring Festival & with 5th graders in preparation for graduation performance. Come learn with the current 5th grade parent doing this before they graduate with their kiddo!

• Promotions - posters, posting, get the word out!

Spring Festival Lead - get your feet wet this year and spread the cheer. This is another role currently held by a 5th grade parent whose kiddo is graduating.

A huge thank you to our community, with special speakers Hina Sugita and Kenji Spielman. As we continue to crunch the numbers, a few sign-up parties still have spaces available! Head over to the After-Party Online Party to sign-up for fun activities with others from our JDLI family. (https://onk.tofinoauctions.com/benefit2025/catalog) Grab your calendar and schedule some fun sign-up party dates! Open until sign-ups fill or March 31st, which ever comes first, so act soon! If you already signed up or are missing any winnings, you'll receive an email this week to connect winnings with bid winners.