West Sylvan Middle School

Dear West Sylvan Families,

Thank you for the wonderful First Friday luncheon for staff! Those days always make our staff feel appreciated, and we truly are grateful for all of the planning and donations that happen each month to make those lunches a reality!

Our third quarter grades are viewable in ParentVue at this time. If you have questions about a proficiency or a grade that was given, please contact the Educator directly. Following is the District marks legend, showing what the various marks mean, and next year all marks will be proficiency only (no letter grades) for all Middle Schools in PPS.

Communications related to the upcoming school year will continue to come from both our West Sylvan and PPS district team with regular updates, weekly or bi-weekly.

Jill Hunt, Principal
Ben Keller, Assistant Principal

APRIL

• Tue, APR 22nd: Eighth Grade group panoramic photo taken during 8th period *(students picked up early will not be included in this class picture)
• Wed, APR 23rd: EARLY RELEASE for Students at 1:45 PM due to Staff PD from 2:00-5:00 PM
• Fri, APR 25th: Sixth Grade Pack Party / for eligible students @ 7:00-8:30PM in WSMS Gym *(hosted by The Friends of West Sylvan)

MAY

• Tue, MAY 6th: Late Start for Students due to Staff Meeting (building opens at 9:20AM)
  
• Fri, MAY 9th: Seventh Grade Pack Party / for eligible students @ evening in WSMS Gym *(hosted by The Friends of West Sylvan)
• Fri, MAY 16th / Sat, MAY 17th / Sun, May 18th: West Sylvan Drama performances of Matilda Jr. in WSMS Gym
• Wed, MAY 21st: EARLY RELEASE for Students at 1:45 PM due to Staff PD from 2:00-5:00 PM
• Mon, MAY 26th: NO SCHOOL due to Memorial Day holiday

School starts at 9:15 AM and ends at 4:00 PM every day, with this bell schedule:

The exceptions to these start times are on the following Staff Meeting days:

May 6th - June 3rd

when students have a 15-minute later start at 9:30AM (with building opening at 9:20AM)

due to monthly Staff meetings *(only affecting PPS Middle Schools).
Buses should pick up 15 minutes later than the typical pickup time.

Please calendar the Early Release days this year, which are listed below. All Scholars are released at 1:45 PM, and Staff are in meetings beginning at 2:00PM, meaning we will not be available to supervise any students who are not picked up on time. Buses will drop students off two hours earlier than usual.

Come celebrate the extraordinary work of student artists and over a decade of funding for public school arts, with arts performances and an exhibition featuring a student honoree from our school!

Portland Public Schools is proud to partner with the Portland Art Museum, our host of the 2025 HeART of Portland: A PPS K-12 Arts Showcase. This premier district-wide annual event kicks off with an evening of student dance, music, and theatre performances, plus the opening of a stunning student visual art exhibition featuring over 100+ works.

🎨 Breaking the Grid: This year's student visual arts exhibition also features a citywide collaborative student art project inspired by the Portland Art Museum exhibition Psychedelic Rock Posters and Fashion of the 1960s. Guided by visual arts educators, students designed posters in the bold, expressive style of the exhibition, reflecting their hopes and dreams for their communities.

Event Details:
📍 Portland Art Museum – Free & open to everyone! 1119 SW Park Avenue
📆 Wednesday, April 16, 2025, Opening Reception
🕔 5 – 7 PM – Free admission to all museum exhibitions (Main Museum)
🖼 6 – 8:30 PM – Student Visual Art Exhibition (Miller Gallery, 1st Floor, Mark Building)
👩🏽 6:30 PM – Superintendent’s Welcome (Kridel Ballroom, 3rd Floor, Mark Building)
🎭 6:30 – 8 PM – Student Performances (Kridel Ballroom, 3rd Floor, Mark Building)

Our Scholars will begin engaging in their yearly OSAS testing. These data are used to inform decisions for students’ placement in any advanced Mathematics courses and/or potential needs for intervention support in Math or English, so we always want our Scholars to do their very best so that these data are an accurate reflection of their knowledge. These are the only data sets that Oregon uses to measure every school’s progress each school year, which is another reason that we want our Scholars to do their very best. Our schedule is outlined below, so that you know when the exams are being administered and in which setting.

The PPS OSAS testing window is April 1-June 6. Our goal at West Sylvan MS is to complete the SEED survey on April 10th, begin assessing students in OSAS on April 14th, and complete OSAS testing by May 30th. OSAS assessments will be administered through grades 6-8 ELA, grades 6-8 Math, and grade 8 Science classes. The OSAS SEED Survey will be completed through 6-8 Science classes.

We have completed our forecasting process for electives next school year with our current 6th and 7th graders by visiting English classes. You can see your students’ selections in StudentVue once they are made. Elective options are limited for the upcoming school year due to the current budget cuts. Most students will choose a World Language and either an Art or Design elective. Every student will take three quarters of PE and one quarter of Health (state requirements). Band and Choir are year-long commitments. Here are some notes to be aware of for scheduling:

• Seventh Graders should continue in the same World Language from 7th to 8th grade to build skill sets, which will ultimately make High School World Language courses more accessible.

• Eighth Graders have four World Language choices. They may choose either Spanish or French at our school site or one of the two World Languages which are taught at Lincoln High School, Mandarin and Arabic. Since we do not have exploratory classes for Arabic or Mandarin, no foundational knowledge is needed to select either of these World Languages for 8th graders.

• Eighth Graders who choose Mandarin or Arabic will start their day at LHS on the days when those classes meet, and then they are bused to WSMS to finish their learning day. We are the only Middle School in PPS that has this opportunity for Eighth Graders to have so many options for World Language learning!

• Any current Seventh Graders who are in Algebra 1-2 now will move to Geometry at LHS next year as Eighth Graders, and they will also start their day at LHS and bus back to WSMS to have that advanced Math access.

• Current Sixth Graders will make a choice between either Spanish or French, and they should commit to that World Language through Eighth grade so that they can qualify for potential High School World Language credit at the conclusion of 8th grade.

• AVID will no longer be funded for PPS Middle Schools, so we will no longer have AVID as an elective that we can offer, unfortunately.

This year, we moved the Chromebooks from a 1:1 checked out system to having students use the Chromebooks only at school for class assignments and projects. Last year, in a 1:1 model, our Scholars had the most regular damage to Chromebooks of any school in PPS. Based on the consistent issues, we moved to a school-only model for the Chromebooks, as these resources were being so consistently damaged, beyond repair, by so many students. Also, we wanted to move to more pencil and paper work so that our Scholars could have far less screen time throughout their days.

Teachers assign a specific Chromebook to students for use in their classes. Unfortunately, we are still seeing a decent number of Chromebooks damaged by our students. Classroom teachers will report any student who has been identified for vandalizing the school Chromebooks through a school referral, and families will be notified of the referral and the cost of the damage caused by their student to the school device.

For context, the cost to replace devices is below:

CTL Chromebook with charger is approximately $515.00

The cost for a replacement charger is $11.50

These charges will be added to a student’s PPS account, along with all outstanding fees which must be paid in order to receive a High School diploma or transcripts from PPS in future years.

This year, thanks in part to generous family donations, all students will receive a WSMS yearbook, free of charge. This year’s book will be a soft cover version, in order to ensure that all students receive a book for free. Typically, the yearbooks are not ready for distribution until June during the final weeks of school. There is no need to pre-order a yearbook due to the all-access distribution this year.

If you would like to contribute to the cost of printing, please click this link to go to the 2024-25 Yearbook Donation item in SchoolPay. Your donation will allow us to continue to offer free or reduced-price yearbooks to all students in future years. Without continued donations, we will be returning to pay for yearbooks next school year, 2025-26.

Our Eighth Graders will have a final Promotion celebration held at Lincoln High School on the evening of Wednesday, June 11th, in the Lincoln High School Gym. Seating is available to all until filled, and each year our families do fill the Gym.

There will be additional fun activities for our Eighth Graders in June, which will be available for Scholars who remain eligible for activities, such as a day trip to Oaks Park on Friday, June 6th, and a Pack Party on the evening of Friday, June 6th. Eligibility for activities like Oaks Park and the Pack Party will be dependent on adherence to school-wide behavioral expectations, passing grades, and positive patterns of attendance. Students who are deemed ineligible will be contacted prior to the events to let them know that they may not participate.

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!

TO CREATE YOUR FoWS ACCOUNT:

• Exciting plans are ahead for WSMS and Friends of West Sylvan. In order to take advantage of our activities this year, please be sure to login to www.friendsofwestsylvan.org and get your account set up. All events will be run through this system.
• If you previously had an account, you'll be prompted to update your information upon logging in. If you are new to West Sylvan or didn't set up an account before, you'll be asked to create one. Just use your email that you provided to PPS and that will link to your family information.
• Once logged in you can determine whether you would like to be included in our family directory and what information you would like to share. Our directory requires login to access, so it's not available to the public. Any questions? Email us at hi@friendsofwestsylvan.org

All West Sylvan 6th Graders are invited to the West Sylvan Gym to have a great time with their friends!

MORE Pack Parties hosted by The Friends of West Sylvan are coming!

Mark your calendar to make sure your student can attend these fun, FREE parties.

SEVENTH GRADE - Friday, May 9th *NEW DATE*

EIGHTH GRADE - Friday, June 6th

Interested in helping with these fun events? Email us at hi@friendsofwestsylvan.org

We know that young people are exposed to many images of substance use, and likely to have friends and peers who are experimenting. We hope this film and conversation will help us discuss substance use openly and understand how we can support the young people in our community to make informed decisions and stay safe.

COMMUNITY + CONVERSATION

Navigating Teen Substance Use in the Digital Age

Tuesday, April 22, 2025

6 - 8:15 PM

Lincoln High School

Please join us for a FREE event at Lincoln High School,

about the influence of substance use among young people in today's digital world.

Enjoy pizza and cookies (baked by LHS Culinary Arts Students!) in the Lincoln Commons, followed by a film screening in the Theater of Under the Influence: Addressing Vaping, Drugs & Alcohol in the Digital Age by filmmaker Delaney Ruston, MD

>>> A post-film discussion will include experts & professionals from the field, as well as Lincoln High School teens! <<<

This film is the third feature documentary in the Screenagers trilogy. It debunks myths and shares strategies parents and schools can use to encourage healthy decision-making, support teen mental health, set limits, and create healthy home environments. Exploring the latest research and learning more about the personal experiences of teens and families, the film highlights the changing landscape of the substances themselves, offering solutions for how we can best empower teens as they face decisions about what they will and will not be influenced by. Watch the trailer

Organized by Lincoln Health Action Network (HAN)

With support from Friends of Lincoln

Questions? lhshealthactionnetwork@gmail.com

Track & Field is a wonderful way to get into a sport, even if a Scholar is not sure of their talents.

TRACK & FIELD PRACTICES began March 12th,
and are held Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays

Times: 6:00PM - 7:30PM

Practice location: Lincoln HS Track

Cluster Coordinator: Julie Abrams lincolnyouthcrosscountry@gmail.com

https://lincolnyouthtrackandfield.weebly.com/

Portland Interscholastic League Youth Sports Program

https://pilathletics.sportsengine-prelive.com/page/show/2351756-pilysp-registration

Registration - FamilyID
We are excited to be using online registration through FamilyID (www.familyid.com). FamilyID is a secure registration platform that provides you with an easy, user-friendly way to register for PIL Youth Sports Programs, while allowing us to be more administratively efficient and environmentally responsible. If you need assistance registering, please contact your Cluster Coordinator.

All students must also submit the following paperwork to the Coordinator prior to participation:

• Proof of payment
• Copy of student physical: Sports Physical
• Proof of Residency: All students must participate in the High School Cluster in which they reside, and residency is based on the address you have on file with the school your child is attending. If you reside in the Dual Boundary (Grant/Jefferson, Madison/Jefferson, or Roosevelt/Jefferson) you must participate with the Jefferson Cluster. If you are unsure of which Cluster you reside in, please click here and type in your address. Proof of residency may be presented in the form of a student report card, or enrollment documentation which may be provided through your school.

For additional information, please contact the PIL District Office at 503-916-3223

University of Portland School of Education has begun accepting applications for their annual Summer Learning Program! In this program, the learning focuses on the Oregon State Benchmarks appropriate for each child in mathematics, language arts (reading, writing, and speaking), and any other subjects in which the student needs help. The Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) candidates tutor/teach students according to their learning needs. There are usually 4-5 students per 2-3 MAT candidates.

This year’s program will run June 30 – July 31, Monday-Thursday, 9:30am-11:30am, and welcomes students entering grades 2-11 in 2025-26. The cost of the program is $125, though scholarships are available.

Online registration is now available HERE or scan the QR code in the flyer below.

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-Registration]

Kirsten Crombie

kcrombie@pps.net

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