Sitton Standard- May Edition

To all the moms in the Sitton Community- I wish you a wonderful Mother's Day! I hope you were pampered and appreciated. It has been a busy few weeks around here. Students have been on adventures near and far with trips to Seattle, the Columbia Gorge, and the Newmark Theater in downtown Portland! We also have had some wonderful family events including Spring Arts Night, Padres Latinos, and our first ever families of students with disabilities social group.These events have been joyful and well attended! Thank you to the families and staff who have been working to make these such a success! Students in grades 3-5 have also been taking their state exams in reading and math and showing so much Si Se Puede and pride in the process! We are so proud of you! Lastly, we want give a huge shout out to our PTA and volunteers who made Teacher Appreciation Week such a joyful celebration of our educators. You all go above and beyond and we feel the love! Thank You!

Families of students in Kindergarten and 5th grade will be receiving information in the next few weeks regarding end of year celebrations! This is always such an exciting time and feel free to reach out to teachers directly with questions. We hope parents in all grade levels will sign up to volunteer for Field Day! Details are below and we so appreciate your help. Lastly, please take a moment today to complete the Successful Schools Survey for Sitton. You can access this via https://surveys.panoramaed.com/portlandor/familyspring24/surveys

Have a great final few weeks of the school year. Lets make them memorable!

Sitton Google Calendar Linked Here!

PPS Updated Calendar Linked Here

Updated Family Events Flier Linked Here

May

• 5/13-5/17 State Testing Grades 3-5 Math
• 5/20-5/25 State Testing Grade 5 Science
• 5/27 No School- Memorial Day

June

• 6/3-6/7 Spring Spirit Week
• 6/7 PTA Carnival@ 2:30
• 6/12: Field Day
• 6/14: 5th Grade Continuation ceremony and Kinder celebrations with performances for grades K & 5

As you may have heard in the news recently, Portland Public Schools is facing significant budget cuts for next school year and beyond. Operating costs have risen significantly without a comparable increase in revenue and one-time pandemic relief funds (ESSR) are also ending this year. At the same time, enrollment has declined across the city resulting with roughly $30 million in cuts. The board has determined 15 million is being cut from central office operations and another 15 million is being reduced directly from schools for the 24-25 school year.

I shared in the March Sitton Standard how these budget cuts will impact Sitton's class size, namely that we will have single sections of English in 4th and 5th grade with about 30 students in those classes. We will continue to be able to offer all of our student supports including our Counselor, Social Worker, School Psychologist and all of our Special Educators and Paraprofessionals. However, we have also lost funding for a number of our Educational Assistants and our newly hired Community Agent. These cuts will no doubt impact our programming, but we are committed to utilizing the resources in our community such as parent volunteers and fundraising to make sure we can continue to offer a robust learning experience for the children in our neighborhood!

As such, the PTA is on a mission to raise nearly $30,000 to cover the cost of field trips next year. As part of our True North, every grade level attends at least three field experiences over the course of the year connected to core learning in reading and math. These experiences do so much to extent learning, ignite curiosity, and expose our students to the many gifts in our region. In the past, we have used school funding to pay for these experiences. However, as most of our budget was used this year to cover the cost of maintaining staff where we could, we will need the help of our whole community to be sure we can continue to offer a robust field work program! You can help by joining the PTA, donating directly, offering fundraising ideas, or beginning to volunteer using the sign up link below. We appreciate your support and look forward to another year of learning and exploration!

There is no better volunteer than a parent. You are your child's first and best teacher, and by volunteering you show your student how important school is to you. There are plenty of ways to help out, both big and small. Click on our SignUp link to see the many possibilities this spring and sign up! Questions may be sent to mwhipps@pps.net or stop by the office. Thank you!

Field Day is an annual tradition at Sitton where we enjoy a half day of Teamwork, Kindness and Joy! Classes participate in fun, cooperative games and activities such as water balloon toss, bowling, parachute, sack races and more! It is always such a fun and celebratory event and we would love your support! Please send your student to school in their colored Sitton shirt and also consider volunteering! K-2 takes place in the morning and 3-5 takes place in the afternoon. Typically volunteers help set up, run and take down a specific pre-planned station while classes rotate around to all of the stations. It's a ton of fun and we really hope you will join us! Sign up using the parent volunteer link above!

Our goal is to stay above 90% attendance for the whole year, and we improved another .5% this month. In the next few weeks let's make sure we help each other get to school everyday on time! If you need support in helping get your child to school everyday please reach out to Jane Strugatsky via email jstrugatsky@pps.net or phone 503-758-4862

Class lessons have been in full swing since spring break. It's been exciting for groups to examine the soil, plant seeds and starts, harvest salads, learn about compost, etc. Lessons will continue into June, usually on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. Please sign up to help one morning if you can! Click here to Sign Up and to see what's available.

Can you help at our end of year garden work party? It's Saturday, June 1st, 9:00 - 11:00 a.m. Click here to Sign Up. We will have weeds to pull, plants to mulch, and maybe a load of gravel to upgrade our ADA walkway, etc. We need help getting the garden in shape for the summer, and it sets the foundation for what we'll have when school resumes in late August. Children are welcome to join you!

We are looking for someone who can spend two hours/week in the garden from June 24 - August 24, or share the weeks. Two hours is enough time to make sure the water timer and irrigation is keeping things moist, to weed a bit, and to harvest a bit. This help is essential to having a thriving garden when the children return at the end of August. Please Sign Up Here if you can commit to a week or more. You will need to meet with me before June 24th for guidance on the tasks. All tools are provided! And you walk away with some fresh produce each week!

Finally, I'm seeking a truck or van to pick up two fencing pieces (16' x 4' "cattle panels") in St. Helens by May 16th.Email sittongardenclub@gamil.com if you're a possibility! They will become a walk-through bean trellis in the garden.

Thank you for supporting our school garden!
Merri, Garden Coordinator

Family Arts Night was such a a great time! Thanks for coming out and supporting all of our young artists. It was such a delight to see all the joy and pride on our student artists´ faces!

Dear Roosevelt and Feeder Schools Community,

A preliminary planning effort began in the Spring of 2024 to increase student capacity at Roosevelt High School by adding more building space. The new Roosevelt Phase 5 capacity upgrades would add 15,000 to 30,000 square feet of building space including science classrooms, general education classrooms, and educational support spaces. Improvements to athletic fields and athletic support facilities may also be considered.

When Roosevelt was modernized from 2015 to 2018, its enrollment was lower than that of other district high schools, so it was built for fewer students than the 1,700-student guideline in the updated PPS Education Specifications for Comprehensive High Schools. The 2020 School Bond provided funding for the preliminary planning effort associated with expanding the capacity of Roosevelt to 1,700 students. However, it does not have funding for the design and construction of the Roosevelt Phase 5 work.

The upcoming planning work will establish the overall scope and budget for the project. Then, the PPS Board of Education will use that information as they consider including funding for the design and construction of the project in a future bond.

Phase 5 Engagement Meetings Coming in Mid-May 2024

The RHS Phase 5 project team is holding a limited series of engagement meetings at Roosevelt in the coming weeks to share and discuss options for increasing capacity and addressing program needs.

Upcoming May 2024 Meeting Schedule:

May 14th

● Staff meeting with RHS Teachers

May 15th

● Meeting with Latino Parents (8:30 am - 9:30 am, Community Room 105)

● Meeting with RHS Students (11:30 am - 12:30 pm, RHS Commons)

● Community Open House (4:30 pm - 6:00 pm, RHS Library)

For more information, please visit the Roosevelt