Dear HTMS Families,

Hello, at this point in time, we are closed for Tuesday, November 14th and hope to be back serving the HTMS community soon. One thing I absolutely believe to be true is that all of our staff is eagerly awaiting a contract agreement so we can welcome the kids of the HTMS community back to school. I recognize this closure is potentially creating an undue burden on some of our families and we are here to support as we can. In today’s newsletter, you will find updated information in regards to PTSA, conferences, 8th grade students and families and different resources you and your family may benefit from. Lastly, please let your kids know that we miss them and that we are looking forward to being in community together again soon!

During the strike, Harriet Tubman MS will be a food distribution site. HTMS has grab and go lunches on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursdays between 11:30-1:00pm. We will be handing out the sack lunches at our doors off Flint Street.

The building will not be open except for food distribution. PPS has created this family resource one pager as well as creating this site that provides families with resources they may access if there is a teacher strike. There are resources to support students such as optional and supplemental learning as well as maps for school meal locations. There are also sections that may be helpful when having conversations with your student about school closures and a FAQs area to answer general questions.

We want to ensure your student has access to a Chromebook. Please check in with your student to ensure they have their assigned Chromebook and that it is in working order. If your student is missing their Chromebook or it is not working, please contact Mr. Goria at agoria@pps.net to coordinate getting your student a loaner device.

If your student has a broken charger, they can swap it for a working one with Mr. Goria. We are unable to provide replacement chargers for students who have lost theirs. A replacement charger can be purchased through Amazon or elsewhere for about $12-$15. (universal chromebook charger, usb-c)

At this point in time, the district is not providing internet hotspots.

• HTMS School Counselor Resources page

• PPS Student Supports resource page

• The Urban League of Portland is offering free academic support, lunch and snacks for students of DaVinci, Faubion, Ockley Green, Tubman and Roseway Heights during the strike at Blazer’s Boys and Girls Club. Tuesday-Thursday, 8:30am-2pm

• Oregon Food Bank food finder near you

• Oregon Health Insurance Marketplace Open Enrollment begins Nov. 1

• Multnomah County Student Health Centers (fliers in English, Russian, Chinese, and Vietnamese):

• Cleveland HS
• Franklin HS
  

• Jefferson HS

• McDaniel HS

• Roosevelt HS

• Multnomah County Free Community Vaccination Clinic
  (Spanish)
  

Jefferson High School will be having a virtual 8th grade family night, tomorrow, November 14th. Details are below:

• Link: meet.google.com/zni-xmeg-pnj

• No passcode necessary

• Tuesday Nov 14, 2023 ⋅ 6pm – 7pm

• Topics to be covered:

• - Athletics

• - Class/Extra Curricular offerings

• - Middle College Overview

• - Q & A for families

8th Grade families, mark your calendars to attend high school information night sessions. This is your opportunity to hear about program offerings, 2024-25 course forecasting, and their community.

High School Information Night Sessions:

Jefferson High School - Tuesday, Nov. 14, 6pm (VIRTUAL & NEW TIME!!!)

Google Meet Link: https://meet.google.com/zni-xmeg-pnj?hs=224

• Fact sheet: English | Español | Tiếng Việt | 中文 | Русский | Soomaali

• Videos (2021): English | Español | Tiếng Việt | 中文 | Русский | Soomaali

Metropolitan Learning Center - Tuesday, Nov. 14, 5:30pm (VIRTUAL)

Meeting Link

Join by phone

(US) +1 724-473-5542

PIN: 512382818

Benson Polytechnic High School - Tuesday, Nov. 28, 6:00 p.m. - NEW DATE!!!

• Fact Sheet

• Video (2021): English | Español | Tiếng Việt | 中文 | Русский | Soomaali

• Overview video of Benson Tech

Grant High School - Wednesday, Dec. 6, 6:00 p.m.

video link: Watch here

• Fact sheet: English | Español | Tiếng Việt | 中文 | Русский | Soomaali

• Video (2021)

2024-25 High School Lottery Window

November 15, 2023 to December 22, 2023

Students from across Portland Public Schools can apply to lottery slots at our three focus options high schools:

• Benson Polytechnic High School
• Jefferson High School-Middle College for Advanced Studies
• Metropolitan Learning Center

Learn more: Application and other information

Open enrollment is upon us! This is an opportunity for students and families to apply to be able to attend high schools that are not in their boundary. It is from November 15 – December 22 and one of our counselors, Ms. Drew, shared an email earlier today with detailed information. If you have additional questions or concerns, please reach out to Ms. Drew at adrew@pps.net

the 8th grade lock-in scheduled for Friday, December 1st has been postponed pending the PAT strike. When it is resolved, we will pick up the conversation again with our Student Council/Leadership class to determine a new date

With the pending PAT strike, we are tentatively planning to have in-person conferences on Monday, November 20th and virtual conferences on Tuesday, November 21st. Conferences will be 10 minutes long per student.

Monday will be from 8:30am - 8:00pm and will be an open door set-up. You will not need an appointment for Monday as grade level and elective teams will be available to meet with families in common spaces.

Conference Locations

• 6th Gr - Library

• 7th Gr & 8th Gr - Cafetorium

• Electives - Gym

• Counselors and support staff are available by appointment. Please email to request a conference.

For Tuesday, conferences will take place online from 8:30am - 8:30 pm. Please use this link: https://www.myconferencetime.com/htms to sign up to meet with teachers, virtually, on Tuesday, November 21st. Please contact the school office if you have questions about scheduling a virtual conference, (503)916-5630.

If conferences or the plans for the week of November 20th change, we will communicate as soon as possible.

Join us for our second annual Native American Community Science Night! This family friendly event welcomes visitors of all ages for a night of museum exploring, science demos, lectures, and cultural entertainment. All are welcome!

Featuring music, science demonstrations, planetarium shows, access to our featured exhibits, Orcas: Our Shared Future, Staying Alive: Defenses of the Animal Kingdom, and more.

Community Science Night Tickets $10 Adults, $8 Youth/Seniors | Ticket includes all activities. OMSI members receive a 15% discount

I want to thank those of you who came to the PTSA meeting last Thursday. As we transition to a new executive board, we wanted to acknowledge and thank the previous executive board of Nicole Kennedy (president), Karanja Crews (vice president) and Scott Brown (treasurer).

PTSA met last Thursday with the hopes of voting in a new executive board while creating a positive space where people could connect and share resources for the community. We walked away with a new president, vice president, secretary and treasurer. Rachel Oh (mother to a 7th grader) will be moving forward as the HTMS PTSA president for the 2023-2024 school year. Phil Yien (father to a 7th grader), Negar Heckscher (mother to two 7th graders) and Amanda - "Mandi" (mother to a 7th grader) will be filling in the roles of vice president, secretary and treasurer. If you’d like to join the Harriet Tubman PTSA, here’s the link

In their first meeting as a new board, the energy to support was high and they approved funding that will see HTMS receive the following:

-Five (5) slots of high dosage, 1-1 reading tutoring through Ignite!

• Specifically for our students receiving Special Education services

• This is in addition to the 10 slots that HTMS is already paying to support 6th-8th grade students

• Cost: $8,500

-White boards

• Replacing/adding a total of 50 new white boards across the MS in 22 classrooms and five (5) different work spaces

• Cost: Funding half of the purchase cost for a total of $8,250

• The remaining costs will be covered by expiring building ESSER funds

-Welcome back

• Supporting and welcoming staff back after the strike with food, coffee, snacks

• Cost: $500

-Parking Lot

• PTSA had three parents volunteer to create a fundraising committee that will help rent out the parking lot across the street during events at the Moda Center

• Discussions are ongoing to determine where/how funds will be distributed to different student groups at HTMS

The November Site Council meeting has been tentatively rescheduled for Wednesday, November 15 at 4:15pm - 5:30pm in the HTMS Library. If the PAT strike is ongoing at this time, the meeting will be postponed and a new date will be shared. Site Council is a group of administrators, teachers, and parents that identify ways to support the school community. By providing leadership, direction and support, we define school priorities and implement ways to improve them.

Every Friday we show our school pride be wearing our school colors, black and gold, or Tubman swag. Let's go Legends!

Oregon Bottle of the Books (OBOB) is a statewide voluntary reading motivation and comprehension program sponsored by the Oregon Association of School Libraries in conjunction with a Library Services and Technology Act grant. Students in 3rd-12th grade, regardless of ability, are exposed to quality literature representing a variety of literary styles and viewpoints.

OBOB's mission is to encourage and recognize students who enjoy reading, to broaden reading interests, to increase reading comprehension, promote academic excellence, and to promote cooperative learning and teamwork among students.

Multnomah County’s School and Community Oral Health Program is offering Free sealants and dental screening. A dental screening is a quick look inside your child’s mouth to check the overall health of their teeth, and sealants will be placed if needed.

This service is available for students attending Harriet Tubman Middle School.

What questions do you have? Please call us at 503-988-3905.

To use this FREE service please fill out the electronic permission slip at this link:

Electronic Permission Form English

Electronic Permission Form Spanish

Electronic Permission Form Russian

The PPS middle grades (6th - 8th) youth sports program will be directed by the Portland Interscholastic League (PIL). The student/athletes will represent their neighborhood high school cluster. The cluster each athlete participates in is determined by address. For information about this policy and to access the interactive map please go to Boundary Map and FAQ's under the Youth Sport tab.

Registration is currently open for Winter sports season (November 4 - February 25)

WINTER SPORTS OFFERED: Boys Basketball, Girls Basketball, Wrestling

Registration Deadline November 13, 2023

Details for each sport will be distributed to all cluster feeder schools, their SUN site managers and PE teachers.

Learn more at the PIL website

Our award winning Band is fundraising to support the festival expenses including, purchasing new music, transportation, and much more. Please help our community by donating through Fred Meyer Community Rewards program, BottleDrop. General donations can also be given directly through SchoolPay by clicking here.

State law requires that comprehensive sexuality education be taught in each grade K-12. At Harriet Tubman Middle School, each student will have one quarter of Health Education, which includes a sexual education unit. Please review the video and attached documents for information covered in the unit.

To watch the videos in other languages, please use the links below.

• Chinese (Mandarin)
• Chinese (Cantonese)
• Spanish
• Somali
• Russian
• Vietnamese

• English - 6th Grade | 7th Grade | 8th Grade

• Chinese - 6th Grade | 7th Grade | 8th Grade
• Russian | Русский - 6th Grade | 7th Grade | 8th Grade
  
• Somali | Soomaali - 6th Grade | 7th Grade | 8th Grade
  
• Spanish | Español - | 6th Grade | 7th Grade | 8th Grade
  
• Vietnamese | Tiếng Việt - 6th Grade | 7th Grade | 8th Grade
  

ast November, NW Natural launched a new bill discount program for gas customers whose household income is less than 60% of the state median income (SMI). Below is a link to our new Bill Discount webpage for more information:

https://www.nwnatural.com/account/bill-discount-program

Portland Parks & Recreation offers exciting programs and activities for teens citywide! TeenForce strives to reflect the energy and excitement of the teens themselves in the awesome trips, classes, drop-in activities, events, and volunteer/service learning outings we program. TeenForce strives to provide safe spaces for adolescent aged youth to engage in prosocial activites, surrounded by caring adults. All youth, aged 10-20 year old, are welcome. Get your FREE TeenForce Pass and engage in activities with other youth.

Results for the 2022-23 Successful Schools Survey are now available for the public! The 2023-24 Successful Schools Survey will be administered November 1 to December 8th, 2023 this year, earlier than in previous years. More information about the new survey will be shared in the near future.

At Harriet Tubman Middle School cell phones are off and away in classrooms. Students are able to use their cell phones before and after school, during passing periods, and at lunch/recess.

We believe that families are important partners to support each student at Harriet Tubman and we welcome each of you in our school. In order to ensure that our schools are safe places for our students and staff, we are taking some additional steps to ensure we know who is in our buildings at all times.

• Upon entering a PPS school, visitors/volunteers will need to present a government-issued identification (i.e. driver’s license, state ID card).
• All visitors/volunteers will need to wear the printed name badge that identifies their name, photo, the date and their destination the entire time of their visit. When departing, please return to the office to sign out.
  
• First-time volunteers should visit www.pps.net/volunteer to complete the online volunteer application.
  
• Families who wish to visit their student's classroom must send the teacher a written request at least 24 hours in advance. Teacher email addresses can be found on the school website.
• Parents may request a conference with their student's teachers throughout the year. Teachers are available before school (8:30a - 9:05a) or after school (3:50p - 4:15p). Please email your teacher to schedule a conference.

• Letter to Parents/Guardians Regarding New Visitor/Volunteer Procedures

  English | Español | Tiếng Việt | 中文 | Русский | Soomaali

Additional detailed information about visiting and volunteering at PPS is available on the PPS website https://www.pps.net/Page/144. Thank you, in advance, for your understanding and support of enhanced school safety protocols at HTMS and throughout schools in our our district.

HTMS is a closed campus and students are restricted to the school grounds during the school day. For the safety of our entire community, food deliveries - direct (dominos, pizza hut) or 3rd party (Grub Hub, Door Dash, Uber Eats, etc.) - for students are not permitted. All meals at Harriet Tubman are free, breakfast and lunch. If your child is not eating school lunch, please make sure to send food with them before school starts. Lunch and recess break is 30 minutes, 12:26pm - 12:57pm (lunch times may vary on school assembly days). Families who would like to bring their student food, please deliver their lunch to the office, prior to lunch. Food brought to the school after the student’s lunch will be given to the student at the end of the day. All students are expected to remain on campus all day, unless signed out by a parent or guardian. Students who leave the school grounds without permission will be considered truant and appropriate discipline will be administered. Thank you for understanding and adhering to these guidelines. We appreciate your help in keeping the students and campus safe. Please contact the school office if you have any questions, (503)916-5630.

NOVEMBER - Native American Heritage Month

14 MLC 8th Gr Family information Night, 5:30 (Virtual)

14 Jefferson HS 8th Gr Family Information Night, 6p (Virtual)

15 Site Council Mtg, 4:15p*

20, 21 Parent teacher conference, no school

22-24 Holiday, no school

28 Benson HS 8th Gr Information Night, 6p

28 Winter Band Concert (all grades @Grant HS, 7pm)

DECEMBER

6 Grant HS 8th Gr Information Night, 6p

7 Q2 Midterm

18 - 1 Winter break