Wildcat Newsletter

Thank you for helping to celebrate our Wildcat educators and teams. The LOVE we feel from our families and the greater Community is amazing. You treated our staff to treats, lunch and prizes during Staff Appreciation Week. Such fun and so well deserved! We really do have an amazing team of educators and we are so happy to be in community with you.

We hosted our incoming Kindergarteners and their families yesterday. They spent time in Kindergarten and experienced some of the routines in the classroom. Our Wildcat Community is growing! Together we are #wildcatstrong

One of our favorite events is happening tomorrow, Family Fest! We are excited to share what we’ve been learning about and to offer opportunities for our students and families to visit all of the grades and areas. It’s all about STEAM, there will be science projects, art projects, engineering and technology exploration. Fun for the whole family! We hope you’ll join us!

I know we sound like a broken record but, the Lost and Found is a mountain. These items get donated at the end of the year. If your student is missing sweatshirts, a jacket or other items, please stop in to “dig” through the stacks of items. As a reminder, when we find items that HAVE A NAME IN THEM, we can return it.

We are enjoying the warmer temperatures at recess.

Mrs. Porter-Lopez

Join us for dinner from V’s Soul Food Shack! We are serving chicken, mac n cheese, cabbage, and vegan red beans and rice! There will be lots of activities and games from each grade level for all ages. We’ll have barbers, hair gift cards, and a raffle thanks to SUN School. Loads of fun will fill our building and spill out onto the playground too, we can’t wait to see you there!

Last Friday we welcomed 12 high schoolers from De La Salle North Catholic for a Day of Service volunteer day. They spent time cleaning our school grounds, organizing clothing closets, making buttons for Button Day, and playing with kindergarten! We had so much fun having them and our kids LOVED playing with the ‘big kids.’ Big thanks to DLSNC for joining us for the day!

Our first Attendance Parties were held last Friday! Congrats to Ms. Escovedo’s class, Mr. Ransom’s class, Mr. Clegg’s class, Ms. Amanda’s class, and Mr. Blair’s class! We celebrated with soda floats and popsicles per students’ requests. There is still time for everyone else to earn attendance parties, let's keep the ball rolling!

The last day of SUN School for Spring term is now Wednesday May 22nd. Please save the date for a SUN Community Event at Boise Eliot School on Thursday May 23rd.

Alex Addy began the Artist Movement Residency on May 13th. We are connecting the residency to movement, which enables us to pull from PE and Dance classes. Over the next 3 weeks all Woodlawn Wildcats will get a chance to learn about music, movement, and culture. Alex is teaching our students traditional Ghanaian music, drumming, and dance focusing on Ghana, the city of Akkra, and Kpanlogo dance. There will be a culminating showcase on May 31st at Celebrate Woodlawn!

Portland Public Schools highly values the input and opinions of its families, and we welcome all PPS parents and guardians to complete this year’s survey. We use the data to help improve our schools, providing targeted feedback and training on how to create healthy school environments that are welcoming for all.

You can complete the Successful Schools Survey online using the link provided below. Please complete one survey per household. If you have more than one student at PPS, we ask that you complete the survey considering the experiences of your eldest child.

The survey will take approximately 15-30 minutes to complete and is available in English, Spanish, Russian, Somali, Vietnamese and Chinese.

https://surveys.panoramaed.com/portlandor/familyspring24/surveys

For more information about the Successful Schools Survey, please go to pps.net/sss2024.

Join us for Celebrate Jefferson High: Past to Present-May 24th, 4-7:30pm.

Come to this free community event and celebrate the Jefferson community. Food from Cason's served 5-7pm. If you're interested in volunteering, contact the Jefferson PTSA at board@demosptsa.org.

Join us for CELEBRATE WOODLAWN Friday, May 31st, from 4-7pm!

It’ll be an afternoon of fun and community at Celebrate Woodlawn! Hosted by the Woodlawn PTA, this annual end-of-year carnival is open to everyone in the community. Enjoy a variety of activities, including an obstacle course, student performances, karaoke, and a $1 raffle with fun prizes. Check out the FREE food including shaved ice, burgers, hot dogs, and more. Plus, don't miss out on our new tie-dye station, where you can bring a light-colored plain shirt or pick up a free bandana. This event started in 2013 as a way to celebrate the persistence and resilience of the Woodlawn Community after petitioning the PPS School Board to NOT close Woodlawn School when the District was closing neighborhood schools due to funding cuts and enrollment balancing. Since then, Celebrate Woodlawn is a wonderful opportunity to come together as a community, celebrate our school community, enjoy some entertainment, and make lasting memories. We can't wait to see you there!

You can support Celebrate Woodlawn by donating to the Food Fund or signing up to volunteer! Nab your preferred slot NOW.

If you have a 5th grader, please join us on the last day of school, June 14th, to celebrate their hard work all throughout elementary school and wish them well on their next adventure! We will have a school wide Clap Out at 2:00pm, then we will gather on the south playground basketball courts by 1st grade for treats and awards from Ms. Howard and Mr. Shipe.

Around 3pm we will head towards the sidewalk in front of Woodlawn along NE 11th so you all can honk them out parade style! Please make signs and decorate your vehicle so our 5th graders feel all the love! Keep an eye out for a map for the honk out in next week’s newsletter.

Our entire Community is welcome and invited to join the HONK OUT parade to celebrate our fifth graders. This has been a beloved annual tradition for the past 5 years. Walkers, bikers and cars are welcome on the parade route!

In February, our school board asked voters to renew our local option levy as part of the May ballot. If you would like to learn more about the levy, the link is here.

• 5/16 Family Fest

• 5/22 Last Day of SUN (Spring)

• 5/27 Memorial Day, No School

• 5/31 Celebrate Woodlawn

• 6/3 Button Day

• 6/4 Volunteer Appreciation Celebration!

• 6/13 Field Day

• 6/14 Last Day of School, 5th Grade Clap Out & Honk Out!