Duniway Dispatch

• December 23-January 3: Schools closed for winter break
• January 6: First Day of School in the new year - 2025!
• January 17: Student Variety Show - 3-9pm
• January 20: Schools closed for holiday
• January 23: OBOB Mock Battle, 4-6 p.m.
• January 27-28: Schools closed for grading and planning days
• February 17: Schools closed for holiday

• February 22-23: OBOB Final Competition

2024-25 District Calendar

Dear Families,

Well, we are here at the last day of school for 2024 and at the start of our Winter Break. We have had an exciting week at school this week with our monthly school assembly, our Kindergarten Alphabet Fashion Show and our monthly school spirit day (along with many class celebrations). I wish you all a relaxing and enjoyable Winter Break and happy holidays for those who will be celebrating. As I have expressed before, I am so grateful to have joined the caring Duniway community this year and I look forward to a great second half of our school year in 2025. See you all back at school on January 6, 2025!

In gratitude,

John Melvin

Families, as you know, school for all elementary schools in PPS now begins @ 8am. Please ensure that your child arrives at school before 8am to ensure they have enough time to enter the building, put away their jackets and backpacks, and can be in their classroom for the start of class at 8am. Thank you.

Dear Families, Please note an important change to our attendance process. To enhance our focus on student safety, automated attendance calls through Remind will now begin at 9:30 AM instead of 10:30 AM. To avoid receiving a call, please report your child's absence to the school before 9:00 AM by emailing duniwayattend@pps.net and your child's homeroom teacher.

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A heartfelt thank you to all who helped make our holiday giving drive a success! In our school counseling lessons, we talk about how generosity can look a lot of different ways, from donating money or time to being intentionally kind to other people. These acts of kindness towards others, big or small, can actually make an impact on how we feel about ourselves. And our Duniway community demonstrated this strength in spades this year. Thank you.

When we return in January, we will resume small groups and school counseling lessons and begin to prepare for our 5th-graders transitioning to middle school. Such exciting growth and movement forward! If you need to connect to resources over the winter break, please see those listed on our Duniway school counseling website.

Many traditions this time of year involve celebrating light in the darkness and gathering with loved ones. Whatever your practice, we hope this winter break is restorative and all you wish/need it to be!

Monika and Rachel

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We've been in the full winter/holiday swing of things in PE. All of the students at Duniway took part in building snow creations in PE and then we got to share all of our creations with each other (while singing Frosty The Snowman) at our all school assembly. You can check out all of the different creations in this slideshow. You could ask your student to tell you about their creation, how they earned supplies from the snow supply store, and how their group worked together.

We also have been playing some holiday favorites like Candy Cane Tag, Reindeer Tag, Monster Snowball, The Giant Snowball Relay, and The Battle of Whoville - Ask your student what their favorite was, how to play, and what made it so fun!

I hope you all have a wonderful break and find some time to get out and move and play as a family! I'm looking forward to spending time in the mountains playing in the snow every way I can! Sledding with my Nephews, skiing (downhill, XC, and AT) with my husband, and of course building a snowman!

I look forward to welcoming students back after the New Year. It will be an exciting time as we learn about Picklemitton and have another Music/PE hybrid class - Cardio Drumming!

Photo: Students in Erickson/Lewis participating in the Giant Snowball Relay

Students have been hard at work singing and playing on instruments in the music room this month. We spent the first part of the year learning how to sing a major scale, and this month we sang it in a two-part canon (a melody that's sung and then imitated by different groups to create harmonies). Take a listen to Ms. Goodman's class here! Students have been focusing on performing rhythms on instruments with a game called Poison Rhythm in music class too - they've gotten really good at not playing the poison rhythm!

The Golden Greeter award - awarded weekly to a class that has every student greet me at the door - has nearly made the rounds through the 2nd-5th grade classes. I've noticed students doing more connecting, asking me questions, and greeting with enthusiasm when entering the music room. It's been delightful to connect with students in new ways to start off the year!

It's been a very busy fall, so winter break is going to be filled with lots of time at home this year. My husband Sam and I will be riding the Max around town with our two year old son (Danny) - he's a train fanatic. We'll go caroling with friends in N. Portland, host my mom from Ohio, and spend time with friends out by Mt. Hood. Wishing each of you a lovely and restful winter break. I'm excited to see you and your children back at Duniway in January!

Pictured is Ms. Doern's class, one of our December Golden Greeter recipients!

https://readyclassroomcentral.com/familycenter/

Families, please take a look at this resource from our Math curriculum, I-Ready, designed to orient families to our curriculum. This website includes background on the curriculum and also contains ways you can support your children at home with Math.

Before we head out to winter break I wanted to let you know that we’ve decided to make these next few days of our campaign a little interesting!! Every contribution in any form will get you an entry for the Duniway Giveaway…

• Checks
• Venmo
• Gifting through our donation website monthly payments on one donation.
• Showing your school spirit by clicking the participation or even emailing me back.

Contributing in any of these ways listed above from 12/18 to Monday at 11:59pm 12/23 you’ll be entered to WIN a Duniway swag bag that will include Duniway beanie hats for the whole family, “Wild for Duniway” bag, and one of our brand new “We love our neighborhood school” Duniway yard signs. Winners will be randomly selected and notified 12/24. 😉

We are SO CLOSE to our halfway goal of $50,000, that means Dr. Melvin would dress up in a silly costume for ONE whole day in January! 👏 We are also VERY VERY close to our whole school participation goal 48%. We currently are 32%, I KNOW we can get there and that means an entire school movie night… or two so everyone can squeeze into the auditorium. Good luck!! Go Dragons!! 💜

Here are the links and incentives again.

For one time payment or monthly payments CLICK HERE, for an easy Venmo payment CLICK HERE, and for a participation link to show school spirit CLICK HERE! This can go beyond our Duniway parents, please share with friends and family with our Duniway Family Circle!!

We are getting close to so many goals! As a reminder we have some amazing incentives for our Duniway community and beyond.

🐲 A POPSICLE PARTY for the classes that have the highest participation for each grade OR that reach 100% participation.
🐲 Dr. Melvin DRESSING UP IN COSTUME when we get to our halfway to our goal of $50,000. We are almost there, as of right now we are at $23,794! INCREDIBLE!!

🐲 A “student’s choice” MOVIE NIGHT in the Duniway Auditorium in January if we reach the same or higher participation as last year’s campaign!
🐲 A “We love our neighborhood school” DUNIWAY YARD SIGN for donors contributing $250 or higher!!

Thank you again. Duniway wouldn’t be the same without our amazing community. Have a wonderful break and have the happiest holidays!!

With gratitude,

The Duniway Foundation

The fliers listed below are approved for distribution directly to students. No printed materials should be distributed to students unless they have been approved and added to this list. We are only approving materials from contract partners, other government agencies, or for programs sponsored by PPS or another government entity.

Camps, Classes, & After School Programs:

• Cognizart 31st Annual Young Artists Debut! Concert & Showcase (apply by Jan. 21)

• USTA Tennis Afterschool Zone at Maplewood (Jan. 14 - Feb. 25)

• VIBE of Portland No-School Day Camps (Nov. 4, 11, & 25-27 & Dec. 23)

• Portland Parks & Rec Teen Force at SW Community Center

• VIBE of Portland Music & Digital Art Classes for Kids

• Portland Parks & Rec Environmental Education Nature Field Trips (flyer for teachers)

Summer Camps:

• Cognizart 360Arts Summer Camps (Jul. 7-11, 14-18, & 21-25)

• OSU Summer Reading Program (Jun. 14 - Aug. 16 2025)

Preschool Programs:

• Multnomah Early Childhood Program Peer Preschool Classes
  (Spanish) (Vietnamese) (Chinese) (Russian) (Somali) (Korean) (Arabic) (Persian)

• Portland Parks Preschool 2024-25

Community Events & Information:

• Multnomah County: Common Application

• City of Portland: 311 Non-Emergency Hotline
  (Spanish) (Vietnamese) (Chinese) (Russian) (Somali)

Vaccinations, Health & Wellness:

• Parkrose Student Health Center OPEN over Winter Break (Dec. 23 - Jan. 4)

• Oregon Health Plan & Oregon Health Insurance Marketplace

• Multnomah County: Free Community Vaccination Clinic (Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays)
  (English) (Spanish) (Vietnamese) (Chinese) (Russian) (Somali)

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

• Cleveland HS

• Franklin HS

• Jefferson HS

• McDaniel HS

• Roosevelt HS

If you have any questions, please reference the Promoting Events and Activities in PPS Schools webpage, the 2020-21 Update on Flier Distribution for Non-Governmental Organizations, or contact Ryan Vandehey at rvandehey@pps.net.