DOLPHIN DIGEST 6/7/2024

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We’re so glad to have you as part of our school community!

This weekly newsletter is developed and sent in partnership between school administration and the PTA. If you have information you'd like shared in the newsletter, please email it to ArletaSchoolPTA@gmail.com. Keep scrolling for the latest.

We acknowledge Portland rests on traditional village sites of the Multnomah, Kathlamet, Clackamas, Chinook, Tualatin Kalapuya, Molalla and many other Tribes who made their homes along the Columbia River. #HonorNativeLand https://youtu.be/ETOhNzBsiKA

• June: LGBTQ Pride Month and National Caribbean American Heritage Month
• Jun 7: Successful Schools Survey - LAST DAY (extended)
  
• Jun 13: Litter Pick Up, 8am, meet at the picnic tables - Last one of the year!
  
• Jun 13: 5th Grade Family Party to Celebrate Promotion! 5-7 p.m.
• Jun 14: Last Day of School
• Jun 14: 5th grade Promotion Ceremony led by Arleta 5th Grade Staff, 8:15-9am & All School Clap Out, 2:15pm
  
• Jun 17: Kinder/1st Grade Ice Cream Social, 4-5pm
• Jun 19: Juneteenth
• Jun 22: Foster Summer Soiree, 12-6pm

*Litter Pick Up with the Green Team every 2nd Thursday at 2:15, and 4th Thursday at 8am at the picnic tables **June 13 changed to am**

Arleta School Calendar

Updated PPS District Calendars:

English language PPS District Calendar 2024-25

Spanish language PPS District Calendar 2024-25

Vietnamese language PPS District Calendar 2024-25

Heartbreaking news about one of our deeply loved and deeply rooted Arleta Families

I’m so sorry to have to share a heart wrenching loss in our community. On May 23, 2024 one of our families was blindsided by the loss of Laquonda Fuller, daughter of Lafonda Grant and aunt of one of our students, to gun violence. Here is a Go Fund Me link if you are able to support our Arleta family.

Calendar Item Update

Last week I shared that our end time on the eight Early Release Wednesdays next year would be 11:45 a.m., but it is actually 11:50 a.m. Please take note of that correction! My apologies. So: our regular school day next year will be in class by 8, end of day is 2:30 except 8-11:50 on the following early release Wednesdays: 9/25, 10/23, 11/20, 12/18, 2/26, 3/19, 4/23, and 5/21.

Site Council Update

We held the last Site Council meeting of our current term this past Wednesday evening and reflected on our past two years. We loved our focus on “a love for reading”. We enacted two projects, one each year: last year we hosted a table at Art & Literacy Night where students could write a “sight word” they were trying to learn then post it somewhere in the halls so they could look at it as they passed by to practice reading and spelling it. This year was our “Special Stories” Project. We plan to make two bound books out of the many stories and memories that were contributed by students, staff and family members in our community-- one to keep in the library and one for the front desk.

Deepest Appreciation to our current Site Council members! Lafonda Grant, Jessica Martin-LeShane, Greta West, Kianne Williams, Raina Bilbrew, Jackie Bidney, and Andrew Coltrin. A warm welcome and appreciation as well, to our new parents / family members for our next two year term! Brian Dombeck, parent of an Arleta kindergartner and two future students, Mary Bernardo, parent of an Arleta 1st grader, Anne Cherry, parent of a kindergartner and a future student, Joyce Cresswell, grandmother of the same students above, and Greta West, parent of a 2nd and a 4th grader, who will continue into another term. Our current council drafted a goal to propose to the incoming council that we support community and family volunteerism at Arleta. More to come from our Site Council next year! (New members, I’ll be emailing you. We’re still in process with staff Site Council members.)

Have a beautiful weekend!

Lisa

The 5th Grade Promotion is less than a week away! And to celebrate, the PTA is throwing a FREE party for 5th graders and their families! Mark your calendars for Thursday, June 13th from 5-7pm. We will be serving pizza, drinks and snacks in the cafeteria and on the playground, have music, lawn games, craft activities and more. We hope to see all of our 5th graders and their families there!

Once we've celebrated we'll have the official 5th Grade Promotion in the morning on Friday, June 14th at 8:15am in the auditorium. Come mark this milestone moment as our students prepare to move up to a new grade and new schools!

Finally, we'll have a clap out at 2:15 on June 14th as a final farewell moment for the 5th graders. Come applaud them as they say a final goodbye to Arleta.

If you can help support these events for our 5th graders, click here to volunteer!

Please email Tracy at tehulla@gmail.com or Erin at erin@erinfrank.com if you have any questions.

We need volunteers at the 5th grade party on June 13th. We want out 5th grade families to enjoy the evening with their students, so are asking for grownups with K-4th graders to jump in and help. They are short, easy shifts, and it will be good karma for when your student is in 5th grade :) Sign up here: Arleta 5th Grade Promotion 2024

Konstella is a new communication tool built for school groups that the Arleta PTA will start using for our school. Other local schools that use it rave about it! We hope it will make it easier to keep families informed about school activities and allow them to communicate directly with each other and groups that they join.

Konstella can do all of this in the language of your choice: join social and parent groups, sign up to volunteer, see newsletters and announcements, join committees, get event reminders and classroom communications, file and photo sharing, see calendar of events, send private and group messages, access the parent and teacher directory, view information on your cell phone or computer. Learn more at konstella.com.

Download the Konstella app today! The app is available for iOS (iphones) and Android. Once downloaded, click Register, enter the invitation code FH3W5B, then tap Join in the email you get. There isn't much content available yet, but once we fully roll it out in the Fall you'll already be signed up!

Arleta Community,

Arleta knows how to party!! Thanks to all that showed up strong for Arleta's End-of-Year Picnic yesterday. Along with bubbles, there was plenty of silliness and good times floating through the air. Events such as these are not possible without all the generous donations and support from this community. A big shout out to all the volunteers from set up to clean up, I am more in awe every year of what serious rock stars we have when it comes to getting things done. Thank you!

On a personal note, the picnic was the last event as Arleta PTA Event Coordinator. The goal from the start was to help facilitate wonderful school memories for our kids during this time in their life that is elementary school. The amount of amazing memories I get to walk away with is something truly special as well. I want to thank every child at Arleta for those memories. The pure joy that comes from helping a kid pick out a temporary tattoo, chatting them up in a bouncy house line, or watching as they put it all out there for a karaoke song is inspiring. It has been a reminder too, of how short the time at Arleta is. Your kids are amazing!

A heartfelt thank you to Grace Kim and Jillian Sevick with whom I have had the absolute honor of collaborating with. Total event legends! To all the PTA board, you are so supportive and all of you have completely shattered my stereotype of what it is to be on the PTA. Thank you!

Can't wait to party with you all next year,

Leslie Nordella

Proud Arleta parent (Ezra Vasby) and community member

Spring is always a busy time at Arleta, with lots of fun activities planned. From the Dolphin Dash, field trips and the school play, to the book fair, field day and end of year picnic - we hope you and your student(s) were able to make some wonderful school memories taking part in everything Arleta has to offer! Special thanks to Ms. Street and Ms. Guzman in the Library for hosting our Spring Book Fair, and Ms. Williams for hosting Field Day. And of course the volunteers who help run these events - we can't make these happen without you!

Check out the video below of Principal Hawking getting dunked by a student at Field Day! Core memory right there 😄

Mr. Flagel (our soon to be retired 4/5 teacher) and his band are FINALLY playing an ALL-AGES show. It's this summer Saturday, August 24th. They're called OK NOT OK and are a RADIOHEAD tribute band.

Over the past couple of years they've SOLD-OUT every one of their shows. So, if you or you and your family would like to see them grab your tickets ASAP on their website HERE. They've already sold over half the tickets and the show is still two months out!

The 2024 Dolphin Dash shirts have arrived and were distributed to students and staff. This year's design was by Oliver in 5th grade - great job Oliver! And special thanks to Like Dat Apparel, a local custom printing company on Foster, for doing such a great job on the shirts!

A MESSAGE FROM THE HEALTH ROOM:

If you have medication checked into the health room please make sure to pick it up before or on the last day of school. All leftover medication will be disposed of. Please call the office with any questions, 503-916-6330.

While there is no SUN Summer term at Arleta, there are still free summer activities offered by Portland Parks & Recreation:

Free Lunch + Play at Mt. Scott Park at SE 72nd Avenue and SE Ramona Street Monday, June 24 to Friday, August 16 from 12 - 1:30pm

https://www.portland.gov/parks/arts-culture/summer-free-all/free-lunch

Flyer: https://www.portland.gov/parks/arts-culture/summer-free-all/documents/english-free-lunch-play-2024-schedule/download

Portland Parks & Recreation Free Summer Cultural Events

https://www.portland.gov/parks/arts-culture/summer-free-all/cultural-events

Portland Parks & Recreation Free TeenForce Pass (ages 10-20 years)

https://www.portland.gov/parks/arts-culture/summer-free-alhttps://www.portland.gov/parks/teenforce/teenforce-pass

Free SUN Summer Youth Drop-In Program for all PPS rising middle schoolers at Lane Middle School on Monday-Thursday, 9 am- 3pm, July 8-August 1. Breakfast, lunch, and activities provided. No registration is required. Click on the link below - Lane SUN Summer Program - for more information and to sign up.

As you're preparing for graduation parties and summer BBQs, please help turn your BottleDrop dollars into Arleta School PTA grant dollars, staff appreciation, free school events, affinity club support, and so much more. There are two ways to participate (both of which are completely FREE to you!): you can pick up a PTA blue bag from the main office or school events or donate funds from your individual BottleDrop account.

The Early Kindergarten Transition (EKT) is a three-week summer program to help you and your child have a great start to school.

• Students meet every morning.

• Parents/caregivers meet twice a week

• Child care for siblings available during parent/caregiver sessions.

• Free breakfast and lunch, books, and school supplies

• For questions, email Kindergarten@pps.net

Check it out: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1Io9qAwy_Hnrks4Q5ObsL2dOcP8TcA4I6AdGSQNJGu4Q/edit#slide=id.g11528bb660e_0_34

Incoming kindergarten students must be enrolled in kindergarten at Arleta in order to apply for EKT.

Thank you to all Litter Clean Up Volunteers! Your help does not go unnoticed and we appreciate you taking time out of your day to keep our school grounds beautiful!

Interested in leading Litter Clean up next year? This is an easy, low key way to make a consistent and noticeable difference at the school. Currently, clean ups occur 2 times a month and last about 30-45 min. Help is available and you could customize the dates and times to fit your schedule! Please contact Tracy at tehulla@gmail.com if interested!

Yearbooks were done a little differently this year. A small team of parents have been working on it and are excited for you to see the final result in a few weeks. Also, in the past the books cost $10, which meant not every student got one, but we have great news! The PTA recently approved covering the cost of the yearbooks, so that all students and staff members will get a book for free! If you would like to support the PTA's efforts to keep yearbooks free for all students and staff, please consider making a donation here: https://arletapta.memberhub.com/store/items/1028700.

The Successful Schools Survey is an opportunity for students, staff, and families to provide important feedback on their school environments, learning experiences, and sense of well-being and safety at school.

The survey is conducted once every school year to provide timely information to schools, district leadership, and the community, allowing us to make informed decisions about school climate and culture. This year, the survey window is open May 6-June 7

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.

Mr. Cooke's Donorschoose project was funded in record time, now let's help Ms. Bidney's project get funded! Ms. Bidney is requesting support for a new DonorsChoose project: "Books, Pencils, and other Stuff - Help me give my students books, pencils, pencil sharpeners, hooks for headphones, and pretty paper."

Check out the project here:: https://www.donorschoose.org/donors/search.html?school=88261

The Jungle Book concluded on May 24th to rave reviews! You can catch the full performances on the Arleta Club YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@ArletaTheaterClub/streams

The cast and crew are what the shows were all about, but it took a lot of work from parents to make it happen. Our director, Sarah Johnson, was the driving force in keeping the theater club alive this year. Thank you Sarah for all your work and making it such a fun experience for the students!

Here is a of message of thanks from Sarah to the rest of the helping hands:

• I was on cloud nine watching those kids up on the stage this week. It was so inspiring to see the whole community come together to make this happen.
• Dan and Amanda, you brought actual theater experience to the production and came to every rehearsal. It would have been a very dark, quiet, and sad show without your help!
• Sheryl, you kept us all organized and made anything we (didn't even know we) needed magically appear. Not to mention getting those kids MOVING! How you manage to accomplish so much is a real mystery (oh, that's right--you don't SLEEP)!
• Dan, Matt, and Marek, you brought the show to folks who couldn't be here in person and my family in Utah, Seattle, and California especially appreciate your contribution.
• Adinah, Kristi, Greta, Giselle, Holly, Nicolle, Gina, and Ann: people could NOT get over the costumes! They were brilliant and brought the whole play to the NEXT LEVEL. Special props to Adinah for the 80's Theme Idea.
• Jillian, Dan, Matt, Adinah, Greta and fam: the sets and props definitely transported us all to the jungle. Thank you for bringing your creativity and craftsmanship to the game.
• Leslie, you took the lead on getting all those kids out to the stage at the right time. It was the thing I was the most nervous about, and I was so grateful for your leadership on this very important element!
• Taryn, Melissa, Greta, Reid and Hazel, thank you for getting the programs, posters, cast photos, and tickets out into the world.
• Bill, thanks for designing the shirts!
• Tim and Nalin helped Dan work out some lighting kinks and supplied additional lights
• And to all the additional parents who helped during the show nights: Tanisha, Anya, Elin, Anie, Nicolle, Melissa, Joe, Tim, Rachael, Erica, Savannah (and Baby Dombeck), Brian, Ericka, Alison, Silvana, Meilani, Skye, Alex, Chantelle, Mason, Summer, Carrie, and everyone else who spontaneously stepped up when a need arose, THANK YOU!

The SUN Clothing Closet is looking for children's shoe donations! The sizes we need the most are Little Kid (4 to 8 years) and Big Kid (8-12 years). Please drop off donations any time after school on Wednesdays and Fridays in Room 4. Feel free to contact Kylie Halland at kylie.halland@portlandoregon.gov or at (503) 260-0507 for any questions.

The SUN Clothing Closet and Food Pantry is open Tuesdays, 12:45pm-7:15pm; Wednesdays, 1:30pm-7:30pm; and Fridays, 10:00am-5:00pm. Email kylie.halland@portlandoregon.gov or raina.bilbrew@portlandoregon.gov to check other availability.

We'd love to invite everyone in the Arleta community to become a PTA member for free! Joining the PTA is a great way to connect with others, support projects and programs that support our students, and amplifies your voice in issues that impact our school.

Signing up only takes a couple minutes - https://arletapta.memberhub.com/store (one free membership per household, additional memberships are $10)

Get your Arleta spirit wear! Shop online 24/7 and have your items shipped to your home anytime! There are t-shirts, hoodies, tanks, mugs, and more. Check out the online store here: https://arletaschool.threadless.com/

The Arleta PTA collects redeemable cans and bottles to raise money for our school. Arleta Bottle Drop pre-labeled bags can be picked up at the front office or email ArletaBottleDrop@gmail.com to make other arrangements. Collect cans and bottles, and when your bag is full you can drop it at any Bottle Drop participating location.

Show your LOVE for Arleta and purchase your We ♥ Arleta yard sign now! Order yours today to show off your school spirit and support the Green Team!

https://arletapta.memberhub.com/store/items/625149

Arleta PTA participates in the Fred Meyer Community Rewards

By linking your Fred Meyer Rewards card to the Arleta PTA and scanning your rewards card when you shop, a percentage of your purchase goes to the PTA. Sign up here. (And you'll still get your cash back rewards!)

• City of Portland 311 Non-Emergency Hotline

Preschool Programs:

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

• Portland Parks Preschool 2024-25

Email: ArletaSchoolPTA@gmail.com
Website: arletapta.org
Location: 5109 SE 66th Avenue
Phone: 503-916-6330
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ArletaElementaryK5

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/arletaelementaryK5/

PPS District policy prohibits discrimination on the basis of age, color, creed, disability, marital status, national origin, race, religion, sex, and sexual orientation. BP 1.801.020. Not all outside groups comply with the District’s non-discrimination policy. Families are strongly encouraged to review all materials closely.