3/21/24

• 3/23-31 Spring Break - NO SCHOOL

• 4/1 News with Newlyn 9am - 9:30am

• 4/5 Teacher Planning Day - NO SCHOOL

• 4/5 Locker/Art Pickup @ RGMS, 11am

• 4/12 RGMS School Dance, 6-8:30pm - SAVE THE DATE

• 4/13 Gather for Gray - Rivkah Ross Quartet, 7pm, @ the Cider Mill

• 4/17 8th Gr Spring Pictures, 9:45am-12:00pm

• 5/11 Gather for Gray - Hard Maybes, 7pm, @ the Cider Mill

• Click here for the full RGMS calendar
  

Hey Hey Robert Gray -

Let's give a shout out to our OBOB Team, Nigel and Friends who participated in the Regional OBOB competition last Saturday. Congrats on a great season!

Graxon staff was treated, by both RGMS & JMS parents/PTAs, to a wonderful dessert bar on Monday! There were enough treats that staff had goodies for Monday & Tuesday! It was wonderful to see the smiles as staff realized it was for both school staffs. WE LOVE OUR PTA!!

RGMS News with Newlyn

Monday, April 1 · 9:00 – 9:30am

Time zone: America/Los_Angeles

Google Meet joining info

Video call link: https://meet.google.com/rjs-vmda-iqc

Or dial: ‪(US) +1 262-546-6414‬ PIN: ‪133 615 297‬#

I'm revamping my monthly News with Newlyn family informational meeting by changing time and platform. Please join me 4/1 via Google Meets from 9:00-9:30am

On the agenda:

• Portables Update
• RGMS Climate and Student Supports as we come back from Spring Break

Our Climate and Culture Team is active in preparing student reminders as we refresh our common area expectations and reshaping behavior coming back from the Break. By taking the time after breaks to remind students How we Rock It at Robert Gray, we ensure that our spaces are ready for engagement in teaching and learning.

Thanks to our Student Leadership Team, we've had a really fun Spirit Week. My fave was Denim Day. Upon on our return, we are pushing out some great ways we will keep the fun going:

• Kaching Store
• RGMS/JMS hoodies
• CoSchool Activity Day

Some ways you can help:

• Phone and device use is a problem. All phones, ear buds, wireless headphones and Apple Watches must stay in backpacks for the duration of the school day. Any high value items should stay at home.

I hope you all have plans to relax and enjoy the time away from school routines over the next week. We'll look forward to seeing you back bright and early Monday morning, April 1st.

Lisa Newlyn

Principal

Currently all students in grades 6 and 7 are forecasting for next year.

We are encouraging students to share this information with their guardians/ parents.

Presentations were shared with your students this week. Included in each presentation are the course guide links and forecasting links.

We are asking students to forecast on their Chromebook, so their email is entered.

Deadline for submission is the first day after Spring Vacation: April 1, 2024.

If you have any questions, please contact Laureen Held. lheld@pps.net or call/text on her business cell phone: 971-231-4621.

https://bit.ly/7thGradeForecastInfo24

https://bit.ly/8thGradeForecastInfo24

Save The Date!

Presented by the PTA ~ RGMS School Dance @ Grackson!

April 12th 6-8:30pm

Professional DJ!

Photo Booth!

Free Admission!

Free Pizza & Snacks!

Prizes & More....!

Volunteers Needed!!

We need 4-5 volunteers to help on the Planning Committee &

40 volunteers on the night-of for Set up/Break Down and Chaperones.

Message Jennifer HERE for more on how you can help make this a

fun, safe and successful night of connection for the kids!

Stay tuned for more information coming soon!

The Locker Clean Out was a success! We were able to clean out and bag all of the locker contents in the upper hallway. We now have the contents of the lockers in the upper hallway and lower hallway ready to return to students. Unfortunately, the lockers in the crossover aka gym hallway are not accessible at this time.

Locker contents from the upper and lower hallways can be retrieved outside the RGMS Cafeteria on Friday, April 5th from 11:00AM-12:30 PM Locker partners do not both need to be present, as the contents are bagged together. Locker partners DO have the responsibility of dividing their stuff up after their bag is picked up, making sure items make it back to their rightful owners.

We will need a couple of parents to help facilitate retrieving and passing out bags. Please sign up if you are available.

Returning Locker Contents to Students

First Semester Art Students (Quarter 1 and 2) Art cubbies have been cleaned out.

Art can be picked up during locker pick up at RGMS in the cafeteria.

4/5 11am - 12:30PM

Art is organized by class period and bagged with your name.

Thank you parent volunteers for making this possible.

We are looking forward to celebrating the Class of 2028 as they promote from RGMS in June! Some important dates to hold onto:

• 06/06 @ 9:30am - 2:30pm Celebration Day @ Oaks Park
• 06/13 @ 6:30pm Promotion in the Ida B. Wells Auditorium with PTA Family Reception to follow

Lisa Hyde will be on leave starting Monday, 03/04/24. We are working on securing a sub for her while she's away these next several weeks. In the meantime, if you or your student in her alpha assignments (A - K) need assistance, please let Ms. Held or Ms. Newlyn know by calling our office (503) 916-5676.

Please continue to use the Robert Gray MS phone number, 503 916 5676 to get ahold of RGMS secretaries. Calls are being forwarded to RGMS secretaries at Jackson MS.

Markham Elementary, Jackson MS & Robert Gray MS all have school buses arriving at different times, beginning at 3pm, at Jackson. If you need to pick up your student early from school, please, if at all possible, plan on doing so before 3pm when buses begin arriving. It is a very busy place after 3pm. Please park in the upper lot and walk to the main door, ring the bell and come to the office to sign out your student.

LifeTouch Link To Purchase

Robert Gray Middle School

Yearbook ID: 14931524

The yearbook committee is hoping to gather a few more photos from the strike and during virtual learning / the snowstorm. Submit photos of your middle schooler being stealer, funny, helpful. . .Photos can be emailed to woodruff.jenn@gmail.com.

We're also looking for help promoting yearbook sales and helping sort/handout yearbooks on the last day of school. I hope to identify 2-3 volunteers. Reach out to Jen Zwartverwer via email at woodruff.jenn@gmail.com to volunteer or with any questions.

RGMS Affinity Spaces are BACK!

Check out our Affinity Space and Lunch Club schedule.

ADPI pictures below.

The Ida B. Wells Modernization project is underway and we need your help! Our team at After Bruce wants to learn from our priority communities about what is important; these include Black, Indigenous, people of color communities; immigrants and refugees; people experiencing low-income; people with disabilities; people who speak languages other than English at home, and other marginalized communities. If you or someone you know identify with these demographics, please share our survey with them!

Ida B. Wells Survey in English / Spanish / Russian / Vietnamese / Somali / Mandarin

We’re sharing our findings and recommendations with the design team soon and want to hear from you and your communities!

If you’re interested in sharing your opinion on the building site plan(s), please use the following Portland Public Schools (PPS) survey: English, Español, Tiếng Việt, Русский, Soomaali, 中文.

The RGMS Foundation raises money to augment our elective options. The money raised is used at the principals discretion.

More Gather for Gray Music Nights

We are excited to be hosting more Music Nights at the Cider Mill. All events are from 7-9 PM, with minors allowed until 9 PM. Below are the dates for the upcoming events.

Saturday April 13-Rivkah Ross Quartet

Saturday May 11-The Hard Maybes

BottleDrop Drive

1. Get Blue bags from the following locations: Rieke area-1656 SW Sunset Blvd.; Hayhurst area: 5252 SW Idaho St.; Bridlemile area-4031 SW Jerald Way

2 Fill Your Bags!

3. Return Full Bags to any BottleDrop location or Burlingame Fred Meyer.

4 Scan the Barcode on the bag to unlock the self-service bag drop.

Questions: Melissa Light, grayschoolfoundation@gmail.com

Save The Date!

Presented by the PTA ~ RGMS School Dance @ Grackson!

April 12th 6-8:30pm

Professional DJ!

Photo Booth!

Free Admission!

Free Pizza & Snacks!

Prizes & More....!

Volunteers Needed!!

We need 4-5 volunteers to help on the Planning Committee &

Message Jennifer HERE for more on how you can help make this a

fun, safe and successful night of connection for the kids!

Haven’t joined the PTA yet? Do so now using this link.

You will have to select “ROBERT GRAY MS PTA (PORTLAND)” as your “Local Unit”. The rest

is straightforward and takes less than 5 minutes to complete. Membership is $20 for the year.

Do you wish to make a one-time or recurring donation to PTA? You can do so here. Click “Donate” then enter your amount and indicate your intent to donate monthly if desired!

Robert Gray PTA Volunteer Opportunities

Looking for ways to get involved this year? Use the following form to sign up for the events you are interested in and you will receive a follow up email with additional information. The time and support of our volunteers is greatly appreciated. Without it we couldn't make special Gray events happen! Some of these events include Run for Gray, Teacher Appreciation Week, Bottle Drop Fundraiser, Sustainability and extra supervision during lunch time, and more. Please consider volunteering or donating as you are able.

RGMS Volunteer Sign-up

Thank you for your time and support! Looking forward to a great year!

RGMS PTA

Get text alerts about school closures, delays, emergencies and school events:

Text YES to 68453

Email: lnewlyn@pps.net
Website: https://www.pps.net/gray
Location: 5505 Southwest 23rd Avenue, Portland, OR, USA
Phone: (503) 916-5676
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/robertgraymiddleschool
Attendance Reporting: grayattend@pps.net