Dragon Tales

How about this weather? It was so fun seeing the kids play outside this week during lunch. While all the normal lunch games were in full effect, it was awesome watching so many students building flower necklaces while sitting in the dry grass, or catching the cherry blossom flowers as they fell from the trees.

As we gear up for another full week of school, please remember that this coming Wednesday is an early release day. Students will be dismissed at 1:45pm.

Additionally, starting May 1st, we will rollout our end of the year attendance and behavior expectations to all students. In short, for students wanting to participate in field day (which is the last day of school), or for 8th graders to stay eligible to attend Oaks Park on June 5th, students will need to be on-time to 90% of their classes and have no stage 2/3 referrals. In order to meet the 90% on-time to class goal, students must have no more than 15 tardies between May 1st and the end of the school year. We appreciate you reinforcing this message with your student and want to remind you that you can look in ParentVue to see if your student was late to any classes.

A huge shout out to the amazing work of our three visual art artists who had their artwork displayed at the HeArt of Portland Event this past week. It was also pretty awesome to see three da Vinci dancers participate in the first district Honors Dance Collective. Additionally, we had multiple da Vinci alums who were featured in the event. Below are the names of those with da Vinci connections.

Featured in the visual art gallery: Current students Aria Brown, Sophia Romero, Frances Nelson, and alum Quincy Whiteman

Featured in the (1st ever!) Honor Dance Collective: Current students Illeana Dees, Tallulah Ward, Nina Robbins, and alums Payton Nabors-Hilburn and Henry Roth

We hope you can come out to support the Jefferson Dancers tonight and Saturday at the Newmark Theatre. Experience the artistry of the Jefferson Dancers this April 18-19 at the Newmark Theatre!

Our Dance 2 and 3-4 kids had the opportunity to see the show on Thursday and got to spend a little time with the NINE da Vinci alums who are performing this weekend (see photo below).

ABOUT THE JEFFERSON DANCERS
The Jefferson Dancers are the elite performers of the nationally recognized dance program at Jefferson High School. For nearly 50 years, this select company has trained and showcased Portland's most advanced young dancers, ages 14-18, in a variety of disciplines. Don't miss your chance to see them in action!

Don't miss an unforgettable night of movement, music, and passion—get your tickets now!

JEFFERSON DANCERS 2025 SPRING CONCERT
Portland'5 Newmark Theatre
Friday, April 18 @ 7:30 P.M.
Saturday, April 19 @ 2:00 & 7:30 P.M.

Help us celebrate the invaluable contributions of our school libraries and dedicated staff! Our teacher librarians and library assistants are the heart of our reading culture, fostering literacy and a love of learning across the district. With over one million books circulated annually, our libraries are vital hubs for knowledge and exploration, empowering students every day.

Let's recognize their tireless efforts in building a brighter future, one book at a time! Our librarian is Heather Swinford. Heather is here 2-3 days per week. When she is in the building we have kids checking out books all day long and about 60 kids spending their lunchtime in the library reading and hanging out with friends. We encourage you to send her an email of appreciation if you have a moment. Her email is hswinford@pps.net

Hello PPS Families,

Teacher Appreciation Week is coming up and we want to let our teachers know just how grateful we are for all they do to make our schools joyful places to learn and grow. During the week of May 5-9, we will highlight as many educators as we can across our social media platforms, and we need YOU to make that happen!

Please click this link to tell us about an amazing educator who is important to you. You'll be anonymous, but we'll make sure they get a copy of what you write. We will also highlight as many as we can on PPS social media during Teacher Appreciation Week. Thank you for taking the time to help us honor our amazing educators!

We are in need of donations of pencils, facial tissues, wipes and hand sanitizer. If you are able to donate any of these items, please drop them off in the main office.

To celebrate their time at da Vinci Arts, before moving onto their respective high schools, we hope to be able to take our 8th graders on a fun-filled day to Oaks Park on Thursday, June 5th this year!!

With less funds to help cover the cost of the admission ride bracelets and buses, we are requesting a $30 fee for each student. We want all students to attend. If you are able and feel led to sponsor other students to attend the event, your generosity is greatly appreciated! If this fee request poses a hardship please reach out to Jennifer to request accommodations (jehoward@pps.net).

8th Grade Promotion will be June 9th from 6-8pm at Grant High School. Please mark your calendars for this fun event. While our 8th graders will still have three more days of school after this event, it is a fun time to celebrate their achievements and be in space together one last time. Please know, due to space limitations the event is only open to immediate and extended families as well as our current 8th graders (of course).

For families with students headed to Roosevelt High School, we wanted to share this message from the Roosevelt HS Admin Team,

Hello Community Family,

Welcome, class of 2029! Future Rider open house will be on May 15th, 5:30-7 pm. Parents and students will have an opportunity to meet our amazing community partners, staff, and tour RHS. Please use the attached flyer (English & Spanish) to help us share the information. Let me know if you have any questions or concerns.

Thank you!

Leap into 9th Grade prepares students to excel in high school and get a head start in working with their teachers and peers. Registration is now open for incoming 9th-grade students at Franklin, Jefferson, McDaniel, and Roosevelt. Program dates are June 23 - July 11, Monday - Friday, 9 am - 12:30 pm.

Online registration is available in English and Spanish

PDF Registration Forms are available in multiple languages. Please share the flyer and registration form with your students and families. If you need hard copies of the registration form, please contact April Martin.

Students have already been hard at work in their dance classes on pieces for the upcoming Spring Dance Concert and after school rehearsals began this week (April 14th-18th). This is an amazing event where every student in a dance class will be performing on stage!

Be sure to mark your calendars for the performances on Friday, May 16th (Show A) at 7:00pm, and Saturday, May 17th (Show B) at 1:00pm.

We also need volunteers to support this event. Use the link below to see if you could help volunteer for the show. Volunteering is a great way to stay close to the event.

Spring Dance Concert Volunteer Sign Up

Spring Dance Concert Schedule

Purchase tickets for Timbers games (May 10 & 28) and Thorns games (June 15 & 21) for a discounted price when you (staff, students, families, friends) use our special group link to purchase tickets. Plus, the teams will donate $5 for each ticket purchased to The Fund for PPS's Champion PPS Schools! We’re proud to share this opportunity for the whole family to come out and support the best of Portland – our professional soccer teams and our schools! Visit fundforpps.org/champion for more information.

Link to Purchase Tickets to Timbers, May 10 & 28 Games

Link to Purchase Tickets to Thorns, June 15 & 21 Games

• Portland Parks Teen Nature Team (Saturdays, then weekdays in summer)

• VIBE PDX Spring Break & Summer Art & Music Camps (Jun. 16 - Aug. 29)

• VIBE of Portland Music & Digital Art Classes for Kids

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

Summer Camps:

• PCC Summer Teen Program (schedule online Apr. 25, registration opens May 28)

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

• Cognizart 360Arts Summer Camps (Jul. 7-11, 14-18, & 21-25, 2025)

• VIBE PDX East Winds Band Camp (Jul. 21-25, 2025, recorded audition due Jul. 10)