Whitford Newsletter

December 2019

Hello Whitford Families,

I feel lucky to be principal here at Whitford. Over the past months, I have seen so much growth in our students, staff, and our community. I was able to spend time over Thanksgiving with friends and family bragging about how our Whitford community continues to strive for rigor, equity, and giving our students the needed tools for success in our global society.

It was more than evident this past Tuesday during the Whitford Showcase. We welcomed 5th grade parents and students to Whitford and were able to show off all the great teaching, learning, and community involvement, that Whitford has to offer. Parents left impressed and students left excited knowing Whitford in a good position for the future.

As you may know, our state report cards were released at the end of October. I’m sort of a data geek and dove into our school data as compared to other school around the state. I’m proud to announce that as compared to like schools, there are 22 of them around the state, Whitford scored 2nd highest in English Language Arts and Math in terms of meeting and exceeding on the state test. We have a long way to go, but comparatively speaking, we are doing quite well. I believe this success is due to keeping our lessons rigorous, the dedication of our teaching staff, our AVID program, our Dual Language program, parent involvement, and the fact that students feel safe at school.

There are two major district committees which are currently ongoing and will directly affect the future of Whitford and middle schools in general. The Middle School Boundary Committee will hold the next meeting on Thursday, December 19th at Mt. View Middle School from 6:30-8:30. This is a fascinating process and all schools will see some shifts, some more than others, but Whitford is in a position to most likely only gain students as we are the smallest comprehensive middle school. This process should be completed by May and given to the superintendent for his approval.

The other group that’s meeting is the Common Middle School Experience Committee. The superintendent and school board have charged the middle schools to develop a common schedule and set of electives for all comprehensive middle schools. The goal of this process is for all students to receive the same amount of instructional time for each core subject as well as offering the same electives at each building. This is a challenging task which requires stakeholders to be mindful of the middle school brain, choices, and outcomes. Needless to say, there are pros and cons to any decision made. This process should be completed by February in time for staffing.

I hope everyone has an enjoyable Winter Break and hoping you get some time with friends and family.

Brian Peerenboom - Principal

The Middle School Boundary Adjustment Advisory Committee held a public meeting last Tuesday at Stoller Middle School. The meeting was live streamed and the video is available on the Middle School Boundary Adjustment webpage.

The primary activity was a visioning workshop, where the public helped create the first set of themes for potential middle school boundaries. Everyone in attendance was at a table with approximately 6-8 people; they each had a large district-wide map and markers with which to work. The objective was for each table, as a group, to create a new boundary for the new middle school, reduce the size of Stoller Middle School, and amend other middle school boundaries to accommodate the changes created by the first two items.

This exercise was more qualitative than quantitative, forecast data was not provided on the maps at this meeting. The emphasis of the exercise was for participants to show the committee how they see their neighborhood identities, where “natural” boundaries (such as major roads, parks/open space, etc.) may be, and anything else that should be taken into consideration by the Committee. Committee members joined table groups throughout the room to listen in on the conversations.

The workshop maps have been posted to the Middle School Boundary Adjustment webpage.

Following the workshop staff will analyze the workshop maps and will provide the Committee with the data coming from those themes. This will serve as the starting point for the Committee's work in narrowing down a set of options to an eventual recommendation.

The next meeting will be held on Thursday, December 19th, 2019 at 6:30 p.m. at Mountain View Middle School and the public will have the opportunity to participate in a similar visioning activity.

https://www.beaverton.k12.or.us/departments/information-technology/parentvue-studentvue

The Beaverton School District is transitioning to electronic report cards for all students. The electronic report cards will be accessed through ParentVUE (mobile and desktop). If you have not set up your ParentVUE account, you will need to do that by January 2020.

There are resources and guidance on how to set up a ParentVue account. Please view the FAQ for instructions on setting up your account. There are several benefits to moving to paperless report cards. You will be able to view grades days after grading days, rather than wait up to two weeks for a report card to come by mail or in your child’s backpack. In addition, moving away from paper is environmentally friendly and cost-effective for the District.

Please contact your school if you need help setting up or accessing your ParentVUE account or need assistance with a printed copy. We will be sharing more information about this transition in the coming weeks.

Help sick kids and adults have a cheerful holiday with warm and colorful socks!

The Whitford Sock Toss is an annual event to collect socks to cheer up kids and adults in hospitals this winter. We will support Andi Proskus, who has spent time in hospitals in the past due to a neuromuscular condition.

Here is what we need:

• Warm, colorful, and FUN socks
• Sizes ranging from baby to adult
• Store bought and never used!

Take all socks to your Advisory teacher!

Top advisory class will win a prize...

Help us make a difference!

Help families in need by donating to Maddie’s Closet!

Maddie’s Closet honors a previous Whitford student, Maddie Lauer who passed away from cancer her sophomore year of high school.

Here are some items needed:

Toiletries

New and slightly used Clothes

School Supplies

Non-Perishable Food Items

Take all donations to your Advisory teacher!

The 7th and 8th grade Winter Band Concert will be Tuesday, Dec. 17 in the Whitford gym. The concert begins at 6pm. Students should report to the band room by 5:45pm. The dress code is all black.

Congratulations to the 7th and 8th grade band members that performed at the Beaverton High School concert in November. They had the opportunity to perform in the high school auditorium and to play along with the high school band for one piece.

The Whitford Band has received full funding for a Go Fund Me project. We will receive over $1000 worth of reeds, valve oil, ligatures, and other necessary supplies to help keep our band going.

Our next meeting will be January 14th at 6PM.

Whitford’s 2nd Annual Career Day

January 31st, 8:40am-11am!

We are looking for people who are willing to speak about their career, job, and experiences. Any and all types of professions are welcome. We are looking for variety and bilingualism is a plus! It doesn’t matter what path you took to get there. We would love to have you come! If you are interested in being a speaker, please contact Robyn Giacchi, robyn_giacchi@beaverton.k12.or.us or 503-356-2700.

Each Presenter will have approximately 10 minutes to present to two different classrooms.

Below are some ideas of what to present.

• What is/was your career?
• Share your Pathway to your career, be specific:
• Explain How and Why you chose this profession
• What schooling or training was necessary for your job?
• Does your job require on-going training/classes?
• What personal and academic skills are used in this profession?

• Public speaking/Leadership/Organization/Responsibility
• Communication/Reading/Writing
• Technology/Computer Skills
• Math/Science

As the holidays approach, we tend to have more waste in our homes. With just a little effort, you can save your clean, dry plastic bags and more (see below) and drop it off at Whitford in the bins in the front hallway across from the office.

Whitford is competing in the Trex Plastic Film Recycling Challenge. Please recycle your plastic film (shopping bags, bread bags, cereal bags, plastic wrapping around toilet paper / paper towels, etc.). See the recycling symbol on plastic film marked #4 and #2. Or do the "stretch test" - if the plastic stretches a bit when you tug at a small part of it, you can recycle it. If it doesn't, it is not recyclable. See this video for specific types of plastic that are recyclable. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hf60y0wRhII

Thank you very much for participating in our plastic film recycling program!

A huge thanks to our partner - Target! Please let Target in Tigard on Hall Blvd know that you appreciate their partnership with Whitford in recycling plastic film!

Whitford Green Club

Calling All Readers

Join the Oregon Battle of the books for the 2019-2020 school year

The Battle of the Books is an exciting tournament of reading. Students will form teams of 4-5 players and share reading the list of 16 books prescribed by the Oregon Battle of the Books statewide organizing committee. The Whitford tournament will begin in January 2020. Battles will be after school until only one team remains in the field. The team that wins the Whitford title will then move on to compete against other schools in the regional meet, which will take place on a Saturday in March.

Please pickup registration and information forms outside the Library. Questions? Contact or visit Mr. Miller in room B12.

The Winter break is a great time to get caught up on student immunizations. 7th grade students need to have a T-DAP booster. This is normally given in their 6th or 7th grade year. Please check your students shot records and take care of any missing immunizations by January 15, 2020. Exclusion day is February 19th. Students who are NOT up to date on their immunizations will NOT be allowed to attend school after February 19th. Questions? Please contact school registrar.

Whitford, Five Oaks and Meadow Park are beginning the Dreambox Winter Challenge next week. We are competing against each other for bragging rights, a trophy and small prize. Points will be given to classes based on the amount of Dreambox lessons they complete each week. It is important to complete Dreambox lessons every week for optimal growth, your goal should be 8 lessons. Keep striving to increase your mathematical skills Whitford!

12/10 Soccer Tournament for Soccer Club at Whitford 4:30-6PM

12/11 STAMP testing for 8th grade DL students

12/11 Lights out for conservation

12/13 Yearbook Meeting 8AM

12/13 ART LIT training 9:30AM Room C-4

12/17 PTO meeting 6:30PM library

12/17 Band Concert 7&8 6PM

12/20 Yearbook Meeting 8AM

12/20 Assembly (Sock Toss)

12/20 All School Party 3:15-3:50

12/23-1/3 Winter Vacation

1/10 Lights out for conservation

1/14 Breaking Barriers 6PM