DOLPHIN DIGEST 4/3/2025

Do you need translation? Click the "Translate" link at the top.

¿Necesitas traducción? Haga clic en el enlace "Traducir" en la parte superior.

您需要翻譯嗎？點擊頂部的翻譯鏈接

Bạn có cần dịch thuật không? Nhấp vào liên kết "Dịch" ở trên cùng.

آیا نیاز به ترجمه دارید؟ روی پیوند "Translate" در بالا کلیک کنید.

តើអ្នកត្រូវការបកប្រែទេ? ចុចលើតំណ "បកប្រែ" នៅផ្នែកខាងលើ។

ትርጉም ይፈልጋሉ? ከላይ ያለውን "መተርጎም" የሚለውን አገናኝ ጠቅ ያድርጉ.

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

• Apr1-30: National Arabic American Heritage Month

• Apr 1-May 2: 🌟 Dolphin Dash Fundraiser 🌟

• Apr 4 & 7: No School - Teacher Planning

• Apr 8: BIPOC Family Gathering, 5:30pm, Room 4

• Apr 9: Volunteer to hang art boards for Art & Literacy Night, 2:30-3:30

• Apr 10: Litter Pick-up, 2:30pm, at the picnic tables

• Apr 10: Art and Literacy Night, 5:30-7pm

• Apr 11: Tours for prospective families, 8-9am

• Apr 13: City Council District 3 Budget Townhall, 12-1:30pm, Revolution Hall Showroom Bar

• Apr 14: SUN Spring term begins

• Apr 15-26: BottleDrop Give - return blue bags to earn an extra 20% for Arleta

• Apr 18: Arleta Earth Day & Arbor Day, 2:30-4:00pm in the Cafeteria

• Apr 18: Tours for prospective families, 8-9am

• Apr 23: Early Release (11:50am)

• Apr 24: Litter Pick-up, 8:00am, at the picnic tables

• Apr 24: Connect to Kinder Open House, 2:30pm

• Apr 25: Tours for prospective families, 8-9am

• Apr 28: City Council District 3 Budget Townhall, 7-8:30pm, via zoom

• Apr 29: School Board Budget Public Comment Session 6-8pm, Location TBD

• Apr 30: Dia de Niños Celebration, 2:30pm, at the picnic tables

• May 2: Dolphin Dash!

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

Our 3rd annual all-community Arleta Art & Literacy Night is next Thursday evening from 5:30-7! We hope to see your family. It will be a fun opportunity to celebrate our Arleta students’ beautiful art and writing on our wall displays, to enjoy displays across all classes and parts of our school, do some fun art and literacy activities led by our staff and community, and learn ways to practice and enjoy reading and writing at home. Our Art & Literacy Team has contracted an author (graphic novelist), a clay artist, and a dance troupe: two back-to-back dance performances taking place in the auditorium- paid for with funds raised by previous “runs for the arts” all-school fundraisers. And, there will be free food (thank you, wonderful Arleta PTA!) for all in the cafeteria. Please come! Every family and child’s participation will help make it the most fabulous evening for all that it can be.

Our Arleta *Site Council is hosting a table during dinner in the cafeteria: while waiting for your child to finish eating 😀you can learn how to download the free library app Libby. We hope you’ll also do a short paper survey to help us understand what our families go through and/or might need to get your child to school regularly and on time. Site council is striving to support attendance and on time arrival to help families and teachers be able to teach so students have strong learning outcomes. (When some students miss the start of the day or whole days, teachers have to figure out how to catch those students up, or how to support those students separately, which has challenging impacts for all.) Please look for our table in the cafeteria during dinner, and then after dinner, in the main building near the book exchange.

Another awesome thing our community is doing currently! As I shared a few weeks ago, our projected enrollment for 1st grade next year is not high enough for us to be staffed with two teachers (yet). To help boost awareness of the great school Arleta is, and hopefully inspire families who live in our boundary but are not sending their children to Arleta (yet), a parent created these wonderful 5 different Enrollment Flyers to post all around our school boundary (see this Google map for our boundary and locations of posted flyers). If you know people whose elementary aged children go to a different school you could look for and point the flyers out or even come to the school office to pick a few up to post on wooden utility poles anywhere in our boundary that you think they’d be visible to the right people. The number of teachers we have at Arleta is based on the number of students enrolled at each grade level, and we currently need more rising first graders to join our school community in order to keep two first grade teachers!

See you next Thursday at Art / Literacy Night! Our event begins at 5:30 (dinner will be in the cafeteria).

*Site Council is a group of staff, family, school partners, and the principal working together to increase student learning and enact our school mission. Arleta Mission Statement: At Arleta we are lifelong learners. We learn how to think critically, communicate clearly, and solve problems collaboratively. We learn how to be mindful, empathetic, and resilient community members.

Warmly,

Lisa

We're excited to have our last Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) Family Gathering this academic year welcoming students, parents, and guardians. The group offers a safe space to talk, connect, and play. Come join us in the SUN Room in the main building past the gym. Dinner and kid activities will be provided.

SUN, PTA Inclusion Committee, and parents are co-hosting this social event for BIPOC families. Please RSVP, request a translator, or send any questions to Arleta's SUN Recreational Coordinator, Raina Bilbrew at rbilbrew@pps.net.

Translated flyers here.

Please join us for Art & Literacy Night on April 10th, 5:30-7pm at Arleta! This all-school event celebrates the work and talents of our students, plus hands-on activities, fun prizes and food for all. Check out the schedule of activities below. We hope to see you there!

The Arleta Green Team is hosting a fun Earth Day & Arbor Day Celebration on Friday, April 18th from 2:30-4pm in the cafeteria. All are welcome!

The event will include fun activities like gnome home building and seed ball crafts, a plant sale, demonstration tables by Portland Urban Beekeepers, Multnomah County Master Garners

and more!

If you can help with set up, clean up, or supporting event activities, please sign up here.

Dolphin Dash pledge page: https://app.99pledges.com/fund/arletadolph25

We are excited for the 3rd annual Dolphin Dash happening on May 2nd! The Dolphin Dash is Arleta’s biggest fundraiser, so we need caregivers & friends of our school to get involved and support our students!

What is the Dolphin Dash? The Dolphin Dash is similar to a Fun Run or Jog-a-thon, and all students will be able to participate on Friday, May 2nd. We’re asking families, friends, and neighbors to support students with a donation and encouragement to do their best in the event. Each lap will be tallied as students jog, walk, skip, run, etc. during their set time period, and we are challenging students to complete 1,200 laps for the whole school. All students will have a chance to participate and all students will celebrate the success of the event with a treat and a prize.

Why are we having a Dolphin Dash? School funding doesn’t cover much for art or PE, so our PTA is hoping this fundraiser can make up some of that gap. Fundraising for this event will focus on enriching experiences in art and PE, as well as support the events and programming the PTA offers throughout the year. Our goal is to raise at least $11,000, and ANY donation amount is welcome!

How do we raise money? We’re asking for students and their caregivers to request one-time donations from family and friends in support of giving it their all on the day of the Dolphin Dash. We have an easy-to-use website that accepts credit cards, or we can accept cash or checks. Please help your student(s) collect pledges through their webpage. You can email or text the link to family, relatives, friends, co-workers, etc. for support. Posting on social media is another great option! We can meet our school goal of $11,000 if each student raises $40. Donating is purely optional, and all students can participate and receive a Dolphin Dash t-shirt regardless of the number of donations.

Online pledges with 99Pledges. Your student already has a page set up to collect pledges. Go to https://app.99pledges.com/fund/arletadolph25 and enter your student’s first name in the ‘search for participant’ field. You do not need to login or change anything. Simply make a donation for whatever you can, and share your student's link with friends and family. No amount is too small.

Volunteer at the Dash! We're also looking for volunteers to help cheer students on, track laps and hand out treats the day of the Dash. If you can be there, please sign up.

If you have any questions, please email ArletaSchoolPTA@gmail.com

Thanks for your support!

As Ms. Hawking shared at the March general PTA meeting and in last week's newsletter, relatively low enrollment numbers are expected in 1st grade next year, which is likely to reduce the number of classrooms from two to one. In response, a parent created five different flyers, and the Site Council would like to ask our community to get them posted across the Arleta zone (which you can look up on School Finder). We hope to boost visibility and awareness of Arleta to pull families who are currently choosing to send their students outside their neighborhood school.

Please consider whether your family could post some flyers. Laminated copies are available in the school office to pick up and we'd love your help posting them on utility poles or in local business. We are tracking where the flyers get posted in this map.

Thanks for helping to get the word out about our great school!

If you are on your phone, consider sharing the flyers digitally by tapping and holding on the image to download!

Do you have some once-loved kid books around that don't get the attention they deserve? Let's change that!

From April 3rd - 10th, we're collecting gently used, age/school-appropriate books to be donated to the Arleta Book Swap table. During Arts and Literacy Night on April 10th, students and their siblings will have the opportunity to choose a new favorite book to take home.

📚 We encourage kids who donate their books to include a little note for the next reader.

📚 Please limit donations to 1-2 books per child, keeping in mind that it's best to donate only what you would like to take home.

📚 You can drop off your donated books in the basket located outside the main office.

Thank you for helping us share the joy of reading!

The Green Team and Garden Team would love your help in saving and collecting recyclable items for an exciting Earth Day project! Please drop off your items anytime in the bin outside the front office until Friday, April 18th.

Here’s what we’re looking for:

- Toilet paper rolls and cardboard tubes of all sizes

- Egg cartons

- Small cardboard boxes

- Paper straws

- Natural items like bamboo, lichen, small twigs, sticks, and pinecones!

Please no waxed cardboard or drink box-type plastic coating- everything needs to be biodegradable!

These materials will be used by students to build gnome homes on Friday, April 18th.

City Councilors from District 3 (Arleta's district) are holding three town halls to hear from community members about their budget priorities. This is a great time to participate in local decision-making and have your voice heard. We are hoping to continue advocating for SUN, and the more voices they hear with this message, the better!

• April 13, 12-1:30pm at Revolution Hall Showbar Room (all ages, pizza provided)
• April 28, 7-8:30pm, via Zoom (Click here to add this event to Google Calendar.)
• May 10, 11am-12:30pm at Lane Middle School (all ages, pizza provided)

Go to seuplift.org/events to RSVP to each town hall

Hello Arleta Friends and Families~

My name is Leslie. Last fall I had the wonderful opportunity to coach Girls on the Run at Arleta. It was an absolute blast and I will definitely coach again. Until then, I have committed to running Hood to Coast with the Girls on the Run fundraising team. I am raising money that will go directly to fund scholarships for families and kids all over Oregon. Girls on the Run offers a sliding scale, full scholarships, and new running shoes for participants who request it without asking any financial questions. People pay what they can, and that is something I believe very strongly in. Nothing should limit a child's opportunity to be part of all the wonderful things GOTR offers. If you agree with that, please check out my fundraising page and consider helping me reach my goal - https://www.gotroregon.org/solemate/Leslie-N-GOTRGOSoleMates-54694

Feel free to pass this on to any friends or family as well.

Thank you!

On Tuesday, March 18, City Council members and the Mayor held a listening session regarding the proposed budget cuts by the City of Portland. City Council invited public testimony for the full 2.5 hours of the meeting, and advocates for protecting the SUN program, including several Arleta community members, spoke up about the value of SUN and the devastating effects cutting the program would have.

You can watch the full meeting here, and jump to each of the Arleta speakers at the times list below:

https://www.youtube.com/live/rAWYu-S9Aqc?si=PEOpJF0qRwmEWPIo

48:19 Sheryl Moren

1:13:35 Tiffany Blackmon

1:40:12 Andy Chiller

1:44:01 Lisa Hawking

2:14:08 Ryan Sotomayor

Additionally, Sheryl Moren was quoted in an interview with KOIN news, at the 1:50 mark in the video linked here: https://www.koin.com/news/portland/portlanders-sound-off-on-proposed-cuts-in-city-budget/

The advocacy letter written by Arleta parents (highlighted in the below article) has been signed by 343 community members as of 4/1! The letter was submitted to the City Council as written testimony ahead of yesterday's meeting.

Consider helping your kids participate in advocating for SUN School. Several parents have submitted letters written by their children to the city. Photos of children's letters can tell a powerful story about the impact that SUN School has on our community. You can upload a photo of your child's letter and submit a comment here. Even though the listening session has happened, the city is still collecting feedback!

*** ARLETA’S SUN PROGRAM MAY GET CUT! *** THIS IS NOT A DRILL - ACT NOW! ***

As of 4/1 our letter has been signed by 343 community members. Let's keep that number growing!

We hope you’ll sign a letter/petition drafted by Arleta parents to advocate for SUN not to be taken away from our kids. The letter will be sent to Portland City Council throughout the budgeting review and approval process. View and sign here:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScT7LRO8tPrvgeY1on4_O_kkqQFX6mhZihnNam13-KS7hcqYA/viewform?usp=sharing

The City of Portland is proposing eliminating all 11 of their SUN School sites as they face a significant budget gap, including at Arleta. The Portland City Council needs to hear from the community why SUN is so important, and we can have more influence when we work together.

Share this information with your friends and neighbors! The more people who speak up, the better!

The Arleta PTA is looking for new leaders to bring their enthusiasm and energy to help carry out its mission to support and improve our community. There are lots of ways to get involved, including required board positions and committee chairs. Ready to learn more? You can:

• Review the list of open volunteer positions by clicking here or seeing the graphic below.
• Fill out the "Nudge to PTA Leadership" form by clicking here or filling out below to express interest or recommend yourself or others.
• Reach out to Arleta PTA co-secretary Brian Dombeck at bdombe1@gmail.com.
• Visit the Arleta PTA's About Us page for more about the PTA in general or get to know our current board members.

We are thrilled there has been interest in several positions already. We are currently still recruiting for the following positions:

PTA Vice-President: The PTA vice-president spends about 6 hours a month assisting in preparing meeting agendas and finding guest speakers, checking in regularly with officers and committees, recruiting and mentoring volunteers, supporting the annual audit and representing the PTA to the community.

Co-Fundraising Coordinator: The Fundraising Coordinator spends about five hours a month working with local businesses to organize dine-ins and solicit donations and coordinating and assisting in the promotion of fundraisers.

Teacher Appreciation Coordinator: The coordinator helps with organizing teacher potlucks for Parent/Teacher conferences week in the fall, deciding on and arranging small gift for teachers in December, and soliciting items from the community for Teacher Appreciation Week in May.

Communication Coordinator: Updating weekly newsletter, the PTA website, and the PTA Facebook page. Create flyers for events and fundraisers. (Historically, this duty is split among three volunteers).

Volunteer Coordinator: Coordinator assists with recruiting and overseeing volunteers for Arleta events and activities. You would also maintain a database of Arleta family volunteers.

Green Team Coordinator: Coordinator assists with leading litter pick-ups two times a month, brainstorm ways to make Arleta more environmentally friendly, and help plan and execute Green Team events like waste recycling events.

Additional open positions that we are actively recruiting for can be found by clicking here.

Let’s help raise an extra 20% for our Bottle Drop Blue Bag program!

If possible, hold on to your full bags and wait until April 15th to turn them in!

Funds raised through Blue Bags during the following period (April 15 – 26) are eligible for 20% matching.

Extra blue bags are available in the front office. Please contact arletaptafundraiserchair@gmail.com with any questions.

First celebrated in 2017 as an initiative by the Arab American Foundation that only involved a few states and cities, Arab American Heritage Month gained national recognition in April 2021, when then-President Biden became the first U.S. president to issue a proclamation making the celebration official.

The Arab American community, which today numbers roughly 3.7 million people, has deep historical roots in our country. The first known Arab immigrants arrived in 1527, before the United States was even its own nation, and there have been several waves of immigration into the United States since then. We'll be providing resources in the Dolphin Digest to help explore the rich cultures of the Middle East and the contributions that Arab Americans have made to the US throughout this month!

Read the 2024 Executive Order on National Arabic American Heritage Month by clicking here!

Click here to see a list of OPB documentaries and programming celebrating Natinal Arabic American Heritage Month.

Try a dessert! Make halva with your kids after watching this video, here!

Check out the Arab American Cultural Center of Oregon by clicking here.

Getting to school on time is hard, but starting the day together at school is important and helpful for kids. The week of 3/17, Arleta had 171 tardies.

Here are some handy reminders of tips for getting to school on time. Pick and choose the ones that work best for your family!

Tips For Smoother Morning:

• Take school lunch; no smelly lunch box to clean out later!

• Eat on the run: toast, dry Eggo, banana, pbj, granola bar.
• Take advantage of free school breakfast; it’s earlier but some people swear by it!

Our kids get to show off their fantastic creations to us on Arts and Literacy Night. They have been working hard on their masterpieces, and we are approaching the big showcase on April 10th!

But, we need your help to pull it off!

We are planning on displaying two pieces of art per kid. We’re hoping to have 2 to 3 volunteers from each grade.

We could specifically use help on April 9th from 2:30-3:30pm to hang artboards in the main building.

When you arrive to volunteer, please check in at the main office. Arleta's art teacher, Elizabeth Meyer, will be there to meet you and go over the tasks.

Thank you so much for your support!

This is a part of a short series where we'll be featuring a different book each week from the 2025-2026 Oregon Battle of the Books Grades 3-5 reading list! Check out the book below!

Click here to go to the author's website.

Click here to see more about the movie based on the book.

Click here to borrow the book from Multnomah County Library

Click here to borrow the audiobook from the Multnomah County Library.

Click here to buy the book from Powell's Bookstore.

Click here to buy the book from Scholastic.

Click here to preview the audiobook on the Google Play Books channel on YouTube!

Each week we feature a poem from literature that you can share with your kids. Poems are quick ways to practice literacy and work like little packages of thoughts and feelings that explore the world in new ways.

The Homework Machine, oh the Homework Machine,

Most perfect contraption that's ever been seen.

Just put in your homework, then drop in a dime,

Snap on the switch, and in ten seconds' time,

Your homework comes out, quick and clean as can be.

Here it is-- "nine plus four?" and the answer is "three."

Three?

Oh me . . .

I guess it's not as perfect

As I thought it would be.

Shel Silverstein

You will need black construction paper or cardstock, a bottle of white glue, and oil pastels.

SUN School offers an amazing array of enrichment activity for kids: piano, photography, journalism, skateboarding. But kids explore the world best on full stomaches. SUN School is seeking donations of snacks to help feed kids in the program. Please make sure donations of kid-friendly snacks are healthy and shelf-stable. Donations can be collected in the school office! Thank you so much.

Arleta has a small food pantry, clothes closet, and a variety of toiletries available for the use of any Arleta family. To set up an appointment to use the pantry or the closet, please email our SUN School Coordinator, Raina Bilbrew at rbilbrew@pps.net or raina.bilbrew@portlandoregon.gov or call or text her at 971-803-8986.

Email Lisa Hugelier lisa.hugelier@gmail.com with questions.

Link to translated flyers of the flyer above.

Red Cards in English

Tarjetas Rojas Con Derechos De Los Imigrantes

移民权利红卡

Thẻ đỏ cho quyền của người nhập cư

ቀይ ካርዶች ለስደተኞች መብት

កាតក្រហមសម្រាប់សិទ្ធិជនអន្តោប្រវេសន៍

The Trillium Festival at Tryon Creek Natural Area is Saturday, April 5, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tryon Creek has celebrated the return of this early season perennial native to local forests for 45 years.

During the Trillium Festival, the Friends of Tryon Creek is hosting fun activities for everyone to enjoy.

Here’s a list of activities planned for the event:

• Peruse a selection of native plants at the plant sale.
• Explore family-friendly interactive nature stations around the Nature Center and along the trails.
• Learn how to make your yard or garden habitat friendly with advice from the gardening resources fair.
• Participate in a mini habitat living centerpieces demonstration with Poppy & Finch (fees apply). Bring your own container.
• Explore the Nature Center and go for a hike along the trails.

This event is free to attend.

Tryon Creek Natural Area is at 11321 South Terwilliger Blvd. in Portland. For more information, visit the Friends of Tryon Creek’s website.

On Saturday, April 19, head to The Oregon Garden for family-friendly indoor activities at the garden for free. The event is held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Visitors of all ages can explore a variety of educational exhibits, interactive demonstrations and eco-friendly vendors. There are lots of hands-on activities to engage the whole family. The event is even pet-friendly!

Get up close with fascinating creatures from Brad’s World Reptiles and meet Caesar the No-Drama Llama. Also, unleash your creativity with an Earth Day keepsake painting craft and get your face painted.

If you haven’t been, this is the ideal time to visit this Oregon attraction. The 80-acre botanical garden feature more than 20 specialty gardens showcasing the diverse botanical beauty of the Pacific Northwest.

The Oregon Garden is at 879 W Main St. in Silverton. For more information, visit the garden’s website.

In the fall, PBOT collects leaves from city streets and converts the debris into high-quality compost. In celebration of Earth Day, PBOT gives away all of this built up compost. And the best part? It’s completely free.

From April 26-27, 2025, you can pick up free compost at the Sunderland Maintenance Yard, 9325 NE Sunderland Road. The event is open each day from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m.

There is no limit to the amount of compost you can take. If you have an open-bed vehicle, PBOT will load the compost for you. If you want to bag your own, bring a shovel and bags.

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.