West Sylvan Middle School

Dear West Sylvan Families,

During our Climate Club Work Party on Saturday, various community members supported a work party in honor of Earth Day, which just passed! Thank you to all who volunteered time around campus to beautify the grounds and garden areas!

Communications related to the upcoming school year will continue to come from both our West Sylvan and PPS district team with regular updates, weekly or bi-weekly.

Jill Hunt, Principal
Ben Keller, Assistant Principal

We appreciate all of the community members who made the two Arts Nights a success this year! Thank you for joining to see our talented artists!

Please mark your calendar to join us and celebrate our WSMS thespians!

We always appreciate all donations to keep our Arts programs moving forward at WSMS, and you can use the QR code on the poster!

MAY

• Tue, MAY 6th: Late Start for Students due to Staff Meeting (building opens at 9:20AM)
  
• Fri, MAY 9th: Seventh Grade Pack Party / for eligible students @ 7:00-8:30PM in WSMS Gym *(hosted by The Friends of West Sylvan)
• Thu, MAY 15th / Fri, MAY 16th / Sat, MAY 17th: West Sylvan Drama performances of Matilda Jr. in WSMS Gym
• Wed, MAY 21st: *LAST* EARLY RELEASE for Students at 1:45 PM due to Staff PD
• Mon, MAY 26th: NO SCHOOL due to Memorial Day holiday
• Fri, MAY 30th: Afternoon Assembly Bell Schedule (all-school assembly at the end of the day - please make arrangement for early pick-ups *before* 3:00PM)

JUNE

• Tue, JUN 3rd: Late Start for Students due to Staff Meeting (building opens at 9:20AM)
• Fri, JUN 6th: Eighth Grade Field Trip to Oaks Park *(students will be bussed to the amusement park during the school day)
• Fri, JUN 6th: Eighth Grade Pack Party / for eligible students @ evening in WSMS Gym *(hosted by The Friends of West Sylvan)
• Wed, JUN 11th: Eighth Grade Promotion Ceremony at LHS from 6:30-8:30PM
• Thu, JUN 12th: Final Day of Instruction for 2024-25 school year
• Fri, JUN 13th ~ Mon, AUG 11th: school building is closed to the general public due to construction/repairs

School starts at 9:15 AM and ends at 4:00 PM every day, with this bell schedule:

The exceptions to these start times are on Staff Meeting days

when students have a 15-minute LATE START at 9:30AM (with building opening at 9:20AM)

due to monthly Staff meetings *(only affecting PPS Middle Schools).
Buses should pick up 15 minutes later than the typical pickup time.

*Remaining Late Start dates for this school year:

May 6th - June 3rd

Please calendar the Early Release days this year, which are listed below. All Scholars are released at 1:45 PM, and Staff are in meetings beginning at 2:00PM, meaning we will not be available to supervise any students who are not picked up on time. Buses will drop students off two hours earlier than usual.

Our Friends of West Sylvan group are hosting a Pack Party for each grade. The dates for the 7th Grade and 8th Grade parties are listed below, along with the requirements for students to be eligible to attend. Since a Pack Party is a privilege, students who are not eligible to attend will not be allowed to enter the party. Each party is free to enter, and students should eat prior to the party, as food and beverages will not be included

Mark your calendar to make sure your student can attend these fun, FREE parties!

SEVENTH GRADE - Friday, May 9th / 7:00-8:30PM

EIGHTH GRADE - Friday, June 6th / evening event

Eligible students must be:

• Achieving passing grades in classes (no more than three failing grades or no grades)

• Have positive attendance (no patterns of truancy for skipping classes or unexcused absences)

• Have positive behaviors without any suspensions during the 4th quarter of the school year

Students who do not meet the requirements above, will not be allowed to attend an upcoming Pack Party. These parties are a celebration of positive school progress and participation, and Scholars who cannot meet the basic eligibility criteria listed above will not be included in a grade-level celebration.

>> Interested in helping with these fun events? Email us at hi@friendsofwestsylvan.org <<

The responsibility for the dress and attire of a student rests primarily with the student and their parents or caregivers. Please check your young scholars as they prepare for the school day to be sure that they are wearing appropriate attire that does not violate the PPS dress code:

Allowable Dress & Attire

● Students must wear clothing including both a shirt with pants, shorts, or skirt or the equivalent, and shoes.

● Clothing must have fabric on the front and on the sides.

● Clothing must cover undergarments, waistbands excluded.

● Fabric covering all private parts (including buttocks) which must not be see-through.

● Hats and other headwear must allow the face to be visible and not interfere with the line of sight to any student or staff. Hoodies must allow the student's face and ears to be visible to staff.

● Clothing and shoes must be suitable for all scheduled classroom activities, including physical education, science labs, wood shop, and other activities where unique hazards exist.

● Specialized courses may require specialized attire, such as sports uniforms or safety gear.

Non-Allowable Dress & Attire

● Clothing may not depict, advertise, or advocate the use of alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, or other controlled substances.

● Clothing may not depict pornography, nudity, sexual acts, or vulgar words.

● Clothing may not use or depict hate speech targeting groups based on race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, religious affiliation, or other protected groups.

● Clothing, including gang identifiers, must not threaten the health or safety of any other student or staff.

● Clothing may not display profanity.

● If the student’s attire threatens the health or safety of any other person, then discipline for dress or attire violations should be consistent with discipline policies for similar violations.

In order to fund fun items for our Eighth Graders, such as their field trip to Oaks Park, we are requesting a $40 donation for each 8th Grader. (If there is a financial challenge, please email jihunt@pps.net)

These end-of-year celebrations are fun activities, and they are quite expensive. In order to continue offering them, we are asking for donations.

Donations can be accepted via cash, check, and/or SchoolPay through the first week of June.

Our Scholars are engaging in their yearly OSAS testing. These data are used to inform decisions for students’ placement in any advanced Mathematics courses and/or potential needs for intervention support in Math or English, so we always want our Scholars to do their very best so that these data are an accurate reflection of their knowledge. These are the only data sets that Oregon uses to measure every school’s progress each school year, which is another reason that we want our Scholars to do their very best. Our schedule is outlined below, so that you know when the exams are being administered and in which setting.

The PPS OSAS testing window is April 1-June 6. Our goal at West Sylvan MS is to complete the SEED survey on April 10th, begin assessing students in OSAS on April 14th, and complete OSAS testing by May 30th. OSAS assessments will be administered through grades 6-8 ELA, grades 6-8 Math, and grade 8 Science classes. The OSAS SEED Survey will be completed through 6-8 Science classes. We need a 95% participation rate for our scores to count.

University of Portland School of Education has begun accepting applications for their annual Summer Learning Program! In this program, the learning focuses on the Oregon State Benchmarks appropriate for each child in mathematics, language arts (reading, writing, and speaking), and any other subjects in which the student needs help. The Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) candidates tutor/teach students according to their learning needs. There are usually 4-5 students per 2-3 MAT candidates.

This year’s program will run June 30 – July 31, Monday-Thursday, 9:30am-11:30am, and welcomes students entering grades 2-11 in 2025-26. The cost of the program is $125, though scholarships are available.

Online registration is now available HERE or scan the QR code in the flyer below.

MAIN OFFICE

westsylvanoffice@pps.net

(503) 916-5690

ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT/ PRINCIPAL'S SECRETARY

[Staff / Substitutes / Financial]

Jerda Solonche

jsolonche@pps.net

ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT/ SCHOOL SECRETARY

[Students / Attendance / Enrollment-Registration]

Kirsten Crombie

kcrombie@pps.net

Website: www.pps.net/westsylvan
Location: 8111 Southwest West Slope Drive, Portland, OR, USA