West Sylvan Middle School

Dear West Sylvan Families,

The weather is warming up, which means that students should plan to have a water bottle with them to stay hydrated on warmer days. This coming Wednesday, April 23rd, will be our second-to-last Early Release for the 24-25 school year, with Scholars leaving campus at 1:45PM for Educators to engage in professional development. A reminder message will also go out.

We have some upcoming events for our school community to join to support the Arts, including our Arts Nights on April 30th and May 1st, and our Spring Drama production of Matilda Jr. in May. PPS Middle Schools are supposed to offer two Arts pathways. Thus far, we have been able to offer more pathways, thanks to community support. Donations are the only way that we will continue to be able to make these offerings a reality for our students in future years.

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

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!

Lincoln High School is also hosting performances, so mark your calendars for these events!

Click the poster below for tickets to their current production.

APRIL

• Tue, APR 22nd: Eighth Grade group panoramic photo taken during 8th period *(students picked up early will not be able to be included in this class picture)
• Wed, APR 23rd: EARLY RELEASE for Students at 1:45 PM due to Staff PD from 2:00-5:00 PM
• Fri, APR 25th: Sixth Grade Disco Pack Party / for eligible students @ 7:00-8:30PM in WSMS Gym *(hosted by The Friends of West Sylvan)

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 @ evening 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: EARLY RELEASE for Students at 1:45 PM due to Staff PD from 2:00-5:00 PM
• Mon, MAY 26th: NO SCHOOL due to Memorial Day holiday

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 the following Staff Meeting days:

May 6th - June 3rd

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.

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.

Hi! I'm Stacie Tew, and I run the Climate club at WSMS. As part of a district wide initiative, we have been given a grant to help with climate associated projects. We have been working hard to improve our school garden and make it more accessible to the school community. As part of this, we are hosting a work party on Saturday, May 3rd here at the school. We will be assembling a shed, working on putting together some raised beds, and installing a drip system. You don't need technical expertise, just a willingness to help! I will supply the coffee, donuts and snacks, if you can come with your student. Please let me know if you have any questions or if you are planning to attend so that I can have adequate food and supplies. My email is stew@pps.net.

Kind regards,

Stacie Tew

If you are choosing to give your Scholar access to the unknowns of the social media world through an electronic device, which I absolutely do not recommend after over 20 years working in secondary schools and seeing the impact of social media over the years on students’ lives, please set up parental controls so that you are regularly monitoring their behavior, contacts and interactions. Almost every single conflict between students that makes its way to our school attention begins through social media and the interactions on devices provided by families. Students are regularly harassing each other through TikTok, Discord, even online gaming chat groups. If your Scholar is in a chat group, look at the conversations that are occurring. Often people are added to these chats with no idea of their identity. If you are going to open up this world to young people, please monitor their behavior. Here is a presentation that Beaverton PD did earlier this year for our families for you to review. Many students’ profiles are easily copied and then reposted to child pornography and trafficking sites, used to blackmail families for payouts (to avoid exposing inappropriate pictures), ect. Thank you for partnering with us and staying vigilant.

Our Friends of West Sylvan group will be hosting a Pack Party for each grade. The dates 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!

SIXTH GRADE - Friday, April 25th / 7:00-8:30 PM

SEVENTH GRADE - Friday, May 9th / evening event

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 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

>> Registration is open for the 6th Grade Pack Party! <<

Click Here or on the image above to sign the waiver and register your student

(deadline for registration is April 23rd)

Volunteers are needed to chaperone during the event!

Click here to go to the signup link: https://signup.com/go/ujMWcyS

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 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.

This year, we moved the Chromebooks from a 1:1 checked out system to having students use the Chromebooks only at school for class assignments and projects. Last year, in a 1:1 model, our Scholars had the most regular damage to Chromebooks of any school in PPS. Based on the consistent issues, we moved to a school-only model for the Chromebooks, as these resources were being so consistently damaged, beyond repair, by so many students. Also, we wanted to move to more pencil and paper work so that our Scholars could have far less screen time throughout their days.

Teachers assign a specific Chromebook to students for use in their classes. Unfortunately, we are still seeing a decent number of Chromebooks damaged by our students. Classroom teachers will report any student who has been identified for vandalizing the school Chromebooks through a school referral, and families will be notified of the referral and the cost of the damage caused by their student to the school device.

For context, the cost to replace devices is below:

CTL Chromebook with charger is approximately $515.00

The cost for a replacement charger is $11.50

These charges will be added to a student’s PPS account, along with all outstanding fees which must be paid in order to receive a High School diploma or transcripts from PPS in future years.

This year, thanks in part to generous family donations, all students will receive a WSMS yearbook, free of charge. This year’s book will be a soft cover version, in order to ensure that all students receive a book for free. Typically, the yearbooks are not ready for distribution until June during the final weeks of school. There is no need to pre-order a yearbook due to the all-access distribution this year.

If you would like to contribute to the cost of printing, please click this link to go to the 2024-25 Yearbook Donation item in SchoolPay. Your donation will allow us to continue fundraising to offer free or reduced-price yearbooks to all students in future years. Without continued donations, we will be returning to pay for yearbooks next school year, 2025-26.

Our Eighth Graders will have a final Promotion celebration held at Lincoln High School on the evening of Wednesday, June 11th, in the Lincoln High School Gym. Seating is available to all until filled, and each year our families do fill the Gym.

Attention Seventh Grade Wolves! We have started to recruit for our PackLeader Program for 8th grade. PackLeaders are leaders and mentors for our 6th grade students. They will be taking the lead on our Jump Start day to start the year, as well as with our assemblies and even teaching in Advisory classes in the coming school year. All the fun will start with our Spring Play Day in May! You can find the application HERE.

We know that young people are exposed to many images of substance use, and likely to have friends and peers who are experimenting. We hope this film and conversation will help us discuss substance use openly and understand how we can support the young people in our community to make informed decisions and stay safe.

COMMUNITY + CONVERSATION

Navigating Teen Substance Use in the Digital Age

Tuesday, April 22, 2025

6 - 8:15 PM

Lincoln High School

Please join us for a FREE event at Lincoln High School,

about the influence of substance use among young people in today's digital world.

Enjoy pizza and cookies (baked by LHS Culinary Arts Students!) in the Lincoln Commons, followed by a film screening in the Theater of Under the Influence: Addressing Vaping, Drugs & Alcohol in the Digital Age by filmmaker Delaney Ruston, MD

>>> A post-film discussion will include experts & professionals from the field, as well as Lincoln High School teens! <<<

This film is the third feature documentary in the Screenagers trilogy. It debunks myths and shares strategies parents and schools can use to encourage healthy decision-making, support teen mental health, set limits, and create healthy home environments. Exploring the latest research and learning more about the personal experiences of teens and families, the film highlights the changing landscape of the substances themselves, offering solutions for how we can best empower teens as they face decisions about what they will and will not be influenced by. Watch the trailer

Organized by Lincoln Health Action Network (HAN)

With support from Friends of Lincoln

Questions? lhshealthactionnetwork@gmail.com

Track & Field is a wonderful way to get into a sport, even if a Scholar is not sure of their talents.

TRACK & FIELD PRACTICES began March 12th,
and are held Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays

Times: 6:00PM - 7:30PM

Practice location: Lincoln HS Track

Cluster Coordinator: Julie Abrams lincolnyouthcrosscountry@gmail.com

https://lincolnyouthtrackandfield.weebly.com/

Portland Interscholastic League Youth Sports Program

https://pilathletics.sportsengine-prelive.com/page/show/2351756-pilysp-registration

Registration - FamilyID
We are excited to be using online registration through FamilyID (www.familyid.com). FamilyID is a secure registration platform that provides you with an easy, user-friendly way to register for PIL Youth Sports Programs, while allowing us to be more administratively efficient and environmentally responsible. If you need assistance registering, please contact your Cluster Coordinator.

All students must also submit the following paperwork to the Coordinator prior to participation:

• Proof of payment
• Copy of student physical: Sports Physical
• Proof of Residency: All students must participate in the High School Cluster in which they reside, and residency is based on the address you have on file with the school your child is attending. If you reside in the Dual Boundary (Grant/Jefferson, Madison/Jefferson, or Roosevelt/Jefferson) you must participate with the Jefferson Cluster. If you are unsure of which Cluster you reside in, please click here and type in your address. Proof of residency may be presented in the form of a student report card, or enrollment documentation which may be provided through your school.

For additional information, please contact the PIL District Office at 503-916-3223

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