

West Sylvan Middle School
April 27, 2025
Dear West Sylvan Families,
Our Sixth Graders had their Spring Pack Party together on Friday evening. Thank you to all family members who volunteered to decorate and chaperone the event!
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 hope you will join us for our Arts Nights on Wednesday, April 30th and Thursday, May 1st!
Click on the button here, or on the image below,
to donate and support the Arts programs at West Sylvan.
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!
UPCOMING DATES
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: *LAST* 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
- 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 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
2024-2025 BELL SCHEDULE
School starts at 9:15 AM and ends at 4:00 PM every day, with this bell schedule:
LATE START DATES
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.
>> NEXT EARLY RELEASE DATE: Wednesday, May 21st <<
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.
CLIMATE CLUB GARDEN WORK PARTY
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 (see below for some pictures of our work!). 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
STAFFING NEWS
Thank you to Paraeducator Tessa Hanover for her years of service in PPS and here at WSMS! Tessa left PPS last week. We will miss Tessa, and we appreciate all of her support for our students and our school community!
Welcome to Campus Safety Associate, Shalako Anecito. Mr. Anecito also works at Lincoln High School, and working with our Scholars part-time allows Mr. A an opportunity to get to know some future LHS students while helping with school safety on our campus at WSMS! Mr. A has been with us since just after Spring Break.
Welcome to Katie Palmer, new WSMS Paraeducator! Katie will be working in a 1:1 capacity with a new 7th grade student, and will join the ISC team whenever that student is not present on campus.
Welcome to Thomas Loughney, new Paraeducator who has joined our ISC team. Here’s a short introduction about Mr. L.
FRIENDS OF WEST SYLVAN PACK PARTIES
Our Friends of West Sylvan group will be 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 / 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 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 <<
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.
NEIGHBORHOOD KINDNESS & SAFETY
OSAS TESTING
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.
COUNSELING & ADMINISTRATOR SUPPORTS
APRIL MYP LEARNER TRAIT
LINCOLN YOUTH SPORTS / PIL
PIL is still looking for any 6th-8th Graders to join the Track & Field team!
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
PIL LINCOLN CLUSTER TRACK & FIELD
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
UofP SUMMER LEARNING PROGRAM
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.
CONTACT US
MAIN OFFICE
(503) 916-5690
ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT/ PRINCIPAL'S SECRETARY
[Staff / Substitutes / Financial]
Jerda Solonche
ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT/ SCHOOL SECRETARY
[Students / Attendance / Enrollment-Registration]
Kirsten Crombie
West Sylvan Middle School
Website: www.pps.net/westsylvan
Location: 8111 Southwest West Slope Drive, Portland, OR, USA