Wildcat Newsletter
September 25th, 2024
Dear Woodlawn Families,
Fall is here and that means a little unpredictable weather changes. We’ve already noticed students entering school with a sweatshirt or coat and leaving in their shirt sleeves. And, you’ll see below that our lost and found is growing with items that do not have names written inside. Please, please, please, write your child’s name in anything and everything that they can take off. We really try to get items back to students quickly, but without a name things can sit in the lost and found for months without being claimed.
It’s our first of 8 Early Release days for students today. All of our staff will be in learning sessions together after students depart. We will be using this time to fine tune our school climate plan and gain some more skills in trauma-informed approaches when working with students. We will analyze student work and check the alignment to grade level outcomes. This week we will review student benchmark assessment scores for the beginning of the year and identify re-teaching that needs to be done in the classroom, while identifying students who need some foundational work in academic areas for additional support from our interventionists.
Check out what’s coming up on our revised events calendar. We plan to have a picture from today’s spirit day of Grade Level Colors in next week’s edition.
It was great to see so many of you at Back to School Night. Classroom teachers will be sending out their presentation for those who were unable to attend. The schoolwide presentation can be found at this link: Woodlawn Back to School Night 2024-25
Mrs. Porter-Lopez
SUN Confirmations Went Home Today!
SUN School has sent home paper confirmations with your child's classes, and a generalized email confirmation went out as well. Please reach out to Anastasia if you feel you should have received a confirmation and didn't. Ana's contact is AnastasiaL@SelfEnhancement.org
Vision to Learn Exams are Next Week!
The next step of Vision to Learn is happening next week. 2nd, 4th, and 5th graders have all been screened and of those kids, those in need of a comprehensive exam will be seen next Monday or Tuesday. If your 2nd, 4th or 5th grader missed the screening day they will be screened on Monday or Tuesday. Vision to Learn will be on site at Woodlawn on Monday and Tuesday where the exams will be conducted. At a later date, MESD will screen the remainder of our student body, share the data with VTL, and VTL will return to perform exams on kinder, 1st, and 3rd graders.
Picture Day and Free Dress
Picture Day is NEXT Wednesday, October 2nd. Each student will receive a picture order form today! You can order online or send your child back with the form. Teachers will hold onto forms until picture day.
Students are welcome to wear whatever they’d like for Picture Day as long as it aligns with our Free Dress guidelines (no logos/words/symbols depicting violence, substance use, hate speech, or sexually suggestive messages, no hats, no bathing suits, no visible underwear).
Run for Woodlawn is October 10th
Our Run for Woodlawn is a fun run to raise money to enhance our Music, Art, PE and Library programs and provide experiences for our students. This year we are raising funds to brighten up our gym with artwork, provide field trip coverage for cost and transportation, purchase “beyond the basics” supplies for the Specialists classrooms, and bring performers for assemblies to our students.
It takes a village to pull this off and we need your help. There is a volunteer sign up link in the PTA message below for set-up, clean-up and class support during the run. Supporting your student to collect pledges is very helpful. Please send your child to school in shoes they can run in, this is part of PE and all students participate.
The pledge envelope with the Run information will be sent home on Friday. If you do not receive the envelope please contact the office and we can make sure to add one to your child’s backpack.
T Shirt Design 3rd-5th
Last Wednesday we sent home t-shirt design sheets for all 3rd through 5th graders. We invite any 3rd-5th grader to submit a design that embodies our school program. Each year, we collect designs and choose a winner for our Run 4 Woodlawn shirts! Designs are due next Thursday, October 3rd to Mrs. Simpson, and the winning design will be announced during lunch on October 4th.
Safety Patrol Is Starting Soon for 4th and 5th graders!
Safety Patrol will be starting soon. Safety Patrol is open to 4th and 5th graders. Fifth graders are currently being trained in PE class by Coach Layman. Fifth graders will be bringing the permission slip home on the Wednesday after their training. Training for 4th graders will begin soon and families can expect those permission slips on the Wednesday after their training. If a student misses the PE class training, they will need to schedule a Monday afterschool with Coach Layman for the training before they can be scheduled.
Safety Patrol doesn’t work for every family or for every student. We try to accommodate any student that wants to participate, with parent/caregiver permission.
Students selected for Safety Patrol must demonstrate safe school behaviors. Behavior referrals will impact a student's role on Safety Patrol. A permission slip is not a guarantee that a student will be scheduled to participate or be eligible to continue to participate. The Principal will make all final decisions about participation, and this is an ongoing process across the year. Safety Patrollers are safe all year long, even when they are not currently fulfilling a shift.
Students will need to be signed up and scheduled before November 1st to participate. This is the only time frame for enrollment, with an exception for 4th and 5th graders joining our school community in January.
Students must complete all of their shifts to qualify for the end of year celebration. Shifts will be in 2-week cycles, covering BOTH morning and afternoon crossing times. Students will work more than one 2-week cycle in the school year. Students need to be at school at 7:45 AM for a morning shift. The afternoon shift ends at 2:40.
If you have questions about Safety Patrol, please direct them to Coach Layman or Principal Porter-Lopez.
Lost and Found
Our lost and found is rapidly growing! In addition to clothing, we have also had a few pairs of glasses left unclaimed. If any of this looks familiar, please feel free to stop by the office to pick up glasses, or check the main hall for clothing items.
As always, if you put your child’s name in clothing, backpacks, lunch boxes, etc, we will do our best to return it to the owner. Thanks!
Woodlawn School Highly Encourages Healthy Choices for Students Bringing Lunch From Home!
Woodlawn School follows Portland Public Schools Administrative Directive concerning student wellness and nutrition. Here are some of the guidelines from that directive:
Students SHOULD NOT bring:
Candy, gum, or packaged snacks (chips, cookies, fruit snacks, etc.) to eat in their classrooms or during snack time
Beverages other than water (no juice, soda, etc.) to consume in the classroom or during breakfast/snack time
Homemade treats to share with classmates (e.g. cupcakes, cookies, jello, or pudding).
Outside breakfast items (fast food sandwiches or home cooked items) into classrooms during breakfast
Students MAY bring:
A lunch from home that includes a main entrée
A water bottle filled with water
Students should not share food with other students at school. Our hope is that by limiting food sharing, we will protect students with food allergies and honor individual family food preferences.
Birthdays and Class Parties
We want to celebrate milestones and accomplishments and we are encouraging food-free celebrations. Please contact the teacher before planning to bring food or treats for the classroom; you may be asked to take them home. Students can bring stickers, pencils, bookmarks, tattoos, a favorite book to read or song to share.
Buy A Book, Benefit Woodlawn!
Hi families! Woodlawn is excited to welcome author, poet, and playwright Idris Goodwin for a visit to kindergarten, 1st and 2nd grade on September 30th. This is a unique opportunity for Woodlawn students to learn about the book creation process from a talented writer of picture books.
This visit is free to us if we sell enough books through Green Bean Books. Please consider ordering a signed copy for your family! When ordering through the link below, please select "I would like to pick up this order" under pick up options and then select Woodlawn. Write your child's teacher's name in the comment box so that the books can be distributed easily. The deadline for submitting orders is tomorrow, Wednesday, September 25th. Thanks!
https://greenbeanbookspdx.indielite.org/list/idris-goodwin-author-visit
PTA Updates:
PTA Curious?
Are you new to the school and wondering how to connect with other community members or your child’s classmates? Want to help out but not sure how much you can commit? Have a great idea you'd like to share? We’d love to hear from you!
Join us for our Fall PTA Meeting on Tuesday, October 1st, at 6:00 p.m. in the auditorium. Dinner and childcare will be provided.
At the meeting, you can:
Vote on new officers, the annual budget, and bylaws
Hear about upcoming events
Get updates from our Principal, Ms. Porter Lopez
If you can’t attend in person, join us via Zoom
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85064793939?pwd=TFFLc2FDZlVYWXhwOEF6ZWt1ZUltQT09
Help Wanted:
PTA Meeting Setup Volunteers:
We need volunteers to help set up for the meeting on October 1st. Sign up here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0D49AFA828A4FEC43-ptageneral
Run for Woodlawn Volunteers:
We’re looking for volunteers for the Run for Woodlawn event on Thursday October 10th. Sign up here! https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0D49AFA828A4FEC43-51706528-runfor
Oregon Battle of the Books 2024-2025
Calling all 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders! We’re gearing up for this year’s Oregon Battle of the Books (OBOB). Get your team together and join the trivia-style book competition! This year, OBOB will run as an after-school club, with practice and elimination battles happening during that time. Team formation will also occur during morning library specials.
For more details, visit: Oregon Battle of the Books https://www.oregonbattleofthebooks.org/
Please fill out our quick survey: OBOB Survey https://forms.gle/4bdyBzb4hdUk1fsk9
Upcoming Important Dates:
9/30-10/2 Vision to Learn Exams
10/1 First PTA Meeting
10/2 Picture Day
10/7 First Day of SUN (Fall)
10/9 Walk, Bike, and Roll Day
10/10 Fall Fiesta Night
10/10 Run 4 Woodlawn
10/11 No School
10/23 Early Release @ 11:50