TAG Quarterly
A Newsletter for Portland Public Schools Families
Winter Updates
ACCESS Academy Lottery is OPEN until March 17!
The ACCESS Academy Alternative Program is for highly capable students who perform at the 99th percentile on nationally normed tests for aptitude and/or achievement in any or all of the following areas: reading, math, or general intellect. The program is suitable for 2nd-8th grade students who have exceeded all or most benchmarks.
Students who qualify can enter the focus option school lottery which opens February 15, 2023 and closes on March 17, 2023. More information about the lottery process can be found on the Enrollment and Transfer website. **Please note, the deadline in SchoolMint was from last year, the correct deadline is March 17, 2023.
Students who have scored a qualifying result on a district assessment administered this year were notified via letter that they received a qualifying score. You can use this letter in the application as evidence of the qualifying score. If your child scored a 99th percentile on a standardized assessment (MAP, OSAS, NNAT) in any previous year, you can use documentation of that score to apply.
If you are waiting for TAG assessment results, please check in with the TAG facilitator at your school to confirm assessments are complete. We are still assessing students and updating scores as quickly as possible. Please check with your school TAG facilitator to see if scores are available.
If you referred your child for TAG in the Spring window, we will not be able to provide assessments in time for the ACCESS window. The purpose of this window is for TAG identification, but if your child achieves the 99th percentile, that score can be used to apply for ACCESS in the following year.
For more information, please visit the ACCESS website.
TAG Advisory Council
The Tag Advisory Council (TAGAC) is a volunteer body of parents who serve as representatives of the TAG community. We advise and inform the Superintendent, the TAG administrator, and the Board regarding TAG services as well as students' educational experiences and needs within PPS schools. Our focus is on supporting the needs of diverse learners, and we believe that by doing so all students will benefit. We meet monthly with the TAG director for updates and discussion, to hear from parents, and to problem solve.
Monthly TAGAC meetings meet virtually from 6:30-8:30pm. You can find the Zoom link on the website below. Upcoming meeting dates:
March 8, 2023
April 12, 2023 - In person/hybrid at Vernon School
May 10, 2023
PPS TAGAC web page: https://www.pps.net/Page/1548
Email: emailtagac@gmail.com
NEW! Let's Talk
Do you have a question about your child's school experience and are not sure where to go? Let's Talk is a new tool in PPS that helps direct your enquiries to the right person - without all of the email chains and phone messages back and forth. You click on the link and choose the topic: TAG has it's own category! We will make sure your question goes to the right person to help you.
TAG Family Office Hours
The TAG department continues our monthly office hours on March 22, 6:00-7:00 PM. You can join the meeting virtually with this link. Office hours topics:
March 22, 2023: Acceleration options
April 26, 2023: Conciliation Report
FALL/SPRING Referral Update
As teachers are providing the evidence of your child's rate and level of learning, you can expect that they are not waiting for a TAG identification to make sure your child has learning experiences that meet their needs and help them grow academically. A TAG identification is not required for ACCESS applications and is not required for math acceleration.
Our updated timeline is that all FALL referrals will be complete by March 24 and SPRING referrals will be complete by the end of the school year. Nearly every school has referrals which means our proctors will do an entire round of testing starting in April.
TAG Resources
Resources from the Oregon Department of Education: OER Commons TAG Page
PPS District TAG Page (currently under construction)