The Cheetah Coalition #10

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Dear Atkinson Community,

We miss your students. While I continue to hope that PPS and the Portland Association of Teachers (PAT) reach a tentative agreement soon, I am preparing for the opposite.

This is a difficult time for our community. Undoubtedly, some of you are struggling to work and find supervision for your students. Many are frustrated and some are wondering how to support teachers. Our paraeducators are busy pivoting to new assigned work. Teachers are picketing outside our school and we know that they would rather be teaching your students. As many of you know, my husband is also a PPS teacher and a committed union member. Our paraeducators, educational assistants, and administrative assistants (office staff) belong to a different union with a contract that has a no-strike clause. School administrators are not part of a recognized union and also do not have the option to strike. All that said, I love our teachers and I hope they are back soon.

I truly hope that in the midst of this unsettling time you are able to spend some time with your children in new and positive ways. Again, I encourage you to provide opportunities for them to engage in unstructured play and time outside yet I realize that in today’s world, this may feel like a privilege that is difficult to access.

Sooner or later, an agreement will be reached and we will once again welcome your students back to school. Until then, please know that our two administrative assistants, Constance San Juan and Katie Carriker, and I are here school every day from 8 a.m.– 3 p.m. Please reach out if you have any questions or needs. Below you will find details about services that you can access during this time.

Please don’t hesitate to reach out if we can help in any way,

Debbie Armendariz

Principal

Atkinson Elementary School

darmenda@pps.net

Meals will continue to be served every school day during the strike. Any student in PPS aged 1–18 may access free meals from any PPS school free of charge. Next week, free student meals at Atkinson will be available from 11:30 a.m.–1 p.m. on Monday–Thursday. There will be no meal service on Friday since that is a holiday.

If you requested a Chromebook for your student and would like to come pick it up, we have them available in the school office today until 3 p.m., and next Monday–Thursday from 8 a.m.–3 p.m.

Report cards for Q1 will be delayed. Once school is back in session and we have more information about report cards, we will share that with you.

Enroll your Family for 2024 Health Coverage by January 15, 2024

Individuals and families will have the opportunity to enroll in, renew, or change their health insurance plan for 2024 during the upcoming Marketplace health insurance open enrollment period, which is November 1, 2023 through January 15, 2024. Open enrollment is the only time when anyone who is not offered coverage from a job or a public program like the Oregon Health Plan or Medicare can enroll in health coverage through OregonHealthCare.gov, often with financial help. Health insurance covers essential health benefits critical to maintaining individual health and treating illness and accidents. Health insurance helps to reduce medical and prescription drug costs, making health care more affordable and thus more accessible.

Health coverage also is important for students because:

• Having health insurance is linked to better health (study here).
• Health insurance coverage helps boost test scores among children from low-income households (study here).
• Expanded health insurance coverage has led to historic reductions in racial disparities in access to health care (study here).

Trained community groups, Tribal health organizations and insurance agents are available to help Oregonians enroll in coverage through the Marketplace during open enrollment. There is no cost for their services. Many of them offer services in multiple languages. These “Enrollment Assisters” also can help people transition to private health coverage if they have experienced a qualifying life event. This includes people who are losing Oregon Health Plan benefits as the state works to renew each of its current members. Click this link to find an Enrollment Assister near you and who speaks your preferred language.

TAG REFERRAL

Based on fall test scores (OSAS and NNAT tests), the top 10% of 2nd–5th grade students will be referred for possible TAG identification. Students may be identified as TAG in three areas: math, reading, and/or intellectual ability. If your child is identified as TAG in the fall, parents will be notified in January of 2024.

WHAT DOES PPS TAG LOOK LIKE?

In PPS, classroom teachers provide TAG services through instructional practices in the homeroom classroom that meet the rate and level of student learning needs. We believe in building depth and complexity in student learning. Our goal is not to race to the next level, but to create lessons that inspire a deeper level of understanding.

Some of the strategies that teachers are encouraged to use to meet the Rate and Level of learning for our TAG students are:

• High Level Questioning
• Differentiated Assignments
• Cluster Grouping/Flexible Grouping
• Extension Activities
• Individual Instruction
• Independent Study/Project

TEAM TAG PLANS

Some schools/teachers develop Team TAG plans when they know there is a need to meet rate and level needs of multiple students. If the parent works with the teacher and still feels their students' needs are not being met, they can request a Personalized TAG plan.

If you'd like to know more about TAG, the first step is to reach out to your child's homeroom teacher. More information can be found HERE or by contacting the Atkinson TAG facilitator, Katie Carriker (kcarriker@pps.net).

Starting in November, newcomers in grades 3–5 will be offered the opportunity to take the Naglieri Nonverbal Ability Test (NNAT) to assess for giftedness in intellectual ability. LEARN MORE.

On November 3, 2023, the District Office will mail three documents to parents/guardians of students who are not currently compliant with school-required immunizations. If you receive one of these letters, it either means we need to get updated vaccine records from you, or your child needs to get additional vaccines. Questions can be directed to our School Health Assistant, Vanisha Singh, at vsingh@pps.net.

Atkinson’s Basketball Program is back! Registration is now open for all players, including K–2 students for the open gyms and grade 3–5 players for team play. More information HERE.

The Lobby at the Ellen Browning Building on SE Division Street is hosting another Creative Workshop Day for Kids and Families on Saturday, November 4. More information can be found HERE.

Six-year-old Ruby Bridges stepped into the history books on November 14, 1960, when she became one of the first students to integrate William Frantz Elementary School in New Orleans, LA, becoming a national icon for the civil rights movement. Today, her story continues to inspire the next generation of leaders to end racism together one step at a time. Since 2018, students have celebrated Ruby’s courage by walking to school and recognizing her contributions to the civil rights movement. Ruby Bridges Walk to School Day is on November 14, celebrating the courage and resilience of Ruby Bridges as a trailblazer in the fight for desegregation.

• Sunday, November 5 — Daylight Saving Time ends
  
• Friday, November 10 — NO SCHOOL, Veterans Day Observed
• Monday, November 13 — PTA Meeting, 6:30–8 p.m.
• Tuesday, November 14 — Hearing Evaluation
• Thursday, November 16 — Principal's Coffee in English, 8:50 a.m.
• Friday, November 17 — Principal's Coffee in Spanish, 8:50 a.m.
• Monday, November 20–Tuesday, November 21 — Parent/Teacher Conferences
• Wednesday, November 22–Friday, November 24 — NO SCHOOL, Thanksgiving Holiday