August 24, 2021

Hello Whitford Families,

I would like to welcome everyone back to the beginning of the 2021-22 school year.

Understanding that the past year and a half as been nothing close to normal when it comes to school, we’re hoping to return to some familiarity when it comes to school and students in a middle school setting.

I ask that everyone please read the updated FAQ ( Back-to-School FAQ 2.0 ) that our district has published on their website for parents to better understand what school will look like in the Beaverton School District this coming year. Barring any further mandates or guidance, we have some additional COVID-19 precautions that pertain to Whitford Middle School.

• The Common Middle School Experience involves a schedule where all 840 Whitford students will be passing from one class to another at the same time. For this reason, we have made the decision to not issue lockers this year as our lockers involve sharing a locker and it would force students to cram into a much smaller space than the recommended 3ft distance.
  
  

• Lunch will be 38 minutes in length instead of the normal 30 minutes. Each grade level lunch will be divided so that half the grade level will eat for 17 minutes then switch with the group outside and they will then come into eat. This allows for 3 ft. of distance in the cafeteria while students are eating and masks will be off.

During our staff pre-service week, I will be educating our teachers about the new guidance and expectations around the COVID-19 protocols. It’s my responsibility as the principal to keep Whitford a safe place for students to come and learn.

Our focus this year is complex. We have little data on students when it comes to achievement, so finding out what your students know will give us direction in how to best support our students. We also must be mindful of the emotional well-being of our students and staff as the past year and a half has caused trauma and stress on families. Finally, we have new Common Middle School Experience schedule where each class is 41 minutes. This allows for more students to have choice when it comes to electives as well as daily PE. This is new for everyone and we are all on the roller coaster together.

We had a great turn out at our Chromebook check out for 6th graders last week. We distributed over 150 Chromebooks to students. I always enjoy this event as I see the look of anticipation and exciting in their eyes as they wait in line. If you were unable to come to this event, we will be distributing Chromebooks the first week of school.

I hope to see many of our families at our ice cream social on Thursday, September 2nd from 5-7PM to hand out ice cream, have students meet their teachers, and for students to get a tour if they choose.

As always, I welcome any and all questions. You can call 503-356-2700, email brian_peerenboom@beaverton.k12.or.us, or stop by if you have any questions pertaining to the upcoming school year.

Take care,

Brian Peerenboom - Principal

Wednesday September 8, 2021 will be the first day of school only for students in 6th grade. Grade 6, 7, and 8 will all come to school on Thursday September 9, 2021

For the month of July, Whitford welcomed close to 200 students to our summer school. Students launched rockets, learned about culinary arts, designed clothing, tie dyed t-shirts, wrote poetry, studied literature and film, learned about forensics, gardening, mindfulness practices, and much much more. Seeing the joy in the student's faces to be with one another in a fun school environment was so rewarding. Thank you staff and students for an amazing July!

Students who are eligible for bus transportation will be notified via email for their bus routes. That information will be emailed to parents beginning August 31st. If you have further questions, please see the district transportation web page. The student number is the same as their lunch number. https://www.beaverton.k12.or.us/departments/transportation/bus-routes

For information on walking or biking to school, please see the link below

https://www.beaverton.k12.or.us/departments/transportation/safe-routes-to-school/schools

Whitford partners with Virginia Garcia to provide dental sealants free for students in the 6th and 7th grade. The online consent forms are below in English and Spanish.

https://hipaa.jotform.com/SchoolSealants/Consent

https://hipaa.jotform.com/SchoolSealants/ConsentSpanish

Whitford Middle School 2021/2022 For Grades 6, 7 & 8 The following supplies are requested by most teachers for beginning the school year. Additional items may be requested specific to certain areas. Teachers will notify students when supplies need to be replenished. ********************************Supplies requested for core classes:
(1) ruler with standard and metric
(1) hand-held pencil sharpener
(1) protractor and compass (7th & 8th only)
(1) scissors
(1) zipper pencil container
(3) erasers
(2 packs) college ruled notebook paper
(1) 3” 3-ring binder with 8 dividers
(6) #2 pencils/mechanical per semester
(1) Ream of White printer paper (6) black or blue ball-point pens Calculator (scientific preferred at 7th/8th)
(2) fine tip black pens (No Sharpies)
(9) glue sticks (not rubber cement)
(1) Fillable water bottle Backpack large enough to hold a 3” binder
(1) pack colored pencils
(1) Graph paper for all Math classes
(1) pack non-permanent colored felt tip pens
(1) Composition notebook
(4) highlighters (yellow, pink, green & blue)

(3) single subject spiral notebooks

(2) fine-tip, black dry erase markers

(1) large box of Kleenex

(1) earbuds or headphones—for testing and for listening to electronic sources on Chromebooks.

Whitford Middle School 2021/2022

PARA EL ESTUDIANTE Grados 6, 7 y 8

Los siguientes materiales son solicitados por la mayoría de los profesores para comenzar el año escolar. Artículos adicionales pueden ser solicitados para algunas áreas específicas.

**************Materiales para las clases principales:

(1) Regla (estandar y métrica)
(1) Sacapuntas de manos

(1) Transportador y un compass (grados 7-8)
(1) Tijeras

(1) lapicera de tela

(3) Borradores

(2 paquetes) Papel (college ruled)
(1) Binder 3 anillos (de 3” con 8 separadores)

(6) lápices #2 /mechanicos por semestre
(1) paquete de papel blanco

(6) Lapiceros (Negro o azúl) Calculadora (cientifica preferida 7 y 8)

(2) lapiceros punta fina (No Sharpies)
(9) pegamentos de barra

(1) Botella reusable para agua Mochila suficiente grande para contener una carpeta de 3”
(1) Lápices de colores
(1) Papel graphico para la clase de matematicas

(1) Marcador de colores (no permanente)
(1) Libreta de composicion.

(4) resaltadores (amarillo, rosa, verde & azul)
(3) Cuadernos de espiral

(2) punta fina, marcadores de borrador (negro)
(1) Caja de Kleenex grande

(1) audífonos —para exámenes y para escuchar fuentes electrónicas en los Chromebooks

Whitford Picture day will be Wednesday September 15th. Students will receive a picture packet on Monday September 13th. If you would like to pre-order your pictures or pay online please go to:

https://www.dorianstudio.com/prepayment/

search for Whitford Middle School.

We have created a one page document that shows both odd days and even days, school conferences, and days off from school. It is attached below as a PDF.