Whitman Family Newsletter
September 19, 2023
Greetings from the Principal
Hello, everyone!
We had a great field trip today visiting the El Grito festival with 1st-5th grades! Thank you to our parent volunteers who attended! If you are interested in being a chaperone for a future field trip, you can start the process of being approved as a PPS volunteer at https://www.pps.net/volunteer.
We have rescheduled Back to School Night for Wednesday, September 27 from 5:30 - 7:00! This event also serves as our Title 1 Annual Meeting and information about our English Language Development (ELD) and TAG programming will be available as well. Pizza will be served and Spanish and Vietnamese interpretation will be provided! We hope to see you all there!
Design process for Cleveland High School
If you are interested in being part of the Cleveland Comprehensive Planning Committee to have a voice in Cleveland High School redesign, . Please visit this website to apply. https://www.pps.net/Clevelandbond.
Cleveland High School Student Health Center
Cleveland High School has a Student Health Center that is available to all K-12 PPS students. Student Health Centers are like having a doctor’s office at school. Students can get regular or sports physicals, school immunizations, mental health services, COVID-19 vaccinations and testing, prescription medication refills, and lots of other health services. There are no out-of-pocket costs. The following links describe how students can access their closest MCHD Student Health Center and the Benson Wellness Center at Marshall.
If your student is unwell and needs a medical appointment right away, consider calling the Cleveland High School Student Health Center near our school campus. There is never an out-of-pocket cost and they take all types of insurance and will see you if you're uninsured. Call 503-988-3350 for more information.
Adult ESL Classes at Franklin!
Franklin is offering Adult ESL again this year! Here is our flyer and link to sign up. Please share this with your families and communities.
October 3rd - November 21st, Tuesdays and Thursdays, 6:30-8PM.
Zumba at Whitman starts September 25th, 6:30 - 7:30.
Oregon Pandemic EBT is still enrolling eligible children! Follow the link for more information!
Lockdown Drill September 21st
We will be having our annual lockdown drill on Thursday, September 21st at 2:05 pm. This is an important safety drill to make sure that students and staff know what to do in case of an unsafe event happening on our campus. During the drill, classes practice "locks, lights, out of sight" and staying quiet until the principal or emergency personnel arrive.
We know that these drills can sometimes feel scary for students, so teachers will talk to them before the drill as well as debrief afterwards if needed. We also encourage you to talk to your child about the drill. Please reach out to Ms. Thompson or to your child's teacher with any questions.
Ms. Thompson
Updates
New Student Absence Text Line
When your student is absent it is important for our school to know that families are aware their student is not in school. Currently, Reggie from our attendance team calls home for each unverified student absence every day. You may also be receiving automated calls or letters from the district. To cut down on these communications, please keep us informed about your student's absences.
If you would like to opt-in to using our text line, please send a message with your name and your student's name to let Reggie know you would like to be texted instead of called when your student has an unverified absence. Then you may update us about all things attendance through this line!
Text line: (971) 225-7402
Main office (8-3:30, or leave voicemail): (503) 916-6370
Email: Rnock@pps.net
Snack Donations

Upcoming Events
Back to School Night
Wednesday, Sep. 27th, 5-7pm
7326 Southeast Flavel Street
Portland, OR
Back to School Night is open house style, with the following agenda:
5:00 Doors open and pizza time begins!
5:30 Principal’s remarks
5:45 Classroom open house begins
7:00 Doors close for the evening
Whitman Contacts
Whitman
ATTENDANCE TEXT LINE: (971) 225-7402
Heather Thompson, Principal: hethompson@pps.net
Taylor Langeliers, Principal's Secretary: tlangeliers@pps.net
Reggie Nock, School Secretary: rnock@pps.net
Nicole Costello, Social Worker: ncostello@pps.net
Jenny Locarno, Counselor: jlocarno@pps.net
Head Start
Tania Garcia, Community Agent: tgarcia@pps.net
Laura Rosales, Teacher: lrosales@pps.net
Chelsea Clyde, Teacher: cclyde@pps.net
SUN
Nicole Williams, SUN Manager: nwilliams@impactnw.org
Dulce Lopez, Family Resource Navigator: dlopez@pps.net
Champions
Taylor White, Site Director: taylor.white@discoverchampions.com | 503-952-6647