Maplewood Memo
September 27, 2023
PRINCIPAL'S MESSAGE
Greetings everyone,
Thank you to all of you who helped pull off a fantastic Back to School night and kick off of Hispanic Heritage month. The turn out was probably one of the biggest I have seen yet! Thanks for making it a priority to join us in these busy days.
Maplewood PTA has graciously paid for a company called Reading Results to support our new readers. I am excited to share that they were here on Tuesday doing some testing and they will finish up testing on Thursday this week. They will begin tutoring on October 2nd.
Thank you to those who have filled out the volunteer survey. I was able to use the list today to get a couple volunteers to support a need. We are completing our assessments and beginning academic support groups so I will likely continue to reach out to volunteers to help with that. Stay tuned.
Reminder: Please no parents in the building. Say your goodbyes outside or in the office. If you need to come in the building, you must come through the front door and sign in. This is critical to maintaining a safe school in that we need to be aware of who is in the building.
Please reach out to me if you ever have any questions or concerns.
Thanks,
Kit
*"Please click view entire message to read the entire news memo"
SAVE THE DATE
Oct. 4
Pie Fund Raiser Orders Due
Oct. 16 through Oct. 20
Book Fair
Oct. 17
PTA Mtg. 6:30
Oct. 16 through Oct. 27
Spirit Wear Online Fundraiser
October 17
PTA Mtg. 6:30pm
October 19
Pie Pick up Day
October 26
Picture Day
October 27
Online Swag Sale & OBOB Book Fundraiser (Annie Blooms)
COUNSELING
Dear Maplewood Families,
Attendance truly matters. Did you know that students with good attendance are 4 times more likely to graduate from High School than those who are chronically absent?
Here at Maplewood last year, 81% of our students had good or acceptable attendance, 19% of our students were chronically absent. Chronically absent means missing an average of 2 days a month.
This year, please help us provide the best possible education for your student by sending them to school everyday ON TIME. Tardiness also has a huge effect on student learning as they miss out on valuable morning instruction. If you have any questions or concerns about your child's attendance, please let us know we are here to support you.
Some tips and ideas to get your student to school every day, on time:
Set a regular bedtime and morning routine.
Lay out clothes and pack backpacks the night before.
Don’t let your child stay home unless they are truly sick. Keep in mind headaches and stomachaches can be signs of stress or anxiety and not a reason to stay home.
If your child seems anxious about going to school, talk to their teacher, a school counselor or other parents about how to make them feel comfortable and excited to learn.
Develop a back-up plan for getting to school if something comes up. Call on family members, a neighbor or other parents.
Avoid medical appointments and extended vacations when school is in session.
Contact school staff or community partners to find resources around transportation, housing, employment, or health care.
As always, we are here to help and support your student/s and family, so please let us know if you have any questions or concerns.
Be well,
Mrs. Cunningham and Ms. Knochel
Maplewood Counselors
STAFF NEWS
Thank you for visiting the art room during Open House! It was great to see you and to hear your students talk about what they’re doing in their art special.
We began the year with The Dot and I am just finishing up our first all-school collaborative project. Every student participated.
Kindergarten and First grade students have moved on to the book Ish, also by Peter H. Reynolds. They experimented on their “ish” art piece by painting with bleeding tissue paper - it was like magic! It reminded us of when we made magic coffee filters - ask ‘em about it!
Grades 2-5 are working on drawing cairns (pronounced karen). Rock cairns are human-made stacks, mounds or piles of rocks. They take different forms, and have been built by cultures around the world for many different purposes. We learned their history, practiced drawing them in our sketchbook, then drew them onto watercolor paper. Next: watercolor them and doodle inside each rock. Photos coming soon!
Also, several pieces of Maplewood students’ artwork will be displayed in the Superintendent's Gallery at the Prophet Center.beginning October 4, 2023 and through the end of November. These are cluster-based exhibit rotations (501 N. Dixon). All schools are given this opportunity to participate.
Ms. Smith
LIBRARY & TECHNOLOGY
Three requests from the Maplewood Teacher-Librarian:
1. Please help your child put their library books in their backpack on or before their library day.
2. Please help your child put their library books in their backpack on or before their library day.
3. Please help your child put their library books in their backpack on or before their library day.
Your child can take home one more book (over the grade level amount) until their checked out books are returned; you will start to see magazines brought home as a reminder or a “not love” note (ask your reader about these)! If you know you forgot to help with library books on library day, email me: kordahl@pps.net, and we can arrange for your child to take home additional materials.
Maplewood students love to read, let's keep them well stocked with books!
Elin Kordahl
Teacher-Librarian & Computer Teacher
PE
We're beginning to settle into routines in PE! Grades 2-5 are beginning Invasion Games learning and practicing lead-up activities aimed at developing the motor skills, movement patterns, and strategic knowledge commonly associated with invasion sports. Grades K-1 are beginning a unit on locomotor and manipulative skills which includes all of the basic locomotor skills, static and dynamic balancing, as well as underhand tossing, rolling, and catching.
If your child cannot participate in PE, please email or send a note (old school!) to the classroom teacher or me. Thank you!
Ms. Weatherill
OFFICE
Maria (mbelgrav@pps.net) works Monday through Thursday.
Shannon (sriley@pps.net) works Tuesday Through Friday.
Please be sure to include both of us in your communications regarding your children's plans.
TARDY
The morning bell rings at 7:55am and the tardy bell rings at 8:00am. If your child arrives after the 8:00am bell, please be sure they enter the school through the front entrance doors. All doors will automatically lock at 8:00am. If your child is late they will need to get a tardy slip from the office to take to their teacher so they are not marked absent and parents do not received the automated call.
Volunteering at Maplewood
SCHOOL NEWS
SCHOOL SUPPLIES:
Please log into SchoolPay to pay for your child's school supplies. The cost this year is $50. (In our back to school letter we accidentally published it as $45.) If you need financial assistance, please reach out to our counselor, Kendall Cunningham (kcunninghamparm@pps.net) to let her know.
Room Parent
Our teachers appreciate their Room Parents more than you can imagine! Please reach out to your teacher to see if they need a Room Parent. For more information HERE is a description of the role.
Water Bottles
Please make sure your child is only bringing water in their water bottles to school. Please do not let them bring juice or soda as the sugar and caffeine are known to interfere with focus and concentration. A juice box in their lunch box is understandable, but not a whole water bottle of juice that they drink throughout the day. Thank you for your help with this.
Health in School:
Please see the Family Guide: Preventing Illness and Contagious Disease in School - 2023-24 so you are aware of what individual- and school-level preventive measures can be taken to keep students healthy and in school.
Maplewood Homework Guidelines:
Maplewood Homework Guidelines:
No new content / Extra practice only
Independent work only
Curriculum letters will be sent to parents
Nightly Reading Expectations:
K-1: 15 min
2-3: 20 min
4-5: 30 min
PARENTVUE RACE UPDATE
As we look at our school assessment data, we noticed that there are many students whose race is not correctly recorded in our system. Please be sure to update this information asap so our data reflects our true demographics.
Click on “Yearly Verification”
Click “Verify Online”
Follow the prompts to update your information.
FACE OF MAPLEWOOD
A big thank you to Katie Unger for taking on the role of FACE for Maplewood. HERE is more information about Face.Hi All -
I was lucky enough to represent Maplewood at PPS’ first FACE (Family Advisory Council on Education) meeting last week. The meeting was used as a meet and greet and to ground this new group in the mission and topics PPS Administration hopes to have us engage on in this academic year. As you can imagine there was some healthy tension with the impending PAT negotiations (or lack there of) and discussion of academic excellence and instruction.
Our next meeting is in November. I will do another update after that meeting where we will (hopefully) have more concrete tasks :)
All this said, I know I am just one voice in this amazing school and I am happy to connect 1 on 1 and/or share more details as they become available, so please feel free to reach out!
Below is the the mission that was shared for FACE:
The mission of the Family Advisory Council on Education (FACE) is to discuss, advise, and provide input to Central Office Leaders regarding academic and instructional initiatives for PPS
Katie
Maplewoods Facebook page!
Please join Maplewood’s Facebook page. Just use this QR code and you will find it on Facebook. Or go to Facebook and look up Maplewood Elementary School (Portland, Oregon). This is a great place to connect with others, see what’s happening and stay up to date with the Maplewood community.
Nutrition
PK-12 FREE/REDUCED ELIGIBILITY - 30 DAY CARRY OVER ENDING OCT 10
PPS families who qualified for free and reduced-priced meals last school year (2022-23) have 30 days at the start of the school year to re-apply without incurring meal charges.
If complete meal applications for eligible households are not approved by October 10th, meal charges will begin on October 11th.
Families can apply online at www.schoolcafe.com/pps or request a paper application from the cafeteria or office.
Meal applications denied during the grace period will result in a loss of carryover benefits 10 calendar days thereafter.
Meal benefits begin the date the application is approved. The eligibility date cannot be backdated to cover meal charges incurred prior to the approval date.
Families do not need to submit a meal application if there are already approved for meal benefits, only have students that attend a CEP school, do not meet the income guidelines, or do not want meal benefits.
For more information, go to www.pps.net/nutrition or call the PPS Meal Benefits Office at 503.916.3402 or email mealbenefits@pps.net.
Free and Reduced Meals
Did you know? In Oregon, a family of 4 may be eligible if they make $90,000 gross per year or less? https://docs.google.com/document/d/1HkLGRH8ztcKN-pM606IrdeezByWLstkNdRcShjH8GCk/edit
School Health Center Information
Elementary and Middle School SHC Informaiton
As your students return to school, please remind them that nearby Ida B. Wells 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.
Please click on the following links for more information on Student Health Centers (here and here) and Multnomah County Health Department's ongoing, free Immunization Clinic.
PTA
WANT TO DONATE TO HELP FAMILIES IN NEED WITH SCHOOL SUPPLIES?
Here's the link to donate school supply funds for other families in need.
https://www.maplewoodpta.com/donate/
https://square.link/u/10dXF8gz
October PTA meeting 10/17/23 at 6:30 in the
Maplewood Volunteer Opportunities
Big thank yous to everyone who has already signed up to volunteer at Maplewood! We still need help with the Clothing Center, Book Fair, Pie Fundraiser, Swag & Spirit wear, and Lunch/Recess Duty. For more details or to sign up visit Volunteer at Maplewood. If you are interested in volunteering to be a room parent, or work with students one-on-one in academic support please contact Lauren/Volunteer Coordinator.
PTA Willamette Valley Pie Fundraiser - Order now through October 4th! Order delicious pies via our Maplewood Store or via paper form - please turn forms into your child's teacher or the main office before 10/4. Pie pickup will be Thursday, October 19th.
Maplewood Scholastic Book Fair - Our school fair will be held October 16th - 20th for our students and families in our school Library. Students will attend during their library time. You may set up your child's eWallet for a cashless fair starting now - Scholastic eWallet signup. Families, friends and neighbors may attend any day after school. We have LATE hours until 7pm Monday 10/16 and Thursday 10/19! You may also shop our online fair starting October 11th if you can't make it our in person fair. Visit our Maplewood Book Fair page for all the details!
Fall Maplewood Spirit Wear / Swag Sale - Our online swag sale starts now! Maplewood t-shirts, sweatshirts and hats are available to order via our Maplewood Store. Perfect for the holidays. Delivery of swag items will be in early November. Thank you for showing your school spirit! Want swag as a gift? No worries, pickup options are available. Please email with any questions.
Oregon Battle of the Books PTA Book Fundraiser (3rd - 5th grade students) - The PTA has partnered with Annie Bloom's to make purchasing our Oregon Battle of the Books (OBOB) titles super easy! Books are available now to be ordered through our Maplewood Store and sent home in your child's backpack in early November. Want books as a gift? No worries, pickup options are available. Please email with any questions.
FOUNDATION
Giving Update
THANK YOU to everyone who made a donation during our fall campaign!
Maplewood relies on contributions from our community to hire and train our Educational Assistants (EAs). Your support now means we can have our auction in March and our EAs next year - and right now we're falling short of what we need to put on that event. Please consider making a gift to support our efforts so we can continue to have our EAs. Next school year feels a long way off, but it takes year-round support to ensure they are here for our kids! Please share the link with family and friends as well. It takes a village.
What's an EA and why should I care? We're glad you asked. Watch this video to learn about the impact of having EAs.
Auction Theme!
The votes are in! This year's theme for the auction is ...... 80s Night! We can't wait to see your leg warmers/shoulder pads/big hair on March 2!
But we need monetary support to throw the auction. Help us make it happen! And tell your friends.
To learn more about the Maplewood Foundation please visit our website at http://www.maplewoodfoundation.com/ or email us at maplewoodfoundation@gmail.com.
With gratitude,
You Maplewood Foundation Team