Scott Family Newsletter
March 7, 2024
Social Worker and Classified Staff Appreciation Week
We are so very lucky to have such dedicated Classified Staff at Scott. Classified Staff includes Administrative Assistants, Behavior Intervention Specialists, Custodians, Educational Assistants, Nutrition Services Staff, Occupational Therapists, Paraeducators, and School Secretaries, all of whom are vital to the success of the students in our school. From supporting the front office, to facilitating small learning groups, to supporting students' behavior needs to feeding everyone to keeping the building clean, we could not function as a school without your support. A heartfelt THANK YOU to each and every one of you!
Hooray for our School Social Worker, Rosi Sanchez Marquez! Social Workers help students deal with mental health and behavioral challenges and provide academic and classroom support. They also help in developing education policies, work with crisis interventions, and identify and report child neglect and abuse as well as help connect families to community support.
Please see our School Social Worker and some of our Classified Staff below. Ask your child(ren) who is who!
Oregon Battle of the Books (OBOB)
Oregon Battle Of the Books (OBOB) is happening this week! OBOB’s mission is to encourage and recognize students who enjoy reading, to broaden reading interests, to increase reading comprehension, promote academic excellence, and to promote cooperative learning and teamwork among students.
For the last two months, seven teams of 3rd through 5th graders have been reading lots of books in preparation for this week! Teams competed Monday through Wednesday of this week, with the Championship having taken place today. Today's winning team will compete in the regional tournament on Saturday, March 16th, the winner of which will move on to the state championship in April! Congratulations to ALL of this year's participants - they've all read books they may not have otherwise, participated in an exciting team event and had FUN!
Lost & Found
We have SO MANY items in our lost and fund and they may be your child's! The Lost & Found will be on display in our foyer through next Friday, March 15th. At that time, whatever remains will help stock our Scott extra clothes supply and will go to the PTA Clothing Closet.
March Drills: Lockdown and Evacuate (Fire)
The districtwide drills this month are lockdown and evacuate (fire). Given the emotions that can be involved in a lockdown drill we are taking care to prepare the students for the drill; they will know when the drill is and why we practice in this way. During a lockdown drill, staff turn the lights off, close their door and staff and students move to a corner and stay quiet. A lockdown may be initiated when there is a safety concern inside the building. We have the drill scheduled for Tuesday, March 19 at 8:30am.
We'd like to share this information with you that came from the central office that outlines one way that we are preparing our K-2 students:
Portland Public Schools (PPS) is invested in fostering safe, trauma-informed emergency drills that are taught and carried out in developmentally appropriate ways. Oregon schools are required to instruct and drill students on emergency procedures and it’s important that students are empowered to keep themselves safe in case of an emergency.
Over the next few weeks, kindergarten students at our school will learn about Sammy the Sasquatch, Crittertopia, and the many ways Sammy practices safety. Crittertopia is kept safe by the Critter Elder’s magic. While it’s very unlikely a curious human will accidentally wander into Crittertopia, Sammy & Friends practice keeping Crittertopia safe by doing a Lockdown, “Locks, Lights, Out of Sight.” For more information on Sammy & Friends and resources to help empower your kids at home, please see that attached document.
School Counselors will read the illustrated children’s book, “Sammy the Sasquatch: Welcome to Crittertopia,” while students color an image of Sammy. About one week later the School Counselor will revisit the classroom with a Campus Safety Associates (CSAs) for a classroom coaching session. The team will focus on empowering students and providing choice throughout the Lockdown Classroom Coaching session, modeling how to do a Lockdown and allowing students to choose to practice together.
Classroom Coaching for Lockdown will not focus on any specific threat. Students will be able to ask questions which will be answered in trauma-informed and developmentally appropriate ways. Responses will always bring the focus back to:
Kids, and adults, practice safety in many different ways every day.
Doing a Lockdown does not mean school is unsafe. It means one of the caring adults did a great job of noticing.
School safety partners, like Campus Safety Associates (CSAs) and local first responders, are very good at their jobs and will respond quickly if students need help.
Scott Staffing 24/25
- Grades K-3 will have two English Scholars and two DLI classrooms each
- 4th grade will have one English Scholars and one DLI classroom
- 5th grade will have three English Scholars and two DLI classrooms
- We will have 1.4 school counselors
- We will have .5 school social worker (we currently have 1.0 or full time)
- We will still have two reading interventionists
- Equity funds helped us keep a math interventionist
- Equity funds helped us keep one behavior intervention specialist (we currently have two)
- Title I funds helped us add one school climate specialist
- Title I funds helped us increase art, music and dance by .2 each, which means art, music, PE and library will be full-time and dance will be four days per week (.8)
- We will have 1.5 special education learning center teachers (we currently have two)
- We will not have an assistant principal
The proposed budget has not yet been approved by the School Board. it's early in the staff and budget process and things are likely to change. We're thrilled that all of our licensed educators have the opportunity to remain at Scott next year!
Attendance Matters
We are at 91.4% attendance over the last week. Way to go! Congratulations to Ms. McClain and Mr. Brown's classes for meeting their ten-day attendance goal! Each class chose a trip to the park to celebrate.
Career Fair
Picture Day in April
Spring picture day is next month! All students will have their picture taken. If you would like to order pictures to keep, this site has information on how to order pictures before picture day and after. You will need the following information:
School Name: Scott Elementary School
Picture Day Date: Friday, April 19
Picture Day ID: EVTJ4SDCG
SUN School Announcements
March 14th Last day of Winter SUN Term
We want to remind families that our winter SUN term will be ending on Thursday, March 14th. Registration information for the Spring term will be going home the week of March 11th. Our spring term will run for 7 weeks from April 8th - May 23, 2024.
Free Food Market - Every other Tuesday
As a reminder SUN School hosts a free food market every other Tuesday in partnership with Urban Gleaners and Portland Backpack to provide fresh fruits and vegetables, prepared meals and a variety of pantry items for families in need of extra food support.
Upcoming Dates in March: March 19th
Time: 2:20 PM - 3:00 PM
Location: Under the small covered area by the K-1 school entrance.
Family Resource Navigation through the Scott SUN School
Did you know that we have a Family Resource Navigator at Scott? Yes, it is Ms. Cynthia. If you are in need of resources such as rental, energy, food or housing assistance, please feel free to contact the SUN School office by calling us at 503-916-5418.
Volunteer Opportunity - The Cafeteria!
Volunteer Role and Schedule:
- Food preparation 8:30-10am
- Serve food to students 10:30am-12:45pm
Click here to sign up: rmd.me/clnwpDsb3BN
Please note: To volunteer during school hours when students are present, you must have a completed PPS Volunteer Application and background check. rmd.me/o7Il4AGzrgq
Volunteer opportunity - Career Fair!
PTA Pancake Breakfast and Fun Run
We look forward to seeing all of you at the Pancake Breakfast and Fun Run on Saturday, March 16th from 9:00-12:00. Join us in making this event a success! Volunteers are needed for setup, food prep, cooking, serving, and cleanup at the breakfast. This is a vital community-building opportunity to foster connections among families, teachers, administration, and local businesses. Click here to sign up!
Upcoming Events
- Saturday, March 16th from 9:00-12:00 - PTA Pancake Breakfast
- March 25-29 - Spring Break, No School