Hello Legend Community,
It's hard to believe we are already in March and that Spring Break will be here before we know it! We finished the month of February strong with our Black Student Union (BSU) hosting an assembly where we announced our Students of The Month and then were walked through the historical influence of the African American community through music. Our BSU also created and had a Black History Month Mural on display at the Multnomah County Library in Downtown! In our staff meeting, we continued to partner with Andratesha Fitzgerald who wrote Anti-Racism and Universal Design for Learning.
We have now implemented many exciting and new things such as a cross collaboration group of our affinity spaces who are helping us create a positive, inclusive, safe environment that holds high expectations for our community. We have several different small groups running to support kids in identifying strategies to help with things ranging from anxiety to regulating strong emotions.
We also wanted to take this time to share some reminders as well as some updates to our school community.
Reminders:
-Please help us keep our building safe and secure as we continue to implement our policy on Door Dash, Grub Hub, etc. Students are not to be waiting for deliveries during class or opening doors for delivery people. Students must have their lunch delivery pre-approved by a parent/guardian by calling it into our main office. Thank you for your understanding and helping us continue to implement these expectations with our kids.
-Our Community Resource Fair has been rescheduled for March 18th, from 11-2pm at Harriet Tubman MS. (view flyer)
Updates:
Behavior/Discipline:
-We have updated our school discipline ladder. When students receive referrals they are referred to our School Climate Specialist and/or Administration, depending on the severity of the situation. We use this as a general tool to support students and provide redirection for behaviors that may not be school appropriate.
Attendance:
-We are tracking students leaving class/skipping (cutting) and tardies. Students who end up leaving class and skip more than three (3) times in a week will have detention. This aligns to the goal of at least 90% attendance for students. Students who get more than five (5) tardies in a week also earn a detention. This essentially gives students one (1) tardy a day as we work to create productive habits.
Cell Phone Policy:
-We have decided to move forward with a new cell phone policy for the end of the year as we test the waters to see if we want to go with full implementation for the 2023-2024 school year.
Even though we started this conversation at the beginning of the year, we recognize this might be a bit of a surprise. We are working to collaborate and align with other local middle schools and believe it is in the best interest of our students academic success and social emotional health.
So far, we have gathered student and staff voice and will look to invite our parents/guardians to a meeting next Wednesday, 3.15.2023, so we can gather your voices as well. We are going to host this evening in collaboration with the Center for Black Student Excellence which brings me to our next topic...
Relocation of Harriet Tubman MS:
-The district recently announced that the location where KairosPDX is located is now on the table and being discussed. Join us next Wednesday, 3.15.2023 to discuss and learn more.
