March is here and we have so many exciting things going on in our building! On Wednesday our 5th grade students were able to go and visit Lane Middle School, where we got a tour and a wonderful performance from the Lane Band, Choir, and Dance Team. Our Visiting Artist Series kicked off last month with artist Mariko Yoshiwara speaking to 3rd-5th grade students about her wood engravings. Today the Portland Opera visited to work on storytelling and dramatization with our K-2 students, and this afternoon our 5th graders are working on updating our playground landscaping with DePave PDX.

We will be holding Whitman Family Literacy Night on Wednesday, March 22 from 5:00 - 6:30! We will have a professional storyteller, literacy games and activities in classrooms, free books, and pizza for the whole family! We hope you will be able to come celebrate literacy with us!

Sincerely,

Ms. Thompson

Do you have a 5th grade student who will be attending Lane Middle School in the fall? If so, you are invited to Lane Family Night on 4/27 at 6:00 pm!

There are two route changes that will go into effect on 3/15.

WTM250-A: Move stop from SE 60th Ave @ SE Lexington St to SE 62nd Ave @ SE Tenino St

WTM260-P: Move stop from SE 60th Ave @ SE Lexington St to SE 62nd Ave @ SE Tenino St

As you may know, Principals recently submitted their staffing requests for the 23-24 school year. Here at Whitman we are fortunate that we did not have significant changes to our staffing levels. Based on enrollment, we are currently projected to have 7 classrooms next year–two Kindergarten classes and one class each at grades 1-5. We have also been allocated an Instructional Coach position, to provide teachers with additional support for instruction.

School Site Council members shared that maintaining current staffing and making sure that we have enough staff that students can receive small group reading instruction when necessary should be priorities for the coming year, and we were able to meet those priorities by continuing to staff a full time Instructional Specialist. We have also been able to use Title 1 and ESSR grant funds to maintain full time positions for our Librarian, PE Teacher, Art Teacher, Counselor, Social Worker, and Student Management Specialist.

We will have Coffee with the Principal on Thursday, 3/23 at 8:45 am! I invite you to attend if you have any questions or concerns about staffing and to share your ideas about what you would like to see Whitman focus on for the 23-24 school year! You are always welcome to reach out to me via phone or email, or catch me in person as well!

If you were at our assembly last week you were able to hear the presentation by representatives from our student affinity groups! Our affinity groups meet once a week during lunch.

Here is some information about each group in the students’ words!

Whitman’s AAPI or Asian-American Pacific Islander Affinity Group is made up of student cultures from 8 countries, including Cambodia, China, Micronesia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Tonga, the United States, and Vietnam. During our Wednesday lunches, we connect about our cultures and Languages. We also try different snacks from around the world!

Black Excellence is a group for Black students, including multi-racial students who identify as Black. Black Excellence helps me connect with my roots. Black Excellence helps me learn about my people and my culture!

Hi, I’m from the Latino/Hispanic affinity group! Today I will be talking about that group. Latino/Hispanic group is for people who are Mexican or from Latin America. In the Latino/Hispanic affinity group, we learn about the values of being Latino/Hispanic. We also talk about famous Latino/Hispanic people we look up to. Our culture is beautiful and we have pride in who we are. We hope other Latino/Hispanic students will come join our group!

Native American Affinity Group is smart and calm and nice. I love affinity group! We usually learn about Native American stuff and talk. Sometimes we eat cookies!

The Anti-racist Affinity group is a place to talk about different things about racism so we can change those things. We come here to respect others and learn new things. Students at the Whitman Antiracist Affinity Group want to make the world a better place and stop racism and care for all people! We come here because we want to have a community that welcomes all races! We do not bully others based on their color! We learn about different races, cultures, and ethnicities! We want to keep racism from spreading! We believe we should be kind to all!

The Rainbow Club is a safe space for anyone needing or wanting support with gender identity. Maybe you are questioning who you are. Or just want to be around people who will support you no matter how you identify.

If you feel like you are being pushed to be a certain way, then Rainbow club is for you. Maybe you want some more confidence to be who you feel like you are, then Rainbow club is for you.

We are working to keep the calendar on our website up to date, so please check https://www.pps.net/whitman for a full list of upcoming events!

Here are some dates to keep in mind:

• Whitman Family Literacy Night, March 22nd 5-6PM

• Coffee with the Principal, March 23 8:45AM

• Lane Family Night, April 27th 6PM

1. Families Benefit — We use our funds for

events for students and families to take part

in shared experiences together.

2. The School Benefits — We also provide

Teacher Grants and donate to SUN.

3. Make Connections — Let your voice be

heard as we decide how to best provide

resources for the Whitman Community!

You can find this information and more about the

organization at http://facebook.com/ftwpta or email

us at: president@ptawhitman.org