February 19, 2021

Dear Mt. Tabor Middle School Community,

I had planned on writing my typical message to you this evening, but something important was brought to my attention at the end of the school day today that needed my attention, and now yours as well.

I am writing to let you know about curriculum materials that were shared during 6th grade Science classes. During the lesson, students were shown an image of a person with exaggerated facial features to explain neurological processing in different areas of the body. The image used could be interpreted as a racist caricature of a Black man and, as such, is not appropriate.

We know images like this can cause trauma, especially given their deployment by racists throughout our country and our community’s history. The administrative team at Mt. Tabor has personally reached out to the black and indigenous families of our 6th grade students who saw this image as part of the science lesson last month. We will be joining these students during their next science class on Monday or Tuesday of next week to share the intent of the curriculum and acknowledge and discuss its impact. We have worked with members of our MTMS science team to remove the image from curriculum materials and will continue to partner with them as they refine their practices for selecting curriculum materials.

We want to reaffirm our school-wide commitment to ensuring that all students are treated with respect at Mt. Tabor Middle School and experience a safe, supportive and positive learning environment. Hate is not tolerated nor accepted in our community. This incident is an affront to our core values of Racial Equity and Social Justice, Respect, Honesty and Integrity. We value and respect everyone in our school community and understand that our diversity makes us stronger. We believe that Black lives matter at Mt. Tabor Middle School, and our staff is committed to continuing to examine our practices, our curriculum, and our role as anti-racists.

Thank you for continuing to have conversations with your child about racial justice and joining us in standing against hate in our community. We hope that you will consider joining us on March 9-10 for our family workshop that will focus on furthering these conversations about race with our children. Please feel free to reach out with any questions or concerns relating to this or any other matter.

Sincerely,

Ms. Tonya Arnold

Principal, Mt. Tabor Middle School

What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear the phrase “successful schools?” We believe that successful schools are safe, healthy and welcoming learning spaces that are inclusive for all students. But we want to hear your thoughts.

We are excited to announce the 2021 Successful Schools Family Survey. When you take the survey, you help us understand your experience as a parent or guardian. This important information will guide us as we determine the future of our schools. The survey launches today and will be available for the next four weeks.

Take the survey today! You can complete the survey from a computer, tablet, or smartphone. It should only take 15-20 minutes of your time. Select the school your child attends and answer the questions for that school. If you have children at more than one PPS school, please complete one survey for each school your children attend. If you need help taking the survey please contact your teacher or principal.

Thank you for being part of the PPS family!

surveys.panoramaed.com/portlandor/ppsfamily

Students who are absent from the exam or who need additional time to finish the exam(s) will be scheduled for make-up sessions on Wednesday, February 24 and Thursday, February 25 at 2:00 pm.

Students will be receiving an invite to the make up sessions directly to their school email account with the Google Meet link and instructions.

If you have questions about the MAP Assessment schedule at MTMS, please contact Dave Llewellyn at dllewellyn@pps.net.

1. A selfie portrait

2. A COVID selfie

3. A picture of them in their distance learning work space

Students will have dedicated time on Friday, February 26 in their Social Studies class to submit their entries, but it would be great if families worked with students ahead of time to take these amazing photos. Details about how to take these images can be found in the slide deck below.

This year, yearbooks will need to be purchased by each family. Yearbooks may be purchased using Schoolpay for $15. We will not be able to provide a free yearbook to each student as we have in the past. Thank you in advance for understanding.

https://schoolpay.com/link/Tabor2021yearbook

If your family needs financial assistance purchasing a yearbook, please reach out to your child's counselor.

6th - @Hilary Smith

7th - @Emory Oeding

8th - @Michael Cady Russell

The Olympics are coming up this summer and WEB thinks it's time to get that Olympic spirit started early. This March, Mt. Tabor will be hosting the WEB Virtual Olympics where WEB groups will compete in a variety of events. All events can be done at home, and WEB is providing a goodie bag of supplies you'll need.

6th Graders should pick up their supply bag from Mt. Tabor Middle School on the following dates:

• Thursday, Feb 25, from 2:15 - 4:00 pm, or
• Friday, Feb 26, from 4:00 - 5:00 pm.

In early March WEB groups will be using Homeroom time (1:00 - 1:45 pm) for a couple days to do the events. Results will be compiled and totaled for each WEB Fruit Group (Tangerines, Nectarines, etc.) and the winning group will be announced the week before Spring Break!

Looking forward to seeing you at the goodie bag pick-up on Thursday or Friday, and stay tuned for further information and dates.

Calling all Readers (that means everyone!)

The library will be handing out awesome bags of books again

When: Next Thursday Feb 25. 2:15-3:15

Where: The front steps of the school

Please bring back any library materials you have

We will have some genre bags and general bags of fantastic library books.

Wear your masks and remember to stay 6 feet apart please!

Thanks for our amazing 8th Grade Counselor, Mr. Cady Russell, all of the forecasting and high school information you could need is consolidated at this link.

Join us for Tabor Talks on February 23-24 to learn more about the AVID program, how we are implementing it at Mt Tabor, and the benefits to students who choose to apply to the program.

Tabor Talk Session #13 (AM and PM Edition)

Please mark your calendars for our upcoming Tabor Talk Sessions. Every Tabor Talk session can be reached at bit.ly/tabortalk.

• AM Edition: Tuesday, Feb 23 from 8:00-9:00 am
  
• PM Edition: Wednesday, Feb 24 from 6:30-7:30 pm

The PTA hopes that everyone is safe and warm and thawing out after all the snow and ice. We appreciate everyone who was able to participate in the Dairy Hill Ice Cream Valentine’s Day Fundraiser. The pick up was a bit complicated by the weather, so we hope you were still able to enjoy the treats. This week was the Old Spaghetti Factory Restaurant Partner event. Thank you to those families that were able to order and pick up meals this week.

Our next Restaurant Partner event is with Por Que No? Taqueria on Wednesday, March 10th. No code needed, 10% of all sales from the day will be donated to the MTMS PTA. Tell all your family, friends, and neighbors that March 10th is a great day to order from Por Que No?

A heads up, Dream Dinners is offering a fundraiser on March 18th, 6:30-7:00pm pick up and March 20th, 12:00-12:30pm pick up. Our website has an events listing with details of all our upcoming events. Get a head start reviewing the meal options at the links below. You can order anytime for the Dream Dinners events.

The weekly PTA post is available at https://mtmspta.com/2021/02/18/week-of-february-15th-19th/

Por Que No? Taqueria https://porquenotacos.square.site/

Dream Dinners March 18th link https://dreamdinners.com/session/876823

Dream Dinners March 20th link https://dreamdinners.com/session/876824

Join the MTMS PTA

We still need you! Our PTA helps to fill needs that our school budget just cannot. We support programming, the purchase of teacher supplies, and a host of other things that truly make a difference for our students. Becoming a member is easy, and your membership dues help support our efforts at MTMS. To join, simply sign up at https://bit.ly/joinMTMSPTA.

Stay Connected & Up to Date with the MTPTA

It's easy to stay up to date with the PTA. We encourage Mt. Tabor families to visit our website at mtmspta.com for weekly updates and following our page on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/MTMSPTA/.

Questions? Ideas? Concerns? Want to volunteer?

Write us at mtmspta@gmail.com

If your family is in need of support, we want to know how we can help. Simply fill out the form below, and our team and community partners will work with you to see how we might be able to support.

We sincerely hope these resources will provide students and families with solid reference and reteaching materials as needed at home. Students and families can also expect to see these resources linked in their Canvas pages as well.

If you believe there was an error in attendance, please use ParentVUE to look up the course the absence was marked in (you can watch this video tutorial to see how you can find this information in ParentVUE).

We are asking all families to contact the teacher of the course if you believe there is an error. where the absence occurred first as they will have the best knowledge of student attendance measures. From there, they can make the change or contact our front office to change attendance if the mark was made in error.

If you know your student will be gone in advance or was sick, please follow the standard protocol of calling into the office to excuse the absence.

Parents can get in on the Canvas platform and "observe" their student to allow for both transparency and support. For instructions on how you can get started, click here:

https://www.pps.net/cms/lib/OR01913224/Centricity/Domain/4/CanvasQuickGuide-English.pdf

If you or your student is still struggling with any of the aspects of learning technology, we hope you will call the PPS Technology Help Desk, which is open from 7:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. on school days. We will answer your questions and share information and helpful tips about anything related to distance learning technology. The Technology Help Desk is available in all PPS-supported languages.

Email support@pps.net or call us:

• English: 503-916-3375
• Español: 503-916-3582
• 中文：503-916-3585
• Tiếng Việt: 503-916-3584
• Soomaali: 503-916-3586
• Русский: 503-916-3583

If you need to exchange a Chromebook or Hotspot, the BESC (district office) can help every day!

• When: Monday through Friday, 9 a.m.-1 p.m.
• Where: PPS district office (501 N. Dixon St). Please go to the lower level parking lot, which has an entrance on N. Larrabee Ave.
• Please bring: Your student’s school ID or ID number. If you are exchanging or returning a device, please bring the device and charger with you.
• Please be aware: We are asking everyone to use recommended social distancing practices, keeping at least 6 feet of space between groups and wearing a facemask or face covering, if possible.

Please note that if you have a technical issue and are not sure if you should exchange a computer, you can also:

• Call: 503-916-3375
• Email: support@pps.net