My Absence from School for 2 Weeks - As I announced just yesterday at the PTA meeting, I will be need to be out of state for the next two weeks, with a substitute Principal in my place. My daughter was hospitalized last week for problems with the baby she was expecting in April; she was going to be on complete bedrest for quite awhile, but 3 days ago had an emergency C-section and gave birth to a beautiful boy! The good news is that even though he was very premature, and weighed only 2 lbs., 4 oz., Calvin appears to be very healthy for his stage of life! (Whew!). But my daughter’s family will need me to help for awhile, as Calvin will be in the NICU in the Miami hospital for up to 12 weeks. I am very happy that the staff has been so supportive here in assuring me they can keep this school running smoothly, but am also grateful that I will have Michaelene Wilcox here in my place. She just recently retired as a Principal from Markham, and prior to that was Principal at Sunnyside and before that was a Supervisor in the ESL program. Feel free to contact Michaelene here if you have any questions or concerns – she is highly experienced, energetic, and a wonderfully positive person! Thank you for your patience with me, as I have been pretty occupied with this process the last two weeks!
Attention! Reminder! Maplewood's Read-Aloud-Athon, Friday, January 27th - Maplewood's Annual Read-Aloud-Athon will be held next Friday morning, January 27th, at 9 a.m. Students will read for 15 minutes and volunteers will tally the number of pages each student read and record the number on the pledge sheet. PLEASE MAKE SURE YOUR STUDENT BRINGS THEIR PLEDGE SHEET TO SCHOOL NEXT FRIDAY, JANUARY 27TH. If you have misplaced your pledge sheet, there are extra forms in the Maplewood office, or just write the name of your sponsor(s) and the pledge amounts on a piece of paper and have your student bring it to school on Friday, January 27th. Remember, the money we raise will be used to benefit Maplewood directly. Thank you for your support.
After School Art Classes in February – My Masterpiece Studio, an after school, arts enrichment program with courses devoted to the importance of expression through exploration with different art mediums is here. Expect the unexpected when students create with mixed media! Students learn techniques using paint, clay, pastel collage and more. “Animals in Art” is on Wednesdays in February. There are only a few spaces left for this four week session, so register now while space is available at mymasterpiecestudio@comcast.net
Wilson Area Arts Council Book Drive - The Wilson Area Arts Council (WAAC) is sponsoring an art book drive. We are seeking new or used books, posters, calendars and supplies related to art, i.e. specialty books on art history and art movements, art techniques, famous artists, and posters and calendars reproducing the works of great artists. We would also appreciate any of your home or business’s surplus supplies (e.g. paper) that could be used in classrooms for art projects. Our goal is to build up our new Art Resource Center. This room, when completed, will be available to anyone who is involved in the teaching or some other manner of support for the visual arts in the schools in our cluster. We are interested in any media piece in this wide range of interest. Please donate your item even if you are unsure of its usefulness to us. Should you have any questions, please contact Rosanne Keller, 503.984.3208 or rmkellerinpdx@hotmail.com A box labeled “WAAC Book Drive” will be located in the school office until March 17th. Donation slips will be attached to the box. Donation receipts are available upon request. Thank you for your generosity! The Wilson Area Arts Council is an independent not-for-profit organization dedicated to preserving, encouraging and enhancing arts education in the Wilson Cluster K-12 schools.
A funding update from Bobbie Regan and David Wynde, School Board Co-Chairs:
When the three-year county income tax expires in June, Portland Public Schools and our neighboring school districts will face a significant loss in their budgets. For PPS, we're faced with $57 million in budget cuts in 2006-07: $50 million lost from the income tax and $7 million of cuts that we deferred last year.
Those new reductions would come on top of cuts made last year, when the local option property tax expired and state desegregation funding ended. Those $25 million in cuts included the elimination of 245 teaching positions and significant reductions to central staff supporting students in our classrooms.
Over the last few weeks, parents, school district leaders, community representatives and local government leaders have been meeting, and a plan to address our school funding crisis is emerging. Although the final details are not decided, this is the outline of the proposal under discussion:
* A funding measure on the May 2006 ballot would support stable and adequate school funding for students across the city. * The City of Portland has stepped up to help (thank you, Mayor Potter!), after the Legislature failed to provide adequate funding, the regional tax discussion faltered, and the County Commission ruled out the possibility of a funding solution for all students in the county.
* All funds raised through a local funding measure would pay for teaching positions and other direct support to schools; none of the money would be used on central office administration. For PPS, the funding levels under discussion would prevent further cuts to school staff, and might even restore some teaching jobs cut last year.
* Five Portland school districts would benefit: Centennial, David Douglas, Parkrose, Reynolds and Portland Public Schools. Each is losing 12 to 18 percent of their operating General Fund as the county income tax expires.
* The new funding proposal will be a Portland city income tax targeted only to schools, would cost less than the expiring county tax, and would include stringent accountability requirements. The business community would share responsibility for maintaining Portland's strong public schools.
* The funding proposal would ensure our most important promise: To provide Portland's children with the quality education they deserve. At this point, the Portland City Council is expected to vote to refer a measure to city voters as soon as February 1.
You may also learn more about this effort by contacting HOPE, at Doug@hope4schools.org We will keep you posted as this evolves and look forward to working with you to ensure a great school district 100% focused on raising student achievement!
Bobbie Regan and David Wynde
School Board Co-Chairs
Upcoming Events:
Jan 27 - Read Aloud-A-Thon
Jan 30 - All School Assembly “Pam Flowers” @ 1:00 pm
Feb 7 - Math Night – 6:00 – 8:00 pm
Feb 9 - PTA Meeting @ 6:15 pm
Feb 20 - Presidents’ Day – NO SCHOOL
Feb 21 - Professional Development Day – NO SCHOOL
Feb 22 - Professional Development Day – NO SCHOOL
