REMINDER: MAPLEWOOD WEEK STARTS THIS MONDAY WITH PAJAMA DAY! - Our Spirit Week will have people wearing Pajamas to school, and getting Maplebars on Monday. Mark your calendars for Tuesday being Maplewood Day (wear something representing Maplewood) and then having Skate Night that evening. (Roller Skating is at Oaks Park from 6:30 to 8:30 with a $4.25 admission; siblings and friends welcome – we have the place to ourselves! The most of the admission proceeds goes to Maplewood PTA). Wednesday will have people wearing hats, and Thursday wearing green!
REMINDER: NO SCHOOL FOR MAPLEWOOD ON FRIDAY, MARCH 17 – This is one of the days this year that we will have a different calendar from the rest of the schools in the cluster (because we are on a trimester calendar). In the future, however, we will have one day that is the reverse – on April 17 we will be in school, but other schools in the area will not).
2006 READ-ALOUD-ATHON SUMMARY - The total is in for this year's Read-Aloud-Athon; our readers raised $4,394.70 for Maplewood PTA. Congratulations to the Maplewood Community for a very successful fund raising effort. All the students received a participation prize. In addition, Ms. Gray's and Ms. McClenaghan's students -- both with 65% of the class returning paid pledge forms – will enjoy pizza parties with Mr. Blanck. Individual prizes will be awarded as well. Thank you to Loren Slocum, generous with her time and money, for ordering and purchasing the participation and individual prizes. Thank you also to Renae Conkle, Christine Fuller, Aimee McQuiston, Jim Battan, Mike Gettel-Gilmartin, Catherine Rutledge-Gorman, Lori Calkin's friend Kris, Max Gardner, Janet Metz and Teri Carlson for assisting in the classrooms on the day of the event. Thank you especially to the students, their sponsors and the classroom teachers for participating in this fund raising effort and making it a success.
PPS BUDGET – WHAT ARE YOUR PRIORITIES? – As the Superintendent and School Board work through the budget for next year, they want to hear from you. You may weigh in with your priorities for the next budget by filling out a quick on-line survey: http://www.zoomerang.com/survey.zgi?p=WEB22546DLN9D9. You may ONLY take the survey ONCE!
PORTLAND METRO CONCERT BAND GIVES MAPLEWOOD ANOTHER FREE CONCERT: WEDNESDAY, MARCH 22 AT 10:00 A.M. – For the last several years, this accomplished group has donated their time to give our students a free concert, giving them “up front and close” a fine taste of concert band tradition; some of our students will again be performing with them in our gym. You are invited to attend as well!
TREE PLANTING FRIDAY MARCH 24TH – I am pleased to announce that a long-standing vision of our own mini “arboretum” will get a huge start with the planting of a wide variety of 16 trees with informational labels. There will be a line of trees along our north fence and along 51st avenue on the NE side of our property. Thanks to the City of Portland Urban Forestry Department, and to the help of the Maplewood Neighborhood Association, they will provide the trees (donated by Schmidt and Son Co.), the planting crew, water bags, labels, and mulch at no cost to Maplewood! Beginning at 9:30 that day, they will give a short talk about some of the trees to two classes at a time and give each student a chance to shovel some mulch into the holes. The donors will come out again near the end of the year to do a “Tree Walk” to talk more about our trees. They are seeking volunteers who might enjoy coming to help them with this process. Call Karl Dawson of the Urban Foresty Department at 503-823-1650
NEW ELECTRONIC DISPLAY AREA - PPS is very pleased to introduce the new Electronic Display Area on the district's website where families may look for additional activities/events/classes/services in which their children may participate. These notices are placed on the site by non-school groups. The groups providing this information are not endorsed or sponsored by Portland Public Schools. District policy prohibits discrimination on the basis of age, color, creed, disability, marital status, national origin, race, religion, sex, and sexual orientation. BP 1.80.020. Not all outside groups comply with the District's non-discrimination policy. Families are strongly encouraged to review all materials closely. Go to the PPS main page at www.pps.k12.or.us and along the left side click on NON-SCHOOL ACTIVITIES FOR YOUTH. You may also go directly to www.nonschoolactivities.pps.k12.or.us to reach the site. Rudy Rudolph, Director of School Support
AFTER-SCHOOL DRAMA WORKSHOP AT MAPLEWOOD THIS SPRING - Short Plays and Skits for Grades K-2. Tuesdays, April 18th-June 6th from 2:15-3:15 p.m. $85 per student. Students work with pantomime, short skits, storytelling and theatre games to learn acting skills. Registration forms were sent home, will be coming home again after Spring Break, or available for pick-up in the office. For more information, call The Young Players at 503.624.7499 or <http://www.theyoungplayers.com/> www.theyoungplayers.com
Upcoming Events:
Mar 13 – 16 Maplewood Week!
Mar 16 - Grading Period Ends
Mar 16 - Rescheduled PTA Mtg @ 6:15 p.m.
Mar 17 - Teacher Planning Day – NO SCHOOL (although the other Wilson Cluster Schools who are on Quarter System WILL be in session - Maplewood is on Trimester System)
Mar 24 - Elementary/Middle School Transfer Deadline
Mar 27 - 31 Spring Break!
Apr 2 - Daylight Saving Time Begins
Apr 3 - Spyglass Theatre “The Secret Life of Bugs”
10:30 – 11:20 am
Apr 11 - Run for the Arts
Best Regards, John
