Here is today's "Principal Notes" :
JOHN MCCUTCHEON IN CONCERT - Storyteller and musician John McCutcheon will perform on Sunday, April 30, at 3pm at the Hollywood Theatre. This family-friendly concert is a benefit for the First Octave Fund of the Portland Schools Foundation. Tickets are $15 for adults and $8 for children over 2 and are available at the Hollywood Theatre, 4122 NE Sandy Boulevard, (503) 493-1128 or www.hollywoodtheatre.org <http://www.hollywoodtheatre.org/> . For more information call Ellen Regal Productions: (503) 288-5042.
DIRECT SCRIP SALES START THIS MONDAY, APRIL 24 – Now you can buy your SCRIP cards and certificates right here at school! Starting next week, the Maplewood SCRIP Committee will be selling a limited selection every Monday morning (7:45-8:15) inside the building, and every Thursday afternoon (2:00-2:30) at an outside table (the full selection of SCRIP businesses is still available for weekly pre-orders). Every time you use a SCRIP card, a small percentage goes to our account with the Portland Schools Foundation to support staff positions here at Maplewood. The SCRIP Committee will also be surveying parents on what other vendors to offer on a regular basis, so stop by the table and give them your input!
AFTER SCHOOL PLANS FOR YOUR KIDS – At this busy time of year, we know that many familes have many activities scheduled for the end of the day. But I am worried that there have been so many last minute, or daily, phone calls to the office from you, asking to have messages given to your kids about after school plans. The reason that I am worried is that the office can be a very busy place, and I would hate to mis-communicate to your children. So please make sure the plans for the end of the day are set and communicated to your kids before the end of the day (notes written, etc.). We certainly understand last minute changes (we’re talking about busy families and kids here, right?), and we’re happy to help; but please help us keep kids safe by keeping the message calls to a minimum when possible!
BUDGETS AND RECONFIGURATIONS AND EFFECTS ON MAPLEWOOD – As I mentioned at the last PTA meeting, I am going on record as being in support of the Superintendent’s proposal, mainly because of the provisions for time to take more specific community input between now and October 1st. I was relieved to see that the proposal would also include the preliminary allotment of .31 more FTE (equal to a third of a certified staff member) next fall than what we received this year! (First time in 6 years we had an increase!). This was in addition to the district plan to maintain current teaching staff and to keep a full school year. I will need to make a plan within the next two weeks (or change a plan if the school board changes things on their May 1 vote); if you have ideas you’d like to share with me, the best way to do that with me is to email or write me a note about it. If you would like to express your opinion about Board Decisions, see the item below about it, or email the Board at schoolboard@pps.k12.or.us and it will be seen by every Board member.
MAPLEWOOD CAMPAIGN - I want to remind people that our Annual Campaign, held last fall, is still a vital part of keeping our staffing as full as it is. I have been recently informed, however, that making staffing requests with the Foundation money is now a little “tighter” than in the past (we need to “Show Them the Money” in a sense). This means that I will be reminding them to account for the people who made monthly pledges, and that if there are people out there who were waiting to make a direct pledge to the Campaign, now would be the time to do so! This would help me greatly in being able to continue to staff Maplewood with the highest quality people!
K-8 QUESTIONS AND DISTRICT DECISIONS - I have received some information this morning from the Superintendent’s Office, that gives a few glimpses into the possible looks for K-8 schools. I will post them on my blogsite in case you’d like to see more http://maplewoodprincipal.blogspot.com/.
I attended the Community Meeting last Weds. at Rieke and saw several Maplewood parents there as well. That meeting’s purpose was to answer questions for the communities involved (by the way, you can’t change one school in a system without having some effects on all schools or children). The district has set other dates for “Hearings”, which means people can offer input, usually without any responses from them. Two possible times when you can give input include:
- School Board Meeting & Budget Hearing (Citizen Budget Review Committee Report), Monday, April 24, 6:30 p.m.
- SCHOOL BOARD COMMUNITY PUBLIC MEETINGS Members of the School Board will hold hearings in Southeast, Northeast, North and West Portland to hear testimony on the proposals in each of those areas. The West Side meeting is at Wilson High School, 1151 SW Vermont, Wednesday, April 26 at 6:30 pm
The School Board will vote at their Monday, May 1st meeting.
Upcoming Events:
Apr 25 - Run for the Arts (RE-SCHEDULED TO THIS DAY)
Apr 28 - End of Run for the Arts Collection Period
Apr 28 - Bookbaggers!
May 1-5 - Teacher Appreciation Week!!
May 11 - PTA Meeting
May 18 - Kindergarten Open House 3:00 – 4:00 pm
May 23 - 5th Grade vs Faculty Basketball Game
May 25 - Spring Celebration Sing
May 29 - Memorial Day – NO SCHOOL
May 31 - A Musical Tour of the America’s Assembly at 9:30 am
