Save the Date:

"I Have a Dream"

 Auction, May 4th

The first annual King School PTA auction will take place May 4th, 6:00-10:00pm at the North Star Ballroom.  Our theme is "I Have a Dream" circa 1963.  Get your tickets for a night to remember!  Go to kingpta.org for all the info.

To raise funds toward the expenses of putting on the auction, we are having a series of fundraisers in the months leading up to the event.  Click here to see how you can help.

Dear King Families:

February is a busy month and we have a series of exciting happenings at our school.  A visitor from the President’s Council on the Arts and Humanities in Washington D.C. will be visiting us on February 22nd in consideration for grant monies in relation to our use of the arts to inspire achievement. 

Our entire school staff has begun rich discussions about race using Glenn Singleton’s curriculum Courageous Conversations as one more way for us to improve our school and increase achievement for all students.  In April and May, parents will have an opportunity to begin Courageous Conversations of their own about race as a King School Community.  It is exciting to see the energy amongst our parents to discuss race and the impact of racism in our community and as it impacts students.

Our dance teacher, Derrell Walker, will offer three fun family African dance nights on Thursdays, February 16th, 23rd, and March 1st, from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. to offer parents a chance to explore movement with their students.  Please join us and Sekou and his wonderful drummers for three nights of exciting family fun.  Registration forms are available in the SUN office and on the P.T.A. table; please join the fun!

Parents/Guardians will receive grades for your students in the mail later this week, please talk about school achievement with your student.  Discuss your goals for your student(s) and areas where of success and concern.  Research shows that parents who stress the importance of education and the seriousness of education have higher performing students.  We appreciate your constant support of your student as a learner.  On, Wednesday, March 21st, each teacher will offer opportunities for parents to have brief mid-year parent conferences.  You will receive specifics early in the month of March.  Please check-in with your student’s teacher about any specific needs you have for your child as a learner.  It takes a team!

If you have a neighbor or friend who will have a kindergartner next year, please encourage then to attend the King School Kindergarten Round-up on Thursday, February 16th in our Library from 1:30-2:30 p.m.\.  We also always encourage prospective parents and guardians to come visit our P.T.A. meetings and all school assemblies on the last Friday of each month.  These are good opportunities to sample our parent and student culture.  We welcome guests to our school!

Finally, King School continues to focus on individual and group safety for our students.  Please make sure that younger students are picked up from school, or SUN/SEI activities, on time by an approved contact.  You can update adults or responsible older siblings approved for pick-up with the SUN and SEI coordinators for after-school activities; always update school pick-ups in our main office with Claudia and Karen.

Ms. Patterson

Calendar Events for February:

Friday, February 3rd                  Planning Day No School for Students

Tuesday, February 7th               Site Council 3:30-5:00 Principal’s Office

Thursday, February 9th             P.T.A. 5:00-6:30 p.m. in the Library

Wednesday, February 15th        Planning Day No School for Students

Thursday, February 16th           Kindergarten Round-Up 1:30 p.m. in the Library

Monday, February 20th              President’s Day No School

Friday, February 24th                All School Monthly Assembly 2:00-3:00 p.m. in the Cafetorium

PTA News

First Annual King PTA Auction—May 4^th

Heather Dugas, Auction Chair, is challenging all of us to step up and make some asks for more support and items for the auction. Kenny is working with artists to help pre-k and kindergarten create projects for the auction.  The event will be held Friday May 4^th from 6-10 pm at the North Star Ballroom.

If you would like to help with the auction in any way, email Heather at heatherdugas@gmail.com or come by the PTA office/Parent Room.

Our next pre-auction fundraiser is Wednesday, February 8^th, from 5:30-8:30 at the Radio Room at 11^th and Alberta.

Lease Renewal at the King Neighborhood Facility

Last Fall the King School Site Council and PTA notified PPS of their opposition to leasing the King Facility to Multnomah County Probation, Parole, and Gang Outreach programs on the grounds that these are necessary programs but should not be located at any school serving children as young as 4.  PPS promised to look into the issue but has not acted.  There is a petition to gather signatures from those opposed to this policy that was enacted without input from the school or community.

Boundary, Enrollment Changes for King, other schools

Judy Brennan, Enrollment and Transfer Director for PPS, spoke to the PTA about the enrollment changes facing the Jefferson Cluster.  PPS just completed a set of work to relieve enrollment issues for the Grant cluster. She is ready to move into the next round which is us (Jefferson Cluster). Judy gave out the Enrollment Data Analysis for the enrollment concerns affecting PPS.

The main goal of PPS is to have enough attendance area to provide enough students for enough staff for great programs without overcrowded classrooms. We have 7 schools well below the adequate enrollment - King, Ockley Green, Humboldt are a few. King neighborhood doesn’t have enough school age children to fill the school and many students transfer out which keeps the school small. We are now in a place to have a Jefferson Cluster conversation.  Among the questions we need to answer are:

·         Should King remain a PK-8 or merge with another school and become PK-5 again?

·         If grades 6-8 remain at King, how can we get enough enrollment?

·         If a school closes in N/NE, which one should it be?

Process/Timeline for the Jefferson Cluster discussions:

·         Spring 2012 – introductory conversations

·         Fall 2012 – taking proposals and reviewing, questions

·         November  2012– solid proposals for Superintendent and Board approval

·         September 2013 – when the changes would take happen

The King community must think about what we want from this process and how to ensure that it benefits our schools in N/NE that have the fewest resources.  Let’s not wait for PPS to hand King their proposal—let’s tell PPS what King needs to flourish.

Courageous Conversations about Race

PPS’s Parent Academy, at the request of the PTA, is bringing the workshop series Courageous Conversations to King School.  There will be four evening sessions on Thursday nights.  More information will be coming your way soon.

April 26th - 6-8 pm

May 3rd - 6-8 pm

May 17th - 6-8pm

May 24th - 6-8 pm

Open Gym for MYP Students (grades 6-8) from 3:00pm to 4:00pm on Friday, February 17th.

From the office:

Lately, we've had a number of students come to the office after school to use the phone to find out what they are supposed to do/where they are supposed to go. It would be most helpful if those arrangements are made with your child before they leave for school each morning. 

If your child is signed up for one of the after school activities, i.e., SUN, Boys and Girls Club, SEI, or other, please know that unless we receive a note from you or receive a phone call before 3pm, your child will be sent to their activity.

Please contact Mary Evans in the SUN office at 503-916-6156 if you have SUN questions or changes in your child's schedule.

Thank you ~

Karen Brooks and Claudia Egan

SUN Parents/guardians,

This letter is to re-iterate the King SUN pick-up policy. To ensure safety of all students, we must stress to all staff, students and parents/guardians the importance of everyone abiding by the same pick-up/sign-out policy. The guidelines/procedures are as follows…

1.     All persons who are authorized to pick up a student MUST come into the building and sign the student out. The sign-out table will be located directly inside the main entrance.

2.     All students waiting to be picked up will be in the school cafeteria. After signing a student out please inform a SUN employee of the student who you would like to pick up, the student will be taken from the cafeteria and brought to the sign out table where you can meet them.

3.     Please note a change in the pick-up policy; NO STUDENT UNDER THE AGE OF 12 WILL BE ALOWED TO SIGN THEMSELVES OUT. A PARENT/GAURDIAN/AUTHORIZED PERSON MUST ENTER THE BUILDING AND SIGN STUDENTS UNDER AGE 12 OUT.

Your cooperation is greatly appreciated. We feel that by abiding by this policy we will effectively ensure the safety of all students. If you have any questions please call the SUN office and we will be glad to answer any questions.

Mary Evans

King SUN Coordinator

Winter weather is on the way. Although rare, it is sometimes necessary to close school or delay the opening of school due to the unsafe weather conditions. In making the decision if schools should remain open or closed, first consideration is given to student and staff safety, while keeping in mind the importance of attendance and learning.

Before the school district makes the decision, local meteorologists, transportation officials, regional school districts, and traffic safety experts are consulted. The school district will attempt to make the decision as early as possible and communicate it quickly to the media and our website. Sometimes it will be possible to make the decision the night before, but often this decision cannot be made until early in the morning. The Student Transportation Department will be distributing the Alternate Emergency Snow Route Stops booklet to students who ride the bus. Please refer to this book when we announce through the media and our website that Portland Public Schools’ buses will be on snow routes.

In the rare event PPS calls a 2 hour late opening on a day your school has a scheduled late opening, school will start 2 hours later than your normal bell time – not 2 hours later than your late opening time. For example if your normal bell time is 8:00 AM, your scheduled late start time is 10:00 AM, and the district calls a 2 hour late opening due to inclement weather school will start at 10:00 AM.

As a general rule PPS will not close schools early. The chances of children arriving home early without parental supervision or the ability to gain entry clearly presents concerns when poor weather conditions are forecasted. All of our schools are capable of providing shelter in place until the end of the school day. As always, parents have the individual choice of picking up their child prior to the end of the school day.

Sometime in November the Snow Books will be distributed to students that ride school buses.

Local radio and television stations will broadcast closure and late opening information. You can also check for updates on the District’s website at http://www.pps.k12.or.us or local media websites. Families will be notified via the Rapid Broadcast System. New this year, the district has set up a Twitter feed to relay closure, delay and emergency information at no cost. You may sign up to receive the free alerts at www.twitter.com. Simply search PPSAlerts and click “follow”. If you don’t already have one, you will need to set up a Twitter account.

SCHOOL FACTS

COURSE SYLLABUS