Markham School
A Message from the Principal
May Newsletter
May 4, 2012
Hello Markham Families,
Happy month of May to all of you! The April showers that have not ceased continue to bring the beautiful May flowers. Despite the uncertainty of the weather, our Art Run day was fabulous. What fun was had by all! Thank you to the countless volunteers, cheering spectators and Courtney Duke for organizing such an important and worthwhile event.
Our last “Sharing with Shawn” for the school year is May 18th; we are celebrating a successful year of gathering with a potluck. Please bring a dish or beverage to share. We will be in the MCCA room starting at 9:00 A.M. During the celebration I would like to brainstorm topics or interest for next year. Please come join us for the festivities.
Come take a look at our Student Learning Garden. Classrooms have been busy cultivating. Kindergarten has planted sunflowers and potatoes, 2nd grades snap peas and pole beans, 3rd grades carrots, 4th grades lettuce and several classrooms have tomato starts. Hopefully, we will be able to eat from our garden one last time before the end of the school year. Yum!
Congratulations to Conor W. in Mrs. Weidner’s class. The Friends of Tryon Creek recently held their 17th Annual Tall Tale Writing Contest, and Conor won Honorable Mention for his essay on “How Crow Got to Be So Clever.” What an accomplishment and honor; we are all proud of you- Keep writing.
It is with appreciation that I announce Cory Richey’s retirement. She has been with PPS, Nutrition Services since 1979. During this time she has worked at Jackson when it was a high school, Smith and Markham. Ms. Richey has been Markham’s Cafeteria Lead for 22 years. Ms. Richey said that her favorite times have been the students going through the lunch line and sharing about their birthdays, lose of teeth and just every day events. She also will miss all the laughter and smiles shared with everyone. Ms. Richey plans on being at Markham next year to work at MCCA as a substitute and on down days in the district. She also hopes to get involved with our SMART Program. Ms. Richey would like to thank all the 3rd through 5th graders that have worked in the kitchen; she says she could not have done the job without them. And a big thank you to all parents and staff for the support for our lunch program through the years. Please help me in wishing Ms. Richey a prosperous, healthy and happy retirement.
Ms. Carlson, our school counselor, will again circulate through all the classes, teaching the Personal Safety Curriculum. This program has been taught in PPS since the early 1980’s. It is designed to be consistent with state law that mandates schools to engage in a preventive process of teaching students how to recognize and report problems with touch and treatment. It helps students to understand what they can do to obtain help if they are worried about problematic behavior. Oregon law is designed to prevent child abuse, and the teaching is done to reach all students so that they are aware they have rights to be treated in a safe and respectful manner. Students are always appreciative of the personal safety lessons. Each class will have two lessons of personal safety. Ms. Carlson will begin delivering these guidance sessions very soon. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Ms. Carlson at the school.
Lastly, Parent Input for Class Placement Forms will be available in the office starting Monday, May 7th. Filling out this form is totally optional. If there is information you would like our staff to consider for class placements for the next school year, please complete the form. Please note: We do not honor specific request for teachers, however, if you provide us with this information, it will assist us in the appropriate placement for your child. All class assignments are tentative and subject to change if enrollment or other circumstances require class balancing. Class assignments will be mailed to families after August 15th.
Sincerely, Shawn Garnett - Principal
