Weekly Update

June 3, 2020

Dear Families,

Thank you for your continued support and engagement as we finish the school year. It is important to recognize that there are tragic events happening throughout the country having to do with racism and people of authority abusing their power in terrible ways directed at Black Americans. Many people of color, particularly Black people, are feeling unsafe, worried, and upset. We want to send a message of support to our Black students and students of color. We are thinking of you, your families, and your communities.

As a school team we continue to plan for Fall 2020 and anticipate the needs of students. When thinking about the unique needs of our rising 8th graders, we identified several key considerations to aid in 7th graders’ transition to 8th grade:

Rising 8th graders will be coming back to King with at least a six-month gap in their academic and social growth.
Many students have experienced some degree of trauma.
Teachers are transitioning back (or potentially continuing in a remote environment) with less access to information about their new students.

Based on this, the team considered ways to support the transition to 8th grade. The decision was made to not shuffle the rising 8th grade teams. We feel that this will support students by aligning with trauma informed practices such as providing an increased level of consistency and predictability.

As we near the end of the school year there are some important dates to be aware of:

6th and 7th grade virtual team celebrations for students during the week of June 8th. There will be announcements with details posted in Crew Google Classrooms
There will also be a virtual celebration for the 8th grade students and parents on Monday, June 15th at 5PM
Laptop collection will be on Wednesday, June 17th for 6th and 8th grade.
All students, including our 7th grade students, will be able to retrieve materials that were left in their locker on June 17.
More details about the 17th will be shared next week.

Next week we will have a Parent Crew meeting on Tuesday, June 9th at 3PM. Please join us using this link.

Take care,

Caitlin

King Parent to Help Get Masks for PPS Families

One of our terrific King parents is helping to get face coverings/masks to Portland Public School's most at-risk and immigrant families. They will be distributed through Wayside's supplemental food program, reaching hundreds of PPS families. If you are interested in donating (either masks, or cash to purchase materials for masks), please contact Molly Collin at mollyecollin@gmail.com.

Thanks Molly for your help!

Attention Families

You can return King library books during mealtime pick ups. We have a box outside to collect books! Thank you!!!

FREE breakfast and lunch for students!

King is one of many food distribution sites for students in Portland.

Students can come Monday-Friday from 10am to 12pm

Click here for more information.

It is common for families to not have enough food or other things they need at home, especially when children are not coming to school. If you or your family does not have enough food or other things your family needs to get by, please email Ms. A-L (Amanda Atkinson-Lewis) at lewisa@portlandschools.org. We will try hard to help your family.

Portland Public Schools Help Desk

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