Monday, April 4th 2022

Dear Families,

It is hard to believe that we are already in the midst of April. Thanks to all families for participating in student-led conferences last week. Students worked hard to prepare portfolios and did a good job presenting. If you were not able to schedule or need to reschedule a conference please reach out to your child's Crew teacher.

This month PPS will administer a student survey that is used to understand how students feel about their school. School staff will use the information in their efforts to improve the school experience for ALL students. The survey for middle school students includes 36 questions. Individual student’s answers to the questions will not be known to anyone at their school. Our hope is to involve parents/guardians in their children’s education. If you do not wish for your child to participate in this important activity, please inform their advisory or Crew teacher.

On Friday some families received notification that there student is invited to attend Sun School from June 15-24. Students were identified based on trimester 2 grades, specifically to certain standards in Math and ELA. Sun School is designed to provide academic support and help students to make progress toward meeting standards. We recognize that students often need additional time and support.

Some students may be very close to meeting the standard and may show they are meeting by the end of the year. Some students are farther below grade level and need the extra time and support to learn and grow. If you have questions please reach out to kingsecretary@portlandschools.org.

Finally, we need your help! Please do not use the bus loop for dropping off students between7:45-9:00 AM and 2:15-3:15PM. We need to keep the loop open for busses and to create safe spaces for students during entry and dismissal times. Thank you for your support.

Please take care and don't hesitate to reach out with questions to kingsecretary@portlandschools.org.

Thank you,

Caitlin LeClair

Highlights and Celebrations

6th Grade students participated in the District 2 Festival on Saturday. Congratulations!

Matinicus students volunteered in the cafeteria last week and did an awesome job helping Miss Judy prepare lunches for the school.

Students in Ms. Ervin's Academic Language class did a fabulous job presenting their travel projects to peers and KMS staff.

This is Me Expedition

In this Kineo 7 Expedition, students will develop a sense of their identity through learning about factors in nature and nurture. Students will learn about what genes are, how they are expressed, and passed on in generations. Through art, students will explore how artists reflect their identities through their work and how their own artwork can reflect themselves. Participating in the global-local Inside Out project, students’ portraits, reflecting their identities, will be part of an installation. Through this expedition, students will talk with community members about their identities, visit an art museum to see identity-based artwork, and talk with genetic scientists about the impact of their research.

Rise Up Expedition

Sebago 6 students will explore the following questions:

• What causes sea levels to rise? What is happening to sea levels?

• How are rising seas impacting coastal communities?

• What can you do?: How can we adapt to rising sea levels? How do we educate others to prevent further sea level rise? What can we do as individuals and as communities to prevent further sea level rise? What do we do politically? How do we interact with the government to do something about this? How do we respond to rising seas?

Four Freedoms Expedition:

Matinicus 8 students have begun to explore these guiding questions:

How do we make freedom accessible to everyone?

How do we learn to respect all opinions and tolerate those we don’t agree with?

The kick-off included visits from different community members. Students are investigating Supreme Court cases and making Freedom collages to be shared at the end of the expedition.