May 26, 2021

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5th Grade Promotion!!!

Hello 5th Grade Families,

First we would like to say how thankful we are to work with your students and families and how proud we are of all that they have accomplished despite the challenges of the past year. Your students are resilient, hard workers, caring, and have engaged well each day in Comprehensive Distance Learning to Limited In Person Instruction and now in a Hybrid model. Even though we are unable to celebrate their achievements in our favored traditional ways, we still want to make their transition to middle school meaningful and special in the best way possible.

We would like to invite you to a 5th grade Promotion Ceremony to celebrate your students completion of the 5th grade at Abernethy and to recognize this important milestone as each student completes their elementary experience.

Information about the Class Cohort Ceremonies
Ceremonies will be hosted in class cohorts and will be roughly 25 minutes long. Class cohorts allow for students who are currently both in person learning and online learning to participate in a single event as a small class cohort and to avoid hosting online ceremonies. We value the importance of their class communities and a chance to honor each student in person. We are not able to mix grade levels or cohorts of students in the hallways at the time of planning which is why we are unable to have our traditional “Clap Out” unfortunately.

Dates and times for your student’s class cohort are listed below. We will hold the ceremonies outside under the covered area. Students will be seated in chairs with their classroom teacher hosting the time of recognition / celebration as planned by the 5th grade team. There will be limited seating for adults who need it around the perimeter of the covered area so please plan to stand which will help with taking photos as well.

Safety Guidelines for Event
We are asking that only immediate family members attend the ceremony. Thank you for wearing face masks as they are required and continuing to practice social distancing. All those in attendance will need to sign in and out of the event. At the time of planning, we have to keep each gathering to less than 100 per event. We will have an office table set up under the gazebo for the sign in/out and to provide masks and sanitizer as required by ODE protocols and the Governor's Ready School, Safe Learners Guidelines. Our school events are being monitored by the PPS Health and Safety Team following the School Event Safety Plan application process.

Order of Ceremonies
Arrival of students
Welcome Counselor/ Principal/ 5th Grade Teacher
Recognition of Students- Teacher shares a few words about each student as they come up to get their certificate

Tuesday, June 8, 2021
Mr. Hartmann’s class cohort ceremony
8:30-9:00 am for 17 students who attend during the morning
11:00 - 11:30 am for 12 students who attend during the afternoon
No concerns about whole school arrival or dismissal

Thursday, June 10, 2021
Cohort A - Teachers to provide a student list
8:30-9:00 am Mrs. Arthurs Cohort A students
9:20-9:50 am Mr. Scholten's Cohort A students
School dismisses at 10:15 am
12:30-1:00 Arthurs Online Cohort

Friday, June 11, 2021
Cohort B- Teachers to provide a student list
8:30-9:00 am Mrs. Arthurs Cohort B students
9:20-9:50 am Mr. Scholten's Cohort B students
School dismisses at 10:15 am
12:30-1:00 Scholten Online Cohort

Please see our 5th Grade Promotion class cohort ceremonies Safety Plan approved by our district Health and Safety Team.

Inside This Week's Announcements

5th Grade Promotion!!!
Listening Sessions for Abernethy Families that identify as BIPOC
Abernethy PTA Seeks New Family Connections Coordinator
Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month
Library Connect is HERE!
Student Borrowed Device Return
From the Health Room!
Southeast Guiding Coalition Update for Phase 2 of the Enrollment Balancing Process
Division Transition Project Updates
Abernethy Library's End Of Year Calendar
PAX Program of Academic Exchange
Saturday Academy Summer Camps & Classes (grades 2-12)
Oregon Health Insurance Marketplace
Cognizart 360 Arts Camp
OSU Precollege Programs Summer Reading Skills Programs
PSU Portland Summer Percussion Academy (ages 12-18)

CALENDAR

5/31		Memorial Day - No School
6/3-4		Listening Sessions for BIPOC Families
6/1-11		Turn in ALL Library Books
6/8-11		5th Grade Promotions
6/11		Last day of school!
9/1		First Day of School - Grades 1-5
9/8		First Day of School - Kindergarten

Listening Sessions for Abernethy Families that identify as BIPOC

Abernethy is committed to listening and working to understand the experiences of our families that identify as Black, Indigenious or a Family of Color. As we look toward the 2021–22 school year, we will need to put our collective experiences and creativity to work in ensuring that Abernethy can deliver the best possible educational experience for all of our students. While PPS and Abernethy have surveyed families yearly we know that these surveys sometimes fail to capture families' lives and experiences. We would like to extend an invitation to attend one of two offered listening sessions for our families that identify as BIPOC so we can ensure that your voice is a part of the conversation as we make plans for the school year ahead of us. These will be hosted by Jenny Morgan/K-2 Counselor, Jessica Blei/3-5 Counselor, and Caryn Anderson/1st Grade Teacher.

Session 1: Thursday June 3rd 6:30pm - 7:30pm google Google Meet link: https://meet.google.com/imj-fcmr-jmm

Session 2: Friday June 4th 9:00am - 10:00am Google Meet link: https://meet.google.com/kri-ypvq-qwm

Abernethy PTA Seeks New Family Connections Coordinator

Looking to help welcome new families over the summer? Volunteer to be a New Family Connections Coordinator! The New Family Connections Committee is chaired by two people; we are seeking one person to join the team.

This position is good for a person who can remember what it's like to be a new parent or student and wants to make people feel connected to our school community. Duties include communicating with income families to help orient them to Abernethy, coordinating and planning events throughout the summer to welcome new families, and joining school staff at Connect to Kindergarten to help plan and staff the event and to welcome families.

To volunteer for this position or to get more information, please reach out to PTARecruitment@supportabernethy.org.

Currently we are seeking the following positions:

• New Family Connections
• Basketball Administrator
• Tour de Ladd Co-Chair
• Finance Team Deposits
• Fundraising Chairs
• Talon Editor
• Talon Graphic Designer

For more information on these positions visit: supportabernethy.org/pages/pta-board-openings. Most of these positions can be managed remotely.

If interested, please contact PTARecruitment@supportabernethy.org. Questions about being a part of the PTA, please email PTApresident@supportabernethy.org.

Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month

May is Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month! To honor this important month, you can visit https://sway.office.com/WKX5iPElZMoMX8nx?ref=Link to explore Asians, Everyday - virtual picture book exhibition, curated by Grace Lin.

"While it has grown louder and more consistent these last few years, here in the United States the anti-Asian story of hate has been told for a very, very long time. So for those who believe in equality, justice, and kindness, we need to combat those stories. One way to do this is by replacing those stories of Asians as perpetual foreigners with real stories of Asians who share our common thread of humanity."

Library Connect is HERE!

Multnomah County Library and PPS have partnered up to make sure all students have library access! Students can now use their PPS ID number and password (their birthday) as their public library access. See the attached flyers for more information.

If you do not want your child to use Library Connect, please fill out the Opt-Out form below:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/19mLhQQukhFsKN8zUw2de8yb03aJfR0_ziymX6Eng9cU/viewform?edit_requested=true

For more information, visit https://www.pps.net/domain/6621.

Student Borrowed Device Return

If your student is not returning to PPS in the fall please notify the classroom teacher and make sure to return any borrowed student's device(s) to either the teacher/the school office or the BESC by the last day of school, June 11, 2021.

If your student is returning to PPS you may keep the device for the summer.

From the Health Room!

Hello and Happy "almost" June!!!

I wanted to give you a link to an article regarding Covid vaccine for 12-15 year olds for your information!

From the Allergy & Asthma Network:
COVID-19 Vaccine For Children: What Parents Need to Know

As we are nearing the end of this School year, please arrange with the School Health Assistant, Kelly, to pick up any medications that are in the Health room before the end of the last day of school June 11th.

Thank you so much!
LeAnn Teixeira RN

Southeast Guiding Coalition Update for Phase 2 of the Enrollment Balancing Process

The Board approved the staff recommendation and is endorsing the charge for Phase 2 to focus on three areas:

Converting Harrison Park (currently a K-8) into a 6-8 middle school
Re-locating Harrison Park K-5 students
Increasing enrollment at Lane Middle School

The first meeting for Phase 2 work will begin at 6 pm on May 27. If you would like to watch the meeting, please go to www.youtube.com/user/ppscomms/live. To request interpretation for this meeting, please contact Gail Warren gwarren@pps.net

For more information about the Enrollment and Balancing process, please visit https://www.pps.net/enrollmentbalancing.

Division Transition Project Updates

Division Transit Project construction crews have experienced some pauses in the construction work due to underground utility conflicts at the SE 11^th Ave Westbound Station area on the north side of Division slightly west of SE 11^th Ave. The project is working to resolve these issues as quickly as feasible.

This Monday, May 24^th, the contractor plans to perform remaining sidewalk work at the southeast corner of SE 11^th Ave/Division. This includes sidewalk reconstruction and installation of a pedestrian push button pole.

The work at the SE 11^th Ave Westbound Station is expected to start again within the coming week or few weeks, though the timeline is not yet confirmed. While the construction work is on a brief pause, pedestrian access will be maintained to at least three of the four intersection corners, and typically to all four corners, and would also include a pathway through the SE 11^th Ave Westbound Station area. For autos, there may be minor lane shifts/closures along Division Street and along SE 11^th Ave.

During periods when construction work is actively occurring, pedestrians may be detoured to alternative crossings or opposite sides of the street to safely avoid work zones.Autos should plan for similar traffic control impacts as during previous active construction, with lane shifts and closures, and some turn restrictions or detours for turning autos. Eastbound and westbound auto travel on Division will be maintained, and southbound travel on SE 11^th Ave will be maintained.

Thank you for your patience and understanding,

THOMAS SCHARFF
Community Affairs Representative
TriMet Transit Equity, Inclusion and Community Affairs Department

Abernethy Library's End Of Year Calendar

May 27 - Last day to request books
May 28 - Last pick-up window/book delivery
June 1-11 - All books are DUE. Please return to the red bin by the Kindergarten rooms or outside your classroom door.

Note: Multnomah County Summer Reading program begins June 16.