MLC Weekly News and Notes

Hello, MLC community. With the news of the impending teacher strike, I know there is a lot on everyone's mind as we enter into this last week of October. The district has compiled information for families found here. We will certainly send more information out as we get closer to November 1st. Until then, we are here to support our community.

FALLoween is THIS WEEK! This is an MLC tradition & celebration for Halloween that takes place on the Friday before (10/27). We do not use 10/31 as a dress up celebration day at school, but enjoy the Friday before instead! Please read below for more info.

MLC is going through school accreditation...what does this mean?

Accreditation is the recognition from an accrediting agency that an institution maintains a certain level of educational standards. All schools must go through this process every 4-6 years. Due to Covid and many changes in MLC leadership....we are overdue! This process is a perfect opportunity to reflect on our practices and the success of our students while getting much needed stakeholder feedback. With that...we are asking for our parent community to help us out!

HERE is a short survey we will use to collect extremely useful data. It will remain open until November 1st. We would LOVE to have your voice! Thank you!

Best,

Suezann & Darren

Below is pictured our HS students presenting Life In Portland to students visiting from Germany!

Also, here is a look at our All School Assembly led by Kinder and Senior Buddies! We also ended with a fun "Toilet Paper Mummy" Contest!

MLC Calendar website link

Monday October 23rd

No Place For Hate lunch group with Beriah & Ethan

Tuesday October 24th

Kx2 Pumpkin Patch Field Trip!

4x6 Electives

Students of Color lunch group 6x12 with Alberti

Virtual Open House for 2024-25 6-12 interested families 5:30-6:30 pm

Wednesday October 25th

1X3, 7X12 Electives

Thursday October 26th

SAGA lunch group 7x12 with Erewyn

4x6 Electives

Friday October 27th

FALL-o-ween! Kx6

Friday Focus 7x8

HS Career Class Field Trip to the Schnitzer Art Gallery

Coming soon:

November 2 - End of Quarter 1

November 3 - Grading Day (No School for Students)

November 7th - PTSA Meeting

November 8 - Picture Retakes

November 10th - Veteran's Day Observance (No School)

November 13th - Vision & Hearing Screening

November 14th - Open house (in person) 2024-25 6-12 interested families 5:30-7:00

November 17th - Friday Focus Rotation 3

November 20 & 21 - Conferences (No school for students) 8:30-8pm

November 22-24 Fall break (No School)

November 30th -Craft Faire 3:30-5:00 & Fall electives End

We’ve been celebrating this beloved tradition for many years and we’re always working hard to keep it fun and inclusive for all. This year we’ll be celebrating on Friday, October 27. Students are invited to wear costumes to school on that day.

School will begin at 8:45 as usual. Our event will occur between 9:30 and our dismissal at noon and will allow for cross-grade relationship building as well as a celebration simply for the fun of it.

8:45-9:30 Class as Usual - students should be in clothing portions of costume when they come to school (they’ll be able to accessorize before our parade)

9:30-10:15 Neighborhood parade (we’ll walk in classroom groups)

10:15 Classroom Regroup

10:30-11:30 KX6 Classrooms in small cohorts for classroom Halloween activities

11:30-12:05 Individual Classroom Wrap Up and Reflection

Costume Guidelines:

• Make sure that your child's costume is culturally sensitive. Halloween costumes are designed for fun, but some costumes reinforce limited and/or hurtful ways of thinking about people or perpetuate stereotypes of someone’s culture, gender, heritage, or religion.

Check out this great campaign, “We’re a Culture , Not a Costume,” initiated by some students at Ohio University. There is great food for thought as you and your child are considering costume ideas. Their posters can be viewed here:

Poster Campaign

Other resources available here: My Culture is not a Costume

A Parent’s Guide to Cultural Appropriation

• Be sure that your child's costume is functional for school--they need to be able to see, move freely and participate in all of our activities.

• Costumes should not be overly scary, gruesome, or gory--remember we have a wide range of ages in our community. Our youngest students can be easily frightened even by make-believe.

• Remember costume/play weapons are not allowed at school even as accessories!

*** Please let your children know (and we will as well!) that it is absolutely ok to not dress up! There are many reasons why a child may not want to dress in costume. Please let us know if your child needs to borrow a costume.

Oregon Battle of the Books is a reading motivation and comprehension program sponsored by Oregon Association of School Libraries. This year we have seventeen 4th and 5th grade students and seven 6th grade students signed up to participate. They have already started reading. With so many students signed up, we do not have enough books for everyone. Ideally we would have 6 copies of each book for the 4th and 5th graders and 4 copies of the books for the 6th graders. So we are looking for donations of books that are needed. Here is what we need: http://bit.ly/493QpA8

You can purchase books from anywhere and good quality used books are encouraged. Here is an Amazon Wishlist that can also be used to purchase books: https://bit.ly/408vyaO

Thank you for supporting these excited readers!

Molly

The MLC 23-24 Site Council will be forming in the next few weeks. We are looking for three parent/guardian representatives to join with one serving as the chairperson. This would be a representative from:

K-5 (1)

6-8 (1)

9-12 (1)

Parents and guardians of diverse backgrounds are encouraged to apply!

*Also included for this year (23-24) are the principal plus three staff members.

Why does Site Council do?

• Serving on the Site Council is an opportunity to be a school and community leader that can help the identify common goals and assist the school leadership team in achieving those goals, including goals around instructional and enrichment programs

• An opportunity to share unique perspectives and knowledge of school and community needs in order to make positive change

• An opportunity to share and elevate unique perspectives and knowledge of how well school and district programs are working for students and families

• An opportunity to inform the School Continuous Improvement Plan, changing outcomes for the entire school community

• The Site Council is an open forum for discussing school and education-related challenges and identifying opportunities for growth in partnership with school leaders, school staff, and other parent/guardian leaders in a whole-school, community-driven approach

• The Site Council is not a place to make policy, it is not a political organization, it is not a grievance committee, it is not a fundraising committee, nor is it affiliated with the PTSA or any other organization

What is the time commitment? One virtual meeting per month for 60 minutes beginning in early December and meeting through June.

If there is much interest, there will be a voting process to fill the parent/guardian positions. If you are interested, please fill out this form and you will be sent more information as we get closer to forming.

Teacher/Staff Appreciation Committee

The PTSA is looking for a few extra hands to help spread the love to our MLC teachers throughout the year, but especially at Solstice and during Teacher Appreciation week. Reach out to Sierra at mlcauctioncommittee@gmail.com to found out more.

The MLC Craft Fair is Coming

Get out your hot glue and google eyes! MLC's annual Craft Fair will be Thursday, November 30 from 3:30-5:00pm. The Craft Fair is an annual celebration of all things creative, where students are able to showcase and sell their arts & crafts. Students are invited to set up a booth, afterschool, free of charge, and sell their handmade treasures to the MLC community. Grown Ups of the MLC community are welcomed to sign up for a booth with a $20 donation to the PTSA. For those who are new to the craft fair, please know that there isn't a craft too small or too big that can be sold. Creations range from handmade comic books by kindergarteners to complex art by highschoolers and professional artisans, it is truly an event to celebrate all that makes MLC special.

Save the date and look for sign ups next week.

Lunchtime Helpers

Volunteers are needed 11:30-12:30 M-Th to provide extra help on the playground and wherever help is needed while the kids are at lunch/recess. Sign up HERE

You will need to complete your PPS background check. The background check does take some time, but it’s good for 3 years. You can apply for the background check at www.pps.net/volunteer

Parking Fundraiser Volunteers Needed

It’s peak soccer season and this is one of the best times of year for our school to fundraise by offering parking for the Timbers and Thorns games. These parking fundraisers hosted by the PTSA, will continue to fill the gap and help support our staff and students with the much-needed funds for student activities. Our parking coordinators will teach you everything you need to know to get you well on your way!

We need people for the Thorns first playoff game on 11/5!

Sign up HERE

BottleDrop

So far this school year we have had 70+ bags donated for MLC. Thank you and keep it up! Make sure to grab one of our MLC labeled BottleDrop blue bags to collect your redeemable containers in. Then drop them off at one of the BottleDrop location points and all the money goes to MLC.

MLC does not have space to store full bags, so please drop the bags off at one of these locations near MLC or find another convenient location HERE

Trader Joe's - NW Glisan and 21st

Fred Meyer - NW Burnside and 20th

New Season's - NW Raleigh and 22nd

Contact Adam Perryman for more information or to get more bags.

Check out the upcoming round of career related learning opportunities for high school students. Click here for a current list of PPS and partner offerings. Students sign up independently and would need to provide their own transportation.

--

Tanya Leib

Career and Community Partnerships Coordinator

(she/ her)

Hello, all. Although we have seen some pretty cute pups, we have to make sure student safety comes first. Please do not bring dogs onto the blacktop during drop off or pick up. There are areas - a dog area in Couch Park! - that are close by and fun for a pup to hang out.

Thank you for your support in helping ALL of our students feel safe at school.

MLC’s Work Based Learning Program is an experiential opportunity for our high school students to learn outside of the classroom. Through service learning, internships, and other career related learning opportunities, students pursue meaningful community service and career exploration. We couldn't run this program without the support of our community. Please take a moment to let us know if you're able to share your time, skills and experience with our students.

FORM

Questions? Reach out to Tanya Lieb!

tleib@pps.net

Exploring school options to determine the best fit for a student can be both exciting and anxiety producing. We believe getting to actually see the surrounding location and have a guided tour of the building can be very helpful in this decision-making process. To accommodate the numerous requests for tours, we offer a monthly tour for up to 10 interested families on the second Thursday of each month at 4:00 pm and will last approximately 45-60 minutes.

November 9

December 14

February 8

March 14

April 11

May 9

Please email Benner, our 7-12 counselor to initiate the sign up process or if you have any questions. gbenner@pps.net

When the lottery dates are announced we will also host an evening open house event for families. Please check our website for updates.

MLC Families - Please fill out this Request Form if you would like support accessing field trip scholarships, school supplies, grocery support, mental health referrals, etc! More detailed info is located on the form.

Social Work Wish list

Staff Wish List

Parent Vue

School Pay - Set up your account today!

Attendance Line 503-916-3656

Do you wonder what's going on in the Kx12 Art Room? Art teacher Ned and his students are posting their creations and flops on Instagram at studio_mlc !