MLC Weekly News and Notes
January 8th-12th
Monday January 8th
Tuesday January 9th
Students of Color lunch group 6x12 with Alberti
Elective Sign Ups!
Wednesday January 10th
Fire Drill @ 2:30
Conferences 3:45-6:45 pm
Thursday January 11th
SAGA lunch group 7x12 with Erewyn
Conferences 3:45-6:45 pm
Friday January 12th
Friday Focus Rotation 4
Monday January 15th - MLK Day - No School
Coming soon:
January 16th Winter Electives Begin
January 16th-17th - Conferences
January 26th End of Quarter 2 - No Friday Focus
January 29th Grading/PD Day for staff - No Students
January 30th Start of Quarter 3
February 15th - MLC Craft Faire!
Rescheduled from November
NOVEMBER CONFERENCES RESCHEDULED FOR EVENINGS IN JANUARY: 10th, 11th,16th , & 17th.
Hello MLC families,
Go HERE (under MLC Updates) to see a link to each teacher's conference schedule. These in-person conferences will be held on 4 evenings from 3:45pm until 6:45pm.
Kindergarten through 6th grade families are invited to sign up for a 20-minute conference with their child's homeroom teacher. Teachers of middle and high school students are scheduling 10-minute conferences. These shortened conference slots provide an opportunity for more parents to meet with the 7x12 teachers.
Conference slots are also available if you wish to meet with counselors, PE, Art and our Media specialists.
Special Education case managers will be available to attend some scheduled conferences. Please email them directly or phone the main office if you would like to invite them.
GO HERE to sign up on the main MLC website.
Elective Sign-Ups will take place this TUESDAY, January 9th, in the auditorium.
Students will participate in an arena-style registration process that provides opportunities to read descriptions carefully, make choices based on their interests, strategically plan the order to sign up, wait responsibly for their turn, and learn what to do when a class becomes full. We will have an abundance of support staff and older students available to help children navigate this experience to make it a safe and positive one.
1x3: 9:50 - 10:20 a.m.
Link to 1x3 Catalog: 1x3 Winter 2024 Catalog.pdf
4x6: 10:55 - 11:30 a.m.
Link to 4x6 Catalog: 4x6 Winter 2024 Catalog.pdf
7x9: 12:50 - 1:20 p.m.
Link to 7x9 Catalog: 7x12 Winter 2024 Catalog.pdf
Families Can Help By:
Discussing class selections prior to sign-ups and having students choose their favorites.
Expressing excitement over the variety of choices, the mixed ages, the small size of classes, and the opportunity to meet new friends and teachers.
Realizing that students may not get all of their top choices, and talking through possible responses ahead of time, including the value of trying new things.
Knowing they can reach out to Dana (dlipson@pps.net), the electives coordinator, to help resolve issues or answer questions.
To minimize crowding in line, the students will be grouped by FIRST NAME; a different group will be first to line up each trimester. RABBIT GROUP GOES FIRST THIS TIME!
Cat Group: A - F Rabbit Group: G - N Dog Group: O - Z
Dana Lipson
MLC Electives Coordinator
(she/her pronouns)
We have a lot coming up this next (over half) of the school year and we’re looking for every little bit of help we can get. We hope to offer more opportunities for support and community-building, but it takes a village. And it takes fundraising. We currently only have two major fundraisers: Parking Events and the Auction, both of which need more hands to lighten the load!
Here are a few of the more immediate events and volunteer opportunities, but more will be added soon.
Cocoa & Cider Social
January 25, 3:30-4:30
MLC Gate to Couch Park
We’re excited for an opportunity for families to connect over cocoa and cider! Contact Chenney, Sheila or Tammy with questions or to volunteer.
MLC Craft Faire
February 15, 3:30-5:30 *Please note the later end time!*
MLC Auditorium
Sign up to be part of the MLC Craft Faire! Tables are free for students and open to non-students with a $20 donation to the PTSA. Students who are interested in playing live music during the celebration are welcome to sign up too! More information and registration can be found HERE. We also need volunteers to assist with set up and clean up so please contact Sheila if you are interested in lending a hand.
If you don’t plan to be a vendor, be sure to save the date for shopping and celebrating the creativity of our MLC community!
MLC PTSA Annual Auction
The MLC PTSA Annual Auction is our largest fundraiser of the year and is also one of our most cherished community-building events. The money raised funds next year's PTSA activities like the ones listed above as well as teacher/staff needs, electives and so much more. The auction planning committee is working to finalize details so expect a save the date announcement to come out very soon!
The auction is a fun opportunity to come together as a community and celebrate the magic of MLC, but we can’t do it without your support! Over the coming months, we'll share details about how MLC families can help us put on an entertaining event that raises funds and builds community. Here's what we need now:
DONATE (AND/OR ASK OTHERS TO DO SO!): Do you own a small business? Or perhaps know someone who does? How about a vacation rental or time share? Do you have a skill to share? Do you have items in new condition that you don’t need and you’d rather pass on to a good cause? Perhaps you have a drawer full of old gift cards and certificates that you haven't used but that are still giftable (I can’t be the only one?!)? Please consider donating your talent or your things to the auction!
We are looking for goods & services that we can package together to sell at our silent and live auction events. There is no limit (big OR small!) and each and every item truly helps…gift cards/certificates, physical items, artwork, experiences, Airbnb stays, festival tickets, bottles of wine, photography sessions, signed books…think outside the box about what *YOU* can offer, or ask your favorite business what they can contribute!
Use our online donation form or grab a paper donation form from the PTSA cubby in the MLC office. If you’d like a template donation request letter, just ask and we’d be happy to share.
HOST A BUY-IN PARTY What exactly *is* a Buy-in Party?! Buy-in parties are events hosted by MLC families, teachers, alums, or supporters. They're like electives for grownups, or for the whole family, or even just for kids but outside of school time! Buy-in parties can be a class, an outdoor activity, a cooking lesson/dinner, a community event, or just a plain old PARTY.
Participants pay to attend and the money raised goes to the MLC PTSA so buy-in parties are a great way to build community while raising money at our annual auction.
If you have a skill to share, an awesome activity you can lead, a concert to rock, or you just want to plan a party, please consider donating your time and talent and signing up to host a buy-in party! Fill out the interest form HERE.
VOLUNTEER You may not have bandwidth to serve on the planning committee (though we’d still welcome you if this was the final push you needed), but do you have a few hours here and there for data entry or to help procure donations? Perhaps you have design skills to help create our promotional materials and/or auction website? Or are you willing to work a short shift at the auction? We need volunteers to help make all the magic happen, but it doesn't have to be a huge commitment!
Contact Sierra Stringfield Perryman with any questions or if you are interested in getting involved!
For 11-12th graders - Perelandra Scholars Program at Portland State University!
Registration for the Perelandra Scholars Program at Portland State University is now open for winter term. This program, now in its third year, is designed exclusively for high school juniors and seniors to earn college credit in high-level humanities courses, taught in person on the PSU campus.
The new evening course begins January 23 and is The Idea of the Nation:
In this course we will examine what it means to be a nation, when national identity is a force for liberty and when a source of conflict, how the national idea has developed in America as compared with countries such as India and Israel, and the importance and challenges of national identity today as compared with its alternatives.
Students will get to discuss these topics with international guest speakers via Zoom, including media studies professor Vamsee Juluri (on Hindu nationalism, Bollywood cinema, and global perceptions of India) and political philosophy professor Neil Rogachevsky (on the history and theory of Israel’s declaration of independence).
Course information is at the following link: https://www.pdx.edu/judaic-studies/perelandra-scholars-program
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Gretchen Benner (she/her)
Professional School Counselor
Metropolitan Learning Center
503-916-5737 ext. 76051
Google Voice #: 503-272-1681
MLC High School Work Based Learning Program: Community Partner Interest Form
Questions? Reach out to Tanya Lieb!
