Irvington Weekly Newsletter

I wish everyone a restful spring break! This is our last big break before the end of the year, and April 8 will mark the beginning of the fourth and final quarter. I look forward to seeing everyone in April!

Also, I have an Oregon Battle of the Books (OBOB) update: Congratulations to the Irvington team, the Book Goats, for securing a spot in the state competition by coming in second place at the regional tournament last week! The Book Goats were the first ranked team coming out of the pool play rounds, securing 138 points out of a possible 160, and were dominant throughout the day, ultimately loosing to a strong team from Richmond in the finals. The Book Goats will be competing in the state competition on April 13 in Salem. Good luck, Book Goats!

Tickets are now on sale for Give to Grow: Irvington’s 2024 School Auction on Saturday, April 27, at Steeplejack Brewery!

WE NEED YOUR HELP: Donate Items / Experiences, Host a Party, or Sponsor to make our biggest fundraiser of the year a success! Contact auction@irvingtonschool.com with any questions.

5th grade families, it is time for students to choose their electives for 6th grade at Harriet Tubman Middle School. We understand that plans change, so we ask ALL students to complete this form, just in case.

Please complete by April 12: 2024-25 HTMS Future 6th Grader Elective Survey - Google Forms.

This helps to provide students with classes that they want and are interested in. Please reach out to Ms. Blum if you have any questions.

As promised, I wanted to share an update about staffing for next year. As you know, the district is facing a $30M shortfall for the 2024-2025 school year, and all schools are affected by these changes. Here are the staffing changes we currently expect at Irvington:

• We lost some funding around "specials" (meaning, art, library, music, and physical education). This will not affect students' schedules at all (they will receive the same number of minutes of instruction in these areas as they do this year), but it means that the teachers for these positions (Ms Reed, Ms Audel, Ms Emma, and Mr Barnes) are slated to be here fewer days per week next year. This also means that they are completing the same amount of work, but asked to do so in less time and for less compensation. Ms Audel will also no longer be able to support literacy interventions for small groups of students like she has for the past few years, and the library will only be open three days per week.
• We lost the funding stream that pays for the educational assistant (EA) position, which is currently staffed by Mr Williams. For the past two years, Mr Williams has provided reading and math support to students in all classes in our building, and as it stands now, Mr Williams will not be at Irvington next year.
• We lost the funding stream that pays for the qualified mental health provider (QMHP) position, which is currently staffed by Ms Rachel. She has provided behavioral and social-emotional support to students--and provided consulting support for teachers--since 2017, and as it stands now, Ms Rachel will not be at Irvington next year.

We are crestfallen to lose time with staff, whether it's a partial loss of time or losing positions altogether. In particular, I am deeply sorry to report that Mr Williams and Ms Rachel will not be with us next year. We were able to prevent a further reduction in staffing using a combination of funds from the PPS Parent Fund and Local School Fund. This is primarily money that was directly donated to the Irvington PTA by families and community members over several years and was placed in a fund that could support staffing when needed. For next year, these funds will cover approximately 60% of a full-time teacher's salary.

As I wrote a few weeks ago, I encourage families to continue to voice their concerns about decreased staffing, whether it's locally with the PPS Board or at the state level with your legislators. You can also be on the lookout for messages from the PTA in April about specific ways to advocate for all public schools!

Today's tea focused on our curricula and interventions, and the highlight was a presentation by Ms Wich, our instructional coach. Click here to see her slide deck, and please reach out to her or me with any questions.

A NEW book fair is coming to Irvinton this spring! Mark your calendars for April 22, 23, and 24 when Jennifer Butler-Brown, a local bookseller, will be hosting our fair after school. We will have a multi-cultural, diverse collection of books for you to shop through. Look for Spanish and bilingual titles, non-fiction to inspire, graphic novels for all ages, picture books, chapter books, journals by indigenous artists, and next year's OBOB books! 20% of sales will be donated back to our school. More details to come after spring break.

April lunch shifts are now open - CLICK HERE to sign up! Lunch server volunteers have been light the last few months and the school is really feeling our absence! Family volunteers provide vital assistance during all three lunch services between 10:45 and 12:15. It takes more than our delightful Ms. Rie to get most of our students through the lunch line quickly, and YOU can make a difference! Plus, it’s your chance to visit your kiddo during the day, sample school cuisine, and get a glimpse of school life inside the cafeteria walls. And it’s fun too!

Interested in giving it a try? Start by becoming a PPS-approved volunteer here.

A few families have reached out to learn more about the early release days next school year. Once per month (you can find next year's calendar here), all elementary and middle schools will close early so staff can engage in professional development. (This is a common practice: every school district I've worked for prior to PPS has had early release days.) Instead of a normal school day (8:00-2:30), students will leave at 11:50. More information will come as next year draws nearer!

***SPRING BREAK, MARCH 23-31***

Monday, April 1: Popcorn Monday, 3pm

Thursday, April 4: Family gym night, 5:30-7:30pm

Friday, April 5: School closed for staff work day

Monday, April 8: Neurodiversity Group Coffee Chat, 9am

Tuesday, April 9: Site Council, 3:15pm

Saturday, April 27: School auction, 6pm, at Steeplejack Brewery

See it all at a glance here: https://www.irvingtonschool.com/