West Sylvan Middle School

We are a couple weeks from the end of the first semester and second quarter, when the report cards for Quarter Two will be issued. Our Educators have been reaching out to families for conference sign-ups. Conference spaces and sign-ups were prioritized by students who need the most intervention first, and then spots were opened up for students who are performing well in classes. If you haven’t connected with a teacher yet, and believe that you need/want a conference to discuss progress, or concerns with progress, please reach out to those Educators directly to schedule, via email.

Winter Conference Dates:

January 10th: in-person 4:30-7:30

January 11th: virtual 4:30-7:30

January 16th in-person 4:30-7:30

January 18th: virtual 4:30-7:30

We hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Jill Hunt, Principal
Ben Keller, Assistant Principal

JANUARY

• Mon, JAN 8th ~ Fri, FEB 2nd: MAP Winter testing in English and Math classes
  
  
• Mon, JAN 15th: NO SCHOOL / Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday
  
  
• Wed, JAN 17th: Winter Choir Concert at Valley Community Presbyterian / 7:00PM-8:00PM
• Thu, JAN 18th: Band & Choir Winter Concerts at WSMS Lower Gym / 7:00PM
  
  
• Thu, JAN 25th: TWO HOUR Late Start for morning MS Staff Professional Development / *School doors open for students at 11:00AM (no Zero period Choir or Jazz Band)
  
  
• Fri, JAN 26th: End of Quarter 2 and Semester 1
• Mon, JAN 29th: NO SCHOOL for Students due to Teacher Planning Day
• Tue, JAN 30th: Quarter 3 / Semester 2 begins

District MAP testing (Measures of Academic Progress) for the Winter test will occur between January 8th - February 2nd and is REQUIRED for all students - NO opting out. Students will test in their ELA and Math classes again for comparative data between the Fall scores and their Winter scores to measure any growth they have shown. Students who are absent during testing will be expected to complete makeup testing upon return. Tests typically take 2-3 class periods per subject. Students should take these tests seriously as MAP testing data is also a crucial piece for any TAG referrals/requests, math acceleration requests, for placement in High School courses, and possible interventions if needed. Students can prepare at home through the following portal. If you would like to help your student prepare for District MAP testing while at home, links are here.

As required by the Oregon Department of Education, PPS is providing families with the 30 Day Notice and Opt Out Form for the OSAS Statewide Summative Assessments in English Language Arts and Mathematics. The notice is available in English, Spanish, Vietnamese, Chinese, Russian and Somali on the PPS Research, Assessment, and Accountability website. (Please bring completed forms to the West Sylvan Main Office).

Statewide testing is part of our balanced assessment system that offers all students, especially historically underserved students, opportunities to demonstrate their progress. Information provided by student assessments is critical in helping us determine district and school priorities for improving student learning. If you have questions, please contact westsylvanoffice@pps.net.

*Please note: this opt-out form only applies to the OSAS Statewide assessments and NOT for District MAP testing.

PPS has created a tutoring option for all students to access! The information is here for how students may access tutoring support through the new PPS partnership with VarsityTutors through their school Chromebooks.

Congratulations to Ms. Larsen’s students! Several work samples have been selected from Ms. Larsen’s Art classes to be showcased at the next Superintendent’s Gallery Rotation Event on Tuesday, January 16th, celebrating the artistic talents of students in the Franklin, Lincoln, and McDaniel clusters. Light refreshments will be served. All interested community members are invited to attend and view some exceptional artwork!

Reception Date & Time:
Tuesday, January 16th
4:00 - 6:00 PM

Location:

• Welcome to our new Math Educator, Becca Slough! Becca joined us on January 2nd to take over the Math classes that Ms. Boardman has taught since the start of the school year. Here’s a short welcome from Ms. Slough:

  My name is Becca Slough. I am a second year math teacher from Western Oregon University. I grew up in Bend with my parents and two little sisters. My fiancé and I moved around Oregon and Washington a few times before settling in the Portland area where we now have a house with our two dogs. We enjoy spending time with family and friends. I have always loved puzzles and teaching math is the biggest puzzle that I have come across. I am thrilled to join the middle school team at WSMS in January!

  
  
• Ms. Boardman is a National Board-certified Science teacher (dual credentialed in Math and Science), and was interested in making a switch mid-year to allow Ms. Oesterle to fill a vacant position in our STEAM/Tech electives, for which we have not been able to hire since Ms. Greene resigned. These shifts allow students to remain with highly qualified Educators in all three subject areas while allowing us to offer additional tech/STEAM electives, and giving us the opportunity to reduce some of the 8th grade Science classes to smaller sections for the remainder of the year.
  
  
• Our Campus Safety Associate position will be covered by substitutes during Mr. Wilbert’s leave to complete his teaching practicum hours. Due to PPS staffing shortages, we may only have CSA coverage during lunch periods for the foreseeable future. I am continuing to work with our District leads to remedy this coverage issue so that we continue to have full-day CSA staffing coverage, as was guaranteed to all Middle School families through the PPS School Board at the start of the school year.
  
  

• Welcome back to Sara Sebastian, a former teacher at WSMS! Sara has been hired into the Student Management Specialist: School Climate position, which was recently vacated by Mr. McVicar, who is now teaching Science for us. Mr. McVicar took over the classes that were taught by Mr. Basques, who moved to another school district mid-year to be closer to home. Here is a short welcome from Ms. Sebastian:

  Ms. Sebastian (she/her) is thrilled to be back at West Sylvan Middle School, where she taught from 2016-2019. After several years of teaching, including redesigning curriculum for 7th, 8th, and 9th grades at Eton School in Mexico City as the MYP English chair, she developed a digital personal essay course. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with friends, writing, hiking, dancing, and trying new creative outlets.

  
  

• At the start of the second semester, Miledy Rincon Garcia will be joining us as our 8th grade DLI Educator, moving to Portland just recently from Columbia to join our team! This has been an exceptionally hard position to hire for, and we are confident that we are bringing in a qualified Educator for our DLI 8th graders! We are so grateful for all of the family support since Ms. Ashcraft’s departure in October!
  

Our students no longer have access to chat through Google on their school Chromebooks due to widespread abuse and misuse of the tool. Teachers can create class chats, which are more easily monitored, and many other schools in PPS had already taken this measure to help students avoid using Google chat in harmful ways toward each other on their school devices.

Acquire the needed skills to conduct inquiry and research. Show independence in learning. Develop a lifelong love of learning. Develop natural curiosity. Actively enjoy learning.

Our Leadership class, with Ms. Lacaden, is hard at work creating this year’s Yearbook for WSMS. All sales of yearbooks will be pre-ordered directly through an outside company, and will not be purchased through the school. To pre-order this year’s book, go to: yearbookordercenter.com and enter the code 6339. Pre-order cost is $30. The price will increase as we get closer to the deadline. PRE-ORDER TODAY to get the early pricing!

Throughout the year, we have still had patterns of late buses to/from WSMS. If you need to contact Transportation in the afternoon because a route is taking longer than expected, please call this hotline to get real-time status on your child’s bus route:

FRIENDS OF WEST SYLVAN is parent/family organization that supports Scholars and Staff and fosters community connection through fundraising and volunteer opportunities. Join the mailing list and stay connected with other families!

*(not sponsored by West Sylvan or PPS)

Counselors are best reached and contacted via email. Please refer to the following list for your School Counselor by grade.

Interested in Volunteering and Being More Involved?

Become an approved PPS volunteer by following the information here. Once your application is approved, please contact the Main Office to see how and when you can be of service. Our Friends of West Sylvan organization also regularly shares ways to get involved on campus, specifically to volunteer in the Library, monitor hallways, help in the Main Office, help in classrooms, and do recess duty.

Please make every effort to pick up students before or after their grade-specific Lunch period (see below). Once students are scattered around the field playing at recess, picking up during Lunch recess becomes more timely for all involved. Please do not call or text your student to tell them you are here or to tell them to come to the Office. If a student uses their device to check a text and/or answer a phone call, their phone will be confiscated.

6th Grade LUNCH: 11:37 AM ~ 12:07 PM

7th Grade LUNCH: 12:31 PM ~ 1:01 PM

8th Grade LUNCH: 1:25 PM ~ 1:55 PM

Breakfast is available in the hot lunch room at that time. With the colder weather, we are having students who are dropped off early sit in the hot lunch room until 9 a.m. so that they are not sitting in the cold outdoors. Students with Choir before school (appears as period 0 on StudentVue), start school at 8:00 AM each day. Students should ring the bell upon arrival.

Ms. Crombie accepts Chromebooks for repairs between 10:00AM - 3:00PM each day. Damaged devices are picked up for repair each Friday, and are usually returned the following Friday. A loaner Chromebook can be issued to students in the meantime. Remind and encourage your student to take care of their Chromebook, and keep them in protective cases. If they don’t have a protective case, the school can provide one. Chromebooks are used for class assignments daily. Students will need to charge their device each night and bring their charged Chromebook to school each day. We do not have enough loaners to give to students who forget their chromebooks. Students and families will be responsible for paying for replacements for lost chargers throughout the 2023-24 school year. They will be ordered through PPS OTIS, and cost $12/each.

The district IT office has removed access to any non-US based web pages. This is to project student privacy. In addition, students will not be able to access my.pps.net outside of the United States from now on. If this provides a hardship, please contact Ms. Crombie and she will help you ask for an exception.

Please remind your students to bring and wear their school ID daily. We’ve shared out many ways that our students can be safe by displaying their IDs throughout the day through our Advisory videos. IDs are used on campus for quickly identifying students (this is especially helpful for Substitutes). Students use them to check out library books and to buy hot lunch. Bus drivers also look for student IDs to be sure that students are on the correct route.

We do NOT allow students to order items directly from delivery services throughout the day, as they are inviting strangers to our campus, and we have no way of monitoring what they are delivering. There is an unfortunate option where students can order illegal items, such as VAPE devices through delivery services. Students are reminded of this school policy regarding food delivery services when it is violated, and items are held in the office for end-of-day pickup. Family members are also notified when this occurs.

WSMS is a cell phone free zone from 9:00 AM - 3:45 PM daily. We request and advise all families to keep scholars’ cell phones at home during the school day. If a scholar brings a cell phone to school, they will be expected to store their turned-off phone in their locker throughout the entire school day (including lunch periods). Important messages can be sent to our main office via email (westsylvanoffice@pps.net) or phone, and will be forwarded to your scholars. Please do not call or text your student. If your scholar chooses to use their cell phone, smart watch, air pods, tablet, et al, the device will be confiscated. If your scholar uses their device to check a text from and/or answer the phone from you, their phone will be confiscated. Not only will their phone be confiscated, it shows you do not find this school rule important. This sets a bad precedent.

MAIN OFFICE

westsylvanoffice@pps.net

(503) 916-5690

ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT/ PRINCIPAL'S SECRETARY

[Staff / Substitutes / Financial]

Jerda Solonche

jsolonche@pps.net

ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT/ SCHOOL SECRETARY

[Students / Attendance / Enrollment]

Kirsten Crombie

kcrombie@pps.net

Website: www.pps.net/westsylvan
Location: 8111 Southwest West Slope Drive, Portland, OR, USA