MLC Weekly News and Notes

Hello, MLC community! We have a very FULL week ahead! Please make sure to read all the way through so you don't miss any important information.

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!

Our 10th graders will be taking the Pre-SAT this Wednesday. Please make sure they get a good night's sleep on Tuesday!

FALLoween is approaching! 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.

We look forward to a fabulous week!

Best,

Suezann & Darren

Welcome back to our 4x5's who have been exploring the great wet outdoors at Camp Wilani! Take a look at some pics below.

MLC Calendar website link

Monday October 16th

No Place For Hate lunch group with Beriah & Ethan

Annual (students from) Germany meet and greet with MLC HS

Tuesday October 17th

4x6 Electives

Students of Color lunch group 6x12 with Alberti

Wednesday October 18th

Pre SAT for 10th graders

1X3, 7X12 Electives

Thursday October 19th

Great Shakeout Earthquake Drill plus Fire Drill

SAGA lunch group 7x12 with Erewyn

4x6 Electives

Friday October 20th

Friday Focus 7x8

Coming soon:

October 22nd-27th - 6th grade Outdoor School has been postponed to spring (6th grade families: Check your email for a message from the district)

October 24th - Virtual Open House for 2024-25 incoming 6-12 interested families (Lottery)

October 27th - Falloween!

On Wednesday, October 18th, sophomores will take the PreACT. There is no cost to sophomores. The PreACT helps students prepare for college and careers. Please make sure your student gets a good night’s sleep and breakfast before the test. If you have questions, please contact your child’s school counselor. In prior years, sophomores took the PSAT. Beginning 2022-23, the Oregon Department of Education changed the required assessment from the PSAT to the PreACT.

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.

October is Substance Use Prevention month! Here is a great opportunity for families to gain insight into today's substance use and access, strategies for having conversations with your students, and resource information. Also...pizza!

Though the flyer says this is for IDW families, it is actually for any family in the PPS district.

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.

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.

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

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 September 23 & 30, October 7 & 21 (plus playoff games to come).

Sign up HERE

BottleDrop

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 bags for cans 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.

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 !