Capitol Hill Weekly Update

We’re excited for Back to School Night and the chance to welcome families into the building, connect with one another, and give you a glimpse into your child’s school day! We’ll begin together in the cafeteria at 5:30 p.m. for a brief welcome, and then families will head to classrooms.

A little help from our grown-ups: Please supervise your children throughout the evening and help them follow our schoolwide expectations—walk inside, keep hands, feet, and objects to yourself, and use an appropriate voice level. Please also enjoy all food in the cafeteria—we’d appreciate your help in keeping crumbs and spills in one space.

We’ll have information and help tables for Oregon Battle of the Books (OBOB), Champions, ParentVUE & ParentSquare Support, and our PTA. The PTA will also be providing ice cream treats for everyone! 🍦

Come a little early! Beginning at 5:15, stop by the library to meet a representative from Multnomah County Library, learn about library resources, get help accessing Library Connect, or sign up for a library card. We can’t wait to see you!.

As part of our regular school safety practices, Capitol Hill will conduct a lockdown drill on Tuesday, September 22 at 9:00 a.m. Schools conduct two lockdown drills each year, and our procedures and preparation follow PPS and State of Oregon school safety guidance.

In preparation for the drill, our counselor, Martin Yonn, has been teaching K–2 students a research-informed safety lesson aligned with American School Counselor Association (ASCA) standards for student safety and self-management. The lesson is specifically designed for young children and teaches personal safety skills and how to respond during a lockdown. Students in grades 3–5 will be prepared for the drill by their homeroom teachers.

For our younger students, the lesson normalizes safety drills as something we practice “just in case”—just like a fire drill—and teaches students to listen to trusted adults, remain calm, and practice being quiet and out of sight.

Our lockdown procedure is “Locks, Lights, Out of Sight.” During a lockdown, students move to a safe location, stay out of sight, remain silent, and follow the directions of the adults with them. Staff secure classrooms, turn off lights, move students away from view, account for students, and remain in place until first responders open the door.

Our goal is for students to feel prepared and confident about what to do without focusing on frightening scenarios. The K–2 lesson intentionally avoids discussion of weapons or violence and gives students opportunities to practice, ask questions, and learn what to do if they are somewhere other than their classroom when a drill occurs.

A huge thank you to all the families who joined us for our first Volunteer Training! We appreciated not only your time, but the thoughtful conversation and your commitment to helping create a safe, caring community for all of our children. Volunteers sometimes find themselves navigating unexpected situations with students, so understanding our school expectations, boundaries, and procedures helps keep you and our students safe and supported. If you'd like to volunteer and haven't attended a training yet, please join us for our next session on Monday, October 5, from 8:15–9:15 a.m. We’d love to have you!

Every Capitol Hill classroom has an Effective Classroom Practices (ECP) Plan that describes the routines, expectations, and supports teachers use to create a safe, welcoming, and productive learning environment.

While we share schoolwide values are--Integrity & Kindness, Safety & Wellbeing, Respect & Honesty and Growth Mindset——each classroom community is unique. ECP Plans show families how those expectations come to life in their child’s classroom, including how teachers build relationships and belonging, teach and reinforce routines, recognize positive behavior, support emotional regulation, respond when students need additional help, and partner with families.

We are sharing these plans because predictability and consistency help children thrive, and families are important partners in that work. We invite you to read your child’s ECP Plan so you know what they can expect at school and how we are working together to help every student feel connected, capable, and ready to learn.

Mrs. Connelly

Mrs. Parker

Mrs. Jendrzejek

Mrs. Casey

Ms. Bolgioni

Mrs. Vo

Mrs. Caron

Ms. Fronk

Mrs. Standish

Ms. Younie

Ms. Anderson

Ms. Dorris

Mr. Gustin

Mr. Longfellow

Mrs. Boyd

Ms. Daviso

Mrs. Marienburg

The ECP Plans are part of Capitol Hill’s larger School Climate Plan, which describes how we work together across the entire school to create a community where students feel safe, valued, connected, and ready to learn. The plan outlines our shared expectations as well as the schoolwide practices we use to build belonging, teach social-emotional and behavioral skills, recognize positive behavior, support emotional regulation, and respond when students need additional support. It also explains our tiered system of interventions and the ways we partner with families and use feedback and data to continually strengthen our school climate. The School Climate Plan provides the schoolwide framework; each teacher’s ECP Plan shows what that framework looks like in their individual classroom.

The TAG Family Night for Capitol Hill will be part of our Back to School Night this year, held on Thursday, September 24. Please join us to learn more about the TAG identification process and how services are provided to students. We’ll have a presentation with our TAG Coordinator, Mrs. Goodrich, in the Art Room, 6-6:30.

If you would like to start the TAG evaluation and identification process for your student, please click here to complete the referral form.

You can learn more about the PPS TAG Department on the website.

Walk + Roll to School Day

- Date: Wednesday, October 7, 2026
- Meet at Moonlight Grill parking lot at 7:15am
- We will walk, bike and roll to school at ~7:35am
- Coffee, snacks and prizes will be provided
- Please wear your helmet and reflective or bright colored clothes

Your child’s school pictures are now available! To view them online, please log in to your account at mylifetouch.com. If you don’t have an account yet, you can create one using your email address. You’ll need your student’s ID number or their portrait id and access code to locate their photos.

The PTA is looking for volunteers to help with Walk + Roll to School Day on Wednesday, October 7.

Volunteers will be stationed at key intersections and turns along the route to help students and families stay on track and alert drivers that a large group of cyclists and pedestrians is approaching.

Event details:

• Meet at the Moonlight Grill parking lot at 7:15 a.m.
• The group will begin walking, biking, and rolling to school at approximately 7:35 a.m.
• Coffee and snacks will be provided.

If you are available to help, please contact volunteer@capitolhillpta.org.

Even if you cannot volunteer, please come to this fun and active start to the school day!

Thank you for helping our students and families travel safely to school.

Oregon Battle of the Books (OBOB) is a statewide voluntary reading program. Teams of 3rd - 5th graders read the same 16 books and then compete in battles to test their comprehension and memory of the books! The winning team will go on to the regional battles and may go on to the state tournament! Is your student interested in OBOB? If yes, here are your next steps:

1. Form a team! Teams can be a minimum of two kids (not ideal) or as many as five (four "players" and one alternate). The team will need an adult coach (and a name)!

2. Once your team is formed, you will need to:

a. Have each player complete an Individual Permission Form and turn into the school office. Permission forms can be found in the library or at the OBOB bulletin board (in the 3rd/4th grade lower hallway by the side exit door to the parking lot).

b. Each team coach will need to complete the 2026-27 OBOB Team Contract which can be found in the same locations! To reiterate - we only need one of these per team.

(i). If you want to participate and do not have a team: Please fill out an individual permission form and skip step b for now!

3. We need all of the permission forms and team contracts by the end of October! Then team coaches - look for an invitation for a zoom meeting where we will talk logistics and answer all of your questions (hopefully)! Quick note - do not be intimidated by coaching! We are here to answer your questions and support your process (and ultimately your kiddos' journey)!

In the meantime, please reach out to Marianne (mariannemajors@gmail.com) or Bri (brisuedew@gmail.com) if you have any questions. We will have a table at Back to School Night and will be happy to answer your questions (or give you all the forms), so stop by and see us!

Thanks and happy reading!

The PTA is doing a staff appreciation coffee drive next week, September 21st–25th. There will be a tub in the front entry way for students & families to donate coffee, tea, shelf-stable add ons: creamer, honey, sugar, syrups, (you name it.) Anything to keep our educators happy and caffeinated!

Monday 9/21-Chicken Dumplings

Tuesday 9/22-Chicken Tenders

Wednesday 9/23-Buttermilk Pancakes with Chicken Sausage

Thursday 9/24-Cheese or Pepperoni Pizza

Friday 9/25-Hamburger or Cheeseburger

Our school year calendar has all of the important school-related dates for your reference.

• 9/24-Back to School Night-5:30-6:30 PM
• 10/5-Volunteer Training, 8:15-9:15 AM
• 10/7-Walk & Roll to School
• 10/8-Principal's Coffee, 8:30-9:30 AM
• 10/9-No School
• 10/13-10/16-Scholastic Book Fair
• 10/14-PTA Meeting
• 10/16-VIP Day
• 10/21-Early Release (11:50 AM)
• 10/23-Big Boo
• 10/27-Picture Re-Take Day
• 10/29-No School
• 10/30-No School
  
  

Here is a link to this year's school calendar.