Duniway Dispatch

• October 2: Fund Run
• October 7: OBOB Information Night
• October 9: Schools Closed - Statewide Inservice Day
• October 12-16: Book Fair
• October 15: Duniway Community Read, The Gift of Failure - 6:30 pm
• October 21: Early Release Day, 11:50 a.m. dismissal
• October 22: Picture Retakes, 8-10 a.m.
• October 23: Principal's Coffee , 8 a.m. in the Cafeteria
• October 28: Family Literacy Night - 6:00-7:30 pm
• October 29-30: Schools Closed - Grading and Planning Days

PPS District Calendar 2026-27

Hello Families,

Happy Friday to you all and I hope you have enjoyed a good week. It was great seeing so many of you turn out for our annual Back to School Night last night. The classrooms were packed and students did a great job showing their parents their school work and the exciting learning that has taken place in the first month of school. Speaking of learning, I announced last night the results of our annual 25-26 school year assessments and shared the good news that Duniway students grew in our three primary metrics of success last year. First, our Grades 3-5 students scoring proficient or above on the Smarter Balanced Language Arts Assessment grew from 70% to 77% which is a sizeable 7 point gain. Next, Grades 3-5 students scoring proficient or above on the Smarter Balanced Math Assessment grew from 73% to 75%. This two point gain, combined with a 5% increase in the 24-25 school year, equals a 7% gain over two years. Finally, our % of students with "good" or above school attendance grew from 88% to 91% which is also a great accomplishment. As we look ahead to this school year, we look to continue to grow in these metrics supported by our School Comprehensive Improvement Plan. I hope you all have a restful weekend and I look forward to seeing everyone next week as we enter the new month of October.

Sincerely,

John Melvin

The Duniway Fund Run is on Friday, October 2! Now’s the time to make your pledge and help us make one of Duniway PTA’s biggest fundraisers of the year a success.

🫶 Pledge: Make a flat donation or pledge per lap. Most students run 6–14 laps.

📣 Share: Send your student’s fundraising page to grandparents, family, friends, and neighbors and invite them to support your runner, too. Encourage your kids to make calls and knock on doors with you!

MAKE A PLEDGE

Every contribution helps fund the programs, activities, and resources our PTA provides for Duniway students. Thank you for supporting our kids! 🍂

Sign-ups are LIVE for October! It's a great opportunity to see the kids and school in action! Please consider signing-up and supporting the staff. Check out Konstella to learn more.

• October Lunch Duty

• October Recess Duty

The Office of Teaching and Learning has outlined screentime guidance for adopted curricula for different grade bands. Visit the PPS website to learn more about screentime guidance for various digital tools.

These past few weeks, I’ve had the chance to welcome every classroom into the counseling space for our first lesson together! During our first lesson, we reviewed my role as the school counselor, which includes (but is not limited to!) :

✨ Small groups focused on topics like worries, friendship skills, and more
✨ Whole-class social-emotional learning lessons
✨ Individual student meetings
✨ Leadership opportunities for our 5th graders
✨ Lunch bunch

I also reminded our older students how to fill out an appointment request outside my door when they’d like to check in with me individually.

I’m looking forward to another year together 🙂

Here is the slideshow from the Fall 2026 TAG information given at back to school night. The recommended steps for a TAG referral is: contact the teacher to decide if a referral is appropriate, make the referral if the student demonstrates high proficiency of standards in the areas of mathematics, reading, and intellectual ability AND they are in need of services outside of the general curricular plan? If you have questions about TAG at Duniway please contact Sarah Erickson at serickson@pps.net.

Join Duniway parents, neighbors, teachers, and community members on October 15, 6:30–8:00 PM for a small-group discussion of The Gift of Failure by Jessica Lahey.

No need to read the book to participate! All community members are welcome, and childcare for Duniway students will be available (limited spots; RSVP required).

RSVP here and feel free to invite a neighbor, grandparent, or friend. We hope to see you there!

Results from 2025-2026 OSAS, ELPA, MAP Growth tests are now available to view in ParentVue for students who participated in these tests. Students participated in the following assessments:

• OSAS: grades 3-8 and 11

• ELPA: English Learner students in grades K-12

• MAP Growth Math: grades 6-8

• MAP Growth Reading: grades 3-8

There are two ways to view scores:

Method #1

• Log in to your ParentVue account and click on the ‘Documents’ tile. This will open a window showing various documents for your student.

• Look for documents named ‘2025-26_osas_results’, ‘2025-26_elpa_results’ and ‘2025-26_map_growth_results.’

This is the recommended method for viewing scores as this document includes line graphs and explanations and additional information not included in the ‘Test History’ view.

Method #2

• Log in to your ParentVue account and click on the ‘Test History’ tile. The test score screen includes test scores only and does not include explanations of scores or context for understanding scores.

• There is also a tile called ‘Student Assessment Descriptions’ that will take you to a webpage providing a description of the assessment and limited context for the results.

Because of our incredible Duniway community, the Foundation is able to fund programs that directly support our students, including:

• OMSI Outdoor School- Funding secured through 2028–29

• A Part Time Educational Assistant- Supporting students and teachers

• Reading Results & Enrichment- Reading and math support in partnership with the PTA

• Instructional Support- 31 volunteers provided 700+ hours of classroom support last year. This year we are hoping to start earlier!

• Classroom Art & Art Show- Celebrating creativity and bringing our community together

• Capital Projects- Exploring a covered basketball court, cooler play spaces, and auditorium improvements

The Foundation is a hands-on, community-powered organization. Board members help guide fundraising, support Foundation projects and events, build community connections, and bring new ideas to Duniway. Join us to help with the Year End Giving Campaign, 3rd annual Collaborative Art Show, and the 28th annual Spring Auction our LARGEST Duniway fundraiser.

You don't need fundraising experience! We’re looking for people with a variety of skills and perspectives, from events and communications to grant writing, financial, volunteer and project management, community engagement, and relationship building.

We currently have opportunities for President/Co-Presidents, Vice President, Secretary, and Co-Treasurers, as well as general voting board members. Leadership roles can be shared.

As I step down as President, one of my goals is to build a strong, collaborative leadership team so the Foundation doesn't depend on one person. We have a strong foundation to build on, and we’re excited to welcome new people, new ideas, and continued collaboration with our PTA.

Interested in learning more, fill out THIS SURVEY and I’ll reach back out to you. Join us at an upcoming board meeting on the third Tuesday of the month, meet the team, and see if the Foundation is a good fit for you.

Thank you for helping make Duniway such a special community!

Warmly,
Andrea Angell
Duniway Educational Foundation