Maplewood Memo
May 21st, 2025
August 22nd, 2025
PRINCIPAL'S MESSAGE
Welcome Back to School!
Dear Families,
I am thrilled to welcome you to a brand new school year at Maplewood! As your new principal, I feel both honored and excited to join this wonderful community of learners, educators, and families.
The start of a new year always brings with it a sense of possibility and joy. Our hallways will soon be filled with the energy of curious minds, laughter, friendships, and the enthusiasm of students eager to grow and discover. My goal is to ensure that every child feels valued, supported, and inspired each day they walk through our doors.
This year, we will focus on building strong partnerships between home and school, creating a safe and welcoming environment for all, and celebrating the unique gifts that every student brings to our community. I believe that when we work together—students, staff, and families—we can grow, achieve, and experience joyful learning.
I look forward to getting to know each of you and building lasting connections. Thank you for trusting us with the important work of educating your children. Let’s make this year one filled with curiosity, kindness, and success.
With excitement,
Dr. Roberti
Principal, Maplewood
August 24th
Kinder Kick-Off
(for incoming Kinders only)
4:00pm-5:30pm
August 26th
First full day for 1st-5th grades
August 28th-29th
1/2 Kinder class attends for one FULL day
(please refer to email sent prior for which day)
September 1st
Labor day
No school
September 2nd
First full day for ALL Kinders
(wear your shirts!)
September 2nd
New Parent Orientation with Principal
7:50am - 8:15am
September 17th
Early release
@11:50am
September 17th
Setup for Success Night
Current Events
Please be sure to go into ParentVue and do your yearly verification as soon as possible. When doing this, please verify your child's bus information. Bus information loads into our system and bus tags are printed and given to teachers on the first day of school. If you are a family that has requested a Hitcher in the past and need one again this year, please look up your stop on the Transportation site and email me under a separate email all of the information below (You DO NOT need to do this if your stop is correct in the system).
Bus #
Bus stop #
Bus stop address
Bus times for drop-off and pick-up
If your morning bus is different from the drop-off bus, I will need both sets of bus information.
I cannot put in for a hitcher without this information.
Also, please make sure to notify your child’s teacher of after-school dismissal plans. They will need to know how to release your child-Bus, Champions, Atlas, Zen Kids, walk home, parent pick-up? If someone other than yourself is picking up your child, the teacher needs to be notified. If your child is riding the bus home with another student or getting off at another student’s stop, your child’s teacher and the office need to be notified as your child will need a special day pass to be let off at a different stop (even if it is the same bus). Please be sure to notify the office not later than noon with any changes. Best practice is to send a note with your child to give to his teacher in the morning with any bus pass needs, so we can make passes right away and return them to their teacher. We do not always get to our emails late in the day as the office gets busy.
Thanks in advance for helping us to keep your children safe.
Alicia Drury,
Administrative Assistant 1
Maplewood Elementary
aldrury@pps.net
Buses
If you have questions your bus stop including:
- not seeing information on ParentVUE
- need to change students bus stop
- add a bus transportation for your student
Parent Square
After users are added to ParentSquare by the school or district, they will receive all messages from the school even if they have not registered their account. However, users need to register their account to participate in two-way communication features.
If you have not already, there are three ways a user can register their ParentSquare account:
- Click the activation link in an email or text (click here for notification examples.)
- Sign in to ParentSquare https://www.parentsquare.com/signin using the contact information (email or phone number) that matches the data in ParentSquare.
- Click the link in a post or message.
Users who did not register previously in response to an invitation, will be asked to register the first time they click on a link to sign in or sign up. For example, if an unregistered parent/guardian receives a post with parent-teacher conference sign ups, clicking the link to sign up for the conference will first lead them through the process of registering their ParentSquare account.
Office
Welcome our new Secretary!
We have a new principal secretary here in the office. Below is a brief introduction, but feel free to stop by and say hello!
Hi there, I'm Alicia, After spending 20 years as the receptionist at a private school on the north shore of Massachusetts, I recently relocated to Portland. I am enjoying finding new places to eat, get coffee, and go hiking. All recommendations welcomed. I've heard great things about the parent community and look forward to meeting you all!
Hola, soy Alicia. Después de 20 años como recepcionista en un colegio privado en la costa norte de Massachusetts, me mudé recientemente a Portland. Disfruto descubriendo nuevos lugares para comer, tomar un cafecito y hacer senderismo. Agradezco cualquier recomendación. He oído hablar muy bien de la comunidad de padres y espero conocerlos a todos.
Teachers will be taking attendance at 8:00am. If your student will get to their classroom any time past 8:00am please have them stop by the office for a pass. The PPS district office has moved up the time that the robocalls go out for absences. We can adjust their attendance in the office and prevent a worrying automated call from the attendance office!
If you volunteer or are in the building for any reason, you must stop by the office and sign in to our RAPTOR system. Please ensure that your background checks have been completed and are not expired. Be sure to bring your ID's as we will be scanning them into our system. Please help us make Maplewood safe by all volunteers signing in, wearing a name badge with their name and signing out. Office staff are here to help you. THANK YOU!
If your child is enrolled in any after school activities or aftercare and they will be absent from them for any reason please reach out to your contact for that club, class or activity and let them know your child will be absent. This will save the office panicked calls from these organizations when they are missing a child!
If you need to notify the office about your child's dismissal or absence, please be sure to email both of the Office Admins or call the office. This will ensure that your child's teacher gets the message of the excused absence or after school plans.
Please be sure to call and not email dismissal changes, if after 12:00pm as the office gets busy at the end of the day and we may not see an email.
Alicia Drury - aldrury@pps.net. Ext. 72477, Monday through Friday, 7:30-3:30pm
Megan Swader - mswader@pps.net. Ext. 72485 , Monday through Friday 7:30-11:30am
Notes from the Kitchen
News from Nursing
Medications
- Must be in original packaging
- Must have dosage amount listed
- Cannot accept expired medication
Julie (our wonderful SHA) will be able to answer any additional questions.
Vaccines play a crucial role in protecting our students from serious illnesses and help keep our community safe.
Parents/ Guardians of students who are due to receive vaccines should receive a letter in the mail. Please check if your child’s vaccinations are current, including their recommended flu shot, and contact your medical provider or any of the resources listed below.
Multnomah County Student Health Centers
Multnomah County Vaccination Clinic (English)
Needing Free Health Care?
Student Health Centers (here and here) and Multnomah County Health Department's ongoing, free Immunization Clinic.
PTA
Welcome to a new year with new excitement and so many possibilities for volunteering!! I am Heather Jones, your Maplewood PTA Volunteer Coordinator for the year. Your PTA board is already hard at work getting events planned and organizing behind the scenes. That said, I will not have all the volunteer information for you until after our first board meeting. So what does that mean?? It means you are welcome to contact me with questions but just know that I will send out all the volunteer communication when I have it ready!!
All volunteer information can be found at maplewoodpta.com/volunteer and I will let you know when it is all up to date and ready to explore!!
In the meantime I have set up a sign up for room parents on our volunteer signup page. Please check it out and sign up to be a room parent here: https://signup.com/go/JemtUGJ
Contact me at maplewoodvolcoord@gmail.com and I will see you all soon!!
Student Rights and Responsibilities
PPS has created a Slide Deck with all parts of the Student Rights and Responsibilities Handbook.
FLYERS
Strum, sing, and smile with The Ukulele Project’s afterschool Music Exploration class! Kids explore music and learn to play the ukulele through fun games, silly songs, and creative jam sessions — no experience needed. Our playful approach builds confidence, sparks creativity, and helps kids make music and friends. Every session brings new songs and surprises, so there’s always something fresh to play!
Spaces are limited — we expect this class to sell out. Sign up now to make sure you are guaranteed a spot.
Check out our youtube video: “What is the Ukulele Project?”
For more info and to register, visit: www.theukuleleproject.com
STEM FUNdamentals using LEGO® Materials
Level up your engineering skills with Play-Well TEKnologies and tens of thousands of LEGO® parts! Apply real-world concepts in physics, engineering, and architecture through engineer-designed projects. Projects are rotated seasonally to ensure that even returning students get a new experience, so join us to design and build as never before and explore your craziest ideas.
$ 150.00
Dates Sep 22, 2025 - Oct 27, 2025 (Mondays)
6 meetings
Times 2:30 pm - 4:00 pm Pacific Time
Ages Grades K-3
Questions? Contact Jessica Wall at jessica@play-well.org
Register at our website: https://play-well-registration.com/registration/new/113540
Minecraft Engineering using LEGO® Materials
$ 125.00
Dates Nov 3, 2025 - Dec 8, 2025 (Mondays)
5 meetings
No classes: Nov 24, 2025
Times 2:30 pm - 4:00 pm Pacific Time
Ages Grades K-3
Questions? Contact Jessica Wall at jessica@play-well.org
Register at our website: https://play-well-registration.com/registration/new/113541
