Duniway Dispatch
August 10, 2026
🚲 New Bike Racks at Duniway!!
💬 Principal's Message
Hello Duniway Families,
Happy August and I hope you all have been enjoying a great summer. I have had a great summer break and enjoyed a fun trip with my family to Italy and Austria in early July and have been taking in the great Portland summer weather since. We are back in the school office this week and are putting things in order for the upcoming 26-27 school year. Please see the items in this brief newsletter for updates on upcoming events and dates. We will be sending a longer newsletter early next week with more details related to the start of the school year.
As we approach the new school year, I wanted to share with you some exciting staffing updates. I am pleased to announce that we have hired former Duniway teacher Meghan Austin as our new Physical Education teacher. Meghan previously worked at Duniway as a part-time PE Teacher from 2018-24 and we are excited to welcome her back. Meghan will be sharing a more detailed introduction in the coming weeks. In addition, I am pleased to announce that Kyle Lawrence will be our new Music Teacher covering for Lisa Adams until she returns from maternity leave in January. Kyle comes to Duniway with recent elementary teaching experience in Portland and Newberg and he will also be sharing a more detailed introduction. Finally, I am excited to share the good news that we had 10 new bike racks installed on our campus over the summer. These racks were donated by the PBOT and provided needed bike rack space for our growing number of students who are biking to school (inspired by our awesome Bike Bus!). That is all the news I have to share for now and stay tuned for more information in our newsletter early next week.
Sincerely,
John Melvin
📅 Calendar
August 17: Class placement letters will be emailed to families with each student's teacher assignment
August 24: Welcome Back Meet and Greet, 8-9 a.m. on the Grassy Median at SE Reed College Place by the Main Entrance
August 26: Grades 1 through 5 - First day of school
August 31: Kindergarten - First day of school
September 16: Early Release Day - all students dismissed at 11:50 a.m.
September 17-18: Picture Days
September 24: Duniway Back to School Night, 6-7:30 p.m.
September 25: The Duniway Open Golf Tournament
🌱 Community Care Day this Saturday, August 15th, 10am-12 pm!
📚 School Supplies
We are continuing the Duniway tradition of having families donate funds to the school to allow for our staff to purchase the required supplies for the entire school year, rather than students bringing their own supplies. We are recommending a $50 per student school supply donation. If you are able, there is also an option to sponsor another student.
Please click SCHOOL SUPPLY FEE to pay your 2026-27 school supply donation(s).
If you would rather pay with cash or check (made payable to Duniway PTA), you can bring it to the office by ringing the buzzer by the main entrance on SE Reed College Place on school days between 8:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m.
If you haven't done so already, please join our community on Konstella. Konstella is a platform provided to us by the PTA to help connect parents, volunteer for school activities, and keep up to date on community events and activities. Link to Join Konstella.