Bulldog Bulletin

This year's Oya No Kai auction winner for being principal for a day is 2nd grader Nico Bartholomew!

Principal Bartholomew will be serving as our fearless leader on Friday, March 13th. He will be very busy making announcements, supporting lunch and recess duty, visiting classrooms to ensure everyone is learning, and leading us through our fire drill at 12:45pm.

Principal Bartholomew comes to us as a highly qualified leader from Hirahara Sensei's homeroom class. He is known for his fun sense of humor, kind heart, and awesome soccer skills. I look forward to working alongside him this Friday.

Our very own Richmond 2nd grade girls basketball team won the Southeast Portland Girls Basketball Club championship! Their team name is The Flaming Cheetahs.

Please congratulate our 2nd grade CHAMPIONS: Charlie, June, Alma, Asuka, Yuna, Jane, Siena, Ruth, Sophia, Char, Fiona and Momoko! 🏆

Join us for our final Spirit Week of the school year! Our 5th grade student leaders came up with some fun and unique dress up days. We hope you enjoy them!

I received a few clarifying questions regarding Richmond's staffing updates for the 2026-2027 school year, and I wanted to address them below.

Question: What will 1st and 2nd grade look like next year? Can you please clarify how the budget cuts impact these grade levels?

Response: As a part of our 2.0 FTE reductions in classroom teachers, we are losing one teacher in 2nd grade due to a retirement, and one teacher in 1st grade. This will result in larger class sizes in 1st grade as the entire district moves towards larger K-12 class sizes as a result of the teacher cuts.

We currently have 4 classes in 1st grade, but next year we will be back to having 3 classes in 1st grade. This will increase our class sizes from this year's 23-24 students per class (95 current 1st graders in 4 classes) to 29-30 students per class (89 rising 1st graders in 3 classes).

2nd grade is remaining the same with 3 classes, but with a retirement in 2nd grade at the end of this school year, we were able to move Adelyn Sensei from her current support staff position back into a classroom teacher position. 2nd grade class sizes will be 31-32 students per class (95 rising 2nd graders).

Both 1st and 2nd grade will have the same Japanese DLI model as our current 2nd, 3rd & 5th grade classes, which is a two-teacher team (one English teacher + one Japanese teacher), and one integrated teacher (one teacher who teaches both languages).

Our JDLI 8th graders are holding a Parent's Night Out fundraiser for their Japan Research Residency academic experience. Click this link to sign up. Payment can be sent to Venmo: @Erin-Robertson-Otis

Hello Families!

This spring we are excited to offer our Cleveland Flag Football League for the 4rd season in a row. This league will allow our youth to maintain their fitness as well as learn and develop football skills and fundamentals. Registration has begun and spots are limited.

The season begins March 31st and is open to all 2nd-7th graders of all genders. There will be 3 Divisions (2nd/3rd, 4th/5th, 6th/7th). If enough girls register we will provide a girls division as well. Practices will be held every Tues & Thurs 5PM - 6:30PM at Westmoreland Sports Field, with games every Saturday morning at the Cleveland Sports Stadium. This year the season will end on May 19th, just before Memorial Day weekend.

The fee is $50 or $25 Free/Reduced Lunch. This is due on or before the first official day of practice.

Register Here: https://students.arbitersports.com/programs/cleveland-youth-sports-flag-football-registration-spring-2026

Remember spots are limited so sign up as soon as possible,

Go Warriors!

Mark Your Calendars:

Official registration opens this Wednesday, March 11th, at 7:00 PM! This registration page will also include some project inspiration: https://forms.gle/sdQdFztdSjVeQXsZ9

Get ready to unleash your inner scientist!

Join us Friday, April 17th, to celebrate and support our budding young researchers as they showcase their latest discoveries.

Please note: This is a participation event, not a contest. We want to celebrate curiosity in all its forms, so every type of project is not only welcome, but highly encouraged!

We Need Your Help!

This beloved event truly relies on our community—please watch for volunteer sign-ups coming soon.

Looking Ahead:

We are also looking for a few people interested in taking the helm for next year’s Science Fair. It’s a well-oiled machine, and we’d love to "show you the ropes" during this year's planning so you feel confident leading the way in 2027. Contact Chuck at chuck.huang@gmail.com if you'd be interested or like more information!

Breakfast in the Garden is happening on Saturday, March 14th, from 9am - noon. Our focus for March is weeding, pruning, getting the learning garden ready for spring, and general cleanup of the school grounds. Bring your loppers and pruners, and if you happen to have an orchard ladder we could borrow that would really help!

Thanks to everyone who braved the weather in February to join us!

RSVP here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0A4CACAA2FABFCC43-57183714-breakfast#/

We’re excited to share that our upcoming Plant Sale Fundraiser is just around the corner. This is a wonderful opportunity to support our school community while bringing home something beautiful for your garden, porch, or home.

We look forward to offering a lovely selection of plants for families and friends to enjoy.

The order form is not available just yet, but it will be coming soon, and we can’t wait to share more details with you.

Thank you for your continued support of our school!

Join other Richmond parents for a "Shameless Networking Party."

Come to meet new people, share skills and expertise, and learn about all the amazing skills and connections in our community. April 9th, 5:30 to 7:30 @blankslatebar

Spring Festival is happening May 9th from12-4pm and we are so excited! This year we are looking for new vendors, food trucks, and fun! This year their is one flat vendor fee ($60). Which goes to supporting the PTA. Are you interested in vending? reach out to Amy Kyler-Yano. Do you know a yummy food truck or food vendor? We are also looking for a vacation home donation to help us raise a little extra $ through a day of raffle. Do you have a vacation home at Black Butte, Sunriver, Eagle Crest or the Coast, you can donate for a week?

Reach out to amykyleryano@gmail.com or 503-298-0257

Please join us as we celebrate our Japanese interns wrapping up their year with Oya No Kai and our partner schools!

All the feels as we express our gratitude for our wonderful interns.

Program:

• Internship completion & Teachers appreciation

• Host families appreciation

• Interns performance and slideshow

Questions? Contact Haruka Takanuma, Intern Coordinator, at haruka.takanuma@oyanokai.org

Found 11 host families for all incoming interns!

Thank you to all families who joined The Host Curious party! (Special thanks to the Wolff family to host and the Fraizer family to plan!) It was amazing, and we have 11 amazing host families join the team!

We still have spots to host interns for the second half of the term, Oct, 2026-March, 2027!

If you are curious about hosting, now or future, stay tuned for our next host curious party in late Summer/early Fall.

Questions? Contact Haruka Takanuma, Intern Coordinator, at haruka.takanuma@oyanokai.org

Register NOW: https://oyanokai.org/westwind-2026/

Weekend 1: May 15 - 17

Weekend 2: May 22 - 25

Love the Oregon coast? Want to connect with other Japanese Dual Language Program families? A Westwind weekend is the perfect way to get to know families across the program, from kindergarten through high school.

Go to oyanokai.org/westwind/ to watch a short video and learn more about Westwind weekends.