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Atkinson Elementary School

5800 SE Division St

Portland, OR 97206

Office hours: Monday–Friday, 8 a.m.–3 p.m.

Office phone: 503-916-6333

Website: https://www.pps.net/atkinson

Dear Atkinson Community,

We hope you’ve had a wonderful, restful summer! We are so excited to welcome our students back to school soon.

A special welcome to all of the families who are new to Atkinson (70 new students so far, including Kindergarteners)! We are thrilled to welcome new students, families, and staff to our Atkinson Community this year. We hope you quickly feel the warmth, connection, and sense of belonging that make Atkinson such a special place.

As we busily prepare the building for the start of school, we want to share a few important updates and dates to help you get ready for the year ahead. They are all included below.

In service to students,

Debbie Armendariz

Principal

Atkinson Elementary School

darmenda@pps.net

Our school newsletter goes out every Friday. We encourage you to make it a weekly habit to read the newsletter, as it contains important information, reminders, upcoming events, and opportunities for our community.

You can also expect your child’s homeroom teacher to send a monthly newsletter at the beginning of each month with classroom-specific information and updates. We link those in the first newsletter of each month.

If you are new to PPS or have not yet activated your ParentSquare account, please do so as soon as possible. ParentSquare is our primary platform for school communication. Families receive messages through email, app, voice, or text, helping everyone stay informed and involved.

An account is automatically created for each parent or guardian using the contact information in our student information system. We encourage you to activate your account, download the free mobile app, set your language preferences, and choose how and when you’d like to receive messages.

More information can be found on the PPS website.

We are excited to welcome several new members to the Atkinson team this year!

• Margo Fultz, our new School Nurse. Ms. Vanisha will continue to serve Atkinson as our Student Health Assistant (SHA).

• Ms. Erika Durant, bilingual interventionist.

• Ms. Elena Miranda, Kindergarten EA supporting our DLI program.

• Ms. Sarah Trapido, ISC teacher serving students in grades 3–5.

• Ms. Diane Masini, additional 4th grade teacher on the English Scholars side.

• Scot Wile, additional Monday PE teacher.

We have some staff returning to different positions:

• Mr. Henry Cartagena, 5th grade DLI

• Ms. Christine Klein-Leong, 1st grade English Scholars

We are also very happy to have familiar faces returning to Atkinson:

• Ms. Laurie Schonkwiler is returning to cover Ms. Nunn’s absence in 3rd grade.

• Ms. Ginger Huizar is returning after a leave to continue in the role of Learning Center Teacher.

• Ms. Lilly, our School Counselor, will continue her maternity leave through October 4. We are delighted that we are able to provide continuity and consistency for our students during her leave with the substitute counsels that covered her leave last year. Ms. Bri Henderson will continue to be here Monday and Tuesday, and Ms. Kristen Lasher will be here Wednesday–Friday.

The fact that so many talented staff members are returning to Atkinson to support our students is a testament to the beautiful community we have created together. We are grateful for the care, commitment, and expertise that our staff bring to Atkinson every day.

Since the end of the school year, our enrollment has shifted, particularly in first and fourth grades. As a result, we made some shifts to our staffing and were allocated one additional homeroom teacher. This teacher was transferred to Atkinson from another PPS building where a staffing reduction was made. We received confirmation of the transfer late last week.

Our new homeroom structure will be:

• English Scholars: Two homerooms at each grade level, with the exception of 2nd grade and 5th grade.

• Dual Language Immersion: One homeroom at each grade level, continuing our historical DLI structure.

Our teachers return to Atkinson on Friday, August 21, after spending Thursday in district level training. Once they return, we will work together to finalize class lists. Families will then be able to view their student’s class assignment through ParentVUE.

You can find information about accessing ParentVUE here.

NEW PARENTVUE APP

All parents need to change to the new ParentVUE app at this time. Attached are instructions for parents using both Android and iPhone devices. If you have trouble, please contact the school office.

We sent a few messages over the summer to incoming 3rd grade and Kindergarten families with important information about the start of the year. If you did not receive it, please let us know so we can make sure we have the correct contact information for you. Please email Katie Carriker at kcarriker@pps.net if you need assistance.

Teacher and staff contact emails are on our website.

The Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) is repaving SE Division Street from SE 39th Avenue to SE 50th Avenue. Be aware of how this might affect your travel to Atkinson. Schedule and closure information can be found on the PBOT website.

PBOT’s contractors also completed sidewalk infill on SE Woodward between 57–58th Ave on the south edge of Clinton Park in July (website). You may notice that the area around the sidewalk is dusty with erosion. PBOT is working with a contractor to address that by reseeding, watering, and protecting the area between September 1–October 31.

• Thursday, August 20 — Connect to Kinder, 2:45–3:45 p.m., playground
• Sunday, August 23 — PTA Kinder Meet-Up, 11 a.m.–12 p.m., basketball court and back lawn
• Sunday, August 23 — PTA Welcome Back Pizza Party, 12–2 p.m., basketball court and back lawn
• Wednesday, August 26 — First day of school for grades 1–5
• Wednesday-Friday, August 26-28 — Kinder Ramp Up
• Friday, August 28 — Principal's Coffee, 8:10 a.m., cafeteria
• Monday, August 31 — First official day of school for Kindergarten
• Monday, August 31 — Principal's Coffee with Kinder Parents, 8:10 a.m., cafeteria
• Friday, September 4 — First Running Club at Lunch Recess
• Monday, September 7 — Labor Day, NO SCHOOL
• Thursday, September 10 — First PTA Meeting, 6:30 p.m., Clinton Park playground
• Friday, September 11 — PTA Popsicles on the Playground, 2:30–3:30 p.m.
• Thursday, September 17 — Back to School Night, 6:30 p.m.

Access the full school calendar here.