Bulldog Bulletin

Heads up! PPS Communications Department Intern, Cole Howell, visited Richmond today during lunch recess to take candid photos of our students for the school district's profile book. We notified Cole of which student's parents have not given consent in ParentVUE to have their child's photo used for district/school purposes, and he made sure to wear a visible PPS badge at all times.

If your child comes home talking about "a man who took my picture at recess today", they're very likely referring to Cole Howell, but please feel free to reach out to me if you have any additional questions or concerns.

This is a friendly reminder that schools will be closed on Monday, January 26th & Tuesday, January 27th for our teacher grading and planning days.

Quarter 2 report cards will be available to JDLI Richmond families on ParentVUE on 2/13. DLI teachers require additional time to complete report cards due to the dual language grades and additional students that many of our teachers have.

Just like adults, we have many students who perform better at certain times of the day, and with our school uniquely being a 50/50 dual language program, over time our educators have found that it is helpful to offer Japanese in the morning for half of the school year, and in the afternoon in the other half of the school year to balance the levels of engagement we see throughout the day.

This info only impacts students with two teachers (one Japanese teacher & one English teacher). If your child only has one integrated teacher who teaches both languages throughout the school day, you can disregard this message.

"Switch day" at Richmond takes place on the first day of the 3rd quarter (halfway through the school year). This year our "switch day" will be on Wednesday, January 28th.

Students who currently begin their school day in Japanese class, will now begin their school day in English class for the remainder of this school year, and vice versa if they currently begin their school day in English class.

Your child will still have the same classmates and teachers as they do now, and they will have the same Specials as they do now. The only change taking place is what time of day they learn Japanese.

It has been unusually sunny these days, so our students are staying after school on our playground to enjoy some extra playtime with their friends. This is a wonderful way for Richmond families and friends to connect outside of the busy school day and I hope to see it continue, especially as the weather warms up later this year.

In order to maintain a fun and safe playground atmosphere for our school community, parents and caretakers will need to provide close supervision of their own children after school. After about 2:37ish our staff are officially "off duty" and begin their after school prep and meeting times.

Although Richmond's outdoor areas become public spaces after hours, it is important to remember that Art4Life staff are still running our childcare program until 6pm and their students are expected to follow all of the usual school rules for recess. If your child is also outside during Art4Life, it would be greatly appreciated if our families could help reinforce our recess rules to maintain a safe and inclusive environment for everyone outside.

To support our school community, please help us reinforce these playground expectations:

• 🚽 Our restrooms are closed after school. Students should use the restroom before dismissal so they do not have an emergency while playing outside.
• 🌿 Support our Super Green Team! Please do not climb trees, especially in our garden, and be gentle to the plants, flowers and other nature that make our campus so beautiful. Shoutout to our PTA Super Green Team for dedicating so much time and energy to our campus.
• 🛝 Recess rules keep us safe. Richmond's outdoor areas become open to the public outside of school hours, so let's be good role models for our neighbors by following all recess expectations outside, even when our teachers are not around.
• 🤝 Art4Life staff are only responsible for the children in their program. It can be challenging to run a safe and fun childcare program for Richmond families if our visiting families are not carefully supervising their own children after school. Altercations between Art4Life students and non-Art4Life students can create unwanted awkward and negative interactions for Art4Life staff. When unsupervised children behave in unsafe or unkind ways, Art4Life staff are oftentimes forced to move their students to alternative locations or back inside, which is definitely not cool.
• 🦮 Dogs should be on leash and their owners should be picking up after them. Although many of us are dog-lovers, not everyone is, and an off leash dog can be very scary for some of our students. Please keep all pets on leashes and come prepared to pick up any "surprises" they leave on our campus, including our field. Stepping in poop during school is a quick way to ruin a student's day!

Shoutout To Our AMAZING Educators!

This article recognizes Richmond Elementary School as one of only 7 schools in PPS who are "beating the odds" when it comes to exceeding expectations when analyzing 3rd grade literacy scores against poverty rates.

The large yellow dot in the graph from this second article represents Richmond. It shows that based on our students’ socio-economic status, only 65% are expected to be proficient in reading, but in reality 87% of our 3rd graders are showing proficiency! 🥳

If you dig even deeper into this data, you will also see that not all PPS schools labeled as "more affluent" are achieving at the expected high levels that research would predict. Amongst the schools labeled as "more affluent", Richmond is doing exceptionally well (large yellow dot).

Way to go, Richmond!!! This is very much a direct result of every staff member’s dedication to our students’ learning, wellness and growth.

If you have friends or family members in the area looking for an excellent school for their child, please feel free to share this information with them.

Although PPS provided schools with the "ICE: Know Your Rights" lessons for all K-5 schools, which were taught at Richmond last month by our school counselors, there are many great resources available for continuing those sensitive but important conversations at home with our children. Attached below are two resources that may be helpful for families.

NEW! "Richmond's Questions & Connections" section of the Bulldog Bulletin will include questions, concerns, and personal stories from our own Richmond families and students.

CLICK HERE TO SUBMIT YOUR FEEDBACK FOR NEXT WEEK'S BULLDOG BULLETIN. The google form is very short (2 questions) and you can choose to share as little or as much as you'd like.

Here is this week's shared story...

There was a fun story in the paper about the Prime Minister of Japan playing drums with the PM of South Korea during a press conference - it included a short, endearing video you can watch here.

"President Lee Jae Myung of South Korea and Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi of Japan jammed to K-pop during a summit to reaffirm their relationship amid growing political and economic uncertainty."

NEW! "Richmond's Questions & Connections" section of the Bulldog Bulletin will include questions, concerns, and personal stories from our own Richmond families and students.

CLICK HERE TO SUBMIT YOUR FEEDBACK FOR NEXT WEEK'S BULLDOG BULLETIN. The google form is very short (2 questions) and you can choose to share as little or as much as you'd like.

Here are this week's questions...

1) I’m curious about how each grade level divides the day between languages and which subjects are taught in which languages. I’ve noticed that now in 2nd grade it seems my child is in Japanese class for a longer period before they switch. Where as in kinder it seems pretty evenly divided. I’m just curious about the reasoning and also which teacher instructs on math and science and art or if both teachers do it all? Thanks!

As a 50/50 Japanese DLI program it is expected that our teachers' schedules reflect a 50/50 language experience for each student. Each grade level has AM/PM recess, lunch, lunch recess, Specials (art, PE, library), and WIN time (intervention & enrichment block for 1st-5th grade) at staggered times throughout the day. Our teachers calculate how many instructional minutes the students receive in the morning versus the afternoon, then they decide on when the "switch time" should be in the middle of the day.

The district also provides us with the required minutes for each subject level that must be imbedded in each student's day, so that also impacts when each teacher's switch time might be.

For example, if your child has morning recess and specials in the morning, they have less instructional minutes with their morning teacher to meet their reading and math minutes required in PPS, so that team is likely to switch later in the day than a team who have recess and specials in the afternoon. Overall, the scheduling goal is always to provide 50/50 instructional minutes in each language, not including recesses, lunch, specials or WIN, while meeting the required minutes per subject area.

2) What AI tools/resources do students use, if any? If used by students, are there options to limit access?

Richmond was one of the PPS schools selected to participate in the High Impact Tutoring (HIT) pilot program for the 2025–26 school year. This initiative aims to accelerate reading growth through targeted, technology-supported tutoring during the 30-40 minute WIN "What I Need" block (intervention & enrichment block) for students in grades 1–5 (kindergarten students may join the pilot beginning in winter).

Amira is an AI-powered reading tutor built by researchers at Carnegie Mellon University. It listens as students read aloud, provides real-time personalized feedback, and offers instant coaching to build fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension skills. Research shows that students using Amira experience significant gains, often comparable to working with a human tutor.

We currently have about 15 students receiving WIN time reading support using Amira and the lessons are supported by our Instructional Coach and Interventionist Adelyn Fujiwara, who was previously a bilingual 3rd grade teacher at Richmond.

Aside from the use of Amira, PPS has not provided us with any AI tools for learning.

If you have a kindergarten or first grade student who would like to be in the Art Club for quarter 3 please fill out the form below! It is a lottery so I will inform parents who got into the club by the 29th of January. I also need 2-3 4th and 5th grade students who want to be a teaching assistant for this quarter. TAś also fill out the form below. Art club is a free opportunity for 12-14 students offered by the art Teacher Sparrow Sensei.

https://forms.gle/GhwHvAz9CAKNXAMR8

Richmond community-

We are sending out a notification to all families to increase head lice awareness. We have seen a rise in cases of lice in the Richmond community, and want to share what to look for and how to treat it if you find your student has it.

What is it?: Lice is a common issue among school aged children. It can only be transmitted through direct, physical contact, like a hug or leaning on a friend's shoulder. Lice do not jump, or live long off the head of a host. Indirect transmission may occur through sharing hair accessories, hats, or other personal items, but it is not likely. The highest cause of transmission is direct contact.

Lice is unrelated to hygiene practices, as it is only spread through close contact. Lice does not transmit any disease, but can be bothersome to treat if it goes unnoticed for a longer period of time. Anyone can get lice. Lice have no preferences for cleanliness, hair color, hair type, ethnicity or age

Check your child for lice by looking for small white specks near the scalp. If they are stuck to their hair, as it can't be moved off the hair shaft, it is likely they have lice. Dandruff may look like lice, but will easily come off a strand of hair. The eggs, or “Nits” are usually ¼ inch away from the scalp. If a child has had lice for a longer period of time, they may have active lice walking around the scalp. Lice need humans to live, and when they bite us for their food it causes the scalp to get itchy. Mature lice are about the size of a sesame seed.

How to treat it: Both nits and mature lice cannot live off of the head. Treatment may include topical creams, oils, or shampoos that kill mature lice. They may not always get nits, so a second treatment is often needed 7-10 days after the first treatment. These treatments can be purchased at any pharmacy or through a provider. It is important to follow directions closely! Treatment can be unsuccessful if not used as directed. After the initial treatment, all live lice should be gone!!! Nits may remain but can be brushed out with a special comb that comes with treatment. This is why it is recommended to treat 7-10 days after the first treatment, in case a nit was missed and hatched. Checking your child every day after the treatment for 10 days is important for decreasing reinfection. Once a head is free of lice for 10 days, lice is considered gone.

If you’re unsure if your student has lice, you can ask the school health aide to do a lice check, you could also make an appointment with their provider to do a lice check, or make an appointment with the school-based health center at Franklin High School (503-988-3370) or Cleveland High School (503-988-3350). This is the link to the MESD page with various head lice treatments and resources.

Bedding, clothing, and hats should be laundered in very hot water (120º F) on the same day or evening your child is treated. Items that cannot be machine washed (or placed in a hot dryer) can be vacuumed, dry cleaned, or stored in a sealed plastic bag for 2-3 days. Soak hair care tools in hot water (130º F) for at least 10 minutes. Heat may damage some plastic combs and brushes. Place these items in a sealed bag for 2-3 days.

If your child has lice, anyone else living in the same household should be checked too.

Here are a few other tips to decreasing lice transmission among elementary aged children:

• Check your child’s head weekly for signs of head lice

• Teach your child not to share or trade personal items

• Contain long hair in braids or ponytails

• Teach children to avoid head-to-head contact

Richmond is what it is because of teamwork! We had a productive front of school clean up in preparation for the prospective family open house on February 2nd. We raked, weeded, swept and pressure washed. We also got our new-to-us Richmond branded wheelbarrow! Thank you to Michelle Liebhardt for the wheelbarrow donation, to Megan Chouinard for the design and stencil and to Richard Antczak for painting it! Teamwork makes the dream work!

The newly branded wheelbarrow carried a few super cute inaugural loads today as we wrapped up another productive breakfast in the garden event!

Stay tuned for more info on the next Breakfast in the Garden event!

Volunteer sign up: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0A4CACAA2FABFCC43-61667146-newyears

Our annual Japanese New Year’s Festival is coming on Jan 31st, 2pm-5pm, at Richmond!

Volunteer Sign up: https://www.konstella.com/cd/pGmk3O

Purpose: Help us welcome prospective families and showcase our thriving Japanese Dual Language Program! This open house is essential for recruiting our incoming kindergarten class. Filling all seats ensures we maintain our school’s FTE and continue offering this unique program in our city.

Volunteer Requirements

• Must have an active background check completed prior to the event.

• Friendly, welcoming attitude—our volunteers are the first impression for new families!

Why Volunteer?

Your support helps families feel welcome and informed, ensuring the success of our program and the future of our school community. Together, we can keep this incredible Japanese Dual Language Program thriving!

Schedule & Duties

1. 7:45 AM Arrive and sign in at the office

2. 7:50–8:05 AM Assist with setting up 100 chairs in the cafeteria (11 volunteers).

Receive assigned duty and instructions.

1. 8:10–8:30 AM A variety of tasks:

1. Guest Check-In

2. Greeters at the main entrance, main floor stairwell, bottom of stairwell/breezeway and in the cafeteria

2. 9:30–10:00 AM Lead a group of approximately 10 guests to classroom observations (11 volunteers).

The first (virtual!) round of this year's Oregon Battle of the Books (OBOB) reading competition is coming up in just a few weeks: Sunday, February 1st.

Volunteer sign-up: https://forms.gle/BZYvS5oLYqqaz4tM7

OBOB depends on family/community volunteers to fill the many volunteer roles necessary to run the online battles. Please take a look at the volunteer roles and reach out with questions.

Here are a few quick FAQs - and there’s tons more information on the website!

• TRAINING is provided. Volunteer orientation via recording available on the website, along with extensive printed guidance; plus optional live training Wednesday 1/28 @ 6:30pm.

• SHIFTS are 2.5-2.75 hours long and take place on Sunday afternoon, 2/1. If you can only take a portion of a shift, let us know - we can probably slot you in!

VOLUNTEER ROLES:

• Moderator: Reads the questions, determines acceptability of responses per OBOB rules, documents answers given

• Scorekeeper/Zoom Facilitator: Scores the battle, manages Zoom logistics (needs to be on a laptop or desktop computer); troubleshoots answers with Moderator

• Backup volunteer: Troubleshoots, steps into other roles as needed.

We are also looking for support from anyone in the community who has a professional Zoom account that might be willing to let us use it to host one of our competition rooms.

Got a kid participating?

• You CAN be a Scorekeeper/Zoom facilitator for your students' battles.

• You WILL NOT be placed as a Moderator for your students' battles.

Volunteers will need to be on their own device if their student is in the battle.

• Check out more on the website:

https://sites.google.com/view/richmond-obob/volunteer

• Sign up form link:

https://forms.gle/BZYvS5oLYqqaz4tM7

Thank you!!

We are excited to announce that we will welcome 11 new interns coming to the JDLI program in April, 2026! There will be 8 interns at Richmond!

If you and your family are interested in hosting one of them, feel free to contact Haruka Takanuma, intern coordinator, at haruka.takanuma@oyanokai.org with your questions, concerns, or anything! We will host “Host Family Information session” soon, so stay tuned!

If you are interested in volunteering before, during, or after the event, please complete this form.