a day at the beach

انقر فوق الزر "ترجمة" أعلاه لقراءة هذا باللغة العربية

ይህንን በአማርኛ ለማንበብ ከላይ ያለውን ተርጉም ይጫኑ

Haga clic en el botón TRADUCIR de arriba para leer esto en español

Cliquez sur le bouton TRADUIRE ci-dessus pour lire ceci en français

Calling all kindergarteners!

It may only be March, but we’re already getting excited about welcoming our newest students this fall. If you have a child starting kindergarten in August, now is the time to register! Please help us spread the word — tell your friends and neighbors that we're ready to help them get the ball rolling.

This year, we have two kindergarten classes and we’re hoping to have two again next year. At the moment, though, we’re staffed for one class. The sooner families register, the better it helps us plan and increases the chances that we can keep our preferred second kindergarten teacher.

Click this link for registration information or call us at 503-916-6236.

We’re looking forward to another great year with our youngest Bobcats!

Do you love Beach AND have a child in preschool? You could be a Preschool Ambassador! We're looking for people who could talk to other preschool families about Beach kindergarten and connect them to our school office to support registration. We're not exactly sure what this would look like, yet, but thought we're reach out to see if there might be some people open to helping. If you're interested, please let me know! njohnson@pps.net

I hope you will join me for an upcoming Principal Chat. If it weren't for last year's principal chats, I would have had no idea how much technology use was on your collective mind. Those conversations led to the creation of our Technology Use Guidelines. What's on your mind now?

Friday, March 6 @ 8:00-9:00 - IN-PERSON

Tuesday, March 10 @ 5:00-6:00 - VIRTUAL - Click this link to join!

Think back on the month of February. 🤔 Did your child miss more than one day of school? If so, your child's attendance was either chronic, severe or acute (depending on how many days were missed).

Then "Good" and "Acceptable" attendance range is 90-100%. Students who have good or acceptable attendance are much more likely to graduate high school and learn important social and problem solving skills that they will use throughout their lives.

Did you know that high school graduates make, on average, a million dollars more than someone who does not complete high school, throughout their work life? Like you, we want our Bobcats to have everything they need to succeed in life. To do that, we need them in school.

Let Katrina (kdeboer@pps.net) know if we can help you get your child to school.

A HUGE thank you to BCU and our community for showing up to support Beach at Beach Rocks. With your help, BCU raised ~$4,300 for the Beach Community Union.

Check out the KGW news clip about Beach Rocks!

From BCU:

Ready to join in the fun?

Looking ahead to the next school year, we’d love to welcome new musicians, singers, event planners, graphic designers, photographers, sound and lighting engineers, and anyone in between to join in on the fun. You don’t have to be a pro (we sure aren't!), just enthusiastic and willing to help out. If you’re interested in sharing your talents and contributing to the 2027 event, please let us know using the link below. We’ll follow up at the end of the summer once planning kicks off. Click here to share your potential interest.

This month, our school-wide theme is all about Flexibility!

Flexibility is a super important skill. It means being able to adjust when things change, trying new ideas, and not getting stuck if something doesn't go exactly as planned. Think of it like bending instead of breaking!

For our students, this looks like:

Adapting to Change: Learning to adjust when routines shift, when a plan changes, or when there's a new way to complete an activity in the classroom.
Open-Mindedness: Being willing to consider different ideas or perspectives, even if they're not their own initial thought.
Problem-Solving: When faced with a challenge, students will be encouraged to think of alternative solutions rather than getting stuck on just one approach.
Going with the Flow: Understanding that sometimes we need to be able to accept situations that are out of our control and make the best of them.

We'll be practicing this every day, helping our students learn to "go with the flow" and embrace changes with a positive attitude. We encourage you to support this at home by talking about times you've had to be flexible, or by praising your child when they show adaptability in their daily life.

As you know, all Beach students take a literacy (Amira or MAP) and a math (iReady) assessment three times per year: September, January and April/May. I'd like to share some of our schoolwide outcomes with you. You should have received your child's results form your classroom teacher. If you haven't, I encourage you to reach out to them directly to ask for it.

In school, we think about levels of support in Tiers.

Tier I = All students receive this support. Research suggests that with strong classroom instruction, approximately 80% of students will get what they need in Tier I.
Tier II = Working within one year of grade level. Some students need Tier I plus another chance to learn the material in a new way. Research suggester that 10-15% of students will need this additional support.
Tier III = Working more than one year below grade level. Some students need Tier I, Tier II and additional support in a small group setting to meet their academic needs. Research suggests approximately 5-10% of students will need this level of support.

All schools aspire to meet these targets. It's challenging and uncommon for a variety of reasons, but we are committed to reaching these goals. Here are some highlights from our Winter data:

LITERACY

22% of students moved out of Tier III on the English test.
13% of students moved out of Tier III on the Spanish test. (It's helpful to keep in mind that the test is designed to measure reading progress at a native Spanish speaker level.)

This is incredibly exciting! Moving literacy outcomes is complicated and takes consistent focus and hard work on the part of both teachers and students. Literacy is our main focus this year and everyone is stepping up to do their part. Bobcats read!

MATH

We have increased the percentage of students working at grade level by 66% (18 percentage points).
We have moved 17% of students from Tier II to Tier I (9 percentage points).
We have decreased the percentage of students in Tier III 45% (9 percentage points).

These outstanding outcomes are the direct result of our students' consistent hard work and our teachers' thoughtful planning and skilled teaching. Well done, everyone!

The application window for Single Subject Acceleration in Math (SSA-M) runs from March 1st through the 31st. This program is designed for exceptional cases in grades 2–4 in which students have already met all of the math standards for the following grade level, though they have not been exposed to them in school. This ensures an appropriate rate and level of learning for students whose needs cannot be met by the standard curriculum.

Beach recently saw a high number of students participate in the assessment compared to other schools in the district, with 8% of those tested demonstrating the proficiency needed to accelerate by one grade level in math. If you believe your child needs this advancement to address their current math level, checking in with your child’s teacher before applying is a great idea to discuss their current progress. Please be sure to submit an application during the upcoming window if you believe SSA is right for your child.

I don't have additional information about this, but I'm adding it in case you want to ask a friend or call Ockley Green for more details. A parent let me know that this was advertised on the OGMS reader board.

From PPS Research, Assessment, and Accountability Department As required by the Oregon Department of Education, we are providing you with the 30 Day Notice and Opt Out Form for Statewide Assessments in English Language Arts and Mathematics. The notice is available in English, Spanish, Vietnamese, Chinese, Russian and Somali on the PPS Research, Assessment, and Accountability website. The opt-out form applies only to state assessments (OSAS) in English Language Arts (ELA) and mathematics. It does not apply to other district assessments.

Statewide testing is part of our balanced assessment system that offers all students, especially historically underserved students, opportunities to demonstrate their progress. Information provided by student assessments is critical in helping us determine district and school priorities for improving student learning.

Important Dates:

March 12 - This is the last day of winter term
March 16 @ 5:00pm - SUN applications will be sent out via ParentSquare
April 7 - First day of spring term
May 28 - Last day of spring term

To enroll your student in SUN you MUST fill out an SEI (Self Enhancement Inc.) application before registering them for classes. You can find the application using this link: https://prod.caseworthy.com/CaseWorthy/PortalDefault.aspx?DatabaseID=4585&#/PortalDefault

Once the application is complete, you’ll then sign your student(s) up using a class registration link. The link to register for classes will be sent out via email and ParentSquare. The link to register for Spring classes will be sent out Monday March 16th at 5pm. Classes are filled on a first come first served basis. Not every student will get into SUN.

SUN school is offered Mon-Thurs 2:30pm-5pm. If there is no school, SUN does not operate. On early release days SUN offers childcare from 11:50-3:00pm (spaces are limited). If you’re interested in childcare your student(s) must have an SEI application on file. Once the application is complete all you have to do is reach out to the SUN Site manager to get your student signed up. I’d also like to add that your student doesn’t need to be enrolled in classes to participate in childcare, they just need an application on file.

If you ever have any questions, comments, concerns, and/or suggestions please feel free to contact the SUN Site Manager via email: Marshaep@selfenhancement.org

This is our longest Restaurant Night ever! In fact, it's Restaurant Month! If you use the promo code "Beach" when ordering online or in-person at La Bonita this month. they will donate 20% of their proceeds to BCU. Tell your neighbors!

The Portland Housing Bureau is offering FREE repairs for all lead hazards in homes with children 5 and under and whose household income is at or below 80% Area Median Income. They are funded by a grant from HUD and are able to serve any family that meets these qualifications. They serve home owners, renters and in-home daycares. Reach out directly to them at the number below.

March Breakfast Menu

March K-5 Lunch Menu

Monday, March 2 - NO SCHOOL
Friday, March 6 - OBOB Competition
Friday, March 6 @ 8:00-9:00 - Principal Chat - IN-PERSON
Tuesday, March 10 @ 5:00-6:00 - Principal Chat - VIRTUAL - Click this link to join!
Wednesday, March 11 @ 11:50 - Early Release
Thursday, March 12 - Last day of SUN Winter Term
Monday, March 16 - SUN Applications sent via ParentSquare
March 23-27 - Spring Break - NO SCHOOL
Friday, April 3 - Grading Day - NO SCHOOL
Monday, April 6 - Planning Day - NO SCHOOL
Tuesday, April 7 - First day of SUN Spring Term
Wednesday, April 8 @ 2:45 - Site Council (Everyone welcome!)
Saturday, April 25 @ 6:00 - Beach Auction