Astor Connection

Dear Families,

It's Fiesta Latina this week on Thursday, Oct 1, from 5 to 6:30pm! Join our community as we celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month with food, music, and fun! A big shout out to Ms. Espinoza for organizing, and the PTSO for their support, too. Hope to see you there!

Picture Day is this week, too! Grade K-5 take photos on the morning of Tuesday September 29th. And, MS students have their photos taken on Sept 30th in the morning. If your student is out one of those days or mornings, then please connect with your student's teacher to be sure they get to a time that the photographer is on campus.

And, Wednesday the 30th of Sept is Wear Orange Day. I invite you to wear an orange shirt in solidarity with Native students, families, and communities. See more info below.

Last week, students wrapped up their first of three assessments (fall, winter and spring). While you'll receive these reports at conferences, you can find the reports by accessing them in your student's PPS page. You can find information below. For these results and the report cards which come out in early November, we ask that you hold questions for conferences as this will be the topic of that meet.

Speaking of conferences, you can still sign up for November 23rd and 24th conferences! Conference are sign up are at the links here - K-5 is here and MS is here. This is a great time to connect with your student's teacher about academic and other school based goal setting, see if you student is progressing, share any questions, and build school-family partnership. You can learn more about conferences here.

Finally, next week, we expect the draft scenarios of the district's right sizing efforts to be released. I'll be working to message out the scenarios and our next steps whether Astor K8 is a part of any lists or not. I'm planning a session with our PTSO in mid-October to share resources and info with our community, as well. In the mean time, if you have any questions, either see the right sizing info below or reach out to me directly at brobertson@pps.net.

I hope your week is great. Please don't hesitate to reach out if you need any support. Our team is here to help!

Warmly,

Mr. Robertson
Principal, Astor K–8

Blake Robertson

Principal @ Astor

The Portland Public Schools Indian Education Program will honor Orange Shirt Day on Wednesday, September 30, 2026, in solidarity with Native students, families, and communities. This day serves as a reminder of the impact of residential and boarding schools on Native peoples and affirms our commitment that every child matters. We encourage all staff and students to wear an orange shirt to school this day as a visible sign of support and solidarity. We also recommend promoting Orange Shirt Day Awareness 1-2 weeks up to September 30th via posters, flyers, etc.

Announcement

Orange Shirt Society Guides & Resources

Ms. Espinoza could use your help to make Fiesta Latina a success! Sign-up here to volunteer for the event: https://forms.gle/AyBdGvuCDYWJRBTM7

Thank you in advance for your help.

Did you know that the Run for Astor is the school’s biggest fundraiser of the year? Money raised at this event goes straight to the school, not the PTSO, for student supplies & other items directly for student use. How can we support this fundraising effort?

• Encourage students to get sponsorships from friends and family.

• Invite your place of work, or businesses that you have a connection to, to support by making a donation to the school here.

Stay up to date on all the happenings and meetings at the PPS website here.

See the fall PTSO After School Activity Calendar here

Astor Handbook with Calendar is here.

PPS District Calendar is here - https://www.pps.net/calendar

September

29th/30th - School Picture Day!

30th - Wear Orange Day - People wear orange shirts to recognize the legacy of the residential school system, honor Indigenous survivors, and affirm that "Every Child Matters."

October here

1st.- Fiesta Latina - 5pm to 6:30pm

6th - Early Release for MS at 3:15pm

9th - No School - Statewide in-service Day

12th - Indigenous Peoples Day

16th - Principal Coffee Chat

21st - Picture Retake Day and Early Release @ 12:45pm

26th - Spirit Week Begins!

27th - Site Council 5pm

28th- Quarter 1 Ends

29th/30th- No School

November here

2nd - First Day of Q2

3rd-6th - Outdoor School for 6th grade

11th - No School - Veteran's Day

12th - Astor MS Night at 6:30pm

13th - Principal's Coffee Chat

16th - 20th - Book Fair!

17th - Site Council

23rd/24th - Fall Conferences - Conference are sign up are at the links here - K-5 is here and MS is here.

December here

10th - MS Band Performance

11th - Principal Coffee Chat

14th - Spirit Week!

15th- Site Council

16th- Early release at 12:45pm for all students

17th- Mid-Term for MS

17th - Grade 3-5 Winter Performance 6:30pm

21st - Start of Winter Break

January here

4th - First day back from winter break!

Did you know that our PTSO has curated a lot of the after school activities at Astor? You can learn more about them at the links below. Thanks to their partnership in building these out for our students.

Astor After School Program - After School Activity Calendar

BRAVO Enrollment has begun! Now is the time to get registered for BRAVO this 2026-2027 school year.

BRAVO provides no cost, high‑quality ensemble instruction that supports both beginning and returning students. Our curriculum is intentionally designed to strengthen core academic skills, including math, writing, and reading literacy, while nurturing each student’s social and emotional development.

During ensemble practice, students develop essential life skills such as teamwork, collaboration, kindness, creativity, leadership, respect, and discipline. BRAVO programs foster confidence, a strong sense of belonging, meaningful peer relationships, and opportunities for students to express themselves through performance and student‑centered artistry. Students will regularly perform concerts and attend guest artist visits with professional musicians, such as members of the Oregon Symphony!

Our Elementary Strings program offers beginning & progressing music instruction for violin, viola, cello and bass 2 days a week at Rosa Parks Elementary on Monday and Wednesday. This program is open to 3rd-5th grade students. BRAVO will provide van transportation to and from Rosa Parks Elementary; permission slips and details will be included in our orientation letters. Rosa Parks SUN site registration is also required for program participation.

Enroll here: https://oregonbravo.org/registration

Hello Astor Families,

We are always looking for community members to join the sub pool and help out in the classrooms. If you are volunteering or have been thinking about volunteering, subbing is a great way to help your school and get paid! ESS partners with PPS in hiring, training, and placing substitute special education paraeducators into the schools.

Visit https://jobs.willsubplus.com/jobs?districtIds=2983 to apply today.

Our district and state have aligned to a cell phone free school day. At Astor, we've had this in place for several years. However, we'll now be collecting them from MS students each morning and returning them at the end of the day. You can learn more about all of this here.

In short, the policy is that students are warned by the staff daily to put their cell phones off and way in a class lockbox. If a student breaks this rule, then it goes to a violation, which results in the phone being confiscated and possibly a school based loss of privilege like lunch detention. The third time will be a violation that results in a school plan for the personal electronic.

Not that personal electronics include smart watches, and and other personal electronic device (game system, etc).