The Owl Weekly Parent Newsletter 2/18/20

This Friday morning, we will be participating in a Global School Play Day! Play Days are a global effort created by educators in support of unstructured playtime for students around the world.Students can bring class to bring anything they wish to play with to school on Friday, Feb 21. 

The only restrictions: they must bring toys and these toys may NOT require batteries or electricity. No devices. Ideas: board games, dolls, Legos, blocks, trucks, cars, racetracks, playing cards, empty cardboard boxes, markers, jigsaw puzzles, blankets (for forts), social games (charades, Pictionary, etc.). For more information about the value of unstructured play,  here is some research.

Please note that Friday is also an Early Dismissal Day – please pick up by 12:45 unless you are enrolled for Global Kids Alternate Day.

We are so excited about Black History Month here in the library.  Tomoyo has made a few nice displays showcasing some intriguing books, which we repopulate with other great reads as they get checked out.  In each grade’s weekly classes, we are reading, sharing stories, and learning. We are discussing the global history and individual stories of the African diaspora to the Americas and the Caribbean.  I make it a point to let the kids know why Black History Month is important to me both personally and professionally.  

During the 5th Grade sessions, we are focusing on Heart and Soul : the Story of America and African Americans, an incredible history book by Kadir Nelson that tells the story of the African American experiences through the voice of an older woman speaking to her grandson.  The language is rich and in dialect; in order for the students to hear a more authentic voice I am using an audiobook from Audible. The kids enjoy sitting in a circle and listening to the narration, while a student turns the pages of the book to show the amazing illustrations.  It’s a very cozy environment and I imagine it’s somewhat like my great grandparents did when they listened to the family radio many years ago.  

Here’s a partial list of what we are reading this month:

 For 1st through 5th Grades:

• Woodson, Jacqueline, and E B. Lewis. The Other Side. Putnam’s, 2001.
• Alexander, Kwame, and Kadir Nelson. The Undefeated. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2019.
• Copeland, Misty, and Christopher Myers. Firebird : Ballerina Misty Copeland Shows a Young Girl How to Dance like the Firebird. G.P. Putnam’s Sons, an Imprint of Penguin Group (USA), 2014.
• Nelson, Kadir. Nelson Mandela. Katherine Tegen Books, an Imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, 2013.
• Díaz, Junot.  Islandborn. New York : Dial Books for Young Readers, 2018
• Nelson, Kadir. Heart and Soul : the Story of America and African Americans. Balzer Bray, 2011.

For Early Childhood:

• Montanari, Susan M., and J B. Pinkney. Hip-Hop Lollipop. Schwartz & Wade Books, 2018.
• Schofield-Morrison, Connie, and Frank Morrison. I Got the Rhythm. Bloomsbury, 2014.
• Barnes, Derrick D., and Gordon C. James. Crown : an Ode to the Fresh Cut. Bolden, an Agate Imprint, 2017.
• De la Peña, Matt, and Christian Robinson. Last Stop on Market Street. G.P. Putnam’s Sons, an Imprint of Penguin Group (USA), 2015.
• Brett, Jan. The 3 Little Dassies. Putnam’s, 2010.
• Alko, Selina, and Sean Qualls. The Case for Loving : the Fight for Interracial Marriage. Arthur A. Levine Books, an Imprint of Scholastic Inc., 2015.
• Evans, Shane. We March. Square Fish, Roaring Brook Press, 2016. 

Please let us know if you have suggestions, questions or concerns.  We value your input and we’d love to hear from you. library@intlschool.org

– Dan, Tomoyo, and Heidi

Image excerpt from Kadir Nelson’s Heart and Soul: The Story of America and African Americans

Congrats to our OBOB Winners!

Eight hard-working teams competed in the ISP Oregon Battle of the Books Tournament last week. Collectively, each team read 16 books and answered detailed questions about the content of the books. Most importantly, they all had a lot of fun reading together!

The Book Slugs (Ariella H., Sam L., Quinn H., Auggie R.) are our ISP OBOB champions!!  Congratulations!! 

On February 29th, The Book Slugs will represent ISP at the regional tournament to be held in Learner’s Hall. They will compete against other area schools for the chance to go to the state OBOB tournament. Good luck, Book Slugs!

A job well done to all who participated, read (and read some more) and showed great teamwork and good sportsmanship. 

A BIG thank you to Betsy Cruz, Kristen Stowell, and other volunteers. Their efforts made this year’s competition happen!

Sibling Applications Due March 2nd

If you have a child starting at ISP in the 2020-21 academic year, we do need you to please submit an application. Applications received by March 2 will have sibling priority for enrollment, even in classes with waitlists. Any application submitted after March 2 will join the waitlist for any classes that have them.

You can find our application online by creating an account through our online admissions system.

• The most direct way to fill it out is to start here: www.intlschool.org/mailinglist
• Bypass the Tours options page by clicking “next” (unless you want one, of course).
• Press “Apply” and
• Choose “Current Family / Sibling Application” for a discounted application fee.

Paper applications are available as well. Please contact me if you have any questions.

Jan Williams, Director of Admissions, jwilliams@intlschool.org, x 110

Parent Network Evening Meeting & Alumni Panel

The ISP Parent Network would like to invite parents to attend our 2020 Spring All-Parent Meeting to be held on Thursday, Feb 27 at Learners’ Hall, 6-8pm. The goal for this meeting is to be both informative and fun!

Come socialize with fellow parents and meet members of the 2019-2020 Parent Network Steering Committee. You’ll learn about volunteer efforts around the school, campus beautification projects, the progression of plans for re-unification of the Main and EC programs, and upcoming special events.

Then join the Parent Network in welcoming a special Alumni Panel!  ISP alumni will join us to talk about the impact that a ISP education had on their lives. This might help you to further understand the value of International School of Portland’s mission, and what you can expect as your child takes their newly developed global citizenship skills out into the bigger social and academic communities.

Refreshments will be provided. Interested in coming? Please RSVP by sending a quick email to parentnetwork@intlschool.org with your name and and how many will be attending.

Auction Gala Photos

Take a peek at how much fun everyone had at the 2020 global auction gala Under One Sky.  Were you at the gala?!  See if you made it into any of the evening’s photos!

Photo can be viewed at https://phototainmentpdx.zenfolio.com/pagesinternationalschoolgala2-1-20

Photo credits Roberto Rodriguez, Portland Monthly

Announcing the 2020 Moving for Music and Art Logo Contest!

Speech and Language Screening

Optional Speech and Language Screenings will take place at International School of Portland on Wednesday March 18 – Friday March 20, 2020. 

EARLY CHILDHOOD

• Screening for PreK, LowK and Kindergarten students will assess if further speech services are suggested in the areas of language, articulation, connected speech, social/interpersonal communication, stuttering, and voice.
• The screening will take approximately 10 minutes with each child and will cost $12/child.
• Within one week following the screening, the Speech Language Pathologist who administered the exam will provide each family with a short explanation outlining how their child performed and if further support or evaluation is suggested.

ELEMENTARY STUDENTS

• 1st – 5th grade screenings can be provided in the same areas listed above but the screening tool is a bit more in depth.
• Each child will take approximately 15-20 minutes to complete. 
• The cost for an older child screening is $20/child and the same brief explanation report will be provided to each family.

Please note – these are SCREENERS – NOT comprehensive evaluations and should not be used or interpreted as such. These screenings are only to determine if further evaluation or support may be warranted but do not provide any qualitative data about a child’s performance on standardized speech and language testing. 

Please send checks made out directly to DBJ SLP Services by March 6, 2020 to reserve your screening space.

Same location, new address!

Did you know that Portland’s five traditional “quadrants” will be getting a sixth? (Yes, we know that actually makes a sextant). In 2018, the Portland City Council voted to re-designate the neighborhoods east of Naito Parkway as South Portland. Many of these addresses – including the school’s – had a zero as a front number. This has been very challenging to post office personnel, emergency crews, and regular visitors alike. 

Starting in May, the area encompassing the South Waterfront, OHSU, and ISP will change from Southwest Portland to South Portland. The school’s new address will be 2305 South Water Ave. 

Nothing for you to do at this point – just be aware that when you see our “new’ address, we are still in the same spot! 

For more information about the address changes, please check out this page by PBOT: https://www.portlandoregon.gov/transportation/75815

Continuing Language Classes for ISP Alumni

Did you know?  International School of Portland now offers continuing language classes for middle school alumni!

This year we launched Continuing Language Experience classes for ISP alumni!  The inquiry-based classes are for middle school alumni, and build upon language and cultural fluency skills obtained at ISP.  The classes have a social, fun setting; yet provide a structured opportunity to read, write, converse and interact in their track language.  Classes are taught by qualified, native-speaking teachers in our community. Find out more about this new opportunity – and see what some of our former students are up to – on our alumni webpage at www.intlschool.org/alumni.

Upcoming Events

FRIDAY, FEB 21

Global School Play Day! No screens. No structure. All morning! Students can bring toys and games from home.

EARLY DISMISSAL: Please pick up your child by 12:45pm. Teacher Development Day. Global Kids Alternative Day Open.

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TUESDAY, FEB 25

Keepin’ It Clean Walk – KINDER AND 1ST GRADES. Join ISP parents as we walk the perimeter of the school picking up trash, removing graffiti, cutting back invasive plants.  Trash bags, pickers, gloves, graffiti removal supplies provided. Adults only. 2:00 – 3:00pm, Learners’ Hall Front Entrance.

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THURSDAY, FEB 27

Parent Network Annual Meeting/Chat with Alumni Night. Come socialize with fellow parents and meet members of the 2018-2019 Parent Network Steering Committee. Then join the Parent Network in welcoming a special Alumni Panel!  ISP alumni will join us to talk about the impact that a ISP education had on their lives. Refreshments will be provided. Interested in coming? The goal for this meeting is to be both informative and fun! Please RSVP by sending a quick email to parentnetwork@intlschool.org with your name and and how many will be attending. 6:00-8:00pm, Learners’ Hall.

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FRIDAY, FEB 28

Grading Day. NO SCHOOL FOR STUDENTS. Global Kids Alternative Day Open.

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SATURDAY, FEB 29

OBOB Regional Tournament. ISP is hosting the Oregon Battle of the Books (OBOB) regional tournament again this year!  The winning team from the ISP tournament will compete against teams from 20 other schools in Learners’ Hall. 9am-3pm, Learners Hall
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MONDAY, MARCH 2

Sibling Apps DUE. If you have a child starting at ISP in the 2020-21 academic year, we please submit an application. Please see post above for instructions on how to apply.

Track and Field 2020 now open for sign ups! 

Any age runner in Grades 1 and above can participate in the meets for track class.  Four Track meets to be held at Grant High School. April 16, 23, 30 and then May 7th. 6 PM until 8 PM or whenever your runner is finished.

• Track Class starts March 2nd and will continue until May 11th.
• Practice every Monday and Thursday from after school until 5:30 PM. No practice on days of track meets.  
• Parents transport their runner to and from the meets.
• New to returning parents: PIL is not part of these meets anymore. Smaller number of overall competitors. 
• WE WILL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR 7 VOLUNTEERS PER MEET.  Foot Traffic is no longer helping to run the meets, each group is asked to step up with volunteers.
• Any athlete that would like to compete in the USATF Portland Youth Track Meet over the May 30-31 weekend should let me know.
• Cost: $480. For 5th grade Capstone, Track starts March 30 and is $340. If you need a track shirt, include $22 and your shirt size.  

Finally, if Mondays/Thursdays don’t work in your schedule, join a Run Club any day to get your training and we will make it work for Track Meets!  Current Run Clubbers are eligible for Track Meets too!    

To inquire further or register Contact Coach Robert 503-348-0799 or go to OurSportingLives.com