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Click here for our , happy Spring!

As we head into Spring Break we wanted to take a moment to share some information you might find useful. Here are links to some of the upcoming events/information, as well as our April school calendar. Thanks for all you do for your children and in support of our program!

• Kindergarten Transition information
• Early Kindergarten Transition programs-!

Dear families,

What a month it has been! We know that many families have been impacted by the recent ice storm, and we are no different. Our Creston Annex location had a broken pipe in the parking lot that caused a one day closure; children are now back in the building as of today. Our Kelly Center school has significant water damage and is currently closed for repairs.  Over the past several days, our Head Start team has been working closely with district leadership and principals from nearby schools to find classroom space for our students and teachers. We are thrilled to say that Kelly, Whitman, and Woodmere elementary schools have the space available to accommodate our community while Kelly Center undergoes necessary repairs. 

Additional information:

• Students will be moving with their class and teachers to one of the three above-named sites beginning Tuesday, January 30.

• We will be following a modified schedule for these specific classrooms during this time. Drop-off will be at 8:30 a.m. and pick-up will be at 12:30 p.m. Both breakfast and lunch will be provided each day.

• On Monday, January 29 from 4-5 p.m., we will hold a virtual information session to answer any questions impacted families might have. We will also record this meeting.

• As of Friday all families have received information about their student’s assigned school.

• Kelly Center is scheduled to reopen to students and staff as early as mid-February. We will share a transition plan for re-entry at a later date.

Staff continue to prepare for children and families to return next Tuesday. We are grateful to the Kelly, Whitman, and Woodmere communities for opening their doors to us, and we appreciate your grace and patience more than we can say. We will be in touch again soon.

Warmly,

Dana Stiles, Director of Head Start 

Mary Pearson, Kelly Center Building Supervisor

When Beckham Weatherby picks up his tuba, the rest of the world falls away. 

“I don’t get that nervous and I don’t get stage fright at all,” he said. “I guess I got lucky with how my body reacts to performing in front of crowds.”

Which is something the McDaniel High School junior has done quite a bit of lately. Not only is he a member of the prestigious Portland Youth Philharmonic (PYP) and the PYP conservatory orchestra, but he recently earned first prize in the tuba solo performance category at the Oregon State Solo Music Championships.

The first things you notice when you walk into Ellie Jensen’s classroom at Boise-Eliot/Humboldt Elementary School are peace and warmth. Then you hear the laughter of children. Then you just might see two posters hanging on the walls that tell you a great deal about the kind of teacher she has been for the past 50 years. The posters simply say, “Leave a little sparkle wherever you go” and “Be a friend.”

Jensen, known as “Miss Ellie” to the hundreds of students she has taught in her half a century as a Portland Public Schools educator, can’t help but light up a room. And she is a friend to all children. 

We dare you to drive by the Mainspring Food Pantry on the corner of 82nd Avenue and Fremont and not do a double take. Or a triple take. 

Students from McDaniel High School’s art-focused Career Technical Education (CTE) class have spent the last four weeks turning the exterior walls of the pantry into one, huge, joyful mural as part of the course’s exploration of climate justice and community engagement.

A little over 30 years ago, a Madison High School student named Joseph Janson had a simple wish. He wanted to go to a dance. But nothing was simple for Joseph, who was born with Duchenne's Muscular Dystrophy and was confined to a wheelchair. 

He confided his wish to Tony Nitz, who at that time was an educational assistant at Madison (now Leodis V. McDaniel High School). Tony had been working one-on-one with Joseph for months and he immediately went about making the young man’s dream come true.

“The truth is, I would have done anything for Joseph,” Nitz said. “He was a unique person, and we had a very special bond.”