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Lee Family Bulletin Sept 12

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Monday, Aug. 5, 2024

Happy Summer Jason Lee families!

The administrative team at Lee is now planning and preparing for the return to school later this month. I’d like to let you know about a few upcoming events.

Our school office will open again Monday, Aug. 12th and be open Monday through Friday from 8 to 3 p.m. Our office phone number is 503-916-6144, in case  you’d like to call before coming in with a specific question. 

I’d like to point to two resources on our school website you might find useful right now. Under the subheading “Our School,” you will find our annual family calendar for this coming year with many important dates. We hope to have printed copies for anyone who wants it when school starts. Also under “Our School” you will find each grade level’s school supply lists.

Please mark your calendar for our final Kinder Connect event which will be held Wednesday, August 21 at 5:30 p.m. Childcare and snacks will be available.

»Ê¼Ò»ªÈË for students entering First through Fifth grade is Tuesday, Aug. 27. We hope to have teacher assignments available by Aug. 15th. Families will receive an email from me letting them know who their teacher is.

Families of kindergarten students will be contacted later this month to schedule a  meeting with the Kindergarten teachers on Tuesday, Aug. 27. Following those meetings, classes will be formed and kindergartners will receive their assigned teacher’s name.

All kindergartners will have a practice school day on either Thursday, Aug. 29th or Friday, Aug. 30th. Families will be notified of their assigned practice day during their meeting with the teachers. All kindergartners start together on Tuesday, September 3.  If you know of a new kindergartner who has yet to register for school, please encourage their family to do so as soon as possible. Registration is available online at  

We are so excited to welcome our students to school soon. We hope you and your family have had a safe and fun summer.

See you soon!

Principal Alma D. Velázquez

This message will also be emailed to all registered families.

We're so excited to welcome you to our Open House and Community Resource Fair on Friday, August 26, from 1 to 4 p.m. 

The intent of this event is to launch our new school year, support our students and families in preparing for a successful school year and build strong relationships between our school community - especially our students - and our school team.

Among the things you can expect at our first family event of the year:

• As part of the Community Resource Fair happening in the gym, students and families will be able to receive a backpack and school supplies, get a hair cut, and access a variety of community resources, such as the Multnomah County Library Gregory Heights library, healthcare, employment opportunities, chiropractor services and much more. Also, students will receive a ticket for a free Kona Ice, which they can pick up outside in the playground area.

• Either before or after visiting the fair, students can also stop by and meet their new teacher! Teachers will be hosting tables under our covered basketball courts and are excited to meet their new students and families! Teachers will be at their tables from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. Plan on stopping by and saying hello!

(Click this link to see the flyer in English, Spanish and Vietnamese): Jason Lee Open House and Community Resource Fair 

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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.”