Here are the supply lists for our upcoming school year, 2010-11 (Kindergarten lists are forthcoming):

• First Grade supply list
• Second Grade supply list
• Third Grade supply list
• Third Grade supply list (Miller)
• Fourth Grade supply list 
• Fifth Grade supply list 
• Sixth Grade supply list 
• Seventh Grade supply list 
• Eighth Grade supply list

Your volunteer help is needed to get Beverly Cleary School ready for the upcoming school year.  On Community Care Day, volunteers will join together to enhance and beautify Portland Public Schools grounds.  It's a terrific community builder and a chance to reaquaint with your fellow parents and students.  Please join us!

When:    SATURDAY, AUGUST 28, 2010 FROM 9 AM TO NOON
Where:   On both the Hollyrood and Fernwood campuses

We will spread mulch and bark chips, trim bushes, edge grass, clean up litter and complete a number of other tasks to make the school more welcoming for incoming students and the communities around them.  We will also be doing some interior painting.

Please bring your own garden gloves and any of the following: rake, hoe, shovel, wheelbarrow, electric or manual hedge trimmer, weed whackers, weeding tools, pruners, etc.  Please make sure your tools are labeled!  Water and snacks will be provided, but bring your own if you can.

Your online shopping can do double-duty, making it an effortless way to help your PTA raise classroom funds, even during summer break.

Just to the left of these words, you'll find three of our ongoing PTA fundraisers: Amazon.com, Powell's Books and magazine subscriptions.

Any Amazon.com purchases you make will bring your BCS PTA a 7% referral commission, Powell's will give us a 7.5% commission and magazine subscriptions allow us to keep 40% of the proceeds.  

Please keep this in mind as you do your online shopping and please let your friends and family know!

Have you got some extra clothing cluttering your closets?  Or a few too many tennis rackets in your garage?  Or maybe that college art piece needs a new home?  Put your clutter to work for Beverly Cleary School!

This year's sale will be held on Friday, June 18 at the Fernwood campus. Your donations are tax deductible and all proceeds from the sale go to the Beverly Cleary PTA.  You will be able to bring your items to school the week of the sale.  Start cleaning house this weekend!

Donating Items

Below you will find links to forecasting sheets for our electives and enrichments for next year.  As I indicated in a letter several weeks ago, thanks to the District’s support, we are able to offer Spanish as an elective to 6th-8th graders for next year. Sixth and seventh graders will take Spanish twice weekly, while eighth graders can elect to take Spanish I everyday. Successful completion of Spanish I will allow a student to receive high school credit. S/he would then have the option of enrolling in Spanish II as a freshman. Students also can elect to take Intermediate Band.

Spring is here… and with your help we hope to make some more progress in the Beverly Cleary School Fernwood campus gardens!  Many of you share our wish that the students will benefit from direct experiences with nature and a more natural environment in which to play and learn.  We are already getting great use out of the raised beds that were installed last spring.
 
Our main focus this spring is the bioswale, on the north side of the building.  Many of you use the path along the bioswale as a shortcut from the front of the building to the playground.  The BCS Garden Committee received a $10,000 matching grant last year from the EMSWCD to “activate” the bioswale by disconnecting the downspouts and helping to improve its functionality and appearance.  The project will promote natural drainage and remove polluted runoff from the sewer system and our Willamette River watershed.  This is an exciting project because it will benefit the community, enhance our school’s greenspace and allow our students to learn about ecological systems in their own “living laboratory.”
 

Teacher Appreciation Week is Monday, May 3 thru Friday, May 7, and here are our planned events for the week:

• MONDAY:  Treats at Staff Meeting
• TUESDAY:  “FLOWERS FROM THE KIDS” Day
• WEDNESDAY:  Cinco de Mayo Celebration
• THURSDAY:   “CARDS FROM THE KIDS” Day
• FRIDAY:  “SWEET TREAT FROM KIDS “ Day

Here are some things students can do to help celebrate our teachers:

• Bring a flower for your favorite teacher or staff member on Tuesday.
• Write a note or make a card on Thursday (it’s nice to hear from parents too!!)
• Bring in one wrapped candy for a SWEET teacher or staff member on Friday.

You may choose to do some of these ideas or all of them.  The idea is to let our teachers know we appreciate them. If you would like to help with donations or set up for the Cinco de Mayo Celebration or treats please email
Julie Heath or Abbie Rankin.

The District's policy is to provide students the opportunity to receive high school credit for designated high school courses taken prior to ninth grade.  Only courses that have met criteria and have been approved by the principal and curriculum office may be eligible to grant high school credit. Teachers and principals must complete the approval form at the beginning of each school year.  If the parent or guardian does not want credit to be granted nor the grade to be recorded on the student's high school transcript, he/she must complete the appropriate form, "Request That Credit Not Be Granted for High School Classes."  This form needs to be submitted to the school by May 1st.

Pre-Ninth Grade Non-Credit Form for Algebra
Pre-Ninth Grade Non-Credit Form for Spanish

Congratulations!  Our whole school Run for the Arts this week was a great success!  Great job runners, walkers, cheerleaders and volunteers!  Our next step is to collect the pledges that will help Beverly Cleary School with funding for artists’ performances, classroom workshops and residencies, and even field trips for next year.

Please review your sponsor sheet, collect pledges, and return money to your teacher by the due date.  Don’t forget to thank your sponsors.  And remember, all funds and sponsor sheets must be turned in to the school by the due date in order for you to be eligible for prizes.

Money is due on Monday, April 26:

    •    Checks are preferred, payable to Run for the Arts
    •    Pledge money is tax-deductible
    •    Return pledge money in a labeled envelope along with your pledge sheet
    •    Include your Name, Teacher and Dollar Amount

Please contact parent Run Coordinator Kate McClellan if you have any questions.

Beverly Cleary's birthday is April 12 (she's turning 94!), and the Hollywood branch of Mulnomah County Libraries has several events planned in celebration.  They are having a party that day from 1 to 3 PM with cupcakes, balloons, and nightcrawlers too (if you're a fan you'll understand).  April 12 is also D.E.A.R. (Drop Everything and Read) Day, a national reading program featured in Ramona Quimby, Age 8.

Also scheduled is the popular neighborhood walk, "Walking With Ramona."  Led by Portland author Laura Foster, this walking tour is for Portland's youngest Beverly Cleary fans in grades K-5.  There are four walks scheduled April 10-12; see the website for more details.