½ûÂþÌìÌÃ

Volunteering @ Buckman & ½ûÂþÌìÌÃ

Thank you for your interest in volunteering at Buckman! ALL volunteers must have their background clearance completed PRIOR to volunteering, including when chaperoning for field trips. Please read on for details from the ½ûÂþÌìÌà website about the background clearance process.

To ensure a safe environment for our students, ½ûÂþÌìÌà requires volunteers to follow the steps below. Please review the Volunteer Code of Conduct (Step 1) and Mandatory Volunteer Training (Step 2) prior to completing the volunteer application (Step 3). In the online volunteer application, you will need to sign that you have reviewed these materials and agree to adhere to all the requirements. 

A person is considered a volunteer if they have the potential for unsupervised contact with ½ûÂþÌìÌà students during school hours, including chaperoning for field trips. Folks who have not been approved through the background check process may NOT join field trips regardless of location. 

To begin the process, please visit the ½ûÂþÌìÌà Volunteer page. This clearance is valid at any ½ûÂþÌìÌà school for three years.

New ½ûÂþÌìÌà Bookmobile

On Saturday, February 15, ½ûÂþÌìÌà is making literacy come alive with a Bookmobile packed with FREE books, fun activities, and a love for storytelling. We believe that every child deserves access to great books, and what better way to spark curiosity and imagination than by bringing books straight to the community?

Join us at these campuses: 9:00 - 10:30 AM | Rosa Parks Elementary | 8960 N Woolsey Ave, Portland, OR 97203 11:00 - 12:30 PM | Chapman Elementary | 1445 NW 26th Ave, Portland, OR 97210 1:00 - 2:30 PM | Faubion PK-8 | 2930 NE Dekum St., Portland, OR 97211 3:00 - 4:30 PM | Lionel Clegg Boys & Girls Club | 9330 SE Harold St, Portland, OR 97226

Dear families,

Instilling a lifelong love of reading is one of our main missions at Buckman. There are so many adventures, achievements, and acts of positive change that begin with books, and that is why I am thrilled to introduce you to a fun new literacy initiative spearheaded by our superintendent, Dr. Kimberlee Armstrong.

On Saturday, February 15, ½ûÂþÌìÌà will be launching its first-ever Golden Key Quest, a citywide literacy scavenger hunt.

Here’s how it works

½ûÂþÌìÌà has partnered with the following literacy hubs to make the Golden Key Quest a reality.

– 224 NW 13th Ave, Suite 304, Portland, OR 97209

– 2518 SE 33rd Ave, Portland, OR 97202

– 716 SE Grand Ave, Portland, OR 97214

Students are invited to visit the hubs and look for golden keys hidden inside books. The lucky ones who find a Golden Key should scan the QR code on the key, which will take them to a webpage where they can claim their prize: free family tickets to OMSI! (No purchase necessary to participate.)

Reading is the spark that lights the fire of life-long learning. I hope that our students and families will take advantage of this wonderful opportunity.

Sincerely,

Lisa Ditto

Buckman Principal

Early Release Days

• Student pick up @ 11:50AM
• NO SUN programming
• Champions is running from release to regular Champions end time

Breakfast at Pine Street Entrance; doors open 7:40am

First Bell: 7:53am

Tardy Bell: 8:00am

Dismissal: 2:30pm (grades K-1 in front; 2-5 on upper playground)

Early Release Dismissal: 11:50am

½ûÂþÌìÌà is continuing to host a series of events aimed at starting productive conversations about what is possible in the systems we create for our children with disabilities.

As part of this series, we are excited to welcome you to a free screening of  on Thursday March 20 at . Doors open at 6 p.m. and the movie begins at 7:00.

The Ride Ahead is a film about adult life with disabilities by a man with disabilities. It is the debut of 21-year-old Samuel Habib who, struggling to find his place in the world, decides to make a film that charts how a group of disabled adults navigate challenges and forge their own unique paths. The film serves as a roadmap for himself and others and illustrates the compelling power of one person truly determined to live life on his own terms.

In documenting his journey, Samuel is following in the footsteps of his father, the filmmaker Dan Habib. You can learn more about their work .

Staff, families, and community members are all invited. Parking is free and McMenamins' full menu is available for ordering. We hope to see you there!

In meteorological terms, Portland’s first big weather event of 2024 was the definition of a perfect storm. Frigid temperatures and high winds combined with snow and ice to bring down tree limbs, close roads, scramble traffic, freeze pipes, and knock out power for tens of thousands of residents.

It was a metaphorical perfect storm for ½ûÂþÌìÌà as well. Fallen trees cut power to multiple schools and others have suffered water damage from broken pipes. Lack of heat was also a problem, and impassable roads, paired with snowed-in and icy parking lots, made it impossible for buses to run safely. Those same conditions limited how the district’s facilities and operations teams can even assess the scope of the issues, let alone begin working on solutions. And icy sidewalks meant walkers have no safe route to school.

This week could bring similar conditions to the Portland area, and ½ûÂþÌìÌÃ’s School Closure Team is ready to meet the challenge. The team convenes regularly during inclement weather to take all of the above into careful consideration. By now, families are quite familiar with how the district communicates these decisions. What’s perhaps less known is how district leaders arrive at such decisions in the first place. 

As part of our district's focus on events that center belonging, equity, and inclusion, we have been screening a series of films that we hope will challenge our perceptions about what is possible in the systems we create for our children with disabilities.

The next film in the series is “Champions,” which will screen on Saturday February 8th at 2:00 PM at Lincoln High School. This event will also include first-hand testimonials from ½ûÂþÌìÌà students.

This movie highlights the journey of a basketball coach who leads a team of players with intellectual disabilities. Through humor and heartfelt moments, the movie emphasizes the strengths, individuality, and value each player brings to the team and how inclusion enriches communities and creates positive, supportive environments.

Staff, families, and community members are all invited. Parking is free and light refreshment will be provided. We hope to see you there!

We’re thrilled to announce that two ½ûÂþÌìÌà teachers were recently awarded the prestigious Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching (PAEMST). 

Krishnan Ranjani,  a teacher of advanced mathematics and Career and Technical Education (CTE) computer systems at Lincoln High School and Nick Nohner, a computer sciences and data sciences teacher at Ida B. Wells High School, were both selected for the honor which is administered by the National Science Foundation (NSF) on behalf of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. The award recognizes outstanding educators for their contributions to the teaching and learning of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

Each awardee will receive a certificate signed by President Joe Biden and a $10,000 award from NSF. Awardees will also travel to Washington, D.C., for an awards ceremony at a future date. 

Congratulations to these two exceptional teachers!