Richmond Elementary School, Portland
2276 SE 41st  •  Portland, OR 97214  •  Phone: (503) 916-6220   •  Fax: (503) 916-2665  •  keanders@pps.k12.or.us  •  Sitemap

Richmond Principal's Message (2005 - 2006 archive)

Kathryn Anderson, principal Kathryn Anderson, principal
Principal Kathryn Anderson on "We Love Our Principal" day in March

June 9

Dear Richmond Families,

I'm amazed at all we've accomplished together for Richmond children, as I look back through the events, assemblies, field trips, and special projects chronicled in the 35 issues of the Richmond Newsletter that we've published this year. To say it's been a busy year is truly an understatement! Here are some of the Richmond accomplishments this year:

Many, many thanks for your support and encouragement with our work this year! I am proud to serve the Richmond school community and look forward to starting the school year with all of you in September. Have a wonderful summer vacation!

May 19

Dear Richmond Families,

For those of you I have not had the pleasure of meeting, let me introduce myself to you. I am the Assistant Principal at Mt. Tabor Middle School.

I was quite honored when I was asked to fill in for Ms. Anderson for the week. The week has been busy but enriching. It has been nice to experience the elemtary school that our JMP students at Mt. Tabor come from. I have enjoyed visiting classrooms and getting to know students, staff, and parents. What a wonderful place! Thank you for making me feel so welcome, and I am glad for the opportunity.

Highest regards,
Shawn Garnett

May 12

Dear Richmond Families,

This issue of the weekly newsletter contains the draft of the strategies for our new school improvement plan. This draft includes all revisions by Richmond's full staff and our Site Council during their meetings in the last few weeks. Each objective includes the people and/or groups that have been recommended to be responsible for the work. As always, your feedback is greatly appreciated about the content of this draft. Please do not hesitate to share your ideas, thoughts, etc.

I will be out of town next week to be with my parents during my father's open heart surgery. Shawn Garnett, assistant principal at Mt. Tabor Middle School, will be at Richmond to take care of everyone during my absence. Ms. Garnett is an outstanding administrator who understands the needs of the JMP. I know you will enjoy working with her.

May 5

Dear Richmond Families,

Last Friday I had to make the final decision about Richmond staff plan for 2006-07. Parents and staff have had a great deal of input into our final staff plan through:

The PowerPoint presentation I shared with parents who attended last week's staffing and budget information sessions is available here on Richmond's Web site.

For 2006-07, Richmond will lose our two Japanese resource teachers and continue the trend of annual cuts to support staff. Our PE teacher and library aide will be the only support staff remaining at Richmond next year. I have kept PE and library positions in place due to identical feedback via the February parent and staff surveys.

The loss of the Japanese resource teachers is a real tragedy for Richmond. How we prioritize and maintain some of the resource teachers' responsibilities in 2006-07 is a collective staff conversation. We started this conversation in primary and intermediate teams on Monday and will continue as a Site Council next Monday. We'll come together again as a full staff on May 15 to finalize our priorities and plan.

To prevent further erosion of support staff from our school, I've been pushing for a comprehensive fund-raising plan to help us supplement staff positions AND preserve the 5th grade trip AND interns AND cultural experiences (e.g. calligraphy, taiko, etc.). A win-win plan is in the works with our fundraising committee for the 2007-08 school year. None of this will be possible without the collective wisdom and cooperation among the groups that work to support our program—staff, Foundation, Oya No Kai, and PTA. I look forward to celebrating the completion of this fundraising plan in the next few weeks. In the meantime, keep your feedback coming!

April 28

Dear Richmond Families,

We've had a lot to celebrate this week!

Richmond fourth graders shared their literary skills at Sunday's Old Town Poetry Event at the Globe Hotel. An article on page 3 of the April 28 newsletter gives pictures and all the details. We also have an award-winning speller in our midst with Hana Stillmaker easily winning the first prize in Spelldown 2006 (see picture and article in the April 28 newsletter).

Our first annual Spring Festival was a HUGE success thanks to many volunteer parents and teachers, community sponsors and leadership of Meg Matsushima and Kim Tanada. Informal counts of attendees give us an estimated attendance of almost 1000 people throughout the day. Over and over, people stopped to tell me this was the best event they had ever attended with the Japanese Magnet Program. Please join me in thanking the following community organizations for their presence on Saturday:

April 21

Dear Richmond Families,

Tomorrow is the first annual Spring Festival at Richmond! The weather is supposed to be gorgeous and the day's program is packed with fun activities and entertainment to showcase the best of our school's Japanese immersion program and Portland's Japanese community. You'll find a copy of the Spring Festival Program in this newsletter.

This wonderful event is an example of the amazing work our school community can do when we all work together. The festival is the brainchild of Richmond parent and Oya No Kai board member, Meg Matsushima. Meg's inclusive approach to festival organization has helped her idea grow with the volunteer dedication of Richmond's PTA, Richmond staff, and a multitude of artisans across Portland. Oya No Kai is the official festival sponsor and we are grateful for their support.

Tomorrow, toss on your Richmond t-shirt and join the crowd at your school. I hope to see you enjoying the day with your friends and colleagues at Richmond. Look for me on the Velcro Wall, at the fish print table, or with my camera snapping pictures for next week's newsletter and here on the Richmond Web site!

April 14

Dear Richmond Families,

We received our preliminary staff allocation from our district budget office on Monday and the numbers look like this:

2005-06 allocation was 15.00 FTE*
2006-07 allocation is 14.80 FTE

Difference -0.20 FTE

*FTE stands for "full-time equivalent" and refers to the number of full-time staff.

This drop in FTE would have been much worse if we had not been able to increase our kindergarten classrooms by 100% (two to four classes). Our allocation drop for 2006-07 also reflects the loss of the onetime gift of 0.50 FTE by our superintendent to retain one of our Japanese resource teachers last year. All schools lost this temporary staff allocation for 2006-07.

Unlike many other schools, however, we lack a substantial source of Foundation funds to replace the lost FTE. Richmond families have been generous to our Foundation, to be sure, but the total raised to date barely covers one-third the total cost to replace a full-time staff person. Over the last few years, Richmond has cut the following positions from our program:

The staff on this list are talented, dedicated teachers who are no longer able to work with and for your children. One of these people, Leslie Strobel, Richmond's former child development specialist, will be honored next month at Lewis and Clark College as one of several distinguished alumni for service to children and the community.

Like a family that is "house poor" because they have purchased more house than they can afford, Richmond is "trip poor" with the majority of money raised at Richmond going to support the 5th grade trip and Oya No Kai. This situation is slowly strangling the staff out of the school.

We have a strong fundraising committee comprised of volunteers from Oya No Kai, PTA, Foundation and parents at large who are working on a master fundraising program for our strategic plan. A final version will be ready next month.

April 7

Dear Richmond Families,

Over the next few weeks you will see several key initiatives come together to comprise a total school improvement plan for Richmond. The first initiative is the final staff plan for 2006-07. Here's a quick summary ofthe information and plans I have so far:

March 24

Dear Richmond Families,

Thank you very much for your wonderful staff appreciation activities this week! The flowers, banners, cards, letters, special meals and helpful hands (i.e. classroom cleaning) have been tremendous displays of support for our work at Richmond. We are all very fortunate to be able to educate children at Richmond.

Another thank you goes to all the children and parents who have been so supportive of Lucky the cat's presence in our school office since March 9th. As you know, Lucky was found by a group of Richmond students on our playground. He was starving, severely dehydrated and absolutely alone. The children brought him to our office and together we brought him back to full health and happiness.

Many children, parents and staff were hopeful that Lucky could become our school cat, much like the kitty at Llewellyn Elementary School in southeast Portland. Unfortunately, a parent has strongly objected to Lucky's presence at Richmond due to the fact this parent's child has an allergy to cats. This allergy had not been shared with our office via school medical forms, so our nurse had no idea about the allergy and potential complications before we introduced Lucky in last week's newsletter.

This situation illustrates the need for parents to keep their child's medical information up-to-date at school. Richmond is located in a community with an abundance of animals and it's not uncommon to find cats, dogs, and even a bunny or two, wandering on our playground. You can easily update your child's records by contacting our secretary, Patsy Burke at pburke1@pps.k12.or.us or 503-916-6220.

Lucky is doing fine at my house and has made friends with Ruby, my large orange cat. Thank you, again, for your gracious support.

March 16

Dear Richmond Families,

Lucky, our own school neko Let me introduce you to "Lucky," the 6-month kitten in the picture to the right. Lucky was rescued from our parking lot last Friday by a small group of students, who noticed he was extremely emaciated and weak. Lucky had tried to find food our cafeteria and even parent automobiles prior to being brought to the school office by our students.

The bad news is that we've been unsuccessful in our search for Lucky's owner. When rescued, Lucky lacked a collar and pet license (required for all cats in Multnomah County) and does not have an ID chip, according to the staff at the local veterinary clinic, Pet Samaritan. Parents have been to several neighbor homes to inquire about Lucky's owner and have come up empty-handed.

The good news is that Dr. Powell, Lucky's new veterinarian, has given him a full check up and determined Lucky is a healthy, happy, and very gentle kitten. Dr. Powell believes Lucky would make a wonderful school kitty, and your children agree completely. Our school nurse, Kathleen Wecks, RN, has checked student medical records and assures me that none of our students have allergies to cats.

I will take Lucky to classrooms next week to give students and kitty a formal introduction to each other and review basic rules for care and handling. Look for Lucky to greet you in classrooms and hallways very soon!

March 10

Dear Richmond Families,

Portland Public Schools' Communication Office has asked me to place the following information in our newsletter:

What are your priorities for the Portland Public Schools' budget? A new on-line survey allows all to weigh in on budget priorities for our schools.

Portland Public Schools (PPS) is weighing many options as it manages a $57 million shortfall in the budget for next school year. PPS has lost two important sources of local funding: a local property tax that expired last year, and the local income tax that ends this year.

Balancing the budget could mean one-time funding from local partners, potential help from the state, spending down the school district's reserves and making strategic budget cuts.

As the Superintendent and School Board work through their choices, they want to hear from you, and they are planning many opportunities for you to share your opinions.

Right now, you may weigh in with your priorities for the next budget by filling out a quick on-line survey. It will only take a minute or two. You may only take the survey once, so please be sure to complete it and submit your thoughts if you do go to the survey link. You may also get to the survey by going to the Budget page on the PPS Web site.

On the PPS Budget page, you may also share your comments in a blog discussion and learn more about the budget. Soon we will post an interactive budget calculator that allows you to balance the budget by selecting cost savings and service reductions, investments and revenues. We will let you know when that worksheet is live.

The School Board held a work session on the budget Thursday evening at Grant High School. While the public was invited to attend, this work session did not include public testimony (the Board had considered meeting Wednesday of this week as well, but cancelled that date). At the Thursday work session, the Board laid out the timeline and many opportunities for public involvement through April 3, when Superintendent Phillips is scheduled to present her budget proposal to the Board.

The School Board will hold further public hearings on the budget before their approval, now slated for April 24.

Kathryn Anderson, principal Kathryn Anderson, principal

March 3

Dear Richmond Families--

This Wednesday morning I received the most wonderful surprise any principal could ask for—-flowers from every Richmond student and a beautiful sign of thanks. Apparently you've been planning this amazing surprise for quite some time. You are incredible keepers of secrets!

Thank you, thank you, thank you for your kind words of support and gracious display of appreciation for my work! I cannot begin to adequately express my gratitude for this beautiful gesture and 23 vases of flowers (yes, 23 vases, per Allison Mueller's careful count). The fragrance from the flowers has filled the main office and hallway and visitors to my office have had a hard time finding me among the floral display.

By coincidence, I had just reiterated my commitment to remain at Richmond in the coming year during separate conversations on Monday with my supervisor Barbara Adams, and Superintendent Vicki Phillips. They know I'm committed to continuing my work at Richmond and also know parents and staff are anxious for a District decision. I'll keep you informed about their decision.

In the meantime, keep your eye on the District budget process via our newsletter and Web site. Both sources will have the most current information I can provide.

February 24

Dear Richmond Families,

Applications for Richmond kindergarten and pre-school in 2006-07 continue to roll into our district's Enrollment & Transfer Office. As of today, we have applications recorded for 45 children for kindergarten and 6 children for full-day preschool. We have space for 30 more kindergarten students and 18 preschoolers, so let your neighbors, family and friends know that we haven't hit the waiting list point. There are 28 days remaining before the March 24th deadline for applications to be recorded.

What are we doing to attract prospective parents? We've had a prominent presence at local festivals and celebrations to display pictures, student work and information packets. I attended the Japan-America Society of Oregon Bilingual Education Open House on Tuesday night where I had a chance to share information about our school with more than 70 interested parents. I have received calls and emails from dozens of these parents since this gathering on Tuesday night and look for many of them to join us on our weekly Wednesday school tours.

Most importantly, our district is very committed to Richmond's expansion. Please let prospective parents know that the future for Richmond's Japanese immersion program is one of growth and academic excellence.

February 17

Dear Richmond Families,

The last few weeks have been busy and very productive for all of us at Richmond. My intent is to use my letter this week to provide you with two updates on key initiatives.

Visiting Kobe Students: We've had 16 students and 4 staff visiting this week from the Sumaura School in Kobe, Japan. Many of you hosted the students in your homes and I know the staff and families are very grateful for your care. The picture shows students performing at our Wednesday morning assembly. Last night over dinner, the Sumaura staff told me how impressed and pleased they were by the warm welcome our families and staff have given them. Sumaura's staff explained to me that we are the only destination for their trip to the US because they know how much we value our international relationship with their school. I was delighted to learn the Sumaura faculty want to make their annual visit to Richmond a required trip for 5th grade students. They are also intrigued by my idea of teacher exchanges and we plan to explore these new ideas more completely when I'm in Japan with the 5th graders in June.

Richmond Pre-school: As you know, Richmond is also home to the Indian Education Montessori Pre-school, housed in the old music room. Since August, I’ve been talking with the Montessori and Indian Ed staff about the possibility of joining together to write a federal grant to support both Montessori and Japanese immersion pre-schools at Richmond. We finalized this arrangement this week and have managed to get the services of a very successful grant writer to put the grant together. I have given Indian Ed and the grant writer several new studies about the economic benefit of preschool and the value of bilingual education to boost our grant chances. Look for updates as grant progress moves forward. In the meantime, please keep your fingers crossed for our success!

February 3

Dear Richmond Families,

Early next week, an important school survey will arrive in your mailbox. This survey will take parents appoximately 10-15 minutes to complete and put in the return mail via the enclosed, stamped, and addressed envelope. The purpose of this survey is threefold:

  1. Assess your perception about the quality of our work on behalf of your children;
  2. Prioritize staff positions according to services that maximize support to students; and
  3. Gather accurate demographic information to help us when writing grant proposals and/or clarifying Richmond's typcial family makeup.

Please, please, please help us by taking the time to share your feedback about our work at Richmond. Survey results will be summarized and reported back to you via the newsletter and at general parent meetings. The informatin will help our staff and Site Council develop a strategic plan htat truly meets the needs of our families.

January 27

Dear Richmond Families,

Many of you have been asking if Richmond will really and truly have a pre-kindergarten program at the school next year. The answer, I am happy to say, is most definitely "YES"! We have prepared a solid pre-K program with the following features:

The final tuition rates are still being checked by our district budget office, but we are confident the tuition rate will be very competitive with private pre-K providers. We'll keep you informed about every program update in the weeks ahead.

We plan to use the space currently occupied by the YMCA for our new pre-K program. This classroom is very spacious and has all the necessary bathroom facilities already in place. Our YMCA program will move to the cafeteria and former faculty lunchroom in the hops this space will be more convenient for families with proximity to the parking lot.

January 20

Dear Richmond Families,

Last Thursday, a team of teachers and parents joined me as hosts of Richmond's booth at the Annual Portland Public Schools Celebration of School at the Oregon Convention Center. Thanks go to parents Aimee Virnig, Theresa Lovett, and Monica Mueller along with teachers Ando Sensei, Aya Sensei, and Karen Meier, and our two Japanese resource teachers, Deanne Balzer and Yoshiko Kamata. Together, we talked to several hundred parents and children about the benefits of Japanese immersion education and shared our new parent packet. We handed out over 150 parent packets, and these have generated a great deal of praise from recipients. Signups for our Wednesday tours are at capacity for the next few weeks.

I'm taking our new display on the road next week for Mochitsuki on January 29 at PCC. Many Richmond families have purchased tickets for this wonderful event. To help promote our school, please wear your JMP sweatshirts, t-shirts, and hats at Mochitsuki and look for our booth.

Finally, YOU are the most important ambassadors and representatives of our school. Please help us promote Richmond by picking up one of our new parent packets in the basket in the main hallway and sharing it with family, friends, neighbors, or co-workers with young children. The packets are wrapped in a kimono-red envelope and secured with chopsticks, so you can't miss them!

January 6

Dear Parents,

Happy New Year!

2006 is off to a busy start at Richmond. You'll notice a number of activities and events to get involved with as you look through this issue of our newsletter. The focus for all this activity is, of course, the growth of our school and the enrichment of your child's education. We have activities cenmtered around the auction on the calendar for the coming week, along with promotion of our school at the annual PPS Celebration of Schools gathering at the Oregon Convention Center on Thursday, January 12th.

Most important, we have a General Parent meeting set for Wednesday, January 11th at 7:00 PM in our cafeteria hosted by the Richmond Foundation. The focus of this meeting is our fundraising and program work to date. By the end of the evening we hope to accomplish the following goals:

  1. Update, list, organize current efforts;
  2. Create a central clearinghouse of fundraising and support activities;
  3. Begin to craft an action plan for current work and identify new areas of need with appropriate contacts to support.

YOU are key to this work, particularly if you are already working on any aspect of fundraising. We need your ideas and experience to help us shape a solid action plan that will guide fundraising efforts at Richmond in the years to come.

Sincerely,
Kathryn Anderson, Interim Principal

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