Hello Astor Families, 

Classroom/homeroom teacher notifications will go out Friday, August 11 for all 1st through 8th graders. If you did not receive this information or you have multiple children in the same grade level, then please reach out to the office starting Monday, August 14th at 503-916-6244. The office hours are from 7:30 to 4 daily.

Kindergarten families will receive a phone call over the next two weeks regarding your child's teacher, school start date, and parent-teacher meeting time/day.

All families can find our welcome back letter for the 22-23 school year here.

We have so many exciting events coming up this month! You can find information on them in the last Astor Connection here.

Have a wonderful rest of the summer and we hope to see you at our first school-wide event, Project Community Care Day on August 19th from 9am to 12pm. 

Warmly,

Blake Robertson
Principal @ Astor

Hello Astor Families!

There are a couple of great events coming up prior to the start of the 23-24 school year that we want you to know about.

Connect to Kindergarten

August 17th from 5:30 to 6:30 - Link with information is here 

Join Astor Staff and other Astor Kindergarten students and families as we visit together prior to the start of the school year. You'll be able to see the kinder classrooms and our Astor PTSO will be there with Portland Goat Parties! Hope to see you there!

Project Community Care Day

August 19th from 9am to 12pm - Link with information is here 

Please join us for Project Community Care Day, an annual tradition and a wonderful opportunity to help beautify our school grounds to be held on Saturday, August 19th, from 9am to 12pm.  We encourage you to bring your gardening gloves and tools and refillable water bottle. Students are welcome to join you and we’ll just ask that you supervise. We look forward to seeing you Saturday, August 19th, 9 am to 12 pm!

Astor’s 3rd Annual Warm Welcome!

August 28th from 4:30pm to 5:30pm - Link with information is here

This event on campus will allow for our students and families to meet, see the entrance that they should come to at the start of each day, and pick up their back to school packets and Middle School schedules and supply lists. Additionally, many of our teachers will be at this event and it's a great time to connect with them prior to the start of the school year. Families may arrive at the school at a time that works for them between 4:30pm and 5:30pm on August 29th.

Our community partner, the Coalition of Black Men, invites boys in grades 6-8 to join their DREAM BIGGER Mentoring Program.

What: This program provides academic support, mentoring, cultural enrichment and personal development to our young men!

When: Begins September 28th 

           Every Tuesday from 1:45 - 2:30 pm 

Where: Room 63 (portable 3)

How do I join?: Scan the QR code on the flyer below or visit https://forms.gle/F3RA3/1Q8ePn2aGV97

Questions?: Contact mentoring@cobmportland.org

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.”

Madi Bourdon’s first book practically wrote itself. 

According to the Glencoe Elementary School counselor and Gender Sexuality Alliance (GSA) coordinator, it only took them an hour and a half to finish A Kid’s Book About Chosen Family, which came out this March with A Kid’s Co. publishing.

For the past three years, Alondra Nieves Barajas has been both student and teacher.

Most days, the senior from Roosevelt High School attends class, does her homework, and spends time with her friends just like any other 18-year-old. But on Wednesday nights, you can find her at the front desk, teaching adults – often much older than herself – the ins and outs of the United States naturalization test.

When Aaron Presberg first got the email from the White House, he thought it was some sort of prank. 

Then he shared the message with a few colleagues who assured him that it was no joke, and the exciting reality that he had been invited to Washington, D.C. to present at the White House’s first-ever Summit for Sustainable and Healthy K–12 School Buildings and Grounds started to sink in.