Dear Alameda Families,

It has been exciting to get into the classrooms and see all of the exciting learning and instruction that is happening with our students! We appreciate all of your support and assistance in working with our students and teachers. The time that you spend volunteering at Alameda has a positive impact on all children. Thank you for being our active partners in continuing to make Alameda the great school that it is.

Thank you for your support in creating a safe environment for our students during drop-off and pick- up. Please continue to park in the designated areas, and we appreciate you not driving on N.E. 27th between Klickitat and Fremont during drop-off and pick-up. Please remember that the Portland Police Department is writing tickets for cars that are in non- designated areas or are blocking our neighbors' driveways. Working collaboratively, we can provide a safe environment for all students.

Andrew Dauch

After School Playground Safety

Recently, we have had several after-school incidents where students have been injured. Several students have had broken arms. A friendly reminder that after school, parents must be present to supervise their child at all times, especially on the play structure. To ensure student safety, there is no tree or fence climbing of any kind, and students should not be riding bikes, skateboards or scooters on the play ground when it is crowded. Kids are not allowed on top of the play structure. We do not allow them to hang upside down. Also, dogs are not allowed off leash after school when there are people on the playground. Thanks for your support.

Important TAG Dates

• By November 7: Draft TAG Individual Instructional Plans sent home
• December 3: Copies of TAG Identification Process Forms due to TAG Office

TAG Nomination/Application Deadline

The deadline for all TAG student nominations/applications for this year is November 26. If possible, I strongly encourage you to complete the application process and return to your child's teacher before this date.

Parent/Student Surveys and Individual Instructional Plan

If you have a TAG-identified child, we encourage you to return your Parent/Student Survey to your child's teacher as soon as possible. This is a critical part of developing your child's Individual Instructional Plan. In the event that you do not want an instructional plan written for your child, a waiver is available. Please speak directly with your teacher about this option.

PPS TAG Parents Advisory Council

The next PPS TAG Parent's Advisory Council will be held on November 12, from 12:00-1:30 PM at BESC - Columbia Room, 501 N. Dixon, Portland.

Beaumont TAG Committee

The Beaumont TAG committee would like to include parents of 5th Grade TAG students in their email distribution list to facilitate a smooth transition to Beaumont. If you are interested in participating in Beaumont TAG meetings and receiving updates, you can email John McAllister directly at jmacllisnw@comcast.net

Looking for some rainy day fun?

Check out the following resources. You can also find them all bookmarked on the TAG portal page, www.portaportal.com with Guest Access for PPSTAG.

• http://nlvm.usu.edu/en/nav/vlibrary.html --- National Library of Virtual Manipulatives: Mostly Math, K-12.
• http://www.mathstories.com/ --- House of Math Word Problems for Children
• http://nsdl.org/ --- National Science Digital Library. Try searching for any topic under the K-12 heading.
• http://www.puzzle.dse.nl/index_us.html --- The Ultimate Puzzle Site

FRI 24 --- NO SCHOOL FOR STUDENTS - professional development day for staff

MON 27 --- Gift wrap pick up (see below)

MON 27 --- Fall T-Shirt Sale begins (sample items, colors, and sizes on display in the lobby before and after school)

TUES 28 --- Site Council (3:30 PM)

TUES 29 --- 4th grade Lelooska field trip (9:00Am - 2:00 PM)

FRI 31 --- Halloween Parade (2:00 PM)

WED 5 --- 3rd grade field trip to see "James and the Giant Peach" (9:00 AM - 12:00 noon)

WED 5 --- PTA meeting (7 - 8 PM, library; free childcare provided)

WED 5 --- Fall T-Shirt Sale order form deadline

SUN 9 --- Auction Committee meeting and work party (905 N Harbour Drive)

MON 10 --- Teacher Planning - NO SCHOOL FOR STUDENTS

TUES 11 --- NO SCHOOL - Veterans' Day

WED 12 --- Picture Re-Take Day

WED 12 --- PPS TAG Parent's Adv. Council (12:00- 1:30 PM, BESC - Columbia Room, 501 N. Dixon)

THURS 13 --- Alameda's day to provide volunteers to the PTA Clothing Center

THURS 13 --- Bike and Walk to School Day

MON 17 --- Book Fair starts

TUES 18 --- Site Council (3:30 PM)

WED 19 --- Parent Coffee with the Principal (8:45 AM)

THURS 20 --- Evening Parent Teacher Conferences

FRI 21 --- School Spirit - Twin Day

FRI 21 --- Field Trip for K, 2nd & SLCC classes to MHCC Theater (9:30 AM - 12:30 PM)

SAT 22 --- Alameda School Fall Landscape Work Party (9 AM)

MON 24 - TUES 25 --- NO SCHOOL FOR STUDENTS; parent-teacher conferences

WED 26 --- TAG nomination/application deadline

WED 26 - FRI 28 --- NO SCHOOL - Thanksgiving Break

The school secretaries receive a lot of calls regarding lunch and recess times. Please keep a copy of this schedule. As you know, the office is a busy place so we would like to avoid unnecessary phone calls! Thanks.

Kindergarten

• Recess: 12:00-12:20
• Lunch: 11:25-11:55
• Pick-up: 12:20 (outside)

1st Grade

• Recess: 11:10-11:30
• Lunch: 11:35-11:55
• Pick-up: 11:55

2nd Grade

• Recess: 11:35-11:55
• Lunch: 12:00-12:20
• Pick-up: 12:20

3rd Grade

• Recess: 11:40-12:00
• Lunch: 12:05-12:25
• Pick-up: 12:25

4th Grade

• Recess: 11:25-11:45
• Lunch: 11:50- 12:10
• Pick-up: 12:10

5th Grade

• Recess: 11:50 -12:10
• Lunch: 12:15 -12:35
• Pick-up: 12:35

SLC-K-3

• Recess: As Needed
• Lunch: 11:15 -11:45
• Pick-up: 11:45

The gift wrap will arrive on Monday, October 27th. If your child has a large order, please plan to pick up your child from school if possible. If you are unable to do this, it would be helpful if you could have a neighbor or friend plan to pick up your child that day. Our storage space for gift wrap items not picked up on Monday is very limited, so your help would be greatly appreciated! Also, we are in need of parent volunteers who can help distribute the gift wrap items to the classrooms that day. We'll need volunteers from 12:45 until 3:45. Feel free to come for as little or as long as you'd like. It would be great to have a few parent volunteers for each grade level. If you are able to help, please contact Julie Brennan at klm-bp@q.com. Over $17,000 of merchandise was sold, and the Alameda PTA gets to keep half of the money raised. Mrs. Eldredge Burns' class and Miss Lavin's class were the two classes with the greatest participation and have won a pizza party to be scheduled soon. Congratulations! Thank you again for your support with this fundraiser.

Just in time for Fall, the PTA T-Shirt Sale is back with lots of new items and colors. Embroidered caps (knit AND baseball), denim shirts, 1/4 zip sweatshirts, longsleeve T-shirts, re-useable grocery bags, mugs, pens & pencils are just some of the new items joining the lineup of your favorite T-shirts and hoodies. Show your Alameda pride with our fun fall fashions and help support the Alameda PTA. Samples of our new items and the colors available this fall will be on display in the lobby before and after school.

Order forms went home in the Thursday Folder today, October 23. The Sale starts Monday, October 27th and runs through Wednesday, November 5th.

Contact Andrea Sten (503) 282-9782 / asten@hevanet.com or Pete Conklin (503)-284-0320 / PeterMConklin@msn.com with any questions or if you would like to help with the sale.

Are you a dad? You are valued in PTA! PTA today is very different from the cliche PTA of yesteryear! The number of male members is continually on the rise as we learn that PTA is about bettering our children's school experience, not just attending a meeting once a month (even though that helps get things done!). Men/Dads bring fresh ideas to the table and show that it takes both parties to make a difference at Alameda. Alameda is lucky to have so many men already be members of our PTA, and we encourage all spouses to sign up as well. Please keep the PTA envelopes coming in, as you are not too late to join, even though the Directory Form deadline has passed!

With a very important election upon us, with several critical statewide measures that potentially could have huge impact on education in Oregon, please review the position taken by the PTA at http://www.oregonpta.org/Advocacy/Oregon_PTA_Posit ions_Table.pdf

Next meeting: There will be a vote to approve the Alameda PTA Standing Rules by the general membership at the next meeting: Wednesday, November 5, 7-8 PM in the library (free childcare provided). Before the meeting, please review the Rules on the Alameda Parent site at http://www.alamedaschool.org/Alameda%20PTA% 20Standing%20Rules%2008-09.doc

The students at Alameda will be particpating in a school-wide vote for President of the United States. It is part of a state-wide effort to build future particpation in democracy. We will be using paper ballots, as will all other participating Oregon schools. Voting starts next week, and each classroom teacher is in charge of how their class will vote. Some kindergarten teachers have decided to vote for favorite foods rather than McCain or Obama. To keep it simple, we will not give the students third party candidates to chose from.

The district office sends out courtesy overdue notices for books that are overdue from the Alameda Library. Our library does not have control over these messages and cannot stop them from coming to you. If your child's book is checked out for longer than 2 weeks without being renewed with me, the courtesy notices will be sent to you.

If you know where your child's books are, then please just delete these messages. If your child insists that their books have been checked in, please have your child contact me during their library time and we will do our best to locate these books.

Thanks for your cooperation!

Verna Leong

Alameda Media Specialist

Alameda PTA invites YOU to become a Reading Friend! All it takes is 30-60 minutes per week (that's 4 hours a month!) to have a special influence in a child's life, someone who could use some one-on-one time with a caring adult. Training and materials are provided -- all you need to do is share your love of reading with a kindergarten through 3rd grade reader, definitively answering the question: "What's so great about READING?" Grandparents, aunts, uncles, neighbors -- ask someone you know who would make a wonderful buddy! Drop a note in the office or contact Reading Friends Coordinator Sharyn Smith at 503- 998-0144. Developing young minds thank you, and so do we!

Alameda is forming 3-5th grade Battle of the Books (BOB) teams. BOB is a state-wide reading competition. Students read from a list of books chosen by the BOB program, discuss them, and quiz each other in preparation for the contest. A meeting is being held in Alameda library on Thursday, October 30, from 3:00-4:00 PM. Parents are encouraged to attend. An orange brochure with more information was sent home in the Thursday folder. If you have questions, contact Kari Tunstill, Reading Challenge Coordinator, at 503-239-6021 or teamtunstill@gmail.com.

The Carnaval Mazatlan Committee is pleased to share that our Auction Sponsorship Campaign is well underway.

Steven Richeson of Remax Signature Properties, also an Alameda Parent, has graciously stepped up and is returning for a second year to support Carnaval Mazatlan at the "La Realeza" level; the highest level of sponsorship. We sincerely appreciate this effort and look forward to working with Steven and his colleagues on Carnaval Mazatlan.

The Carnaval Mazatlan Committee is looking to secure numerous sponsorships at a variety of levels which are listed below. Please contact Kathryn Loescher auction@alamedaschool.org for specific information about sponsorship packages.

La Realeza: $5,000

(translation: Carnaval Royalty)

Artista Celebridad: $2,500

(translation: Celebrity Artist)

Trouvadoresca: $1,000

(translation: Composer of Epic Poetry)

Autor Galardonado: $500

(translation: Award Winning Author)

Reveller Máscara: $250

(translation: Masked Merrymaker)

The PTA Clothing Center has already served over 400 students this school year. As a result, we are low on donations of gently-used clothing and cash donations to purchase new jeans, socks and underwear. If you have clothes that your child has outgrown, please consider donating them to the Clothing Center for students in need. We are especially low on boys' and girls' jeans sizes 4-14 and warm winter coats for the rainy days ahead. If you would like a tax donation receipt, please include a general list of the items you are donating with your name and address on it, and you will be mailed a receipt. The school secretary also has PTA Clothing Center receipts. Monetary donations can be sent to the PTA Clothing Center treasurer, Jackee Duvall, 2246 SE 90th Ave. Portland, OR 97216.

Alameda's day to send 3-5 volunteers to the Clothing Center is Thursday, November 13th. Volunteers are welcome any Monday and Thursday school day from 9:30 AM - 1:30 PM. Just drop in to volunteer, the whole time or even for just a couple of hours. The address is: Marshall HS Campus, 3905 SE 90th Ave, Room C- 58. (The major cross streets are SE Powell and SE 92nd, out by the Chucky Cheese.)

Thanks so much!

Sharon Meigh-Chang

PTA Clothing Center Chair

503.293.0783 ptaclothingcenter@comcast.net

Thank you to all who participated in Movie Night! In addition to having fun, we raised some money for Alameda and collected over 150 pounds of food for the Oregon Food Bank. Nice job, Alameda! We plan to have another Movie Night sometime in the new year. Look for the date to be posted in News Notes in the coming months.

Andrea Weinman, PTA.

Beaumont (and former Alameda) parent Rose Bonamo has opened her new shop in Beaumont Village, rosabode, and is sponsoring a benefit for the Beaumont Foundation. Home décor and accessories for its inhabitants fill the store- throws, pillows, silk wraps, and more. Come buy on Sunday, November 2, from 3-6 PM. Her shop is located at 4225 NE Fremont. Thanks Rose! If you have questions or are interested in learning more about the Beaumont Foundation, contact Teresa Osborne, teamosborne@comcast.net.

Alameda News Notes is a mostly weekly publication of the PTA to keep you informed about what is going on in the school community. Please e-mail articles appropriate for this publication to David Peyerwold: peyerwold@comcast.net. Some items may need to be cleared by the District before publication. Submissions that don't arrive by Wednesday morning usually will not make it into the hard copy version that is distributed at school. If your item is too late for this week's issue, it will be included in next week's. If something simply can't wait until next week, the News Notes staff has proven to be pretty flexible about sending out special notices. Please note: Information, flyers, etc., from unaffiliated school groups or general community groups announcing class offerings and other activities may be picked up from the magazine racks outside the main office.