Friday, May 12  

Riverdale School District News

TODAY

Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month Celebration

The Grade School Equity Team is excited about an upcoming event we are hosting at Riverdale Grade School to celebrate Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.

The event will be taking place on Friday, May 12th. From 1:30 to 3:15 pm, every classroom will have an opportunity to meet with staff from local museums and nonprofits, read AAPI books, and check out artifacts.

After school ends at 3:20 pm, we welcome community members to join us for a drum and dance performance from the Oregon Chinese Coalition on the playground.

See more information on our flier below.

Grade School Conditional Use Updates

The grade school is going through a conditional use process in which we must complete certain mandated steps. Conditional Use is a process that sets conditions of use for a structure to include number of students and staff as well as considerations like traffic. You will notice some changes in order to comply with conditional use: some preemptive and some prescriptive. There is an upcoming traffic study to analyze the volume of traffic around the grade school and help us improve student safety. Multnomah County visited campus this week to review our signage and street markings. They also put no parking signage in the triangle.

A reminder from a previous communication is listed below. 

Requested Compliance:

Please refrain from parking and waiting on Military. The long line of waiting cars obscures a narrow road, sitting off a potentially blind curve. Additionally, this road does not offer secure and safe access points for students entering waiting cars. 

Cars have been noted entering the “exit” area of the parking lots. We need all cars to enter and exit all drop off/parking areas appropriately regardless of time of day.

Cars have been noted driving faster than appropriate. All vehicles should drive the marked speed limit or lower. When in the parking lots, there is no reason to drive fast.

Again, we acknowledge any inconvenience in waiting and will actively look for a solution; however, student safety is paramount and should not be sacrificed. We ask that all caregivers/parents abide by the above requests. 

It is important that these are followed so that we have compliance for our conditional use. 

Sincerely,

Superintendent Chris Russo 

COVID Protocol Update

On May 10, the Oregon Department of Education (ODE) and the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) released updates to the statewide COVID-19 policies that can be reviewed here. 

Here is a summary of changes:
Updated Isolation Guidance: Effective today (May 11th), a five-day period of isolation for those infected with COVID-19 will no longer be recommended.

Individuals infected with COVID-19 should still be excluded from school if they present with excludable symptoms per the Communicable Disease Guidance for Schools, and it is still recommended that these individuals mask for 10 days.

Any students or staff that previously had a return to school day after 5/11 may return to school on Friday, May 12th as long as they have been fever free for 24 hours (without the use of medications) and other symptoms are improving.

Students and staff are still encouraged to mask if they are experiencing any symptoms of illness or are treating another individual with symptoms of illness.

Riverdale High School Body Summit - May 17th

Students in No Place For Hate are excited to share about an upcoming event we are holding at Riverdale High School.

No Place for Hate is a student-led organization that seeks to engage students and staff in dialogue and active learning on the topics of bias, equity, bullying, inclusion, and allyship. This year our group is organizing and leading a school wide conference with the mission of educating our school community on topics centered around bodies. 

On Wednesday, May 17th, the school day will be structured as a full-day conference, including whole school assemblies featuring keynote speakers, as well as interactive activities and learning in smaller groups. We will hold sessions on topics including body image, ableism and disability, consent, disordered eating, gender identity and expression, health at every size, racism and bodies, and self-care.  

Students will be traveling between sessions with their advisory class and every student will have an opportunity to participate in yoga and mindfulness, as well as learning from a number of guest speakers. We have booked guest facilitators from Bridge 13, Carla be Yoga, Body Expressions, Jory Mental Health Collective, and more.

We will have counselors on hand to support students, as well as a reflective assignment for all students to complete in their Language Arts or Social Science classes. 

Please see the updated flier below for more info!

School Board Meeting 

The Riverdale School Board will hold a School Board Meeting on Monday, May 15 in person in the grade school library at 6 p.m. The meeting will also be available virtually via GoToWebinar.  

Public Comment Process

Community members who would like to speak on agenda topics will be given an opportunity to do so after the board discusses that particular topic. There is also an opportunity to speak to non-agenda topics. In either case, community members may use the “raise hand” feature to then be unmuted to speak to the board. 

For members of the public who wish to submit written public comment:

• Submit an email to Chrisie Hessel before 12 p.m. on the day of the meeting.
• IMPORTANT: Please type “Written Public Comment” in the subject line. 
• Include your full name in the body of the email.
• Names of patrons providing input will be read during the meeting and their written public comment will be posted online via the Board agenda.

REMINDER

Riverdale Lunch Options Survey

We'd like to get your anonymous feedback on this year's food service to help us plan for next year. Thank you for your participation.  

REMINDER

Spring Sports Awards Night May 23

All grade school and high school spring sports athletes and their families are invited to the high school to celebrate the many accomplishments of our spring athletes on Tuesday, May 23 at 6 p.m. in the RHS gym. Seniors will be recognized for their Senior Night at this event. Athletic Director Derek Duman will be handing out varsity letter awards and all-league awards, followed by program-specific team awards and recognitions.

REMINDER

Enrollment Applications Extended

Kindergarten

We are still accepting applications for incoming kindergarteners for the 2023-24 school year. Apply ASAP! 

High School 

High School Applications are Extended! RHS is accepting in grades 9-12 for the 2023-24 school year. Apply ASAP! 

Please contact Hilary Chandler via email or phone at 503-262-4847.

Sports Scores

Monday May 8th

HS Girls Golf @ District Tournament 

Team Score: 446 (4th Place)

Tuesday May 9th

HS Girls Golf @ District Tournament 

Team Score: 892 (3rd Place)

GS Track @ District Meet

Girls Score: 33 (7th Place)

Boys Score: 42 (5th Place)

Important Dates

• Monday, May 15 - School Board Meeting at 6 p.m. via GTW
• Wednesday, May 17 - Kinder Welcome from 3-3:30 p.m.
• Tuesday, May 23 - Spring Sports Awards Night
• Monday, May 29 - Memorial Day (no school)
• Monday, June 5 - School Board Meeting at 6 p.m. 
• Friday, June 9 - Last Day of School 
• Monday, June 12 - School Board Meeting at 6 p.m.

View the 2023-24 School Year Calendar PDF on our website.