• November 20: Early Release - Dismissal at 11:50 a.m.
• November 22: Duniway Spirit Day - Pajama and Stuffies
• November 25-26: No school for students - Parent Teacher Conferences
  
• November 27-29: Schools closed for holiday
• December 4: Dorian Retakes
• December 6: Last Day to submit Successful Schools Survey
• December 18: Early Release - Dismissal at 11:50 a.m.
• December 23-January 3: Schools closed for winter break
• January 6: First Day of School in the new year - 2025!

2024-25 District Calendar

Hello Families,

Happy Friday and I hope you all had a good week. We had a good week at Duniway as we moved fully into the the Portland rainy season. It was nice today to get a little break from the rain and be outside without our raincoats and umbrellas! One highlight from this week was National Ruby Bridges Walk/Roll to School Day yesterday, November 14. It was great to walk down Reed College Way with students and families honoring Ruby Bridges and her courageous legacy. You can view this video that describes the origin of this celebration along with a fun and inspiring song: https://bit.ly/4fKbIcc. Duniway students honored this day by joining the walk and also donning purple bandanas in honor of Ruby's favorite color.

Looking ahead to next week, we are excited for our next all school assembly that will held on the early release day of Wednesday, Novemeber 20. The theme for our assembly will be Gratitude and Native American Heritage. Also, I hope you all have signed up for a parent teacher conference on Monday, November 25 or Tuesday, November 26. Much planning and preparation goes into scheduling in-person or virtual conferences on these school days and we plan for all conferences to occur on these days, even if you are out of town. If you have an unusual circumstance that prevents you from attending a conference on one of these days (either in person or virtually), please reach out to your child's teacher to see what alternatives can be considered. We look forward to having a great series of conferences at Duniway this year!

That's is all I have to share for now and I hope you all have a great weekend!

Sincerely,

Dr. Melvin

Please join us in sharing our appreciation for our Duniway School Psychologist, Melissa Lesniak!

Multnomah County Student Health Centers hours for during the week of Thanksgiving:

• All Multnomah County SHC's will be open normal hours on Monday-Wednesday, 11/25-11/27.
• All SHC's will be closed on Thanksgiving Day.
• The Parkrose SHC will be open on Friday, 11/29.

Appointments are available. If families need a resource for immunizations or other health needs, families are encouraged to call and make an appointment.

The 46th Annual Duniway Holiday Home Tour & Boutique will take place on Friday, December 6, 2024.

The Holiday Home Tour is a storied neighborhood tradition in Eastmoreland, with a tour of beautifully decorated neighborhood homes. In addition to being a festive way to welcome the holiday season, this event is the Duniway PTA’s largest fundraisers of the year. Afterward, please visit the Holiday Boutique back at Duniway Elementary, which features locally-made wares, art and wreaths. The Boutique is free to attend.

Buy your tickets now at www.duniwayhometour.org.

All proceeds go directly to Duniway Elementary School, enabling the PTA to support arts programs, classroom materials, cultural events, and field trips.

Day Tour: 10 am - 2 pm
Evening Tour: 5 pm - 9 pm
(Evening Shuttle Available with Platinum Ticket)
Boutique Hours: 10 am - 7 pm

Congratulations to the Home Tour Drawing Winners:

Bennett Scheele- 5th Grade
Rose Colvard-4th Grade
Kai Patla-3rd Grade
Belle Ewbank- 2nd Grade
Wesley Buffen- 1st Grade
Callie Faries- kinder

Join us for our Second Annual Duniway Wreath Auction!! Grab a couple friends and have a wreath making party, or get crafty solo. We are currently looking for 20 wreaths that are unique, traditional, and festive. You can drop your wreaths off at the office after December 2nd no later than December 5th. These will be featured at our Duniway Home Tour Boutique to be auctioned off. Winners will be notified December 7th, buy it now option will be available. Funds raised will go to the PTA. Duniway does not provide supplies. For questions or and additional information contact Andrea at andreaangell@live.com

Do you create Art, Jewelry or Crafts that you would like to sell at the 2024 Holiday Boutique?

DATE: Friday, December 6th
TIME: 45 min. shifts (2:30-6:30pm)
LOCATION: Duniway gym

If your student would like to participate email duniwaypta@gmail.com, please include

• student's first & last name
• grade
• what they are going to sell

Deadline for Entry November 13th.

We will let you know if you were selected by November 15th so you have time to create your products for the big day!

Hello Duniway Community,

The Duniway Foundation is happy to announce that we’ll be continuing our yearly Fall Giving Campaign. We will be working more closely with the Duniway PTA toward a shared vision of community engagement and school improvement. This is our 28th year of the Fall Giving fundraising event! It will run November 21st through December 31st. There will be a lot of exciting incentives at all levels, including participation!

Does your employer match donations for Giving Tuesday? Feel free to reach out and we can help if needed. Our Foundation is an independent 501(c)(3) and your donation is 100% tax-deductible.

This year your donations will go directly to our school and its students in the form of supplemental art and science curriculum, literacy support, classroom supplies, improving our facilities, and so much more that would otherwise go overlooked by the district.

Last year, your dollars hired two Educational Assistants, kept music programming full time at Duniway, and closed the funding gap to keep a part-time office assistant, helping parents and students across the school. While we can no longer fundraise for PPS positions – your dollars will continue to enrich our Duniway student experience and help our teachers.

We look forward to working together with our amazing and special Duniway community. Go Dragons!!

With gratitude,

Andrea Angell

Duniway Foundation President

president@duniwayfoundation.org

The Successful Schools Survey is an opportunity for students, staff, and families to provide important feedback on their school environments, learning experiences, and sense of well-being and safety at school. The survey is conducted once every school year to provide timely information to schools, district leadership, and the community, allowing us to make informed decisions about school climate and culture. This year, the survey window is open November 1 to December 6.

Portland Public Schools highly values the input and opinions of its families, and we welcome all PPS parents and guardians to complete this year’s survey. We use the data to help improve our schools, providing targeted feedback and training on how to create healthy school environments that are welcoming for all.

You can complete the Successful Schools Survey online using the link provided below. Please complete one survey per household. If you have more than one student at PPS, we ask that you complete the survey considering the experiences of your eldest child.

The survey will take approximately 15-30 minutes to complete and is available in English, Spanish, Russian, Somali, Vietnamese and Chinese.

https://surveys.panoramaed.com/portlandor/fall24family

For more information about the Successful Schools Survey, please go to pps.net/sss2024.

Dear Duniway Families,

We're excited to get this year's Duniway Variety Show underway! The show will happen on Friday, January 17, 2025 in our school auditorium. All Duniway students in grades Kindergarten through Fifth Grade are welcome to take part.

All the details and sign-ups can be found here.

We're excited to see you shine, Duniway!

-Mrs. Adams and the Variety Show Committee