Sellwood Middle School
8300 SE 15th Ave
Portland
OR
97202
(503)-916-5656
Principal's Newsletter
Sellwood Principal's Newsletter - December 5, 2025
Greetings Sellwood Community,
I hope you had a restful fall break and a happy Thanksgiving.
It was lovely to see many of you last week at in-person conferences, and I know many more of you participated virtually. Thank you to our wonderful Sellwood PTA and parent volunteers for providing our staff with snacks and meals. It was very much appreciated by all!
We would like to get your feedback on our structure and process for parent/teacher conferences. In order to help us provide conferences that meet the needs and interests of our families, please take a moment to provide us with some valuable feedback. We will take your input into consideration when planning next year's conferences. Thank you to those who have already filled out the survey. If you have not, please let us know what you think! It only takes a minute or two.
Parent/Teacher Conference Feedback
Finally, a reminder that next Wednesday, December 10th, is an early release at 1:45 PM.
Sincerely,
Jeandre Carbone
Sellwood Middle School Principal
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PTA NEWS PTA Annual Campaign THANK YOU, Sellwood Community, for supporting the PTA Annual Campaign! Thanks to our amazing community, we raised over $7,200 to support our school! We are grateful to every individual donor and our generous matching donor who made this happen. If this is not the right time for you or your family, you can donate to the PTA anytime this year by clicking this link: https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/ Thank you again for your support! —----------------------------- We Need Volunteers! Looking to get involved at SMS? We post current volunteer needs on Konstella. We currently need help for:
You can also donate money for items by going to your SchoolPay account and click the Nonprofit Groups tab on the left and then you can click the “Donate to the 2025-2026 Sellwood Middle School PTA Here!” link and in the description section be sure to put that this donation is for Staff Appreciation.
—----------------------------- OBOB needs volunteers and teams! Oregon Battle of the Books is coming back to Sellwood Middle School and will be organized by parent volunteers for the 2025/26 school year. Now is the time to start organizing a team; the deadline to register will be Friday, December 12th. Once you have a team, you can register them here. If you have questions, email Emma Fricke at efrickecoparent@gmail.com.
OBOB is a program where teams of students read an amazing selection of books and then compete with other teams in Battles to recall details from the stories. Battles will be organized at the school level in February 2026. Teams are usually made up of two to four members, with one optional alternate, for a total of no more than five members. —----------------------------- SMS Dine-Out at Sebastiano’s on December 10th from 9am - 3pm Mark your calendars and Dine Out to make a difference! They are open from 9am - 3pm so grab a coffee and pastry on your way to work or get something on your lunch break. This is also an early release day for your kiddos so they can walk over and grab a snack. Sebastiano’s is generously donating a portion of the proceeds from the day to support the SMS PTA. —----------------------------- PEAK Program Registration Upcoming Winter sessions available there are 2 more Red Cross Babysitter Classes this school year. Scholarships are available. Register: www.6crickets.com —----------------------------- BottleDrop Blue Bag Program - Recycle Cans and Bottles and Support the PTA!
Collect and return your empty cans and bottles to the nearest BottleDrop Location through the BottleDrop Blue Bag program. Visit the office to pick up Blue Bags for BottleDrop - or pick up from SMS community members who have blue bags on their porch. Find locations here: Sellwood PTA - BottleDrop Blue Bag Program
—----------------------------- You can also connect with the Sellwood Middle School PTA via: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ Instagram: @sellwoodmiddlepta Web: https://sites.google.com/view/ PEAK AFTER SCHOOL PROGRAM PEAK registration for Winter Term is open! The PEAK Program is a series of in-person after-school classes open to all Sellwood students. The PEAK program is totally independent of Sellwood Middle School and is under the jurisdiction of the PTA. Scholarships are available as the PEAK goal is to include every SMS student. Scholarship request form is here: https://tinyurl.com/ Please email sellwoodpeakprogram@gmail.com or instructors/companies with questions. We are always looking for parent volunteers to help us run this program. Please email if you are interested! (In fact, we have to find someone to help this year or the program will go away). Registration is currently open at 6crickets.com (except 3D Printing, see below). Electronic Music Club is an exciting, hands-on class where students dive into the world of music production! Using real music production software (Ableton Live and more), students will create their own beats, craft melodies, and experiment with digital instruments. Appropriate for all levels. Wednesdays 1/7-3/18 (no class 1/14, 2/11, 3/11) 4:15-5:15, $215 Speech and Debate The Cleveland High Speech and Debate team is one the largest and most successful programs at the school. You will practice speaking and debating skills in preparation for local middle school competitions The Sellwood team is coached by team captains from Cleveland. Appropriate for both new and returning students.Tuesdays 1/6-3/17 (no class 1/27) 4:15-5:15, $75 3D Printing with PDX MiniMakers Students will learn how 3D printers and design software work while creating their own custom projects to take home. Through hands-on engineering and problem-solving, kids will design, print, and build real objects, all while developing creativity, confidence, and skills that connect to STEM careers. No experience needed, just imagination! All materials included and snacks will provided. Thursdays 1/29-3/19 4:15-5:45, $229. Sign up here: https://www.pdxminimakers.com/ Alice in Wonderland Drama Performance Come put on this classic play with Director Levi Schmid! Come to the after-school info session on Jan 6 to learn about auditions and more. Please sign-up for the free info session at 6crickets by 12/17. Rehearsals Tuesdays 1/13-3/3, 4-6 pm; tech week/dress rehearsals 3/9-3/12, performances 3/14&17. $200 (crew free). Red Cross Babysitting Class One-day training offered on no school days, 9 am-3pm on 1/27 (full except for the free volunteer spot) or 4/6. We can offer free tuition for one child for a PPS-certified adult volunteer to be present before and during the training. If interested, please email sellwoodpeakprogram@gmail.com. Chess Club registration is still open, Mondays through March! More information at 6crickets.com. LATE ARRIVALS AND EARLY DISMISSALS Late Arrival Due to Appointments: If your student arrives late to school due to an appointment, please let the office know using one of the following options: a) sign your student in at the office b) leave a message on the attendance line c) email Kirstin at kbill@pps.net d) have your student bring a signed doctors / dentists note Their tardy / absence will otherwise be unexcused.
Early Dismissal/ Mid Day Pick Ups: If you are picking your student up during school hours, we kindly ask that you sign your student out in the office and be prepared to allow up to 10 minutes for the pickup process. We regret that we are unable to call your student from class ahead of time. Please let Kirstin know if you have any questions or concerns. SUCCESSFUL SCHOOL SURVEY OPENED MON. NOV. 3 Dear families, Portland Public Schools begins the annual Successful Schools Survey on Monday. 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 3 to December 8. 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. For more information about the Successful Schools Survey, please go to pps.net/successfulschools. FROM THE YEARBOOK STAFF Families: LAST CALL for extracurricular photos! We are trying to finish the "Fall" section of the YEARBOOK, and we need your photos of cross country, volleyball, football, and other sports, as well as choir and band performances and anything else featuring Sellwood students outside of the school day. Deadline Friday, November 21. Please email (at the highest resolution) to Lsouther@pps.net and include as much information you can about student names, team name, event, etc. LEWIS ELEMENTARY WINTER BAZAAR PANTHER PAUSE (STUDENT CREATED WEBSITE) In addition to working on our yearbook, this class has been practicing their journalism skills to produce a website. Check out the Panther Pause! SELLWOOD MIDDLE SCHOOL CLOTHING CLOSET Hello Sellwood families, We have started an in house clothing closet here at Sellwood this year. We are looking to build up our supply of new or lightly used:
If you have anything to donate please drop it off in the main office and say it is for the SMS clothing closet. Thank you so much! Sellwood school counselors COUNSELING CORNER Students with last names A-L: Mr. KB - akennybrew@pps.net Students with last names M-Z: Ms. Katie - kfrancis@pps.net MAIN OFFICE The best way to reach us is by email.
The Office Phone Number
Secured Building
Picking up your student during the day:
Guides to Help you:
Please email Kirstin (kbill@pps.net) for:
Please email Claire (choward1@pps.net) for:
IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER PPS Calendar 2025-26
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Jeandre Carbone
Principal
Sellwood Middle School
Progress is possible, but it is fragile - and across our country, the battles for our most basic civil rights rage on.
-Stacey Abrams
Sellwood Principal's Newsletter - November 14, 2025
Greetings Sellwood Community,
Quarter 2 is humming along and we are coming up on Parent/Teacher Conferences and Fall Break. Please read the conference section below for specific information and a link to the sign-up document. Several parents have asked whether conferences are required. They are not required, but recommended, especially for families who have questions, concerns, or need more guidance on how to help their students achieve academic success in their classes. It is also possible to sign-up for conferences with some but not all teachers. Everyone is welcome and encouraged to meet with their children' s teachers, but we also know that since students have 7 classes, appointments may book up quickly. So, if your child is doing well in a class and you do not have questions or concerns, you are not required to sign-up. However, if you do plan to sign-up for conferences, I recommend you do so without delay so you are able to book the times that work with your schedule.
Sincerely,
Jeandre Carbone
Sellwood Middle School Principal
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